"He's not answering." Dekka mumbled unhappily, staring at the phone in her hand.
Connie was busy dealing with Emily. She had woken and they were getting as much food as they could in her because she needed the energy to help her body heal on its own. Connie had been surprisingly quiet when Dekka had finally come back, fully dressed with wet hair soaking her back and into her old clothes. She hadn't asked her any questions, seeming to accept it all quicker than any of them did. Instead she gave Dekka something to eat and then showed her to the phone before she continued to nurse Emily.
"Maybe they're searching for more animals." Emily guessed. She spoke quietly and her voice slurred but Connie didn't seem worried and continued to feed Emily some kind of cereal from her kitchen.
"They wouldn't at this time of night." Dekka mumbled, frowning out the window into the darkness. "I think they might be looking for us. And I don't know any of their cell phone numbers off by heart."
"What happened to your phone?" Emily blinked.
Dekka sighed. "I think it must have fallen out when I was being lifted into the air by the leopard."
"Oh... Well, I have mine but it doesn't have their numbers." Emily mumbled.
"I know..." Dekka glared at the night like it was the time of days fault. She didn't like the idea of leaving them all to guess what was happening. She wanted to tell them about the hydra before any of them were hurt or even came back and she needed to help them now she had her powers again. She was done feeling weak. She needed to do something.
Dekka turned and watched Connie feed Emily again. It was clear Emily wasn't going anywhere. She was badly injured and was out for the count. And even if she was powerful, Dekka wasn't going to risk her using her powers to transport Dekka anywhere just in case it did something to her either physically or mentally. That didn't leave her with very many other options.
"Connie, do you have a car?" Dekka asked.
Connie looked up and blinked at her. "Yes. But it's quite old, I had to get a new one and I couldn't afford anything fancy."
"I need to borrow it." Now wasn't the time to be polite and ask. Dekka needed to get back. That was that.
Still, Connie was stalled by her abrupt request.
"I need it." Dekka stated. "I have to get back."
"Hello!" Emily snapped, frowning at her. "What am I? I get one stab wound and I'm useless? I could still teleport us both!"
"No you can't. Firstly you are not coming, you need to stay here and get better. And second, I don't want to risk you straining yourself and we have no idea how it would work. You could accidentally put me in the middle of the street." Dekka argued.
"I took us to fricken China!" Emily snapped. "I think I'd be okay!"
"And if Ripley is in the apartment?" Dekka snarled.
"You don't trust me?! Are you serious." Emily snarled, pushing Connie and the blanket away and actually trying to stand. She didn't get further than sitting up when she gasped and clutched her stomach, wincing in pain.
"Don't strain yourself!" Connie said sharply, pushing her down gently.
Dekka sighed and stepped up beside of her. "Okay, you really think you can do it? And by do it, I mean sending me and not you!"
Emily looked up and nodded. Her face set with concentration but also a little rebellion and Dekka saw it.
"You are not coming with me. If you do you'd be giving yourself a death sentence because Connie won't be there to help you and we can't drag her along since she kind of probably has a life here and is very kind to be taking care of you in the first place!" Dekka snapped.
Emily glared up at her. Dekka glared back. Connie found herself feeling like she was stuck in the middle of it all. Finally Dekka walked over to Emily and leaned down to stare at her properly in the eyes.
"You are not coming. If you try, you will die and I will have to bring you back here just so your stupid annoying brother can bury you. If you want to help then stay, get better. Maybe once you're better you can look through this area for animals but until then do as your told. I'm taking your car, Connie." Dekka said sharply. "Keep her here."
Emily moved like she might follow but Connie held her down. She must have said something to convince her because a few moments later Connie was handing her keys over to Dekka in the living room and there was no Emily in sight. She just hoped it would stay that way.
"Do you have a license?" Connie asked.
"Yes but not on me." Dekka admitted. "If I obey all the laws hopefully I won't be pulled over."
"Stay safe." Connie whispered.
"I will." Dekka nodded, watching as Connie looked like she might cry.
