Part 4: On the Run
Mandy groaned as her stiff joints screamed in protest at her first movements in the morning. She rolled to her back and stretched them all out, causing a symphony of pops to run through her entire body. She whimpered and collapsed to the floor limply, staring up at the dingy ceiling. There was no doubt she wasn't much cleaner than this place now, after sleeping on the floor.
"Good morning sleeping beauty." Clover's voice welcomed her into consciousness. Mandy sat up stiffly, seeing Clover sitting against the wall on the other side of the shed right beside a hole in the wooden planks that comprised the walls. "You probably would've slept through a freaking hurricane wouldn't you?"
Mandy blushed slightly. "Well a girl needs her rest. And this isn't exactly the best place in the world to get it."
"Whatever. Give me my shirt back." Clover demanded. Mandy huffed and pulled Clover's black shirt off, throwing it to her. Clover stood up and pulled the shirt on, walking to one of the small windows and staring at the street beyond. "We have to get out of here. They already have Sam and Alex searching for us. We can't keep away from them for long in this confined space."
"Uh, hel-lo, first thing's first, I need something to wear." Mandy marched up behind Clover, who turned around. She looked down at Mandy's skin-tight violet one-piece bathing suit. "I can't exactly go walking around in the middle of the city dressed like this."
"What, is the great self-proclaimed Beauty Queen shy?" Clover smirked.
"No I'm not shy!" Mandy shouted back, red-faced. "But it'll seriously draw attention to us to have this model of perfection walking around barely covered." Mandy gestured grandly to her own body. Clover looked down at her body again, with a hint of a blush creeping across her cheeks before she looked up into Mandy's eyes again.
"Deal with it. We need to get to the airport as quickly as possible." Clover retorted, grabbing her hand and pulling her to the door of the shed. Mandy blinked in surprise.
"Airport? Where are we going?" Mandy asked.
"WOOHP is international, but at the moment they're probably sure I'll stay here in the U.S. If we leave we'll buy ourselves some time to come up with a way to find out who did whatever they think I did." Clover replied simply. Mandy smirked as Clover pulled her outside. She jerked her hand away from the blond girl, drawing an irritated glare.
"So answer me this Miss Spy-Genius. Just how do you plan to buy the plane tickets? Do you have a 'WOOP' credit card or something handy? And even if we did get off the ground, where would we go?" Mandy demanded.
"One, I've made friends in the time I've been with WOOHP who I'm sure will help me. Two, we're going to pick up some money on the way. Now come on, the longer we stay here the better the chance of being caught." Clover turned to head toward the sidewalk, with Mandy following close behind her. They emerged onto the sidewalk together, walking side-by-side. "Act natural, and we should get there just fine."
In truth, Mandy was a bit self-conscious to be walking around like this. She was hardly ashamed of her body, but it was still disconcerting to be practically on display. It was a bit exciting, but still disconcerting. She caught several guys staring at her, however much they tried not to. Even a few women wound up watching her walk past them. It was exhilarating really...
"Shit! Hide!" Clover dragged Mandy into a nearby building, yanking her through the door. Mandy hid behind the wall and looked through the window to see Sam and Alex walking down the street, looking like they were simply on their way to school. But when they passed by the door, their piercing gazes betrayed their otherwise relaxed bodies.
They waited until the two girls passed before Clover sighed and wiped her forehead in relief. "That was a close one..." Suddenly the sound of someone clearing their throat pulled their attention away from the door. They now saw they'd lunged into a rather fancy looking diner, and a man in a freshly pressed uniform and name tag was glaring down at them. He jerked his thumb toward a sign that said 'No shirt, no shoes, no service.'
Mandy looked down at her bare feet and wiggled her toes. Not only were they bare, but they were quite dirty from the night in the shed. She grinned sheepishly up at the tall man. "You girls are going to have to leave." The man told them in a gruff tone.
"Hey, no trouble, we're leavin'." Clover turned to leave, but Mandy stomped up to the man with a frown on her face. "Mandy?"
"Now look here Jim!" Mandy said, reading the name from his nametag. "I had a reservation here booked months ago! It just so happens that I just got done with my synchronized swimming tryouts, when I fell in a ditch! And now you want to throw me out for not having a pair of shoes!?" Mandy was screaming at the top of her lungs. Almost every person in the restaurant had turned to watch the display. "Screw you and your little diner here, I'm taking my high-class business elsewhere from now on!" She turned to march out of the diner, amid the sound of applause from the rest of the diners at her defiance.
Clover caught up to her a small ways down the sidewalk. "Okay, what the Hell was THAT?" She demanded.
"Nobody throws me out of anywhere, I walk out." Mandy replied with a calmness that was the complete opposite of the fury she'd displayed in the building. "I can't let some muscle head brute look like he has the better of me, can I?" Mandy smirked. Clover stared at her with something close to admiration in her eyes. "So where are we heading exactly?"
"Sam's house." Clover replied. Mandy stopped walking, looking at the blond girl like she'd gone insane.
"I thought we were AVOIDING Sam and Alex?"
"We are, but we can use Sam's credit card to get out of this country without giving away who used it. I even know all of her information." Clover pointed out as they left the heavily populated section of the town, out into the more expensive areas where the four girls lived.
"Wow, that's totally cold and ruthless." Mandy said admirably.
