Hello again! I hope you all had a good week! I don't know about any of you, but March Break was moved to April for me, and I was sad, but it was good nevertheless. Moving on, chapter 3 starts out somewhat boring, but there's a lot that happens at the end, and then there's a cliffhanger, so it's an interesting chapter. As always, please comment. I really need feedback, I want to improve on my writing skills. Thank you to the people who have commented :) And lastly, please enjoy!

Chapter Three

Identification

Freeway 10

Tallahassee Florida

April 19th

1800 hours

I got home in just under 30 minutes. The path Erica had taken was difficult for me to navigate, mostly so that no one could follow us. And it also made it tricky to get back out of. By 9am I was back at my home, where my parents had gone frantic trying to find me. I had suspected this would happen. So on my way back, I thought up a story that would convince them where I had gone. I stepped out of the woods, with a few thorns stuck in my arms and legs, and my hair a mess, to find my dad pacing the porch, being no help whatsoever. Mom on the other hand, was searching in the woods behind the house. This gave Dad the opportunity to pretend he had found me.

"AHA!" He had yelled triumphantly when I emerged. He had quickly walked over to me, and took me by my shoulders and gave me a slight shake. "I knew I would find you!"

Mom came around the house scowling, like she had wanted to be the one to find me. Clearly neither of them had actually wanted me to be here, they had just wanted to be the first to find me.

"Sorry 'bout that." I said quickly. "I decided to go on a quick walk while you two were cleaning up, and I saw some cool animal off the path, so I decided I would quickly check it out, but then I couldn't find the path again, and it took me a while to get back." I flashed a grin at the end.

Mom had just been interested in the animal side of it.

"So… what animal was it?" she asked eagerly.

"I think it was a pink chameleon. But I didn't get a good look at it."

Mom seemed disappointed at this.

"I'm going to go check my phone if that's alright."

"Sure go ahead. We'll wait for you." Dad said, letting go of my shoulders. I quickly walked into the house, and into my room. I didn't bother to take off my boots as I went. I slipped into my bedroom, and found my phone exactly where I had left it. Underneath my pile of dirty clothes. Sure enough, I had about 15 missed calls from Erica, and lots of texts from my other friends. I didn't take the time to reply to any of them, and instead shoved it into my backpack, which was already overflowing with knick-knacks such as papers and pens. From there I took my suitcase out of the small closet against one of the walls, and started grabbing everything that was mine from around the room, and packed it. One thing I hate about vacation. You have to pack everything. Eight hours may seem like a lot of time, but when you have been living in a house for 3 and a half weeks already, you will have stuff everywhere, and eight hours doesn't give you much time. Plus, I wasn't getting out of the nature walk with my parents. Which would take an hour at least. I still had half my room to unpack when I heard the door to the house open and my dad call out -

"Ben! What's taking so long?"

"I had a lot of stuff to catch up on!" I replied hurriedly. I hoped he wouldn't decide to come to my room and see that I was packing. And for a second, I thought I had convinced him to go back outside. But then I heard footsteps coming towards me, and I knew I was about to be found out. Sure enough, my dad's head popped around the corner a few seconds later.

"Hey," He said slowly. "I know you might feel like we don't want you here, but I assure you, there's no need to pack."

I quickly thought up a story, and then acted as though a thought had suddenly occurred to me.

"Uh… oh yes, Erica texted. She said I should come home a week early because, you know, school's ending soon, and um I don't want to miss the last day." The second it was out of my mouth, I realised how unreal it sounded. My dad saw right through it as well.

"What mission is it this time?" he asked, as a smile spread across his face.

"There's no mission. I told you, I have to go back for the last few weeks of school." I had started it, so it was best I continue it.

"Okay we'll go with that. But just know, I might not be a spy, but I can see right through your lies."

"You could be a poet. Now I need to finish packing."

