Chapter 19

Rachel's POV

So I guess that was it. Done. Over. Two years down the drain.

Now it's the next day and I'm walking to school by myself. Kuki offered to keep me company but I really just want to be by myself.

I spotted Fanny on the front gate of our school. I was about to go up to her and give her a nice slap across the face but I noticed she was yelling at someone. It took me only a while to figure out it was Hoagie, who seemed to be yelling back at her with the same amount of anger and then a twinge of guilt hit me right in the stomach. Through the corner of my eye I noticed Patton who was sitting on one of the steps outside the main door with his head in his hands, focusing hard on a spot on the floor. I eyed him loathingly but after a while I could feel my expression soften.

I shook my head and pushed my hair back. Fanny seemed done yelling with Hoagie and walked past Patton. He watched her go up the stairs and disappear through the doors. After a while he followed suit.

My mind was racing of images of Patton and Fanny together and I couldn't erase them no matter how I tried. I let a tear fall down my face before turning on my heel and running away from the school.

Events of the past week ran through my mind over and over again like a never-ending train, causing me to run and cry harder.

I stopped suddenly when I head a voice whisper my name.

"Hello?" I asked, my voice quivering from all the crying.

"Hello Numbuh 362-T." A voice unknown to me called out. I couldn't see who owned it so I continued to turn around to try and find it. "We have been waiting for you."

"Waiting for me?" I repeated. "What are you-"

But I couldn't finish because the next thing I knew I felt a hard bang against the back of my head, causing me to fall head on to concrete floor. I groaned wearily as everything faded to black.

"Hey wake up."

A voice kept saying to me. I blinked my eyes a few time before fully opening them. A girl with red long red hair hovered over me. I instantly recognized her as the girl who helped out 2 months ago at the carnival.

"Numbuh 234." I said pushing my upper body up, leaning onto my elbows. The back of my head started throbbing so I held my hand up to it rubbing it lightly.

"That's me." She said, smiling.

"What are you doing here? Where am I anyway?" I asked scanning my surroundings. The walls were gray and musty.

"Father's prison thingy. While me and my team were fighting him I said something that got him mad, ended up catching me and throwing me in here so now I'm waiting for my team to come and rescue me."

I nodded briefly before it hit me.

"FATHER?!" I screamed.

"Isn't that what I just said?" Numbuh 234 said, taking her fingers out of her ears.

"Some one called?" Some one called out as a door that I hadn't noticed before slammed open and in the doorway stood none other than the shadowy figure of Father.

"What do you want with me?" I instantly asked. He answered with an evil chuckle. He walked menacingly towards me and leant down to my level, cupping my chin with a finger and a thumb. His pipe moved from side to side as he grinned threateningly.

"Oi let go of her!" Numbuh 234 screeched and charged towards Father. He stretched out his free hand and lit it on fire, blowing her back against the wall. She fell unconscious, her body lying on the floor.

"You know the difference between you teens and kids?" He asked me. He continued before I could answer. "You teenagers are weak."

My eyes went wide as I was trying to analyze what he was getting at.

"Sure you may be taller, smarter, quicker and stronger physically, but emotionally you're weak. Your hormones go haywire and you become too emotional. As supreme leader you should've known better than to get yourself in a relationship."

I didn't know what to say, except stare him down in the nastiest way possible.

"Well you've done it now. Like it or not I'm going to destroy the Kids Next Door as well as the Teens Next Door… and since it's filled with a bunch of teenagers it should be easy. So you're going to tell me where your headquarters is and we can get this over and done with quickly."

"I'll never tell you." I said sinisterly. Father lifted me up and threw me across the room. I landed hard on my stomach.

"You're going to tell me." He said before leaving and slamming the door hard. I lifted my self up and watched the door for a brief while, before rushing over to Numbuh 234 to wake her up.