.O Let the Games Begin O.

Alyson POV

"What is he doing here?" I demanded.

Clara shrugged and walked to the little hut where the zoo worker was selling bird food. We were in the 'feed the birds' gazebo. Dozens of multicolored, feathered aves were flapping, squawking, and pecking all around Clara, me, and the unexpected male standing in the middle of the gazebo.

"Aw, come on, Ally, you're not happy to see me?" he asked.

I rolled my eyes. "Where's my brother, Newman?"

Grant crossed his arms. "I don't know, and I really don't care at the moment."

"Not the answer I want at the moment."

He snorted. "Fine. Last time I saw him, I was yelling at him for not trying to find you." Grant shooed a bird away from his head. Around us, Clara had begun to chase birds everywhere, throwing the bird seed.

"Then why- and how- did you find us?" I asked, trying not to chuckle at my cousin.

Grant waved his arm around his head to get another little bird away from his ear. "The others were in the main room, discussing whatever they were going to do. I saw Clara climb up and stick a note to the window." He shrugged. "I simply followed her down and asked if I could go with her."

Typical.

I reminded myself that I couldn't get upset with Clara for letting an old friend tag along. It wouldn't get me anywhere. "So Zach has no idea where you are?"

"Nope." He seemed pretty pleased at that.

I thought it over. We had heard the fight, so I knew Grant wasn't lying about that. I had planned on him leaving Zach too, just not this soon. Though, Grant being with us would be more useful than him sticking with my brother any longer. I smirked. Already Zachy's world was becoming a battlefield. His best friend had just left him. Just like he had left me. This was perfect. My plan was working better than I thought. Now I just had to break that sweet couple dynamic he had going for him, and my first act of revenge would be complete. Zach would be alone. Then we could focus on his dear Cammie. I had unfinished business with that little- whoa, I reminded myself, one game at a time. I didn't need to get ahead of myself. Morgan still didn't know enough, and she still trusted Zachy too much. It wasn't little Cammie's turn to play yet, but it was coming soon.

"Alright, Grant, welcome back." I smiled.

"You're letting me stay? Just like that?" His eyebrows rose. Apparently, he hadn't thought I would.

I shrugged. "Why not? Just don't get in my way of messing with my brother." I narrowed my eyes. "You start making problems for me, and your stay with us becomes less friendly." I sealed the threat with a sweet smile.

Grant was unfazed. He just rolled his eyes. "Don't worry. I want Zach to learn a lesson as much as you do." A bird landed on his shoulder and started pecking at his ear. Before he could shoo it away, Clara quickly ran over with her cup of bird seed and preceded to toss it at the bird and, by extension, all over Grant. I couldn't help the laugh that bubbled up.

"Ew! Ow! Clara!"

"Grant?" A new voice called from behind me.

"Evelyn!"

Eva ran past me and stood a few feet from Grant to avoid the bird seed Clara was throwing. Though, it seemed she wanted to get closer. I rolled my eyes. 'We weren't even together' my butt.

"What are you doing here?" Eva asked. There was a spark in her eyes that I rarely got to see. It was nice to know my best friend could still get excited about something that wasn't going to end in bloodshed. Grant made her happy- he was one of the only things that could make her happy, even if it was fleeting. I was always thrilled, if not a little disgusted at when they could work together when we were younger. It meant I didn't have to worry about Clara and Eva killing each other for a while.

Grant shrugged, shaking the seed out of his hair. "Oh, you know, I was in town and-" he was cut off by the swift punch to the gut Evelyn executed. "Ow! What was that for?"

I snorted, a smile working its way into my lips. "Do you really need to ask? There's always something to punch you for, remember?"

Grant groaned, rubbing his side. "Maybe I was a little crazy for missing you guys."

Evelyn grinned wickedly. "Too late. You're with us now."

I nodded. "Speaking of which, Grant, I have a job for you."

He looked up at me, a spark in his eyes. "Anything."