"Hey, desperate times and all that." Clover replied. They walked down the sidewalk, ducking into bushes a few times to avoid patrolling WOOHP agents (much to Mandy's dismay, since her bathing suit provided no protection from thorns). Finally Sam's mansion loomed in the distance, standing out over the tree line but still not looking half as impressive as Mandy's had been before becoming a battlefield.
Clover walked up to the front door and pulled out her credit card, sliding it in the crack in the door and pushing the bar into the it so she could push the door open. Mandy stared at Clover until she finally explained. "I told you I'm a spy, I've gotta be able to get into anywhere."
"Remind me to get a better burglar alarm when my house is rebuilt." Mandy replied. They made their way through the mansion to Sam's bedroom, where Clover set about ransacking every drawer she could find. Mandy made her way to the closet and pulled the doors open, finding a large selection of clothing hanging from the racks.
"As long as we're busy taking what doesn't belong to us." Mandy pushed her swimsuit off and kicked it across the room before digging into the clothing in the closet. When she emerged she was wearing a pair of dark green-tinted denim jeans, with a brick-red t-shirt underneath a deep violet vest with a matching belt around her waist. She was wearing plain white socks and a pair of black tennis shoes on her feet. For good measure, she grabbed a violet baseball cap from the top shelf and slipped it on. "Tell Sam to get a better wardrobe."
"If you're done playing dress up, I found the credit card." Clover held up the mentioned card. So they turned to leave, heading for the front door. Both froze as the top of the stairs when they heard a voice from downstairs.
"That's odd... why is the door open?" The voice asked.
"It's Sam's mom..." Clover hissed. They slid back against the wall as the front door closed and a pair of footsteps moved toward the stairs.
"Samantha? Honey?" The footsteps moved up the stairs toward the second story, where Clover and Mandy were still hiding. Clover grabbed Mandy and pulled her into the closest bedroom they could find, pushing the door shut as silently as possible and leaning against it.
"We need a way out without being seen." Clover hissed.
"Jumping out the window worked last night, let's do that again." Mandy smirked sarcastically, but Clover's eyes lit up. "Oh nonononono."
"Just shut up and come on." Clover ran to the window and pushed it open, looking down. Mandy's mansion was bigger, but this window looked out over the front porch rather than the grass-covered yard. It would be a Hell of an impact if they weren't careful. "Hurry." Clover slipped out the window, holding tightly onto the windowsill. When she was dangling, she let go and fell to the ground, rolling to her back.
Mandy watched her climb to her feet. "Come on, I'll catch you!" Clover yelled up. Mandy gulped and slid one leg over the windowsill, slowly sliding herself outside. Suddenly the bedroom door opened, and she found herself staring at an older, brown-haired woman with a shocked expression on her face. A scream erupted from her throat, startling Mandy.
Mandy screamed as she fell backward out the window, flailing for anything she could find. Suddenly she slammed into something near the ground, which collapsed under her weight, sending her and Clover both sprawling out over the porch. "God you're heavier than you look..." Clover growled.
"I am not!" Mandy retorted. They both shot up when the front door opened and the woman rushed out after them.
"Forget it! Come on!" Clover jumped to her feet and took off down the sidewalk, with Mandy running right behind her. They outdistanced the older woman handily, disappearing into one of the backyards of a mansion on the way. They leaned against the back of the mansion to catch their breath.
"Why does it feel like we really ARE criminals?" Mandy asked breathlessly.
Clover rolled her eyes and pulled out the credit card she'd taken from Sam's room. "I guess technically we are, but I'm sure Sam will understand after we find out who's trying to frame me."
"How are we supposed to find out who framed you from another country?" Mandy asked curiously.
"I told you, we need time to regroup and figure out a plan." Clover replied. Mandy looked at her strangely, but Clover just shook her head. "Trust me. Now we just have to get to the airport."
"And how do we do that? It's a little further away than Sam's house." Mandy smirked.
"We get a ride." Clover crept around the side of the mansion. Mandy followed her, finding her at the front eyeing the garage on the other side of the mansion.
"You want to steal a car? Why don't we just hand a sign around our necks that says 'lock us up forever!'" Mandy asked.
"You don't have to come you know." Clover turned to glare at her. "They're after me not you. You can walk into their arms and go back home. They might interrogate you for a while, but they'll probably let you go." Mandy stared at her, realizing she was right. There was no reason for Mandy to go through all of this. She could walk away right here and let Clover go on her merry way.
Then again, she was wearing clothes she stole from Sam's bedroom. At the very least she could be charged with burglary, and that was the last thing she needed. Plus she wanted to see this through. She was intrigued to experience this 'spy life' Clover was pulling her into. "Nah... let's get ourselves some wheels."
Clover grinned and gave her a thumbs up before creeping to the front door of the mansion they were hiding behind. Clover slid her credit card into the door again and pried it open, creeping inside. Mandy followed behind her as they crept toward the inside garage door, passing by everything else in the house even though it all looked very expensive.
They made their way into the garage, and Clover reached over to slam her hand on the button that would open the door. The large metal sheet lifted off the ground, letting the sunlight stream in on a row of four cars, all sleek convertible low-riders that any teen girl in her right mind would die to ride in. Clover smirked and looked at Mandy. "Well, take a pick."
