“I hope you’re right.”
We know where they are now. I can find the Eroi if that’s really what I want to do. When we started this search, my goal was to get revenge, not only on Ivy, but on the Eroi, as well as get answers and try and stop the war raging between our two groups. I still want those same answers, and a big part of me still wants to make them pay for what they’ve done. Even more, I want to stop the war and uncover the truth behind who and what I am. I want all of that, but everything else takes a backseat to protecting Van from anyone who would try to abuse her.
In my heart, I am torn between trusting a group who tried to have me killed and the man who is obsessed with our power. I want to take this all on myself and save my sister without having to rely on anyone, but I know what a fantasy that would be. I need help. I must choose between the lesser of two evils, and I can only hope my choice is the right one.
“When do we leave?” Annabelle asks quietly, already knowing what my decision will be.
Swallowing down the apprehension I feel rising in my chest, I say, “Next Saturday. School will be out for spring break.”
“I’ll be ready,” she says.
I don’t try to talk her out of coming with me. I know it won’t work, and I want her there. I don’t know if I can get through this without having someone I can trust unquestioningly at my back. She makes a good partner in combat as well. Her slender build and delicate looks only hide the grim determination behind her eyes. Annabelle is not weak.
I pull her into my arms and hold her tightly against my chest. She presses in until I can feel the rapid beating of her heart. It matches my own as I contemplate what we are about to do. I am terrified of failing and losing Van, but my fears are not just for my sister.
“Annabelle, if the Eroi agree to help us…” I close my eyes and breathe in the scent of her hair, too scared to ask for what I really want.
Before I can finish my question, Annabelle says, “I told you I’m coming with you, not just to the Eroi compound, but wherever you go after that.”
“Thank you.” I press her closer, even though there is no space left between us. Van is my number-one priority, but Annabelle has become so much a part of my life that I can’t imagine not having her with me every day. Our relationship hasn’t progressed beyond hugs that last much longer than needed and an occasional kiss on the cheek, but I know it would be impossible for me to walk away from her.
Lifting her head slightly, Annabelle looks up at me and asks, “Do you think your grandma will let you stay with me tonight?”
“I’ll stay regardless,” I say before kissing her hair and cradling her head against my chest.
Chapter Twenty-Six: The Right Plan
(Zander)
Convincing David and my grandma that it would be a good idea for Annabelle and me to get away for a few days was easier than I expected. Even with both of them being on a mission to push us together in the hopes that Ivy will disappear from my mind completely, I expected at least a little hesitation when I proposed the two of us going off into the mountains to sleep in a tent together. Neither of them even batted an eye.
I suppose I have Van and Ketchup to thank for that.
Ketchup has been hanging around the house constantly thanks to his calming influence on Van. It’s great for her, but it’s been hell on me. Needless to say, I’ve been spending most of my time at Annabelle’s. Grandma feels bad that I’ve practically been kicked out of the house for a while and caved immediately when I asked about taking Annabelle winter camping.
David would have been a harder sell after our confrontation at Annabelle’s that night, but luckily, he now believes we’re back on the righteous path thanks to us turning over everything we had translated from the Eroi book. Well, everything he needs to know about. Annabelle sold it even more by writing up a bunch of notes about interesting things we discovered.
I doubt David truly believes I have forgotten about going after Ivy, but Van and her bizarre experiences with her new hunger keeps him too distracted to focus on me as much. At some point he’s going to realize we’ve played him for a fool, but hopefully, it will be too late by then.
Opening the door for Annabelle, I pull her into a massive hug. Her puffy, white parka squashes under my embrace, but she smiles up at me. “Ready for some winter camping?” she asks cheerfully.
“Ready as I’ll ever be, I suppose.”
“I already threw my stuff in the back of your truck. We can leave whenever you’re ready.”
“Great,” I say, “let me just say goodbye to my grandma.”
“Where’s everyone else?” Annabelle asks. “I was hoping to say hi to Van and Ketchup.”
I grimace as I think about it. “Van got hauled off for a few tests at the hospital. We know she’s going to be fine, but they’re still baffled by everything that happened and we pretty much have to play along and let them study our genetic disorder so no one gets suspicious. Ketchup went with her.”
I turn away to go find my grandma, but she surprises me by stepping off the last stair just as I turn around. She smiles warmly at Annabelle, but I can’t help noticing that she looks more tired than usual… and maybe thinner. I stay back while Annabelle gives my grandma a hug. My attempts to talk to her about her health didn’t get me very far. She brushed it off and said she was fine, but Van confirmed my fears the day after Annabelle suggested my grandma might be sick.
Trying not to show my frustration when Van revealed that she had hid her particular talent for being able to feel out the source of a person’s pain and basically diagnose illness based on the feel of the pain in their bodies wasn’t easy, but I didn’t have much time to dwell on it when she started sobbing in my arms.
I wanted to tell Van right then that I had a plan to make sure she didn’t end up being carted off by David for who knows what dark purposes, but I knew she’d never agree to turning to Ivy for help. If everything goes well over the next few days, I’ll be able to go to her with a plan instead of a vague promise that I would take care of everything.
