by C. L. Stone
“He won’t be alone,” Lillian said. “I could have one of our lawyers here quickly. Raven’s lawyer. He’ll be protected while we sort things out.”
The other guys on our team reappeared, this time shirtless. “We’ve got Marc and Brandon and the teen boy. There’s also a lady named Gretchen and the guards we’d used before Alice took over. Liam… They’re here to lift Raven down the stairs. We don’t have enough clothes on us unless we start taking it off some dead ones.”
Corey came to me, urging me out. “We don’t have much time. Police might be close because of the power outage.”
“That was us,” Lillian said. “But you’re right. We should go. The moment he makes the call, they’ll be here. And it’ll be harder to explain why we’re leaving with unconscious people.” She took off her shirt, wearing just a tank top underneath and handed the shirt to the girl. It was long enough to cover the girl’s butt, enough to get us out of the building. “Let’s just get out of here.” She paused and then thought again, slowly looking around. “He’ll need clothes the most. You can’t be here completely naked. It’ll be too hard to explain.”
We sorted out an extra shirt and pants for Jack, leaving Academy members in boxers to be able to give some cover to those who were naked to get out.
We all headed toward the stairwell. Some of us naked, but in the dark it didn’t matter too much. We just needed to hurry.
“Wait,” I said. “Where’s Wil?” I hadn’t forgotten but when someone said teen boy, I thought that was who they meant. Instead, it was someone I didn’t know standing in the hallway.
“I checked the other rooms,” one of the Academy said. “Alice is gone, too. As is anyone else that was here.”
“Dead?” I asked.
“No, just gone. No bodies. Nothing.”
I froze, unsure. Either they got out or… “If this was her people, she left without killing the others?”
He seemed to nod gravely at this. “Most likely. They killed anyone in their way. Your brother… I don’t know. Maybe he managed to escape in the middle after she left. But as soon as they got to her, they must have left. Everyone else was tied up, not a threat.”
I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to check all the rooms, just in case. “Are you sure?”
“I’ve checked everywhere.”
“Even the closets?” I asked.
He nodded slowly, frowning. “I opened every door. He’s not here.”
“Kayli,” my father said. “He’s not here. But I’ll keep an eye out. He’s not dead. They would have left the body. But I’ll check again.”
I was urged toward the stairwell. I didn’t want to leave. I didn’t trust them to have checked, to look…
I lingered at the door to the stairs while Jack held on to a cell phone, an extra passed to him by someone from the Academy. “You wait,” I said. “You wait and don’t leave until the lawyer shows up. Doublecheck the rooms.”
“Don’t worry,” he said. He chuckled. He patted me on the head. “Did I ever tell you that you look just like your mother?”
I was holding together but just that one sentence and I started to fight tears. “Don’t…”
“I never told you. Maybe that’s why I got drunk so much. A reminder…not that it was your fault. I just…it was hard.”
“We don’t have to talk about it now.”
“Might be the last time I see you for a while.” He urged me out. “Go.”
I left.
I regretted it with every step I took down and every mile we drove out of Charleston.
We’d arrived way too late.
JOIN US OR LEAVE US BE
Days passed after we left the Sargent Jasper. We tossed our phones to be untraceable. Lillian and Liam disabled the GPS in the RV before we got too far out of Charleston that night. They called the Academy from a payphone, relaying the entirety of what happened. They were told to get everyone out of town.
All of the Academy was leaving, especially after the dead count rose and the police had been called in to figure it out. No chance to be tracked after that. There was no contact from the outside world for a couple of nights. From that point on, we wouldn’t be able to get in the middle of the cartel and look for the missing Mr. Murdock.
We boondocked the RV out on public land, limiting electricity usage to what could be gathered via solar panels on top of the vehicle. Anyone might have questioned why there were so many of us in an RV out in the South Carolina countryside. One of us ventured out to get food and supplies, reducing the chance that all of us would be discovered.
No word from Axel.
No word about what happened to Wil.
I asked every day. I insisted on going to a phonebooth to be able to call in. I spoke with Dr Roberts personally several times.
“Nothing,” he said. “For Axel, that’s probably a good thing.”
“What if he’s dead?”
“If he is, he’d be found by now, I’m sure,” he said. “In this line of work, no news is good news. And your brother, if he was working with Alice, she probably saved him. There’s some suspicion he escaped on his own, before Alice had gotten free.”
I stuffed a hand toward my mouth, biting at my own knuckle, hoping it relieved some of the anxiety. But it wasn’t enough. “How do you know?”
“Just from what the people there have said versus what was discovered among the dead…” He paused. “Your father’s searching for him, too. After he helped the police…We’re working with him. We’ve got our best people on it.”
“Are we going to be called in?” I asked.
“Eventually,” he said. “Just relax. No one’s in trouble.”
I wasn’t sure I believed him.
There were a lot of questions by Gretchen, the guards and among us all. We sorted out what we could. The only things we didn’t know: who had taken Alice, and if Wil was with them.
After a few days, Lillian and Liam used a phone to check in, and the guards and Gretchen were allowed to leave.