"Let's take this one." Mandy approached the dark blue one with golden hubcaps. "It matches my outfit." She explained. She jumped into the passenger's seat while Clover got in the driver's side. She grabbed a nail file from her pocket and used it to pry off the keyhole, working with several wires until the vehicle roared to life.
"Are you sure you're a spy and not a career criminal?" Mandy asked.
"Pretty sure. The line can get blurry sometimes." Clover grinned as she pulled the car out of the garage and took off down the street toward the airport. Mandy leaned her head back and took her cap off, letting the wind whip through her luxurious, but still rather dirty, hair. The sun felt good on her skin, as the storm clouds had mostly faded away in the night.
Absently Clover reached down and turned on the radio with a tap of the dashboard. Instantly a news anchor came on. "-We repeat, if anyone has seen a Caucasian teenage girl with black back length hair, purple eyes, and a beauty mark on her cheek traveling with another Caucasian teenage girl with shoulder length blond hair and blue eyes, please call the police department immediately. The abduction took place last night at approximately 11:30 PM and there are signs that indicate physical violence was used, so extreme caution is advised."
"That's putting it mildly." Mandy stared at the radio. "They're trying to make it sound like you kidnapped me instead of them trying to kill us both." She looked over at Clover who just shrugged.
"Of course. If they told the truth they'd have to reveal WOOHP's existence." Clover smirked. "This could make things harder though... I figured WOOHP would keep this all on the down low. If they actively have local law enforcement and civilians looking for us they're gonna spot us within seconds when we try to get in the airport."
"So what are we supposed to do? Go to Canada?" Mandy smirked.
"No, we're still catching a plane. We'll just have to make some sacrifices." Mandy prodded her a few more times about just what that meant, but Clover wouldn't say anything. Finally they pulled into the parking lot of a small convenience store. "Stay here, I have to get some things." Mandy hunkered down while Clover went into the building.
Finally Clover emerged from the building again. It took Mandy a moment to see what she was carrying in her hand, but when she did she jumped out of the opposite side of the car. "Nuh-uh! You're not touching my hair!" Mandy backed away as Clover approached with the scissors.
"Do you want to get on that plane or not?" Clover asked simply. Mandy narrowed her eyes like a cornered lion, but Clover just walked around the car calmly. "Look, you have to cut mine too. Hell, I'll probably have to get a crew cut to change enough, do you want one of those?" Mandy finally let her guard down and shook her head. "Good. Now we can go find one more thing before we can make our transformations complete."
They climbed back into the car and drove down the street a little farther, where Clover entered a small eyeglass store and walked out with colored contact lenses. "Now, let's find a private place where we can start our magic." Clover smirked, taking them through the parking lot and parking them between two of the stores.
"Turn around." Clover said, turning toward Mandy with the scissors in one hand. Mandy gulped and turned in her seat to give Clover access to her hair, pulling her cap off. She cringed when she heard the first snip, and watched one of her beautiful dark hairs float away on the breeze from behind her. Clover's hands moved her head to various angles with firm yet gentle nudges and touches, as she cut great chunks of her hair and let it fall onto the leather seats.
Mandy was starting to think that Clover's ministrations felt kind of pleasant when Clover spoke. "Done." Mandy opened her eyes and bent down to look in the passenger's side rear-view mirror. Her hair was cut short all around, though the back still hung down to her chin level, her bangs only hung down to the middle of her forehead. "Nobody'll ever recognize you."
"Yippee..." Mandy muttered.
"Now come on, your turn... and be gentle." Clover smirked. Mandy took the scissors and waited for Clover to turn away from her before cutting into her golden strands like Freddy Krueger on a blood binge. Golden hairs flew every which way until she had it down to an inch on every side.
"Done." Mandy smirked. Clover leaned down to look in her mirror, letting out a deep sigh and running one hand across her almost bald head.
"You could have left SOME of it up there..." Clover wailed miserably.
"Hey, we both have to make sacrifices you said." Mandy smirked as she pulled her hair up to the top of her head and slid the cap on, hiding most of it underneath. "Now let's get going, as you said, the longer we sit around the better the chances of us getting caught."
Clover sighed and started the car again, pulling out of the alley and taking off down the street again. The sun was beginning to move down toward the horizon when they finally pulled into the airport parking lot after dodging around traffic that comprised tourists, travelers, and more patrolling WOOHP agents. There seemed to be more of them than ever hanging around the airport.
"Think they know we're coming?" Mandy asked nervously.
"No, but they probably don't want us going anywhere." Clover reached into her pocket and pulled out the contacts she'd purchased earlier. "Time to test those grand acting skills of yours." Clover smirked. Mandy took her green contacts and put them in carefully, with Clover inserting her brown ones. "Okay, come on." They calmly left the car and walked into the airport.
It was bustling with activity as the winter holidays approached and tourists flooded into the state to catch the last warm rays of the fall, or left to seek shelter at home. Clover and Mandy maneuvered through the crowd, keeping close to each other as they made their way up to the ticket counter and doing their best to blend in. The clerk looked up as they approached.
"Hey, are there any flights leaving for Lyrobia any time soon?" Clover asked. The clerk raised one eyebrow, staring at her with a gaze that just screamed 'fruitcake'. "I'm on a tour of every country in the world... Lyrobia's my next stop."