Dekka didn't know it but Connie felt horrible. They didn't look very much alike but Dekka reminded Connie of Dahra. Especially now that she was making a trek at nighttime on a mission to get back to Sam so that she could warn him about something.
"Thank you." Dekka nodded.
She wasn't sure what kind of car it was, but it was simple and silver. The seats were stiff and Dekka felt nervous holding the wheel in her hands but she had no idea why. Part of her wished she could get Emily to just drop her off but the truth was she did trust Emily, just not her powers.
"Time to go." Dekka whispered to herself.
Putting the car in drive, she turned of the head lights and began to work down the street, trying to keep the perfect pace and terrified the police would try and stop her for some reason. She didn't want to but if they did start to follow Dekka knew she would have to use her powers to stop them. Nothing was more important than getting back to Sam and the others to tell them what happened, even if only to let them know that they were both okay.
G*O*N*E
He didn't have her number. Only Astrid did because of the book she had been writing and even then it was only by luck she happened to have it in her contact book. But then luck was a big part of life, so it was luck that had Edilio spotting Anna and her sister Emma on their way home in their mothers car, pausing only so that Emma could use the bathroom quickly. They had take out bags on their lap and Edilio immediately ran over towards Anna who was stretching her legs by the back doors. He barely had time to think about it. This wasn't the time for quick thinking, it was the time for action. Lives were at stake! That sounded a bit dramatic but it was true.
He would have walked home, he knew the area, but the problem wasn't the walk or getting lost or even the fact that it was very late (or technically early?). It was the creatures and the people he would be meeting on the way. Edilio didn't want to risk running into any mutant animals and being killed because he had no way of defending himself against them! The police had confiscated his bag which he claimed to have been his and that it was stuff they were throwing away.
"ANNA!" Edilio called when he was near enough.
She looked up sharply, clearly she had been expecting horrifying creatures as much as he worried about them. But when she saw him, clearly recognizing him even if they hadn't spent much time together during or after the FAYZ, she visibly relaxed.
"Edilio? What are you doing here?" Anna blinked.
"It's a long story that involves the police station." Edilio sighed. "Look can you give me a ride back to the apartment? You know I don't fancy walking in the night."
Before Anna could reply her mother stuck her head out the window. "Edilio is it? Sure we can give you a lift. You'll have to point us which way, though."
Edilio blinked and looked at Anna who just grinned and shrugged her shoulders, her mother wasn't the kind to leave someone stranded at night. A few moments later Edilio was sitting in the back beside of Anna with Emma and their mother up front. In the back Anna and Edilio were communicating by writing messages on their phones and passing it back and forth for each other to read. They didn't want to risk Anna's mother or Emma hearing them since neither seemed like the kind to accept the mutated animals. As it was, Emma glared at Edilio whenever she had the chance to turn around.
From what Anna said Sinder was back in a psychiatric hospital because she is not reacting and when she did react she either screamed or laughed hysterically at nothing, or else she chanted repeatedly about her mind being broken and how the butterfly broke her mind. Everyone assumed it was a relapse but Anna and Edilio knew better, they just didn't know the reason for it apart from maybe that the Butterfly had been a part of Sinder and in killing it they had killed a part of her. Anna didn't know much more than that but she promised to check in on Toto as soon as she could, even if she had no idea who he was. It wouldn't be hard to find him considering he was once a freak in the FAYZ. The biggest worry was how they were going to help/fix them when this was all over. Would they fix themselves? Or were they going to spend the rest of their lives broken?
Edilio pushed the depressing thought away and smiled a thank you at Anna who smiled back. She hesitated then looked up at her mother. "Mum, can I sleep over with Edilio and the others tonight?"
Her mother stalled and glanced back at Edilio like she was happy to give him a ride but wasn't sure of her daughter sleeping over with a boy. Anna blushed and ignored the feeling of being a child again. In all rights she shouldn't have to ask! She just did it because even now she felt the need to be polite.
"Not tonight, sweetheart." Her mother said quietly.
"But mum! I'd an adult! I can look after myself!" Anna scowled.
There was a pause and she couldn't argue any further. Ignoring Emma glaring at them, Edilio smiled thankfully at Anna again.
