Sorry it took so long!
They were able to make it five steps down the hallway (Derek carrying Chloe) before Kit's back up caught up with them. "Sorry," Tori smiled at the group of familiar looking men and women blocking their way. She let loose a stream of fireballs that had them all jumping back, pressing themselves against the wall and letting the teens shoulder through them.
"Crap." Derek cursed, holding Chloe gingerly in his arms as he tried not to jostle her with the speed of his running. Aliena, still on the verge of collapse, stumbled after him down the narrow hallway with Simon right behind her, else she needed his help. Tori took up the rear, firing binding spells behind her at the recovering Edison Group.
A gunshot echoed behind them.
They burst through a crowd of startled doctors in scrubs, ignoring the shouts called after them. Only a minute later they were slamming through the heavy doors, Derek ramming them open with his shoulder like a linebacker. "Go!" he bellowed over the screams of the people in the waiting room and the angry yells of the EG. All five of them made it out of the hospital in one piece and tore down the street, dodging the honking cars that screeched to a stop by a hairsbreadth.
The heavy pounding of footsteps behind them alerted them to the fact that they were still being pursued, not one of them daring to actually turn around. Derek ducked his head and shielded Chloe with his body, praying none of the flying bullets would hit them. He risked a glance over his shoulder and saw Simon and Tori continually tossing spells over their shoulders. Aliena was just trying to keep up without falling.
"This way!" he called to them, ducking down a side street. Obediently they followed him like a herd of horses or, perhaps more appropriately, a wolf pack.
He ducked around a parked car and almost tripped over the curb but managed to regain his balance. A man walking down the sidewalk with his cup of coffee jumped back to avoid the gaggle of teens racing towards him, sloshing droplets of brown over himself in his haste to get out of the way.
He whirled around a corner, never lessening his long stride. A movement in his arms made him glance down. To his relief Chloe's sky blue eyes were peering up at him, bleary with confusion. "Derek…?"
"Of course. You choose now to wake up," he muttered, though it felt like a great weight had been lifted off his chest knowing she was ok.
"What's happening? Why are you carrying me?" her words were slightly slurred but not incomprehensible. She wiggled in his arms a little, trying to peer around him. Her eyes bugged out as she saw Simon, Tori, and Aliena pounding after them, armed Edison Group members only several dozen yards behind.
"Stop that!" he scolded as he threaded around a parking meter. She obediently sank back into his embrace.
"What did I miss, Derek?" her voice was steely, all traces of sleep gone.
"Explain later," he couldn't waste valuable time talking.
Time ceased to exist as he barreled down the street, every so often having to check himself so he didn't pull too far ahead of his shorter-legged companions. Finally, someone panted, "Derek! They're gone!" Only then did he realize he hadn't heard a gunshot in a while.
He slowly jogged to a stop, instinctively ducking into a doorway for cover. "Everyone ok?" They converged around him, nodding shakily. Everyone was pale and panting, but no one seemed injured.
"Right. Now we need to find somewhere to hide." Derek looked to the others for agreement.
Chloe scowled, drawing the eyes of the other three to her as they noticed for the first time that she was awake. "No. Now we need to explain to Chloe what the hell is going on." Anger colored her words; she didn't like being out of the loop.
"Later." Derek repeated firmly before stepping from the doorway and setting off at a brisk walk down the street. Someone (probably Tori) groaned, but they all followed.
"At least put me down so I can walk," Chloe snapped, voice saturated with frustration.
"Can you stand?" Derek looked down at her still pale figure doubtfully.
She opened her mouth but then snapped it shut again, frowning. Chloe wasn't stupid- she knew she was in no position to be gallivanting down the street in search of shelter.
"How are you feeling Chloe?" Simon fell into step besides Derek so he could look down at her.
"Annoyed that no one is telling me anything. What happened?"
Instantly his face hardened and walls flew up behind his eyes. Without another word he dropped back a few steps to walk in silence.
CPOV (Finally. Sorry she was unconscious for so long.)