The clerk shrugged and looked down at the computer. "You're lucky. It's leaving in three hours."
"I'll take two tickets." Clover replied eagerly.
"Where is Lyrobia?" Mandy asked curiously. "And why would we want to go there?"
"Trust me. The queen there owes me a favor for saving her country and her life." Clover replied softly so that the clerk wouldn't hear. "Hopefully she'll remember me and help us out."
Mandy nodded and leaned against the counter, looking around while Clover went through with the transaction using Sam's credit card. She kept her head down, just barely looking under the cap to keep most of her face hidden. She could see footage of herself and Clover from various home movies playing on a few of the TV screens scattered throughout the airport.
When Clover got their tickets they made their way through the airport to the appropriate terminal and sat down to wait. Clover clutched the tickets in her palm, looking around as if afraid she would be recognized at any moment. Mandy kept her face down, hiding it behind the bill of her violet cap. She looked over at Clover.
"You've done things like this a million times before as a spy right? Sneaking out of countries that are hunting you down with everything they have?" Mandy asked softly.
"Nope... first for me." Clover replied with a nervous smile. Her brown eyes and extremely short hair did make her look like a wholly different person. But still, it made Mandy nervous that one of them would be recognized. Particularly if anyone realized Mandy's eyes were actually purple. It was a rare color in this country, and only her sister shared them...
"You sure you want to come with me Mandy?" Clover asked softly, leaning over in her seat. Mandy looked over at her again under the bill of her cap, staring into Clover's deep brown orbs. "Once we get out of here there might be no coming back for a long time. Family, friends, you won't be able to see any of them until we get this mess sorted out."
"My family will be just fine without me." Mandy replied truthfully. She neglected to mention that she had no real friends to speak of. Secrecy and distance was a part of her life, almost as much as it now seemed it had been a part of Clover's. Clover nodded and leaned back in her seat, lowering her head to her chest to wait for their flight.
Time passed in a crawl when one was waiting for something. It was even truer when someone was trying to rush. It felt like they'd been sitting there for days, watching the sun slowly move down toward the horizon. The planes came and went in an endless procession, but still the call didn't come for their flight to begin boarding.
"Damnit!" Mandy heard Clover hiss from the seat beside hers. Mandy sat up, just realizing she'd been dozing off. "Don't move too much. I just saw Sam and Alex coming this way." Mandy's heart nearly beat out of her chest. Trapped with nowhere to go... maybe she could distract Sam and Alex long enough to let Clover slip onto the plane?
"Clover, you go on ahead without me." Mandy pulled her cap off and pushed it onto Clover's head. Clover looked over at her in surprise as she pulled her green contacts out and dropped them to the floor. "Maybe I can distract them long enough for you to get on the plane."
"I thought you wanted to come with me." Clover replied sharply.
"Well nobody's going anywhere if they find us both. Now sit tight." Mandy pushed herself up and turned to walk away from Clover. She spotted Sam and Alex moving through the crowd toward their gate. Mandy made her way over to them, pushing through the crowd until she bumped into them both. "Oh gosh, I'm like, so sorry." She exclaimed.
Sam blinked in shock, staring at her. "Mandy!? What're you doing here, you were reported kidnapped!"
"Yeah, we were coming to rescue you..." Alex added more softly.
"Kidnapped? Psh, yeah right." Mandy rolled her eyes. "I've been out having fun ya know. Take what I want and forget everyone else."
"So you're responsible for the trail of crime running through Beverly Hills?" Sam smirked, crossing her arms over her chest. She looked Mandy up and down. "Including my clothes, that you're currently wearing, and my credit card!?" Alex put one hand on her shoulder to calm her down.
"All me baby, so go ahead, cuff me." Mandy held out her wrists, waiting for them to slap a pair of cuffs on her. The two girls stared at her strangely. "What are you waiting for?"
"What makes you think we have the power to arrest you?" Sam asked. Mandy froze, knowing she'd just given away her association with Clover. She shouldn't have known they were government agents if she hadn't run into her. Sam seemed to reach this conclusion as well. "Where is she Mandy?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Mandy crossed her arms over her chest defiantly. Finally she heard the loudspeaker announcing that the next flight to Lyrobia was beginning to board. Sam grabbed Mandy's shoulder roughly.
"This isn't a game Mandy, national security is at stake. Now where is she!?" Sam demanded through clenched teeth. Mandy turned her face away, stealing a glance at the line where Clover was already handing her ticket to the flight attendant.
Alex caught her glance and looked at the line, catching the last glimpse of Clover disappearing into the walkway. Mandy knew she'd seen, but Alex didn't say anything. She turned calmly back to watch Sam and Mandy, putting her hands behind her back.
"Damnit Mandy... fine, come on." Sam grabbed her and pulled her toward the exit. "We were assigned to find Clover, and if we have to take you in for interrogation to do that, we will. Alex, you search the rest of the airport in case Clover is hiding somewhere around here."
"Sure." Alex turned to walk further into the terminal, looking around idly. Mandy wasn't sure what was going on with the Latino girl and her silence. She obviously knew Clover was on the plane to Lyrobia, but Mandy guessed it was a good thing she wasn't saying anything. Either way, Mandy guessed she wouldn't get to experience any more spy stuff for a while.