A tap on the shoulder from Annabelle brings me back to the moment. I turn to see my grandma waiting for me to say goodbye. Gently, I put my arms around her and force myself not to comment on the veil of pain hovering around her body. “We’ll be back in a few days.”
She nods, smiling faintly. “Be careful. Do you have enough food and blankets in case you get stuck somewhere?”
“We have enough for two weeks,” I say with a laugh. There was no way I was leaving this house without half a ton of food from my grandma. “We’ll be fine. It’ll take a lot to get my truck stuck. Don’t worry. I have my phone, too.”
“I know, but I still worry.”
“I know you do.” Hugging her again, I pull back slowly. “Are you going to be okay here?”
She waves me off. “I’ll be just fine. You two go and have fun.”
“Thanks, Grandma.”
Annabelle hugs my grandma one more time before taking my hand and following me to the door. As I pull it closed behind us, Annabelle and I look at each other. The breath I felt like I was holding the whole time we were in the house releases slowly.
Annabelle’s shoulders fall as she exhales as well. “Are we ready for this?”
“We’re ready,” I say with more confidence than I actually feel. I squeeze Annabelle’s hand and tug her down the front steps with me.
When we’re both seated in the truck and buckled in, Annabelle looks over at me with a curious expression. I turn the key and listen to the engine rumble. “What?” I ask.
“Does it bother you that your grandma thinks we’re sleeping together?”
Chuckling, I ask, “Does it bother you?”
Annabelle shrugs. “Not really.”
“Me neither. She can think whatever she wants.”
Annabelle presses her lips together thoughtfully, but she doesn’t say anything else. I pull out of the driveway with the hint of a smile playing on my lips. Annabelle doesn�
�t have to say what she’s thinking. I think I know her well enough to guess her thoughts. They aren’t too far away from mine.
She asked me whether it bothers me that the people we are closest to all think we’re having sex, and they’re happy to assume that even though it isn’t true, but I don’t think that was the main question on her mind. We have the GPS coordinates for the Eroi compound we’re planning to infiltrate, but at this time of year, it’s likely to be buried in several feet of snow. Getting to it might require an overnight stay in the mountains. I think Annabelle’s real question is the same as mine. Would it bother me if what everyone was assuming about us was true?
Glancing over at Annabelle, I take her hand in mine and pull her closer. She smiles up at me and leans her head against my shoulder. Her contented sigh gives me a great deal of peace. I look back at the road and focus my thoughts on what we are heading for. We have four hours of driving ahead of us before we will need to break out the snowshoes in the back of the truck. Four hours to convince ourselves this is the right plan.
***
“Are we going to be able to get around on these things if it starts getting dark?” Annabelle, who is dressed in a white jacket and white snow pants to blend in, asks as she straps on her snowshoes.
“We’ll go as far as we can,” I reply. “I’d rather make the approach in the daylight so we won’t fall into a ravine on accident, but if we can’t get there, we’ll just have to set up camp and try tomorrow.”
I get the last buckle fastened and clomp over toward Annabelle to see if she needs any help. By the time I reach her she, is stomping around, trying to get used to walking in snowshoes. I smile at her awkward gait. Family vacations as a child never included places like Disneyland. It was too dangerous to expose us to that many unfamiliar people. Instead, we did a lot of camping, hiking, and snowshoeing out where we wouldn’t bother anyone. By now, I’m fairly accustomed to the feel of snowshoes on my feet, but I remember how difficult it was to walk in them the first time I put a pair on.
As Annabelle practices, I get our packs from the back of the truck and lock everything up. She is ready and waiting when I hand her the backpack full of emergency supplies. I have the heavy pack that’s equipped with a small pop-up tent and compact sleeping bags. I’d prefer not having to sleep out in the snow, but I have to admit the idea of spending the night in the woods with Annabelle is certainly appealing.
I pull out the GPS, making sure it’s on and ready to guide us to the Eroi compound. Beside me, Annabelle switches on her flashlight to test it before shoving it in a pocket. We start at a slow, but steady pace, gaining speed as she gets used to the snowshoes. Even once we’re moving at a good pace, the cursor on the GPS seems to be crawling along the map. The temperature continues to drop as we walk, and I soon begin to worry about keeping Annabelle out in the elements much longer.
“What is that?” Annabelle asks.
I look up, not sure what she’s referring to at first. I see it only when she points it out. The mound of snow looks like part of the landscape at first glance. Only when you really stop to look at it do you notice the surreal perfection of its rounded top. The dark shape below it I originally took for a shadow is too square to be a shadow. I take a deep breath as I recognize it as a lookout post.
“Guard station, most likely,” I tell Annabelle. “We need to go around it. I don’t want them to spot us until we’re ready. If they come across us wandering about the woods, they might take us for intruders and shoot us before we get a chance to say anything.”
“Sneaking into their compound will be better?” Annabelle asks.
We’ve already had this argument several times. Annabelle wanted to announce our presence as soon as we got close enough to get their notice. Wave the white flag, essentially. I argued that giving ourselves up after already getting into their compound would not only make them curious, but hopefully gain us a certain level of respect.