I spent the next hour packing, and then the next hour I spent outside. And then the next three hours packing up the rest of my stuff, and checking, and double checking, and triple checking every room for stuff. By the time I finished, I had 2 and a half hours till go time. We had packed the car, and Mom made a large meal, which she thinks is necessary anytime something even remotely happy happens. Like the time I got an A+ on a math test in Second Grade, which was not the first time I had received a good mark. I have a knack for math, which is why I know this is the 1080th minute of the day. It just comes naturally to me. We had a big supper, which was barely gone by the time we headed outside to leave. The sun had set low in the sky, and the water was still once again. The forest loomed mysteriously all around, and in the silence, I could hear the chirping of crickets and birds, and the chatter of squirrels. If I had a choice to go back to school, or to stay here, I wouldn't hesitate even once to say stay here.

We were all keeping watch for the 18th hour to come around. We still had five minutes, but I was paranoid about being late or early. Mom was down at the water's edge, looking at the far side, where a sliver of land lay. Dad was leaning against the wall to the house, and he was doing a good job of hiding his emotions. For all I know, he could have been asleep.

I wanted to know where Erica was, and what her plan was. I for one, was just hoping that by getting in the car, and driving back to Langley, I was doing everything fine.

Finally the hour struck, and there was a ton of commotion.

"Shotgun!" I cried, but Mom was already hopping into the passenger side, and Dad was already hopping into the driver's seat, meaning I was stuck in the back. Then, as I was buckling myself in, Mom realised that she had forgotten her coffee on the kitchen countertop, so she had to run inside, and meanwhile I tried to get in the front, but Dad held me off, resulting in me hitting my head on the roof of the car. By the time we pulled out of the driveway, we were two minutes late, and Dad was in a moment of distress, thinking that at any moment, enemies would ambush our home because we were still there, meaning we would end up dead. I was grumpy, because now, on top of being stuck in the back, my head was hurting. Mom was the only one being sane, as she was relaxed in her seat, with a coffee in her hands. The backseat was cramped, and my legs were crossed up on the seat, in order not to crush the food on the ground at my feet. To make matters worse, my bag was in the trunk, so I couldn't get at my books or my phone.

We turned onto the freeway, and within seconds were stopped.

"Stupid rush-hour traffic." Dad muttered, changing lanes, and causing the driver we passed to honk at us. Mom got mad at him for annoying a driver, and then they started bickering, and our car was instantly loud.

Which was the best time for Erica to pop up behind me, and make me scream. Both Mom and Dad turned around, and Dad hit the brakes so hard, we were nearly rear-ended. Luckily the traffic was so slow there wasn't much of a difference between stopping and moving.

"I thought I saw a tarantula." I said quickly. Dad's eyes narrowed, and he turned back to face the steering wheel. Mom kept her eyes locked with mine.

"It wasn't a tarantula." I sighed in exasperation. "You don't need to stare at me." I was tired of Mom wanting to see the fake animals I thought of.

I turned around, and I could still see the road we had taken to get on the freeway. And now I could see Erica, camouflaged between the luggage in the back. She looked intently at me, and mouthed something, but I couldn't figure out what it was. I shrugged, signaling I didn't know what she meant. So she leaned closer to me, and whispered -

"Music."

I nodded, and she leaned back into her original spot, where, if you didn't know she was there, you wouldn't be able to see her.

"Dad, can you please play Green Day?" I asked.

"Any song in particular?" He asked, picking up his phone and opening Spotify.

"No texting and driving." Mom said crossly.

"I'm not texting." Dad replied curtly.

"I don't care what songs. But make it loud." I replied, trying to defuse the moment.

He pressed 'play' on one of their songs, and the car was filled with noise once again. I turned to face Erica, who had moved out of camouflage and was now moving bags to make it comfier in the back.

"When did you get in here?" I asked.

"When you guys were all standing outside waiting for 6 o'clock to come around."

"But… We could have seen you."

"Yes, but you didn't, and that's because I know how to be a spy."

"Could you pass me my bag?"

She crossed her arms, and gave me a hard look.

"What's the magic word?"

I rolled my eyes.

"I'm almost fourteen not three."

"And I'm eighteen. What's the magic word?"

"It's right there. The blue one you bought me for my birthday."