TO BE CONTINUED
Mandy groaned as her stiff joints screamed in protest at her first movements in the morning. She rolled to her back and stretched them all out, causing a symphony of pops to run through her entire body. She whimpered and collapsed to the floor limply, staring up at the dingy ceiling. There was no doubt she wasn't much cleaner than this place now, after sleeping on the floor.
"Good morning sleeping beauty." Clover's voice welcomed her into consciousness. Mandy sat up stiffly, seeing Clover sitting against the wall on the other side of the shed right beside a hole in the wooden planks that comprised the walls. "You probably would've slept through a freaking hurricane wouldn't you?"
Mandy blushed slightly. "Well a girl needs her rest. And this isn't exactly the best place in the world to get it."
"Whatever. Give me my shirt back." Clover demanded. Mandy huffed and pulled Clover's black shirt off, throwing it to her. Clover stood up and pulled the shirt on, walking to one of the small windows and staring at the street beyond. "We have to get out of here. They already have Sam and Alex searching for us. We can't keep away from them for long in this confined space."
"Uh, hel-lo, first thing's first, I need something to wear." Mandy marched up behind Clover, who turned around. She looked down at Mandy's skin-tight violet one-piece bathing suit. "I can't exactly go walking around in the middle of the city dressed like this."
"What, is the great self-proclaimed Beauty Queen shy?" Clover smirked.
"No I'm not shy!" Mandy shouted back, red-faced. "But it'll seriously draw attention to us to have this model of perfection walking around barely covered." Mandy gestured grandly to her own body. Clover looked down at her body again, with a hint of a blush creeping across her cheeks before she looked up into Mandy's eyes again.
"Deal with it. We need to get to the airport as quickly as possible." Clover retorted, grabbing her hand and pulling her to the door of the shed. Mandy blinked in surprise.
"Airport? Where are we going?" Mandy asked.
"WOOHP is international, but at the moment they're probably sure I'll stay here in the U.S. If we leave we'll buy ourselves some time to come up with a way to find out who did whatever they think I did." Clover replied simply. Mandy smirked as Clover pulled her outside. She jerked her hand away from the blond girl, drawing an irritated glare.
"So answer me this Miss Spy-Genius. Just how do you plan to buy the plane tickets? Do you have a 'WOOP' credit card or something handy? And even if we did get off the ground, where would we go?" Mandy demanded.
"One, I've made friends in the time I've been with WOOHP who I'm sure will help me. Two, we're going to pick up some money on the way. Now come on, the longer we stay here the better the chance of being caught." Clover turned to head toward the sidewalk, with Mandy following close behind her. They emerged onto the sidewalk together, walking side-by-side. "Act natural, and we should get there just fine."
In truth, Mandy was a bit self-conscious to be walking around like this. She was hardly ashamed of her body, but it was still disconcerting to be practically on display. It was a bit exciting, but still disconcerting. She caught several guys staring at her, however much they tried not to. Even a few women wound up watching her walk past them. It was exhilarating really...
"Shit! Hide!" Clover dragged Mandy into a nearby building, yanking her through the door. Mandy hid behind the wall and looked through the window to see Sam and Alex walking down the street, looking like they were simply on their way to school. But when they passed by the door, their piercing gazes betrayed their otherwise relaxed bodies.
They waited until the two girls passed before Clover sighed and wiped her forehead in relief. "That was a close one..." Suddenly the sound of someone clearing their throat pulled their attention away from the door. They now saw they'd lunged into a rather fancy looking diner, and a man in a freshly pressed uniform and name tag was glaring down at them. He jerked his thumb toward a sign that said 'No shirt, no shoes, no service.'
Mandy looked down at her bare feet and wiggled her toes. Not only were they bare, but they were quite dirty from the night in the shed. She grinned sheepishly up at the tall man. "You girls are going to have to leave." The man told them in a gruff tone.
"Hey, no trouble, we're leavin'." Clover turned to leave, but Mandy stomped up to the man with a frown on her face. "Mandy?"
"Now look here Jim!" Mandy said, reading the name from his nametag. "I had a reservation here booked months ago! It just so happens that I just got done with my synchronized swimming tryouts, when I fell in a ditch! And now you want to throw me out for not having a pair of shoes!?" Mandy was screaming at the top of her lungs. Almost every person in the restaurant had turned to watch the display. "Screw you and your little diner here, I'm taking my high-class business elsewhere from now on!" She turned to march out of the diner, amid the sound of applause from the rest of the diners at her defiance.
Clover caught up to her a small ways down the sidewalk. "Okay, what the Hell was THAT?" She demanded.
"Nobody throws me out of anywhere, I walk out." Mandy replied with a calmness that was the complete opposite of the fury she'd displayed in the building. "I can't let some muscle head brute look like he has the better of me, can I?" Mandy smirked. Clover stared at her with something close to admiration in her eyes. "So where are we heading exactly?"
"Sam's house." Clover replied. Mandy stopped walking, looking at the blond girl like she'd gone insane.
"I thought we were AVOIDING Sam and Alex?"
"We are, but we can use Sam's credit card to get out of this country without giving away who used it. I even know all of her information." Clover pointed out as they left the heavily populated section of the town, out into the more expensive areas where the four girls lived.
"Wow, that's totally cold and ruthless." Mandy said admirably.
