On our sixth day in Fairbanks, Rin and I found ourselves in the cafe on campus once again.
We had just entered the building in an attempt to escape from the cold. With each day, the temperature dropped further and further. The seasons were about to change once again from summer to fall.
"I want a coffee," Rin said, lowering her hood from her head and removing her hands from her pockets.
"I'm down," I told her, stepping in line behind a girl tapping incessantly on her phone. Rin stepped next to me.
"I'm starting to think we'll be here forever," she said softly, looking around the room.
"It's barely been a week. We'll find her."
"Hopefully. I miss the night time."
Couldn't argue with that. "What are you gonna get?" I asked her.
Her eyes scanned the menu. "I'm not sure. Something warm."
The cafe was the most crowded we had ever seen. It was dinnertime on a Monday and my only guess as to why there were so many people was that some of the students had returned for their upcoming classes. The uproar of laughs, shouts, and general conversation was almost deafening. Not to mention the line was almost out the door.
I looked around the crowd, my eyes falling on a group of guys in the back-left corner near Rin and I's usual table. I furrowed my brow.
"Rin," I lowered my head. "Look who's sitting by our table?"
Her eyes followed mine.
There were around ten of them, each wearing that same red armband. They had caught my eyes so quickly because, during our week exploring campus, I had never seen more than one of them at the same time.
She narrowed her eyes. "Is it a thing for frats to be fourth-years only?" The line moved up.
"They're not a frat," the girl in front of us suddenly turned to face us. Guess we weren't being as quiet as I thought. "I'm the Greek Life Coordinator here. And they're not a frat." The girl was shorter than me but taller than Rin. A satchel sat on her hip, strung over her shoulder and hidden by her long blonde hair. It looked more white than yellow. We all stepped forward again as the next customer was served.
"Who are they, then?" Rin asked.
The girl shrugged. Whoever she was, she looked important. She held her chin up and had that determined glare in her eyes. Her phone was still in her hand, now lowered to her side. "Honestly," she said, her gentle features at an odd contrast with her assertive stance. "I don't even think they go here. They're just some creeps who wanna talk to college girls." She spat the words out like they were sour.
"Creeps?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. Rin listened to the girl intently.
She brushed a stray strand - a braided one - out of her face. "I dunno. They creep me out. Always trying to hit on the freshmen, even though they look like they're thirty. It's sketchy."
"Next in line!" A barista called.
"Don't talk to them," she advised us. "They're nothing but trouble." She turned away from us and walked up to the counter to order her drink.
Rin and I exchanged knowing glances. It was highly unlikely that an organized group of "sketchy" people showed up in this town and didn't belong to Meiko.
"That explains the red," I said quietly. That girl had successfully eavesdropped on our conversation. Luckily, she hadn't heard anything important, but I still lowered my voice further.
Rin nodded, glancing towards them. "Yeah. What should we do?"
"What do you mean?"
"Like, should we go talk to them?"
I gawked at her. "About what? Just walk up and say, 'Hey, guys! You happen to know anyone by the name of Mei-"
Rin slapped a hand over my mouth. "Don't say her name, idiot! We don't want them to hear us."
I kept my eyes trained ahead of me. Rin, however, wasn't hiding the fact at all that she was staring those guys down.
"Rin, quit it."
"What?"
"Stop looking at them."
"Why? I think I might recognize some of them."
"You don't want them to know that you're staring."
They were talking incredibly loud. Like they wanted everyone to look at them. One of them rose his voice. "Ted, shut the fuck up!" He yelled from their corner with another fit of laughter.
She let out a huff. "They're too busy trying to get everyone's attention with their loud ass voices." A scoff escaped her. "I mean, really. Who laughs that obnoxiously?"
"Next in line!" A voice called. I stepped forward to order our drinks.
"Look," I said as we moved off to the side, waiting for our drinks. "I think we should lay low, go back to the hotel, and tell the others. Maybe they can help us figure out a plan to get some info from these guys."
Her glare continued. "They tried to kill me."
"Well, they didn't."
"Their boss did. Their friends did."
I crossed my arms. Her desire for vengeance was overcoming her rationale. "Rin. We had seen them every day since we got here. They're not going anywhere. I'm sure we'll get the chance to kick the shit out of them soon. Not. Now."
Her hands rested on the strap of her duffle bag. Inside was her pistol and her baton.
"Rin," I warned.
"I fucking know," she spat, watching the men with hatred in her eyes.
