Chapter 10
Eve handed in the note regarding her leave of absence to the school office and went home with her sack loaded with more homework than any one could think possible.
She refused to go to sleep until the last paper was done and worked at a high speed through the work she was given.
The clock ticked 12:30 when she finally went to bed.
Eve was grouchy a few hours later. Having finished all her homework and also having to wake up at 5:00 that same morning did not bode well for her.
She slept in the car as best she could with Train snoring in the front seat. They stopped once for lunch, and then kept on driving.
Eve knew, so she was told, that they were going to meet Creed at his and Echidna's house where they would come up with a tactic to catching Bade.
It wasn't seven o'clock that same day until they reached Creed's vast home hidden in the middle of a forest. Creed greeted them at the door and led them into his parlor where they began to go over their plan.
"I'm glad you could all make it," Creed said, frowning at Train. "But could someone wake him up?"
"We could get him some milk…" Jenos suggested.
Sven ignored him and bopped Train over the head. Train fell to the floor and the sleep bubble that was coming out his nose popped. "Ouch," he muttered, rubbing his head. He got back onto the couch and looked about. Train still looked half asleep.
"Thank you," Creed said to Sven.
"I'm used to it," Sven stated with a shrug.
They began to discuss their plans. Eve listened as they discussed their choices. Fishing was the least favorite of all of there other tactics, but the most effective.
Stalking could give them away. "Bade has been trained well enough to know when he's being followed," Creed said. "It's not that hard for him to pinpoint our locations if he realizes that he's being stalked by more than one person."
Bugging would be too difficult without Rins' help disengaging the alarm system. "It could be done," Sven stated. "But without someone stealthy enough to infiltrate Bade's hideout—let alone find it—we could be found out sooner than we'd like."
Silence passed for a long time before Train reluctantly brought up fishing. There was a great uproar. "I don't want to risk it either," Train shouted above the turmoil, but it might be our best chance to get at Bade."
"How so?" Jenos asked.
"He's after me, right?" Train said. "So if I we find out where Bade's staying, we could probably stage an attack."
"No," Eve said flatly. The group looked at her. "If you go, Train, he'll kill you. I did it before, I can do it again."
"Last time, you froze," Sven said, lighting another cigarette. "And got hurt because of it; this guy isn't like Gyanza or the Apostles, Eve."
"He's much worse," Jenos summarized. "I don't know what you're talking about, but still. Once he has someone he wants, he'll torture them. He'll make them beg for death."
A hand burst threw the concrete and grabbed Eve from behind. She was hoisted into the air by a man with powerful arms.
"Heehee! Aren't you a cutie? Tell me, girl. What shall we play?" Eve squirmed, trying to get out of his grasp. "I know! Scream for me. Make me smile." Eve glared at him, still squirming. "Do it!"
Eve froze, staring into the insanity lit in Gyanza's eyes. She felt dizzy, sweat poured out of her pores, her heart pounded rapidly, she shook madly as though overcome with a fever.
"Gyanza! That's enough! Put her down!"
Gyanza turned around and looked at Sven, who was aiming a gun at him. "You're not a cop!" Gyanza stated. "Who are you?"
"A sweeper."
A smile lit Gyanza's face. "What?! Ha! So they sent sweepers after me?!" He cocked an eyebrow. "So…I've got a bounty on my head? How much?"
Sven glared at him. "I said," he repeated growling, "put her down."
Gyanza's sneer widened. "No can do," he said and flicked Eve's forehead. Eve's head snapped back from the sheer force of the finger. Blood spurted from the wound; her eyes were wide and her mouth open in a silent scream.
"NO!" Sven shouted.
"Let her go!" Train ordered aiming his gun at Gyanza and fired two bullets as he soared down to he ground.
Shocked, Gyanza dropped Eve and she fainted.
"I can handle it," Eve said. "He doesn't want me anyway. He wants Train."
This was a valid point. The men glanced at each other.
"Fine," Creed said, turning to face Eve. "But you are not to give Bade any hint that he's being targeted."
Eve wasn't sure she could do this, "Alright."
"You can't be serious!" Sven shouted.