Cammie POV

At one forty-five, Zach, Bex and I were at the front gate of the city zoo. It seemed strange to think less than forty-eight hours ago the girls and I were tailing Zach and the guys, trying to figure out what they knew. Now, we knew more than we had ever imagined.

"Why don't we just go in now?" Bex asked, tapping her foot.

Zach shook his head. "They said two. Trust me, we want to follow their instructions at this point in the game."

I touched his arm. "You keep talking about 'the game', do you mean the 'hide and seek' or something else?"

Zach looked around like he was making sure we were alone. I noticed he was biting his lip; I had never seen him do that before. "Alyson has been known to have a bit of a, um, intense sense of humor."

I raised my eyebrows.

"I mean, this is all a game to her. This whole 'revenge' thing. She likes messing with people- mind games. That's why she left the messages and went after Bianca. She knew what would mess with me, and what would mess with you." He shook his head. "She's always been extreme."

I nodded. I'd had my share of mind games, and I really wasn't in the mood to play anymore. Then I remembered the strange flashes that I had two days ago. I hadn't given them much thought with everything else that had been going on, but now that I remembered them, I realized I probably should tell Zach about them. Seeing things was never good, and if his sister was a master of mind games, who knew what it meant. Then there was the fact she had said it was nice to see me again, when we finally found her at Nightshade. Maybe she had just meant she had seen me when Zach would sneak out to see me- or when we went to Blackthorne. Maybe that was just a trick she was playing to get me to question things like this.

Either way, I needed to know what I had been seeing. Now that I thought about it, the experience reminded me of when I slowly gathered a few bits of the memories Catherine had stolen from me. Could they be memories? If they were memories, what was I remembering? How was I even supposed to know if they were memories? Was I blowing this entire thing out of proportion?

"That's-" My response was cut short by Macey's voice in our ears. She had been checking the perimeter, while Jonas and Liz set up the communications and cameras.

"Okay, folks, we have five minutes until two pm. Liz and Jonas have successfully hacked into the security system, and there doesn't seem to be anything out of place anywhere in the zoo."

We nodded. Then we remembered she was on the other side of the zoo.

"Alright. Thanks, Peacock. Meet us at the gift shop."

"Will do."

Just then, our watches beeped, indicating that it was now exactly two pm. My questions and thoughts about the visions could wait until after we found Alyson. I looked at Zach. His face was slipping into a firm mask of determination and apprehension.

"You ready?"

He nodded and turned to the entrance. I barely heard the soft whisper. "Let the games begin, Ally."

We decided to split up, much to Zach's disagreement. He wanted me to stay with him, but we could cover more ground separated. I could take care of myself. I didn't need a bodyguard, and maybe I didn't want to admit that there was a part of me that wanted to find and talk to Alyson before Zach found her.

Wandering around the zoo thirty minutes later, with my friends' voices in my ear, it almost felt like one of our CoveOps lessons. But one look at the tiger display reminded me this was not a lesson. I was not a student. This was real. The stakes were real. And the little, black haired girl holding a paper with my name written in bold, red letters on it, in front of the large, sleeping cat, was very real.

I had two options. Wait and call for backup or move ahead and see what games Clara had in store.

Zach had always said I was reckless.

Clara didn't move as I made my way to her. She didn't even acknowledge me when I stepped into the open next to her. Scanning our surroundings, I looked for any sign of the other girls. Nothing. I bit my lip, wondering what I was supposed to do. There had to be a trick here somewhere. I cleared my throat. No response. Confused, I stepped closer to Zach's cousin. "Clara?"

Finally, she turned and looked at me, her expression almost startled, like she had barely realized I was there. She smiled. It was a little disturbing. The expression was so childlike, I almost felt the urge to smile back and give her a hug.

"Sorry, Cam, she retreated back to a kid earlier. Ally was disappointed; She had been doing so well." I whipped around to see the last person I expected at the time.