I didn't miss the broken expression that flashed across Simon's face in response to my innocent question. I watched as he slowed his pace to walk alone, kicking vehemently at a loose stone on the sidewalk. Pleadingly I glanced up at Derek, begging for a reason for Simon's withdrawal.
"Don't." He shook his head, giving me pleading puppy-dog eyes of his own. There was an odd note to his voice and I realized his expression was equally guarded. It was then that I knew with sickening certainty that somehow they had found out.
"I'm sorry." I breathed, not sure if he would be able to hear me or if I even wanted him to. His grip tightened on me but other than that he showed no response.
It was a silent walk to the nearest warehouse from then on, me silently brooding on how things could have fallen so completely apart in a span of twenty four hours and how it could have been all my fault.
The warehouse Derek had spotted in the distance was, unfortunately, not abandoned, so we were forced to retreat into the neighboring forest. It wasn't hard to find a clearing big enough for all of us to fall asleep in and potentially fight off attackers.
Gingerly Derek eased me onto a boulder so I could sit up, a feat that I must admit seemed daunting in my weak state. My whole body felt detached and dizzy, and though it was humiliating being carried by Derek while conscious, I knew it was necessary. I just had to suck up my pride, one injury too late.
Everyone else remained standing in a subtly defiant circle, even though they all looked exhausted (particularly Aliena). It was almost as if they were all poised for flight, still in "flee" mode.
Eventually Aliena whispered, "What happens now?"
Though it was an innocent enough question, the softness of her tone cushioning the blow even more, Simon's face darkened. "Well we can't keep looking for Da-Kit." he proved my suspicions correct.
"No." Derek grunted an agreement. "We shouldn't have wasted so much time before."
"Well now where do we go?" Tori swiped the back of her hand across her sweaty brow.
"Where can we go? Let's face it- there's nowhere to go! There's no one we can trust! No one who won't betray us!" Simon bellowed, waving his arms around in the air to accentuate his point. "We're as good as dead!"
"Simon-" I started, wanting to help ease the pain in his eyes, but Derek gave me a look that clearly said 'I'll handle this.' He grabbed Simon by the arm and propelled him several feet away into the forest, speaking to him in hushed tones. I watched from a distance as Simon shook his hand off and argued, though I couldn't hear what they were saying.
"You knew, didn't you?" I said at last, speaking to Tori.
Her eyes widened with shock for a moment then relaxed. "Yeah," she admitted. "But I didn't want to tell them."
"How?"
"Back at Andrew's house when I was searching his computer I found a series of messages from Kit to Andrew. Needless to say, they weren't all the most reassuring. But you knew too, didn't you?"
I nodded. "Liz told me. Like you, I didn't want to be the one to tell them. I really wish I had now, though. Maybe it would have been easier…"
She shook her head. "There's no way this could have been easier for them to hear."
"I know." I sighed. "Like when I thought Aunt Lauren was a traitor…"
"At least you only thought your Aunt was a traitor. My mom was a traitor." I remembered Tori would truly be able to empathize with Simon and Derek.
"My parents betrayed me too." Aliena spoke up softly. She sank down to the ground beside me. We sat in silence for a few moments, drawing comfort from our shared pain. Derek and Simon were still arguing.
With each passing second I felt my strength flowing back into me, so when Simon turned towards the forest I was able to jump to my feet along with the rest of them. We needn't have worried; Derek lunged forward to grab his wrist. Another whispered argument ensued, us three girls watching with baited breath, not daring to approach.
After a tense moment Derek gave a curt nod and released his grip on his brother's arm, letting Simon melt away into the forest.
Head hanging he walked back to us. "Where's he going?" Tori accused as soon as he was within earshot.
"For some alone time." Derek shrugged.
"By himself?" Tori looked skeptical.
"Yes, hence alone time."
"But those guys could still be out there…"Aliena looked at the spot where Simon had disappeared from view.
"Right now he needs it. I trust him to be able to take care of himself." Derek said confidently, though I could see the anxiety masked behind his green eyes.
"Yeah, well I don't. His spells are crap." Without another word Tori stalked off after him.