"She'll just have to see the hard way," Creed said. "No one saw how Rinslet died, but some of us know what must have happened. Let her see for herself, Sven. In the meantime, shall we eat?"
Creed led them to the dining hall and they sat around the long oak table. Echidna joined them and servants brought out the food.
Eve looked up from her plate. The table was so silent it was unnerving.
Looking back at her food, Eve nibbled on a piece of steak. She knew Bade was insane, possibly even psychotic. However, she had a nagging suspicion that she was the key to his defeat.
Eve eventually finished her meal and waited for the others to finish as well, fearing to penetrate the silence. The servants cleared the table and they were shown to their rooms.
Eve was across from Train and Sven was next to her on the right. On Train's right was Jenos.
That night, Eve dreamed.
She dreamed that she was walking down a street. The cement broke beneath her and Bade grabbed her from behind.
"Hello, Ms. Volfied," he said. In his hand was a long knife. Eve tried to pull out of his grasp. The street became a doctor's office. Bade forced her onto the medical table and she was strapped down. The knife became a scalpel and Bade was dressed as one of Creed's Apostles, the Doctor.
Eve struggled harder and was able to pull out of her confinement. She tried to turn her hand into a gun, but her powers didn't work. The straps began to wiggle and attempted to grab her again.
Eve jumped out of their way and Bade grabbed her shoulder. "Where are you going?" he demanded. Eve kicked him, but he didn't seem to be harmed. Instead, he got angry and pinned her against a wall. He raised the scalpel to her cheek.
"WAKE UP!!"
Eve forced her eyes open and looked about the room. The lights were one and Sven stood over her.
"Eve, are you alright?"
"Y-yeah," Eve said shakily. "I'm fine. It was just a dream. It was nothing, really."
Sven raised an eyebrow and looked at the others. Train shook his head. Jenos shrugged.
"Whatever it was," he said. "I'd be wary. Dreams can sometimes be omens."
Jenos and Sven went back to bed, but Train stayed behind.
"Sven's dreams are ominous," Eve muttered. "Mine aren't."
"He's right though," Train said. "Dreams aren't always set in stone, but they can be omens sometimes."
"Have you ever had an ominous dream, Train?" Eve challenged. Train shook his head. "Then what makes you so sure?"
"Because this is Bade we're going after. It's enough to make anyone freak out and have weird dreams."
"I'm not scared of him," Eve protested.
Train shrugged. He sat on the end of her bed, facing her. "Sooner or later, Eve, you have to realize that it's okay to be scared once in a while."
"No, Train. It isn't. Fear is weakness."
Train tried not to laugh. "Where'd you get that idea? We're stronger when we're afraid. The trick is channeling that fear into helping drive the desire that can conquer that fear."
Eve cocked eyebrow disbelieving.
"I told you once that it's alright to mess up once in a while. Remember?"
Eve remembered. She rested her chin on her knees. "I decided to become stronger than you that day."
"Eve, you were just a kid. At that time, you had an excuse to be scared. What made you think that wanting to be better than me was really random, but I really didn't care that you wanted to be a better sweeper—I still don't care if you want to be a better sweeper. If it helps, I'm scared right now too."
Eve looked up at Train. He was smiling. "How?"
"How what?"
"I don't see any fear."
"Course not!" Train laughed. "That's because I'm not letting it get to me. I believe that in the end, we'll give Bade the justice he deserves and when we get back to the hideout, we'll go to the Cait Café and have some salmon rice balls, ice cream, cake, and lots of milk or whatever. We'll go back to our regular lives. You'll graduate high school with flying colors, get a Sweeper's license and we'll pick up where we all left off. That's my desire."
"What's your fear?"
Train blinked and his smile faded. "That more people are going to die before Bade is stopped; that we might not even be able to stop him even if we put all our best effort to stopping him."
Eve blinked. What's my fear? What's my desire? Eve couldn't begin to fathom an answer to either. Besides, according to Train, to know your desire is to know your fear.
Train stood. "Let me know when you know." He left, closing the door behind him.
Eve laid back down on the bed. Will I know before the end? She thought. She closed her eyes and drifted off back to sleep.