G*O*NE
The Sekhmet was claiming the whole of the apartment buildings as her own. She had gone through each and every room, forcing them open and touching all the residents almost gently with her hand. As soon as she touched them, pain shot through them and old injuries resurfaced, breaking open almost as painful as when they first happened. Healed bone snapped, shaving cuts bleed out again, knife wounds, bullet wounds, bruises and concussions all came back as if they had never left, leaving the few people to either die or someone crawl from the building in fear and pain. The people that did make it out did call for the police but anyone that tried to enter was immediately injured by the Sekhmet. If they didn't have serious old injuries the Sekhmet quickly found ways to give them new injuries such as Ben. Lana didn't see the body or even know he was there, but Ben came looking for her the very next day. He didn't know where she lived but she hadn't shown for work and he had been looking for her, when he heard something weird was happening in those apartment buildings he had a horrible feeling she was there. Even though he was a bouncer he had no injuries that could kill him and halfway up the stairs the Sekhmet appeared. The fall broke his neck and he lay rotting on the ground, no one even able to collect his body.
Inside most of the rooms a few people were still alive, they were dying slowly but they could barely move and so the Sekhmet felt no worry for leaving them to suffer. Most of them had died eventually but then there weren't many in the apartments to begin with. Lana was alive and there was only one reason for that: Taylor. The golden lizard girl had appeared in Lana's apartment, she had fed her food and water and had even helped bandage the worst of her wounds up somehow. Maybe she remembered how Lana had saved her life before and was now helping her, either way, Lana didn't bother to question it.
"We have to kill it," Lana whispered as Taylor gave her a drink, looking exactly the same with blank expression and lizard tongue that crawled out every now and then.
Taylor stared at her with a blank face, gave her a drink and set the glass down by her side. She had gotten Lana to sit up against the wall in the bathroom where she sometimes managed to drag herself onto the toilet but mostly Lana was so weak all she could do was soil herself. Any minute now Taylor would disappear again. Maybe helping other people in the building, maybe helping people outside, maybe doing nothing but wandering around for a couple of hours before she returned. Lana had no way of knowing what Taylor did when she wasn't saving Lana's life.
"Taylor, please." Lana begged. "We have to kill it."
Taylor turned and stared at her, her tongue turning in between her lips for a moment before she vanished from sight. Lana whimpered and tried to lean back against the tiled wall, she wished Patrick was here but then if he was, would the Sekhmet have hurt him too? He had his own war wounds that he had gotten through the years that Lana had healed for him during the FAYZ, and then there was what happened after the FAYZ. No she was glad he wasn't here. She was glad he was at the vet's somehow alive. She wondered if they had tried to contact her about picking him up? Who knows, the phones had stopped working. Probably the Sekhmet, maybe the crap building.
What was she supposed to do now? How was she supposed to kill that Sekhmet on her own? Bullets didn't work and she was too badly injured to do any real fighting or anything else.
Before Lana could really get worked up on how useless it all seemed, Taylor appeared in front of her again. She was still in the original shorts and top from the FAYZ but now she had a dark brown belt strapped around her waist that was full of yet to be light fireworks. She held out a lighter and stared down at Lana in silence.
"Worth a shot." Lana whispered nodded determinedly. All previous weakness and fears evaporated at this small hope.
It took a while, and it hurt like crazy, but somehow Lana got herself up on her feet. It was going to be hard, she might have to be a distraction but as long Taylor stuck with her and as long as they managed to kill the monster then it would all be okay... At least that was what Lana hope. Hope was all she had at this moment really.
G*O*N*E
They walked through the town towards the main area where Dekka and Emily were supposed to be searching, which was near the edge of town and it was also empty. Everything seemed to be empty at this time of night. There was no one else wandering around and quite a few of the street lamps had automatically turned themselves off. Diana was restless, unable to think of anything more than Ripley and worrying that he was going to come out after them at any moment now or head back to the apartment while they weren't there and find Caine. Sam was mostly keeping an eye out for Edilio, no idea where he was or what was happening to him now with the police and Kevin's body. Roger couldn't stop thinking about Edilio either while Astrid's mind was too busy thinking of a plan on how they would strategically get Ripley of their backs to even watch out for the people they were looking for.