"Should we stop her?" I watched her go doubtfully. I couldn't blame Simon for wanting to be alone right now and wasn't sure how he'd take Tori's appearance.
Derek paused then shook his head. "No. She understands from her own experience with her mom. It might be good for him to talk to her." He had a point.
Aliena, looking uncomfortable, said after a moment, "I'll see if they need more help." A minute later she was gone too, leaving me alone with Derek.
"And then there were two." he gave a low throaty chuckle, though it lacked the usual enthusiasm.
"Everyone's worried about Simon," I walked over to him and threaded his fingers through my own. "But what about you? Are you ok?"
"I should be asking you that. You are the one who almost died this morning." he pointed out.
"Yeah," I let out a heavy breath. "And I'm really, really sorry about that."
"I'm not mad." He promised, leaning down to give me a light kiss on the lips. I leaned back against him, drawing strength from his stable presence.
"What are we going to do now, Derek?" I sighed. "We can't keep looking for Kit. Do you still want to try and find May?"
He didn't say anything for such a long time I turned to see if he was going to answer. His green eyes were staring into the distance and his brow was furrowed slightly, deep in thought. At last he said, "I don't think so. I'm worried she might not be safe to contact anymore. Kit is the one who told me to keep in touch with her. He would know we might go there."
"You're probably right," I sighed again, wishing we still had a goal, any goal, to pursue, no matter how hopeless. "But what can we do then?"
"I wish I could propose we all settle down somewhere and get normal lives again, but I think we both know that couldn't be possible. Not yet, at least."
"I have an idea," A distinctly feminine voice said behind me and I whirled, expecting Tori or Aliena had returned. Instead, it was with great relief I saw Liz.
"Hey Liz," I greeted, the back of my mind noticing Derek's tense muscles relaxing slightly behind me.
"I saw what happened. Can you tell Derek I'm sorry about Kit?" I relayed the message which he acknowledged with a curt nod.
"What did you say about having an idea?" I prompted.
"Well, I'm assuming you don't want to still look for May, right? I mean, at least I wouldn't 'cause didn't you say that Kit told you to go to her?"
"Yeah."
"You should talk to my great-aunt Mildred."
"Who?" she sounded like a deaf old-woman. I mean, whose name is Mildred?
"She's crazy."
"Great," I muttered under my breath. She either didn't hear it or ignored it.
"When I was really little, like eight years old, she would sometimes come over and tell me stuff, like 'be careful' and whatnot. One time she even spent a half hour babbling about how I shouldn't join the 'light bulb club" at school."
"You're school had a light bulb club?"
"Of course not! I told you she was crazy! Or at least, that's what I thought. But now I've been thinking about how she always seemed so scared for me, her and my mom, and I wonder, what does 'light bulb club' sound like?"
"Edison Group." I gasped as it dawned on me with blooming realization.
"Exactly what I thought." She nodded, glad I caught on. "So, even if she is crazy, it might be worth paying her a visit. Just in case she does know something about the EG."
"Good idea," I felt myself perking up with the prospect of a new mission to strive towards. "Where is she now?"
"A nursing home in Pennsylvania. They locked her up there as soon as she was old enough to meet their age qualifications," Liz gave a small disgusted shake of her head.
"Chloe?" I looked back to Derek for the first time since Liz appeared, hearing the strained patience in his voice. "What's going on?"
"We're going to go find Liz's great-aunt Mildred." I quickly summarized her tale.
Afterwards he nodded. "That is a good idea," he admitted, speaking into the night at large. "Thanks, Liz."
"I'll show you the way in the morning. For now, you guys should get some sleep." I opened my mouth to point out we should wait for Simon and the girls to return but she cut me off, "I'll go keep an eye on the others. Go to sleep, Chloe."
Exhausted, I gave a sleepy nod before snuggling against Derek and nodding off.
What do you think of Liz's idea? Is her aunt crazy or does she just know too much?
On another note…I'd like to thank everyone who ever reviewed my story! The Risks has now hit 100 reviews! You guys rock! (but this doesn't mean I'm not going to try for 200…haha jk.)