The barista called for our drinks. I handed Rin's to her, purposely standing between her and the group behind us.
"Let's go," I said.
"Why?"
"Because if we stay, you're going to do something stupid."
She rose her voice. "I'm going to do-"
I grabbed her wrist and dragged her out of the store before we caught anyone else's attention.
She pouted all the way back to the hotel.
"Where the fuck have you two been?"
When we walked in the door, we were met with a sight we did not expect. Kanon and Yuma, who were supposed to be watching the airport, were standing in the darkened room with the only light coming from a single lamp on the bedside table. Yuma was standing, pacing back and forth through the room, his hair disheveled from where he had run his hands through it in his distress. Kanon sat on the edge of the bed, hugging herself with a pained expression. Even as we entered, she did not look up from the floor.
Rin's eyes widened in alarm. "What? What happened?"
"Flower and Anon didn't come back from watch."
Yuma's words caused an obvious flinch from Kanon.
"What? Tell me everything," Rin demanded. It was about nine pm. The sun had just entered its night-long sunset.
I threw my empty drink into the trash can and dropped my bag to the floor as he recounted the day.
"We have this system where we all meet at a certain spot in the airport to pass of shifts to each other. This morning, Flower and Anon showed up right at six to take over our watch and told us to go home. And then, a few hours ago, we went to go relieve them of their watch. And they never showed up."
Kanon lowered her head into her hands.
"So we figured, maybe they came straight back here. We stayed at our meeting spot for at least an hour before we came back here to check for them. And they weren't here. And neither were you." There was a slight accusing tone in his voice.
Rin's expression contorted into anger. "We were looking for clues, Yuma! Don't fucking talk to me like that!"
"If you were here, you might have seen them before they disappeared!"
"Motherfucker, I-"
"Guys!" I yelled, glancing at Kanon. Her shoulders began to gently heave. She was crying.
Yuma and Rin each glanced in her direction, ceasing their bickering right away.
"A-Anon," Kanon muttered through her sobs. "She's… she's my only family. What am I gonna do?!"
Yuma crossed the room to sit next to her, putting a comforting arm around her shoulder. If the situation hadn't been so tense, I would have made fun of him for it.
Rin sighed. "Did… did you find any of their stuff?"
"...No," Yuma answered, keeping his eyes trained on the crying girl next to him.
"That's good," Rin responded. "That means they took it with them, wherever they went. They still have their gear."
Unless found them and took it, I thought grimly. I wasn't the only one unsure of the safety of our friends, either. But no one dared to speak their concerns aloud with Kanon in her current state.
"You think they found her?" I asked.
"That's my guess," Rin answered.
"Then why wouldn't they call us?" Kanon wailed. "Why didn't she call me?"
"When you're following someone, you have to keep quiet sometimes. Maybe they didn't get the chance."
"But when they're in the car-"
"Kanon, calm down," Yuma told her gently.
"What if they're in trouble!" She said into her hands. "What if Meiko…"
"There's nothing but wilderness around us," I told her. "They probably don't have reception."
Kanon fell silent. Her tears continued.
"So…" Rin trailed off. "What do we do?"
"We have to wait," I answered. "We don't really have a choice."
"How long do we wait before we leave?" Yuma asked.
Kanon let out a wail at the question.
"Let's just… let's just give them 24 hours. If we don't hear from them, we'll start planning our next move," I suggested. The red armbands were pushed to the back of my mind at this point.
"What… what even can be our next move?" Yuma asked desperately.
"Let's not think about it now."
"What are we supposed to do, then?!" Kanon yelled. "Just go to bed and pretend they're not out there? Just hope that they're not trapped, or dead, or tortured, or-or…" She lowered her tear-stained face into her hands once more.
"They know how to handle themselves," Rin said softly. "They're okay. Wherever they are. So… yeah. We should try to sleep it off."
Kanon shook her head wildly in protest but leaned back onto the bed behind her. She crawled weakly under the covers. Her sobs did not cease.
Yuma watched her sadly for a moment before laying on top of the covers next to her. Our conversation had ceased, but the heavy air did not go away.
What would we do without them? No doctor to help us when we get hurt, no one to scout our missions, and, most importantly, less of our team to stay with? Spend time with? It was Flower who taught me how to shoot. It was Anon who saved my broken leg when I first arrived. I had not a single memory of either of them that wasn't a happy moment. And I had only known them for a fraction of the time the others had.
Especially Kanon.