"Hey, desperate times and all that." Clover replied. They walked down the sidewalk, ducking into bushes a few times to avoid patrolling WOOHP agents (much to Mandy's dismay, since her bathing suit provided no protection from thorns). Finally Sam's mansion loomed in the distance, standing out over the tree line but still not looking half as impressive as Mandy's had been before becoming a battlefield.
Clover walked up to the front door and pulled out her credit card, sliding it in the crack in the door and pushing the bar into the it so she could push the door open. Mandy stared at Clover until she finally explained. "I told you I'm a spy, I've gotta be able to get into anywhere."
"Remind me to get a better burglar alarm when my house is rebuilt." Mandy replied. They made their way through the mansion to Sam's bedroom, where Clover set about ransacking every drawer she could find. Mandy made her way to the closet and pulled the doors open, finding a large selection of clothing hanging from the racks.
"As long as we're busy taking what doesn't belong to us." Mandy pushed her swimsuit off and kicked it across the room before digging into the clothing in the closet. When she emerged she was wearing a pair of dark green-tinted denim jeans, with a brick-red t-shirt underneath a deep violet vest with a matching belt around her waist. She was wearing plain white socks and a pair of black tennis shoes on her feet. For good measure, she grabbed a violet baseball cap from the top shelf and slipped it on. "Tell Sam to get a better wardrobe."
"If you're done playing dress up, I found the credit card." Clover held up the mentioned card. So they turned to leave, heading for the front door. Both froze as the top of the stairs when they heard a voice from downstairs.
"That's odd... why is the door open?" The voice asked.
"It's Sam's mom..." Clover hissed. They slid back against the wall as the front door closed and a pair of footsteps moved toward the stairs.
"Samantha? Honey?" The footsteps moved up the stairs toward the second story, where Clover and Mandy were still hiding. Clover grabbed Mandy and pulled her into the closest bedroom they could find, pushing the door shut as silently as possible and leaning against it.
"We need a way out without being seen." Clover hissed.
"Jumping out the window worked last night, let's do that again." Mandy smirked sarcastically, but Clover's eyes lit up. "Oh nonononono."
"Just shut up and come on." Clover ran to the window and pushed it open, looking down. Mandy's mansion was bigger, but this window looked out over the front porch rather than the grass-covered yard. It would be a Hell of an impact if they weren't careful. "Hurry." Clover slipped out the window, holding tightly onto the windowsill. When she was dangling, she let go and fell to the ground, rolling to her back.
Mandy watched her climb to her feet. "Come on, I'll catch you!" Clover yelled up. Mandy gulped and slid one leg over the windowsill, slowly sliding herself outside. Suddenly the bedroom door opened, and she found herself staring at an older, brown-haired woman with a shocked expression on her face. A scream erupted from her throat, startling Mandy.
Mandy screamed as she fell backward out the window, flailing for anything she could find. Suddenly she slammed into something near the ground, which collapsed under her weight, sending her and Clover both sprawling out over the porch. "God you're heavier than you look..." Clover growled.
"I am not!" Mandy retorted. They both shot up when the front door opened and the woman rushed out after them.
"Forget it! Come on!" Clover jumped to her feet and took off down the sidewalk, with Mandy running right behind her. They outdistanced the older woman handily, disappearing into one of the backyards of a mansion on the way. They leaned against the back of the mansion to catch their breath.
"Why does it feel like we really ARE criminals?" Mandy asked breathlessly.
Clover rolled her eyes and pulled out the credit card she'd taken from Sam's room. "I guess technically we are, but I'm sure Sam will understand after we find out who's trying to frame me."
"How are we supposed to find out who framed you from another country?" Mandy asked curiously.
"I told you, we need time to regroup and figure out a plan." Clover replied. Mandy looked at her strangely, but Clover just shook her head. "Trust me. Now we just have to get to the airport."
"And how do we do that? It's a little further away than Sam's house." Mandy smirked.
"We get a ride." Clover crept around the side of the mansion. Mandy followed her, finding her at the front eyeing the garage on the other side of the mansion.
"You want to steal a car? Why don't we just hand a sign around our necks that says 'lock us up forever!'" Mandy asked.
"You don't have to come you know." Clover turned to glare at her. "They're after me not you. You can walk into their arms and go back home. They might interrogate you for a while, but they'll probably let you go." Mandy stared at her, realizing she was right. There was no reason for Mandy to go through all of this. She could walk away right here and let Clover go on her merry way.
Then again, she was wearing clothes she stole from Sam's bedroom. At the very least she could be charged with burglary, and that was the last thing she needed. Plus she wanted to see this through. She was intrigued to experience this 'spy life' Clover was pulling her into. "Nah... let's get ourselves some wheels."
Clover grinned and gave her a thumbs up before creeping to the front door of the mansion they were hiding behind. Clover slid her credit card into the door again and pried it open, creeping inside. Mandy followed behind her as they crept toward the inside garage door, passing by everything else in the house even though it all looked very expensive.
They made their way into the garage, and Clover reached over to slam her hand on the button that would open the door. The large metal sheet lifted off the ground, letting the sunlight stream in on a row of four cars, all sleek convertible low-riders that any teen girl in her right mind would die to ride in. Clover smirked and looked at Mandy. "Well, take a pick."