Annabelle doesn’t argue, though, when I start leading us in a wide arc around the outpost. She actively searches the area around us for any other outposts or questionable shapes in the snow. The GPS still shows us more than a mile from our destination, so we continue, watching the snow and each other’s backs. It takes us over an hour to travel what would have been a mile without the constant need for detours. By the time the actual compound is in sight, Annabelle and I are both breathing hard.
“So, how do we get down there?” Annabelle asks quietly.
“We’re going to have to leave everything here, including the snowshoes.” I start taking everything off and hiding it behind the tree next to us as I scan the path down to the compound. Once I’m down to the necessities, I point at an open garage at the back corner of the building. “There are two snowmobiles parked in the garage there. If anything goes wrong, get to one of those snowmobiles and get out of here, okay?”
“I’m not leaving without you,” Annabelle argues.
Grabbing her face in my hands, I look at her seriously. “You will if I tell you to, do you understand me?”
Annabelle scowls at me. “We’re going to be fine.”
“I want your promise, Annabelle. If I get captured, get back to Van. Don’t let David take her. You have to promise me you’ll protect her if I can’t.”
Closing her eyes once before reopening them, Annabelle nods firmly. “I promise.”
I nod, glad for her promise, but not convinced she’ll keep it. I don’t want her trying to save me if things go badly. Van needs to be kept safe. Silently, I will Annabelle to stay focused and not let her heart out rule her head.
“Okay, we’re between the two outposts, so we’re as far away as we can get from either one. Stay close to the ground and move slowly. Follow me, but if you see something I don’t, tap me, okay?”
Annabelle nods. Her serious expression gives me confidence that this will work. Our movements are painstakingly slow as we practically belly crawl through the snow. It seems to take hours before the garage seems any closer, but the halfway point looms ahead of us less than ten minutes later.
The area around us is so still, moonlight reflecting off the snow. It would almost be peaceful if not for the hammering of my heart and the fear surrounding the both of us. I half expect someone to jump out at us when we finally reach the garage where the two snowmobiles are housed. When we stumble out of the snow, Annabelle heads straight for the door. I grab her arm and pull her back. When I point at a grey box on the wall, she doesn’t seem to understand. I walk over and open the metal cabinet to reveal several hooks with keys on them. I grab the two pairs of snowmobile keys of their hooks, handing one set to Annabelle. She slips them into her pocket and refocuses on the door.
“Zander, look,” she says, pointing at the black card reader mounted next to the door. “How are we going to get in?”
I doubted that the Eroi would leave their doors unlocked. Even though this isn’t an unexpected obstacle, it’s still one nonetheless. I found all kinds of solutions online that mainly targeted hotel room keycard locks. Somehow, I doubt the Eroi are employing the same kind of keycards that hotels use. Nothing I am capable of doing is going to bypass the lock on this door. Sighing, I know that leaves me with only one option.
“Annabelle, we’re about to let the Eroi know we’re here.” I take a step forward and plant myself securely in front of the door. Tossing her the snowmobile key I had in my pocket, I say, “Turn it on and make sure it’s ready to go, just in case.”
It only takes a few seconds for Annabelle to bring the engine roaring to life. She leaves it running and comes back to stand behind me. She is quiet as I wrap my hands around the door handle and close my eyes. Focusing on the pain I have fed off of this week and the energy I’ve stored, I concentrate on channeling it into a burst of strength.
Breathing in, my fingers tighten. As I exhale, I pull against the door with everything I have. The doorframe snaps, and I am flung backward. Shards of wood and metal burst outward from the door. Alarms blare in
our ears, but we don’t let it slow us down. Our feet tap against the linoleum floors as we make our way through the compound hallways. Eyes alert, we scan every section of the walls as we run, looking for a good defensible spot.
“Up ahead,” I whisper.
Annabelle’s eyes swivel to take in the sign at the end of the hallway reading Weaponry. She nods in silent agreement. The first sounds of pursuit hits us twenty feet from the room. We both pick up our pace and sprint the last few yards. Reaching out, I yank open the door with the intent of barreling inside. My feet skid to a halt as a dozen shiny, black guns are raised in unison, aimed directly at my chest.
“Annabelle, run!” I scream as the first bullet is fired.
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Backup Plan
(Vanessa)
Settling into the couch after a long day of getting poked, shoved inside of MRI machines, and answering eight and a half billion questions feels wonderful. It would feel great regardless, but it feels even better as Ketchup crawls onto the couch behind me and pulls me against his chest. I look up, expecting a kiss, but instead, find a very confused look on Ketchup’s face.
“Why is Annabelle texting me?” he asks.
“Huh?” I reach up and grab Ketchup’s phone. Why would Annabelle be texting Ketchup? A quick swipe across the screen brings up her barely comprehensible text message.
Znder mountn shot hlp now!!!
My entire body goes rigid as I piece together the rambling words. Ketchup is saying something, but I tune everything out as I tap Annabelle’s avatar and will the phone to hurry up and call her!
“Ketchup! Get Van!” Annabelle yells into the phone.
“This is Van. What is going on?” I screech. “Where is Zander? Did your message say he was shot? I though you two went camping!” Annabelle chokes back a sob, which only sends me into panic mode even more.
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