"Grant? What are you doing here?" He hadn't shown up at the hotel earlier, and we had checked to make sure he wasn't tailing us as we walked to the zoo. Where had he come from? Even more important. Why was he here? Jonas had said Zach and he had a fight after they left last night.

Grant smiled. Glancing around again, I was shocked to see that Clara had disappeared. I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I took a step back and looked back at Grant. Something wasn't right.

"Grant," I made sure to keep my voice even, showing no discomfort, "where's Alyson?"

A shrug is all I got in response. Grant turned on his heal and walked away into the crowd. I bit my lip. I could see the bait for what it was. The question was, was I prepared to bite? Even if it was Grant, he had fought with Zach, then disappeared. Plus, this had trap written on it in neon letters; but it was also the only lead we had. I wanted to know more about Alyson. I wanted to know exactly why she was so mad. Why had she brought all of us into this if it was only meant for me and Zach? The more I thought of everything I had learned, the more questions I had. Maybe this was a way to end that vicious cycle.

"Chameleon? Status?" The voice in my ear was Zach's. I bit my lip for the who-knows-how-many-times that day. He was worried, that I understood, but I didn't need him fussing over me every minute of the day. I could handle myself.

"Cam?"

"The rest of that better be '-eleon'," I mused.

He wasn't biting. "Have you found anything?"

There it was. The moment of truth.

"No."

Or... the moment of lies.

Grant was already disappearing into the crowds of people. If I told anything to Zach, he would demand I wait; then the opportunity would be gone. I couldn't waste time, so I didn't; I simply turned and did what I did best.

I disappeared.

Following Grant led me across the west side of the zoo, through two different shops, and finally... behind the restricted section of the reptile and insect house.

Big surprise.

It was strange seeing the 'behind the scenes' of the zoo displays. I had expected it to be full of animal foods or other materials to care for the strange creatures in the displays. Instead, I found myself wandering spotless hallways, lined with a few steel drawers and a door every fifty feet or so. The florescent lighting against the jungle wallpaper and steel made for an interesting sight, and I wasn't sure how people worked in this place without getting a headache like the one that was beginning to blossom behind my eyes. Speaking of which, I hadn't seen any workers, but I couldn't jump to conclusions about that.

By now, of course, I knew that Grant was aware to the fact I was twenty feet behind him. I wasn't worried. Grant's actions might have had me on high guard, but I knew he wouldn't hurt me. The girls he was probably leading me to however, I wasn't so sure about.

After a while of wandering the maze of hallways, Grant finally turned and opened a door. He looked at me and smiled. "Ladies first." He swept his arm towards the door dramatically. I paused.

Now, I wasn't daunted by the prospect of walking into the room, even though I had no idea what waited for me inside. No, I was, however, daunted a little by the soft voice that floated through the open door towards me.

"- but that wouldn't be as fun. I want to let the game last longer than that. It's much more fun to watch them squirm."

I hesitated, glancing between Grant and the door, mentally kicking myself for doing so.

"I promise she won't bite... this time." Grant's voice was amused, but the way he stood implied he wasn't above forcing me inside the room. What exactly was his motive of doing this? Now wasn't a good time to wonder if I should have told Zach and the others where I was going. It also was a bad time to realize my comms was filled with nothing but static. How had I let that go unnoticed?

Squaring my shoulders, I walked inside the room. It was small. There were more drawers lining the walls, and a metal table against the left wall. A counter towards the back of the room had a few random tools like a magnifying glass, a small knife, and some bottles. The flowery garden wallpaper didn't make the place seem any less like a lab. I wondered what this room was used for.

Grant closed the door behind us. The two girls talking didn't look up. Evelyn was leaning against the right wall between two shelves, so all I could see of her was her boots and hands that were currently twirling a knife. Alyson was sitting on the table on the left side of the room leaning back on one arm and waving the other as she explained why she thought letting whatever game she was playing last longer was so much fun. I didn't know what to do. Grant was just smirking next to me as the girls talked.

"You see? She's much more uncomfortable the longer we talk." Alyson grinned.