She gave me an even harder look.

"Fine! Please!"

But she still didn't move. So I crossed my arms back at her.

"What's it going to take?" I asked

"You and me? We need to talk. Tell your father you need to pee."

I didn't feel like doing this, because it would stall our drive by fifteen minutes, and I didn't need to go to the washroom.

"Do you have any other options? I don't feel like stopping."

"And neither do I. But unlike you, I didn't have access to a washroom for three days."

I nodded in understanding, but I didn't turn around.

"Ben, the next exit is coming up. I would prefer not to have to wait another half hour before we have our next opportunity."

"Give me my bag then."

She sighed, annoyed, and handed me my bag. Well, it was more like an angry throw, but still, I had it with me now.

"Dad I need to use the washroom." I said hurriedly to my dad who probably couldn't hear me over the music. But he could.

"You went half an hour ago," he replied.

"And you gotta go when you gotta go."

Begrudgingly, Dad pulled over two lanes and exited the freeway. You'd be surprised at how welcoming a fast food stop looks when you've been living off pancakes for three weeks. He pulled into the parking lot of the closest McDonalds, and we all hopped out. As we entered the building, I pretended to trip and put all my force on Dad's hand, causing him to drop his keys for the car. Then I snatched them off the ground, and unlocked the doors to the car before handing them back to him with an apology. I caught a glance over my shoulder, and saw Erica slipping out the side door of the car, and running to the back of the building. We entered the building, and walked between the tables hosting people who were all eating happily. We passed the cashier, and headed through a door with a sign over it with the words "Bathroom" upon it. Inside was one of the sketchiest places I've ever been in, and I've been in back alleyways in France. The light on the ceiling was flickering, and the dark green wallpaper was stained and peeling. There was a giant man at the back of the hallway, half hidden in the shadows, who looked quite threatening. A much smaller person was standing beside him, looking just as threatening. There were two doors on either side of the hallway: one was painted pink, but faded to white, and the other was black, faded to grey. Dad took the grey door on the left, and Mom took the white one on the right. Which left me alone in the hall with two sketchy people. The smaller one looked up, and caught my eye. Without even thinking about it, I was in an attack stance, ready to fight.

"Cool your shoes Ben. It's just me."

The smaller man - Erica - pulled a damp cloth out of one of her pockets, and threw it at the larger man's face, catching him by surprise. Within 5 seconds, the man fell to the ground with the force of an elephant.

"Chloroforme?" I asked her, walking over to her side. She replied with a nod, and then reached her hand into the pocket of the man's jeans. When she took her hand out again, she was holding a small plastic card. With a smile, she looked down at it. But then her smile was replaced with a look of horror. Which made me scared out of my wits. Erica rarely showed emotion, and seeing her with the slightest amount was crazy, let alone lots.

"Erica! Tell me what's wrong!?" She slowly stood up again, and showed me what she was looking at. She held an ID card in her hand, but in the dim light I couldn't read it clearly, and I was shaking in fear which didn't help. But I could see a name, and although it didn't settle well in me, I couldn't understand why Erica looked the way she did.

"Dane Brammage?" I looked up from the card and turned my attention to her. She was also looking down at the ID card, but she shook her head, and pointed to the name.

"Look closer." she said, almost as if speaking to herself.

I looked closer, and realised that it didn't say Dane Brammage. I wouldn't have thought I could have been more stressed then if it was Dane Brammage, but somehow it is possible. The name on the ID card was the name I wished I had never learned.

"Brane Damage." I muttered.

"Ever heard of him?" Erica asked, still not looking up from the name.

"No. Have you?"

Slowly, almost sadly, she nodded.

"It's Dane Brammage's brother. And he is 100 times stronger. I had the bad luck to meet him when I was ten. He's only two years older than me mind you."

That's when something clicked. Something big.

"Erica, I just realised something!" I exclaimed.

"Ben, lower your voice." she hissed.

"At the mailbox! It was -"

And that was when something ran with full force into me, and the last thing I saw before passing out, was my mother bringing her fist into Erica's face.