"My feet are starting to seriously hurt." Diana moaned. "I mean, I want to find them too but how long are we going to be searching for them?"
"What time is it?" Sam asked.
"Nearly half eleven." Astrid said, twisting her wrist to see the hands of her watch in the dark.
"We'll keep looking until twelve, if we don't find them by then we head back home and wait until morning. We should be able to find them after we have some real light." Sam explained.
He didn't say what they were all thinking and for that Astrid was grateful. The truth was they were all wondering if Emily and Dekka were even still alive. Were they dead like Kevin? Were they not dead but serious injured and desperately need help before the day was up but at the same time unable to get the help they needed? If they needed help then should the search stop at midnight? Shouldn't they keep searching until they found them even if it meant staying up all night?
No. That was the desperate part of them thinking. The smart part knew that they needed to rest, get refreshed and then search in the morning when they had more light to find them. But that didn't make them any happier about it.
They continued to search, moving down through the street and calling out for one another in case they were hiding from whatever might have hurt them. It seemed pointless, no one replied and they could hardly see the closer it came to midnight. Sam was careful and created small lights in his hand that could be mistaken for torches by anyone looking in on them, using the light to look into dark areas and search the worst places. Their biggest fear was drawing attention to themselves by calling out in the night and more than one person told them to shut up but because it was so dark and late they didn't question Sam's light. That didn't stop him from dropping his hand and closing his fist to hide the light constantly.
Behind of him Diana and Astrid glanced around quickly but mostly kept their eyes either on Sam or on the ground, deep in thoughts. Roger moved along, searching desperately for Edilio though they had no idea where he was and he knew they were actually trying to find the girls.
The rest of the half hour passed without much luck. They didn't even see any bystanders wandering down the street and in and out of their homes, let alone the girls they were looking for. It seemed to grow even darker and Sam felt more and more nervous about using the light in case someone happened to look out and spot him and actually focus on his hand. He didn't want to run into Ripley or anyone that might try and lock him up or even just find proof so they could get on the news. They would all need to stay quiet on this.
Not for the first time Sam worried about what Caine would be like when this was all over. Would they be able to keep him from doing anything stupid and using his powers in front of people for the stupidest and littlest things? Maybe Diana would be able to talk some sense into him but there was always the chance that even if that happened then he could easily slip up. One tiny slip up then they were all doomed. But then again the same could be said about Sam and anyone else with mutant powers. If someone were to see them right now and ask to see his torch he would have no way of showing them one and surely they could put one and one together. Especially since so many people knew him and if one of them got out then they would all be hunted. Sam glanced back worriedly at Astrid. He couldn't put her in danger.
Sam was guiltily happy when it was finally time to head back to the apartment. He turned off his light just to be safe, feeling even more nervous about being spotted, and ignored complaints that the others could no longer see. Only Astrid seemed to understand, taking his hand and giving it a gentle squeeze of encouragement as she walked beside of him.
Everyone seemed upset about heading back since they still had not found anyone but they understood they had to give themselves time to rest. Well three out of four understood that. Roger wasn't ready to stop searching just yet if he was given the choice.
The walk back was full of Roger arguing with Diana, both of them only had one person in mind. It was the one person that they cared the most for. Sam and Astrid knew better than to try and reason with them and instead let them argue it out while they finished the walk home.
Back at the apartment Sam was starting to just grow tired of listening to the two of them behind him as he unlocked the door. He and Astrid couldn't wait to get to their room, curl up, go to sleep and not be woken until the next morning when they would once again go in search of the others. Astrid tried not to wonder what would happen if they never found them. What if they were dead or so badly injured that they couldn't move and their bodies were left hidden somewhere never to be found? Their parents would never find them, it would be an endless miserable search.
As they entered the apartment none of them realised just how empty it was at first. Astrid made herself a glass of water while Sam began to strip off to go straight to sleep. It was only as Diana walked into the bedroom that she realised Caine wasn't there.