"But I don't see why we need to do anything extra if she's already out of wit."

I think my headache slowed my brain, at least that's my excuse for why it took me so long to realize they were talking about playing with my head.

"Her wit is perfectly in tact, thank you very much." Or at least I could pretend it was.

Alyson finally looked up at me, grinning. "She speaks!"

There were two snorts, one from behind me, the other against the wall. Eva pushed off the wall and strode to Grant, a look of boredom on her features. "I don't think I can take a fake happy Alyson right now," she sighed. "Help me pick some pockets?"

"Do I have a choice?" Grant's voice was flat, but there was a gleam in his eyes that told me he was amused by the blonde girl holding the tip of her blade against his chest.

"Do you want one?" She countered, tilting her head.

"Touche."

Then they were gone, and I was left alone with Zach's sister, who may or may not want to kill me, and my comms was down.

Fantastic.

I turned back to Alyson. She looked so normal, it was disturbing. There was nothing special about her black t-shirt and dark jeans or sneakers. Nothing notable about her hair that was pulled into a pony tail, besides its bright red color. Though I did note the fact she was still wearing gloves. Sleek, tight, black gloves. They went a little past her wrist. I tried to imagine why someone would wear gloves like that, besides for a fashion statement which I doubted was the reason.

Zach's sister hopped off the table and smirked. "Care to take a seat, Cameron?" Her face was smiling, but her voice told me there was only so long she could keep up the happy girl charade. Already her eyes were slipping into a rage I could tell she was fighting to keep in check. That was when I noticed the knife sticking out of her boot.

Why had I thought this was a good idea?

"You know, it's rude not to answer someone when they ask you something. Or did they not teach you that at your genius spy school?" She asked as she leaned back against the wall opposite of the table, using her left arm to support herself.

Taking a deep- but not obvious- breath, I shrugged, deciding not to let any games she wanted to play get to me. I walked over and leaned against the table, making sure I was always facing the red-head. "How long ago did you hurt your arm?"

Alyson blinked. I took pride in the fact I had caught her off guard, even if it was only a simple question.

"Excuse me?"

"Your right arm- or wrist if you want to be specific- how long ago did you injure it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Morgan."

I smiled. "You used your left arm when you leaned against the wall, even though the right would be more practical, and when you were sitting on this table, you were leaning on your left arm even though your right handed."

If looks could kill, I would have been six feet under. Of course, that didn't stop me from digging my own grave deeper.

Alyson glared as I leaned forward ever so slightly and smirked. "That's what they taught me at my genius spy school." I knew I wasn't there to get my self killed, but I couldn't help the need to prove I wasn't someone Alyson could just play with. Whether I was proving it to Alyson or myself, I wasn't sure. Either way, I knew I was playing a dangerous game. I only hoped Zach's sister didn't have a better hand than me.

It took a few seconds, but Alyson's eyes lost their murderous fire and became green ice. The rest of her features, however, became controlled and emotionless. She was fighting to gain control again. Holding out her right hand, she shrugged. "I broke it over a year ago. It doesn't bother me much anymore, only if I put a lot of pressure on it. I've gotten into the habit of using my left arm." She looked up at me and tilted her head slightly. "It's funny you ask that, Cameron."

I knew there was only so long this could continue. Soon, either I would ask about Zach- which I desperately wanted to do- or she would snap. Or maybe she would snap when I asked about Zach. Either way, I wanted to keep her talking and get to know as much about her as possible until one of those things took place. Continuing the civil act, I raised my eyebrows. "Why's that, Alyson?"

Her emotionless mask slipped, revealing controlled anger, resentment, and a smug smirk. "Because you're the one who broke it."

My brain went into overdrive. I was the one who broke it? How could I have broken it? She was lying. She had to be. I said as much to the smirking girl across from me.

Her smirk only widened into a wicked grin. "Oh, no, I'm not lying, Cameron." She shrugged. "Of course, how would you know? You don't remember meeting me in Rome, do you?"

.oOo.