Oh, God. I thought, sighing softly. Rin glanced at me. Neither of us dared exchange a word. I nodded towards the empty bed, gesturing her to take it for the night, and started for the couch myself. But, as I passed her, Rin grabbed the back of my shirt. I shot her a questioning look.
With her sad expression, her eyes darted to Yuma and Kanon laying silently next to each other on the left bed. She glanced at the empty one next to them, then back up to me. There was a gentle tug on the back of my shirt.
I took the hint.
The four of us sat in the darkness without a word. But, for a long time, none of us fell asleep.
As for me, I didn't fall asleep at all.
It was nearly five in the morning when I finally felt Rin relax in my arms. Her breathing softened, her skin around her shut us relaxed as she fell asleep. Careful not to wake her, or the other two sleeping in the bed across from us, I slid out from the covers and began to dig through my bag restlessly.
I didn't know what I was looking for, but laying in the bed doing nothing didn't feel like an option to me. I couldn't sit there doing nothing. It didn't feel right.
I had been digging through my bag for less than five minutes when I heard footsteps in the hall.
Footsteps? At five in the morning?
And then the handle on the door inches to my right jiggled.
I jumped to my feet. My first thought was that Anon and Flower had indeed been captured and now Meiko's goons were after us. It wouldn't have taken them long to find us at all. We had seen them only a few hours ago-
I froze as the door opened. The light of the hall blinded me for a moment, but the unmistakable forms of the two missing girls appeared in the doorway. And they were unharmed.
"What the fuck, guys?" I said to them, waking the entire room in the process.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Anon pleaded as soon as the door was shut. "We couldn't find a signal in these woods! I tried! I really did…"
The lamp next to the bed turned on and Kanon jumped into her little sister's arms the next second.
"You bitch!" She screamed through her tears. "You scared the shit out of me."
Anon hugged her back. "I'm sorry…" she said again. Her eyes were full of remorse. I was just glad they were okay.
"What happened to you two?" Rin asked, sitting up. Her legs formed small mounds through the thick comforter.
"We found her," Flower said. She set her bag on the end of Rin's bed. "Now, we need to talk."
"About what?" Yuma asked. He sat at the edge of his bed as well.
"About the plan." Flower took a deep breath. "We saw her returning from a flight around five pm. We tailed her and a few of her guys out of town. She took the highway northeast and then exited back south. We circled a mountain range on the way there. Eventually, we had to let her turn off the road without following her. She would have caught on, then."
"So where is it?" I asked. "Where's she hiding?"
"We don't have the exact location," Flower continued. "But she turned onto a dirt road when we stopped tailing her. I can find it again. She has to be somewhere down that road."
"How far away?" Rin watched Flower intently.
"It was about a five-hour drive. And we still didn't find the place."
"So you even know what her base looks like?" I crossed my arms. "Do we know what we're looking for?"
No one answered for a moment. Which meant we had no idea.
"I doubt she's in a bunker," Flower continued, lowering her eyes to her bag. "She's too… flashy for something so low-key."
"I agree," Rin responded. "I don't think it will be hard to find."
The sisters were watching the conversation from the door, still holding onto each other. Kanon frowned. "But if we don't know what we're heading into, how can we plan for it?"
"We'll be planning the raid itself when we get there. We'll probably have…" Flower turned her thoughts over in her head. "Maybe ten or fifteen minutes to scope the place and make a move."
"Fuck," Yuma sighed, scratching his head.
"And after, we'll have to just take the car back and drive straight to the airport."
"Where will we go?" I asked.
"Hopefully, we'll find the answer to that question in Meiko's base." Flower stared at her bag as she spoke. "So far, the only plan we have is as follows. Pack our shit up and head for the mountains. Hopefully, we'll find her without too much trouble, and then we'll go in, try to find her computer, steal her data and kill her on the way out." Flower looked at Yuma with those last words.
"We didn't agree on that," he answered.
Flower shut her mouth. We had been putting off the feud deciding Meiko's fate. And, by the dismissive look she gave him, it wouldn't be solved now, either.
"When we leave," Flower continued. "We'll head back into the escape car and drive straight to the airport. I'll find our tickets for the next flight there."
"And then Luka," Kanon said.
Flower nodded. "And then Luka."
I glanced at Rin. She was looking down at her hands, folded neatly in her lap. Her shy demeanor had taken over once again. We were thinking the same thing. If she was ever going to tell the others of her plans, this would be the time.
Sensing my eyes on her, she glanced up at me.