“I don’t understand why they wanted me,” Gretchen told me as they packed up a small car picked up at a lot just outside of a tiny town south of Charleston I didn’t even know the name of. It’d been left behind by an Academy member just for this group to return to the city.
“I don’t know,” I told her. Gretchen wasn’t let in on a lot. Only that there was some confusion with local gang members. “We were all just caught in the middle.”
She pressed a palm to her forehead, the only place she’d been struck. A cut was still prominent there. “I’m not sure if I should return. I might get out of town for a while…”
“You shouldn’t have to,” I said. “They didn’t need you for anything. They only caught you on your way in, right?”
She sighed and nodded. “It’s easy to forget things like this can happen in this world.” She chuckled a little. “Now I understand why you’d want to be able to run sometimes.”
I didn’t know how to explain it to her. “Sorry,” I said. “I feel like it’s my fault. Maybe we should have gotten normal clothes…”
“Maybe I’ve got you on the hook now for that modeling? And maybe to help me with some deliveries? We might call it even after that. It’s not as exciting, usually.”
I wasn’t sure how to promise I could. After what happened, it was sounding like the Academy wanted the majority of us to disappear for a while, and possibly leave Charleston for good.
I wasn’t going to argue with them this time. Not about this.
Very early the next morning, I was still in the RV with Marc, Raven, Corey and Brandon after most others had left, some to escort Gretchen and the guards back to the city, some to fetch more food. We’d taken turns in the RV, and some had gone to buy camping gear, tents and supplies. Our camp was a mishmash of the RV, a portable charcoal grill, and various seating arrangements and tents. There was someone on guard, watching. Blake was out with someone else to go get more food.
Marc was massaging a leg
while sitting in the passenger seat. He’d turned it around to face us. “I’m getting cramps, sleeping on the ground.”
It was the leg I’d shot him in a while back. I didn’t want to look at it, but the scar was noticeable.
Seemed like forever ago…
“When do you think we’ll hear about Axel?” Brandon said. He sat next to his brother at the table. “It’s making me nervous not hearing from him in so long. And Wil.” He looked at me. “They’ll find him, but it’d be nice to hear details.”
“They’d let us know if something bad happened,” Corey said. He was slumped over against the wall while sitting down, his arms folded across his stomach. “I think we’re just slow at communication right now, what with just a phone call a day to check in.”
It’d been days and days of so many people around, it took me a minute to realize it was just us in this moment inside the RV.
Raven came out of the bathroom. He skin was still patchwork of bruises all over his body, wearing a T-shirt and jeans we’d picked up for him. He poked Brandon in the shoulder as he approached. “Smell that?” he asked him.
“You stinking up the place?”
“It’s the smell of success,” he said, beaming. “Get it?”
I groaned. “Where’d you learn that?”
“Jail,” he said. “Funny joke.”
“At least you’re feeling better,” Corey said. He sat up as Raven nudged me over to sit next to me in the RV’s booth.
“We’ll be on the move soon,” Raven said.
“How do you know?” Marc asked behind him.
Raven stayed positioned with an arm around me but spoke to Marc over his shoulder. “Heard someone talking. They really did get the rest of the Academy out of the city. Almost all of them. They found a campground not far from here. I think we’ll be joining them.”
Brandon raised an eyebrow. “Is that a good idea?”
Raven shrugged. “Sure. All together, we’re stronger.”
“What if Alice is looking for us?” Corey asked.
“I don’t think she is,” I said. “Not with a cartel pissed off that her team killed a bunch of people, not with the police and forensics out there looking for her. We’re the least of her problems. We for sure don’t know where Murdock is. She tried to torture it out of us, and it didn’t work. We don’t have him. I think that’s the only reason she was looking for us. Since we didn’t know, we’re not important right now.”
Corey brushed his palm against his face and then slumped against the wall again. “I just don’t feel like it’s done for good. Hard to feel that way when we don’t know where she is…or where Mr. Murdock is, or what’s going on. Like we started it but it’s not settled.”
“Might be a while before we shake that feeling, no matter what,” Brandon said. “I don’t think they’ll let us back still, just in case.”
We fell silent. It was hard to think our time in Charleston was over. I’d never lived anywhere else, only temporarily been away from the city.
Would I ever be back? It was hard for us to get to Alice, and it was only when she was looking for us that we managed to find her. The police might be looking for her, but until she was found, we weren’t safe. We knew that now more than ever. She’d kill. She’d do anything to get what she wanted.
“We won’t know their plans until we talk to them,” Marc said behind us. “Probably at this thing they want us to go to. Their campgrounds.”
I didn’t really want to go. It felt like the last stop before we disappeared forever. I was sure they’d tell us to disappear. Maybe it was a good idea, but it didn’t sit well with me. Gretchen…I owed her a favor. My brother…and my father… I had a lot of unfinished things to leave now.
I kept hope that what they said was right. That if they’d been found dead or seriously hurt, they’d let us know.
And every moment we didn’t hear from them, it was like they must be still alive.
Raven rubbed his hand along the base of my neck. “Don’t look like that. We’ll find everyone. We’ll keep us safe.”