"Where's Caine?!" Diana demanded, running out of the room with wide eyes, already terrified and overreacting as she imagined Ripley walking in and taking them both.
"Wait... Where's Quinn?" Sam blinked, looking around the room.
"Don't tell me they went out?" Astrid blinked, looking around the room like they might suddenly appear if she looked hard enough.
"Caine wouldn't have..." Diana paused and corrected herself. "Well Quinn wouldn't have just run off like that... Would he? Oh God, what if Ripley came round and has them?! What if he arrested them?!"
"Calm down, Diana. Do you really think Caine would have let Ripley take him without a fight? This place is way too clean for Ripley to have arrested them. They must have gone out... I mean, Quinn wouldn't have left unless Caine left." Sam said. "Quinn would have followed to keep him out of trouble."
"So Caine left and Quinn followed." Roger nodded. "Do we go after them?"
"Of course we do!" Diana shouted. "Caine can't be out and about on his own, what if Ripley does catch him?!"
Roger turned to glare at her but before they could start fighting again over who was more important, Sam stepped up in between them holding up his hands against their chests. This was definitely no time to be fighting... But Diana had a point. And so did Roger. They stopped searching because they needed to get some sleep before they went on to search some more again. But Caine was special. Caine was wanted by Ripley and if anyone else caught him then it would be all over for him and the rest of them.
"We rest." Sam stated finally, ignoring Diana when she tried to protest. "We stay and get some sleep, then tomorrow we will continue to search for them all together like we planned. Understand?"
"Of course it would be different if it were Astrid." Diana snarled and stormed into her room.
"Diana, you know Caine will be fine, he can look after himself." Sam sighed.
"That's exactly what I am worried about!" Diana shouted, slamming the door loudly behind her.
Sam sighed and turned to Roger but he was already throwing himself down on the mattress to get some sleep. Astrid hesitated, watching them all. She wanted to look for the others even more now but she refused to become hysterical like they were all being. She would be smart, she would get some rest and in the morning they would continue to search.
"Come on." Sam said, reaching to take her hand. "Let's go to bed."
Astrid smiled and took his hand, heading to bed. Neither of them get much sleep and before long it was morning.
G*O*N*E
"I think I have a headache," Caine grumbled, barely moving his lips.
Caine and Quinn slept in an abandoned house not far from where the butterfly had been that attacked and nearly killed Sinder. It was new and they had easily opened one of the windows with Caine's powers, allowing them to sneak in and settle down in one of the far rooms. They slept on the wooden floor, both uncomfortable from the hard surface and cold from the ridiculous breeze that somehow always found a way in. They hadn't exactly planned on camping out and hiding away in the night but they didn't have much of a choice considering they were lost - neither knowing the part of town that they wandered into very well - and to make things worse they ran into the last person they ever wanted to see. Ripley.
They had to hide because he had been heading their way. And Quinn had checked but every time he did it seemed like Ripley knew they were there and was waiting for them to come out but casually looked around the rest of the streets rather than up at the house. Finally their bodies couldn't take it and they both fell asleep only to wake early the next morning when a binman truck came passed and began to collect the rubbish loudly. Quinn mumbled and stumbled back onto his feet while Caine stretched out on the floor.
"If he isn't gone by now, I'm giving up." Quinn growled. He was angry. This was all Caine's fault! They could be back at the apartment, sleeping on soft mattresses if Caine hadn't been his usual self and stormed out.
"Whatever." Caine mumbled. He stood up and glared at the back of Quinn's head. He was getting just as sick of Quinn as Quinn was of him. In fact... Maybe now would be the best time to leave.
Caine watched Quinn go into the hallway and look out the window for Ripley. As soon as he was out of sight, Caine turned and headed for the door. Once again it was quick and easy to unlock the door, and soon he was heading outside into the cool air, probably just as Quinn would be calling that Ripley was gone.
He was sick of being babysat. He didn't need a babysitter.
Of course he didn't know it yet, but if he had paused then he would have heard Quinn come back to tell him that Ripley was amazingly right outside and now following Caine down the street.
42) Something big is gonna happen. Any idea what?