"Rin?" Flower asked, noticing the girl's tense movements. "Something to add?"
Her expression tensed.
"Go on," I encouraged her. The four pairs of eyes belonging to our squad darted between the two of us.
Rin sighed. "Goddammit," she said.
"What's wrong?" Anon asked.
She took another deep breath and began. "I've… I was born into this. I've lived my whole life in the dark, switching from bunker to bunker, hotel room to hotel room, country to country. It's all I've ever known. And I've been perfectly fine with it. B-but after… after London, I-" she cut herself off, the eyes of her colleagues clearly making her uncomfortable. "After London, I started to wonder what it would be like if I hadn't been born into this."
"What are you saying?" Yuma asked.
She lowered her head shamefully. "...After Luka's dead, I want to leave."
Silence.
The others stared at her wordlessly, their eyes widening and their stunned expressions taking over their faces. Rin, with her eyes lowered in front of her, would have had a panic attack at the looks of her friends. That was probably why she was avoiding them.
Her words hung in the air light bullets. No one moved, no one talked. Hell, no one even dared to breathe.
I braced myself for a fight, ready to jump to Rin's defense if she needed it.
"Shit," Flower finally chuckled, her words slicing through the tense air like a knife. "I thought I was the only one getting tired of this."
Rin's eyes snapped up at the girl.
"Yeah," Kanon nodded. "I don't think I can take this shit anymore." Her cheeks were still red from her sobbing the night before.
"This sucks," Anon said flatly.
Their eyes fell on me. Still feeling as I didn't have much of a say in the matter, I just shrugged.
And then there was Yuma.
"I…" he trailed off. "I agree. But what else will we do?"
"Live normal lives," I answered. Rin seemed too stunned at the acceptance of her friends to speak.
"You guys want to get jobs? Really? When we can live our lives to the fullest doing what we're already-"
"But we're missing out on so much," Kanon pointed out. "We could… we could do so much more than just kill people."
"Len knows best," Anon said, nodding towards me.
She was right. A year ago, I had been living the same as every other guy in his early twenties.
Yuma rubbed at his temple. We all hung on his words.
"Think about it," Kanon continued. "We could buy a house. Get a dog or something. Make friends. Go out and party. No more hiding in that stupid bunker plotting more murders."
"But what about the money?"
"Fuck the money!" She yelled. "There's no price on knowing that you and the people you live won't get randomly kidnapped or killed out of nowhere!"
He didn't meet her eyes. After a long pause, he took a deep breath. "It's a lot of work. I'll need to refit you all back into society. All the papers, the hacking, the files-" he cut himself off. "But… but I think I can do it."
We fell into a stunned silence again. Am I really going home? By home, I meant anywhere other than that bunker. By home, I meant the public. Because I knew I would never be able to return to my LA apartment ever again. My friends had already attended my funeral months ago, my parents were notified soon after. Risking them seeing me was something I couldn't allow.
But still. Home.
"I can be a doctor," Anon suddenly said, her voice full of hope. "A real doctor! In a hospital! Helping everyone-"
"I'd have to stay in the US. I don't think I could live without my babies," Flower said with a smile, opening her bag and lifting out her disassembled guns. "Maybe Texas. Yeah. Texas. I could open up a store. Buy, sell, and trade all of our gear. Fuck. That'd be awesome."
"I could just sell all my tech," Kanon chimed in. "I'd be, like, the world's robotics master. I wonder how much people would pay for this shit."
Rin and I exchanged glances. She was still shocked into silence.
"I'll… I'll start working on everything after we leave the state. But I'm not gonna be around as much to help with Luka. I had to make everything - not only your certificates proving your existence but that of your fake parents, your family. High school diplomas, college, even. And, Anon, if you're serious about the documents, then I'll have to do Med School - ah, shit, social security numbers!?" Yuma slumped. "This is a lot."
Everyone in the room was deep in thought, eagerly planning their future lives. Everyone was spaced out. Anon and Kanon smiled and hugged each other once more. Flower stared down at her guns with a grin. Even Yuma, who was about to consumed with stress, glanced often over at Kanon. Planning for the future.
"After Luka," Rin said. Every pair of eyes looked up from their trance, resting their eyes on the girl. "After Luka, we'll go."
"One last contract," Flower said.
Rin nodded.
"One last contract."
Ayyyy finally! Lol.
Double upload today. I'm falling behind on my writing :( I just have no time anymore.
Thanks for reading! :)