"Let's take this one." Mandy approached the dark blue one with golden hubcaps. "It matches my outfit." She explained. She jumped into the passenger's seat while Clover got in the driver's side. She grabbed a nail file from her pocket and used it to pry off the keyhole, working with several wires until the vehicle roared to life.
"Are you sure you're a spy and not a career criminal?" Mandy asked.
"Pretty sure. The line can get blurry sometimes." Clover grinned as she pulled the car out of the garage and took off down the street toward the airport. Mandy leaned her head back and took her cap off, letting the wind whip through her luxurious, but still rather dirty, hair. The sun felt good on her skin, as the storm clouds had mostly faded away in the night.
Absently Clover reached down and turned on the radio with a tap of the dashboard. Instantly a news anchor came on. "-We repeat, if anyone has seen a Caucasian teenage girl with black back length hair, purple eyes, and a beauty mark on her cheek traveling with another Caucasian teenage girl with shoulder length blond hair and blue eyes, please call the police department immediately. The abduction took place last night at approximately 11:30 PM and there are signs that indicate physical violence was used, so extreme caution is advised."
"That's putting it mildly." Mandy stared at the radio. "They're trying to make it sound like you kidnapped me instead of them trying to kill us both." She looked over at Clover who just shrugged.
"Of course. If they told the truth they'd have to reveal WOOHP's existence." Clover smirked. "This could make things harder though... I figured WOOHP would keep this all on the down low. If they actively have local law enforcement and civilians looking for us they're gonna spot us within seconds when we try to get in the airport."
"So what are we supposed to do? Go to Canada?" Mandy smirked.
"No, we're still catching a plane. We'll just have to make some sacrifices." Mandy prodded her a few more times about just what that meant, but Clover wouldn't say anything. Finally they pulled into the parking lot of a small convenience store. "Stay here, I have to get some things." Mandy hunkered down while Clover went into the building.
Finally Clover emerged from the building again. It took Mandy a moment to see what she was carrying in her hand, but when she did she jumped out of the opposite side of the car. "Nuh-uh! You're not touching my hair!" Mandy backed away as Clover approached with the scissors.
"Do you want to get on that plane or not?" Clover asked simply. Mandy narrowed her eyes like a cornered lion, but Clover just walked around the car calmly. "Look, you have to cut mine too. Hell, I'll probably have to get a crew cut to change enough, do you want one of those?" Mandy finally let her guard down and shook her head. "Good. Now we can go find one more thing before we can make our transformations complete."
They climbed back into the car and drove down the street a little farther, where Clover entered a small eyeglass store and walked out with colored contact lenses. "Now, let's find a private place where we can start our magic." Clover smirked, taking them through the parking lot and parking them between two of the stores.
"Turn around." Clover said, turning toward Mandy with the scissors in one hand. Mandy gulped and turned in her seat to give Clover access to her hair, pulling her cap off. She cringed when she heard the first snip, and watched one of her beautiful dark hairs float away on the breeze from behind her. Clover's hands moved her head to various angles with firm yet gentle nudges and touches, as she cut great chunks of her hair and let it fall onto the leather seats.
Mandy was starting to think that Clover's ministrations felt kind of pleasant when Clover spoke. "Done." Mandy opened her eyes and bent down to look in the passenger's side rear-view mirror. Her hair was cut short all around, though the back still hung down to her chin level, her bangs only hung down to the middle of her forehead. "Nobody'll ever recognize you."
"Yippee..." Mandy muttered.
"Now come on, your turn... and be gentle." Clover smirked. Mandy took the scissors and waited for Clover to turn away from her before cutting into her golden strands like Freddy Krueger on a blood binge. Golden hairs flew every which way until she had it down to an inch on every side.
"Done." Mandy smirked. Clover leaned down to look in her mirror, letting out a deep sigh and running one hand across her almost bald head.
"You could have left SOME of it up there..." Clover wailed miserably.
"Hey, we both have to make sacrifices you said." Mandy smirked as she pulled her hair up to the top of her head and slid the cap on, hiding most of it underneath. "Now let's get going, as you said, the longer we sit around the better the chances of us getting caught."
Clover sighed and started the car again, pulling out of the alley and taking off down the street again. The sun was beginning to move down toward the horizon when they finally pulled into the airport parking lot after dodging around traffic that comprised tourists, travelers, and more patrolling WOOHP agents. There seemed to be more of them than ever hanging around the airport.
"Think they know we're coming?" Mandy asked nervously.
"No, but they probably don't want us going anywhere." Clover reached into her pocket and pulled out the contacts she'd purchased earlier. "Time to test those grand acting skills of yours." Clover smirked. Mandy took her green contacts and put them in carefully, with Clover inserting her brown ones. "Okay, come on." They calmly left the car and walked into the airport.
It was bustling with activity as the winter holidays approached and tourists flooded into the state to catch the last warm rays of the fall, or left to seek shelter at home. Clover and Mandy maneuvered through the crowd, keeping close to each other as they made their way up to the ticket counter and doing their best to blend in. The clerk looked up as they approached.
"Hey, are there any flights leaving for Lyrobia any time soon?" Clover asked. The clerk raised one eyebrow, staring at her with a gaze that just screamed 'fruitcake'. "I'm on a tour of every country in the world... Lyrobia's my next stop."