Brandon eyeballed him, and then looked pointedly at what he was doing to my neck and looked away.
I flexed my hands under the table, looking out of the window toward the woods outside our RV. Maybe it bothered him to see Raven and I close and he was resisting coming over to touch me, too. This was a situation I wasn’t really prepared for. Corey, Brandon, Marc and Raven…if Blake and Axel had been here, it would have been more awkward.
How were we going to exist once this was over?
I kind of wished I could talk to Lillian and Liam again. How did they manage to make their relationship work?
To stop myself from thinking too much on it, I tried to drum up something we could talk about. “This is probably a stupid time to bring it up…but if we’re going to this camp…I mean, am I supposed to get sworn to secrecy or something?”
They all seemed to consider this for a second.
“They didn’t send you back with the others into town,” Brandon said. “I think it means they trust you enough to let you come along.”
“Maybe they want her to join,” Marc said behind us.
We all turned to him, me and Raven looking over our shoulders.
Marc had his head tilted back on the headrest but looked right at me. “Best way to keep you on our side, maybe? Have you join? It’s what they did with us.”
“Won’t they make me join a girl team?” I asked. I remembered what Lillian said.
He raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know. There’s all sorts of teams. Liam…”
“I think they were an exception,” Corey said.
“She said they didn’t want them together,” I said. “I don’t know what happened.”
“You choose your team,” Raven said. He pointed to his chest and then to each of us. “I choose all of you. And Axel. And Blake…”
Brandon snorted. “They won’t let him join.”
“Blake joins,” Raven said. “He’s on my team.”
“You didn’t even say Kevin,” Corey said to him with a nudge of his foot, that I could feel under the table.
“He’s not here,” Raven said. “He’s been gone for a while. His wife…”
“They aren’t married yet,” Corey said.
“Same,” Raven said. “It’s just paperwork now. But he’s been gone. It’s not bad. He gets what he wants.”
I didn’t have an answer to this, but the others seemed to be lost in thought about it.
I’d be joining their team. I’d finally figure out what they were about.
Did I want that?
What would it mean if I joined?
It was then that Brandon’s gaze had me redirecting my thoughts to what he was looking at.
The ring, still on my finger. I’d forgotten I was wearing it. I fiddled with it, with my thumb, making it spin on my finger until the diamond was hiding palm side in.
While the others talked, I looked at Brandon. I didn’t know how to tell him it was from Axel. That it didn’t mean I didn’t care about him…
I needed help and time to figure out how to tell them all, that I cared about them. That I didn’t want our individual relationship dynamics to change, even if it was unfair that I was asking them all to be involved with me in this strange way.
♠♠♠♠♠♠
It wasn’t too long before Liam came back.
“I’ve got details,” he said. “We need to pack up. We might actually be on time.”
“For what?” I asked.
“Their campgrounds aren’t far,” he said and didn’t really answer my questions. He got into the driver’s seat and turned the key to check the gas level. “We should be able to get there without stopping.”
I got out. Others were around, undoing the tents and folding them back up.
I went to help one rolling up some sleeping bags. He’d been with us since the Sargent Jasper invasion. Dressed in dark clothes and with long hair. He had almost femini
ne features, but everyone used male pronouns around him. He was young, maybe fourteen or so. It was hard to tell. “Need any help?”
He shrugged. “Sure.” He nodded toward the sleeping bag on the ground nearby. “Just got to get these in the RV.”
I picked the other one up, starting to just fold it over.
He waved a hand to stop me, and undid his to show me how to really roll it up. “Like this.”
“Oh,” I said, fixing what I’d done.
“It’s okay,” he said. “They just showed me how, too.”
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“Lake,” he said.
I blinked at him. “That’s a cool name.”
He smirked. “Not my given, but I like it.” He leaned over. “I’m not supposed to say where I’ve been. I’m not supposed to tell anyone. But we’re going to a camp where I’m not supposed to lie. And I’m new to this…the Academy.”
I was surprised to hear that. “You’re related to Axel, aren’t you? You’re the cousin?”
He seemed surprised at the reaction. “Yeah. You know him?”
“I think he mentioned you. Before this.” I paused. “Your family…he said your parents…something like they are like his?”
“You mean controlling and manipulative and nearly dangerous?” He snorted. “Yeah.” He moved a hand over his body. “I dress too much like a girl, won’t join sports…get into a lot of trouble. They sent me to a therapist since I’ve been trying to figure myself out, and it happened to be Lillian. And Axel had been talking about my potential.” Lake rolled his eyes. “I don’t know about all this, but I promised Axel I’d at least listen. I usually don’t fit in anywhere.” He hesitated. “Do you think I’ll get in trouble if I lie about all this?”
For someone who wasn’t sure about joining the Academy, he was really nervous about doing well. “I think we should be careful who we tell,” I said. “Protect them. Don’t offer any information unless they ask. If they need to know, let the others tell them.” I wasn’t sure how many people needed to worry that the cartel, Alice and other people perhaps were looking for money, killing people, the kidnappings…
He nodded to himself. “Don’t offer…okay. I’m just nervous.”