The clerk shrugged and looked down at the computer. "You're lucky. It's leaving in three hours."
"I'll take two tickets." Clover replied eagerly.
"Where is Lyrobia?" Mandy asked curiously. "And why would we want to go there?"
"Trust me. The queen there owes me a favor for saving her country and her life." Clover replied softly so that the clerk wouldn't hear. "Hopefully she'll remember me and help us out."
Mandy nodded and leaned against the counter, looking around while Clover went through with the transaction using Sam's credit card. She kept her head down, just barely looking under the cap to keep most of her face hidden. She could see footage of herself and Clover from various home movies playing on a few of the TV screens scattered throughout the airport.
When Clover got their tickets they made their way through the airport to the appropriate terminal and sat down to wait. Clover clutched the tickets in her palm, looking around as if afraid she would be recognized at any moment. Mandy kept her face down, hiding it behind the bill of her violet cap. She looked over at Clover.
"You've done things like this a million times before as a spy right? Sneaking out of countries that are hunting you down with everything they have?" Mandy asked softly.
"Nope... first for me." Clover replied with a nervous smile. Her brown eyes and extremely short hair did make her look like a wholly different person. But still, it made Mandy nervous that one of them would be recognized. Particularly if anyone realized Mandy's eyes were actually purple. It was a rare color in this country, and only her sister shared them...
"You sure you want to come with me Mandy?" Clover asked softly, leaning over in her seat. Mandy looked over at her again under the bill of her cap, staring into Clover's deep brown orbs. "Once we get out of here there might be no coming back for a long time. Family, friends, you won't be able to see any of them until we get this mess sorted out."
"My family will be just fine without me." Mandy replied truthfully. She neglected to mention that she had no real friends to speak of. Secrecy and distance was a part of her life, almost as much as it now seemed it had been a part of Clover's. Clover nodded and leaned back in her seat, lowering her head to her chest to wait for their flight.
Time passed in a crawl when one was waiting for something. It was even truer when someone was trying to rush. It felt like they'd been sitting there for days, watching the sun slowly move down toward the horizon. The planes came and went in an endless procession, but still the call didn't come for their flight to begin boarding.
"Damnit!" Mandy heard Clover hiss from the seat beside hers. Mandy sat up, just realizing she'd been dozing off. "Don't move too much. I just saw Sam and Alex coming this way." Mandy's heart nearly beat out of her chest. Trapped with nowhere to go... maybe she could distract Sam and Alex long enough to let Clover slip onto the plane?
"Clover, you go on ahead without me." Mandy pulled her cap off and pushed it onto Clover's head. Clover looked over at her in surprise as she pulled her green contacts out and dropped them to the floor. "Maybe I can distract them long enough for you to get on the plane."
"I thought you wanted to come with me." Clover replied sharply.
"Well nobody's going anywhere if they find us both. Now sit tight." Mandy pushed herself up and turned to walk away from Clover. She spotted Sam and Alex moving through the crowd toward their gate. Mandy made her way over to them, pushing through the crowd until she bumped into them both. "Oh gosh, I'm like, so sorry." She exclaimed.
Sam blinked in shock, staring at her. "Mandy!? What're you doing here, you were reported kidnapped!"
"Yeah, we were coming to rescue you..." Alex added more softly.
"Kidnapped? Psh, yeah right." Mandy rolled her eyes. "I've been out having fun ya know. Take what I want and forget everyone else."
"So you're responsible for the trail of crime running through Beverly Hills?" Sam smirked, crossing her arms over her chest. She looked Mandy up and down. "Including my clothes, that you're currently wearing, and my credit card!?" Alex put one hand on her shoulder to calm her down.
"All me baby, so go ahead, cuff me." Mandy held out her wrists, waiting for them to slap a pair of cuffs on her. The two girls stared at her strangely. "What are you waiting for?"
"What makes you think we have the power to arrest you?" Sam asked. Mandy froze, knowing she'd just given away her association with Clover. She shouldn't have known they were government agents if she hadn't run into her. Sam seemed to reach this conclusion as well. "Where is she Mandy?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Mandy crossed her arms over her chest defiantly. Finally she heard the loudspeaker announcing that the next flight to Lyrobia was beginning to board. Sam grabbed Mandy's shoulder roughly.
"This isn't a game Mandy, national security is at stake. Now where is she!?" Sam demanded through clenched teeth. Mandy turned her face away, stealing a glance at the line where Clover was already handing her ticket to the flight attendant.
Alex caught her glance and looked at the line, catching the last glimpse of Clover disappearing into the walkway. Mandy knew she'd seen, but Alex didn't say anything. She turned calmly back to watch Sam and Mandy, putting her hands behind her back.
"Damnit Mandy... fine, come on." Sam grabbed her and pulled her toward the exit. "We were assigned to find Clover, and if we have to take you in for interrogation to do that, we will. Alex, you search the rest of the airport in case Clover is hiding somewhere around here."
"Sure." Alex turned to walk further into the terminal, looking around idly. Mandy wasn't sure what was going on with the Latino girl and her silence. She obviously knew Clover was on the plane to Lyrobia, but Mandy guessed it was a good thing she wasn't saying anything. Either way, Mandy guessed she wouldn't get to experience any more spy stuff for a while.
TO BE CONTINUED