084 – Indigo Thread

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I stared at the man’s face as he caught his breath, making them deep.

Caucasian, with defined lines on his face, but there was still a youthfulness to his features. Pushing his thirties, if not well into them. His hair was short, a buzz cut, with some stubble growing around his mouth and chin. Flecks of blood and dotted the lower half of his face, and with his eyes blinking but only opening halfway, it was clear that he’d been through some shit, too.

Who hasn’t, by this point?

He blinked twice more, before his eyes could move over to me, focus, and realize that there was a ‘me’ to notice to begin with. I saw his expression shift. Squinting through the dim, speaking over the music.

“Who’re you?” he asked, with more energy than I would have expected.

It meant something, that I had to pause and think up a proper answer.

“V,” I said, after a time. “It’s V. I’m here to get you out… well, depending on who you are.”

The man grinned, another thing I didn’t expect.

“You can call me Remus,” he said.

“Remus?”

A strange name, but I had gotten used to strange. And something about him seemed familiar, too, but it was hard to parse.

“A name isn’t going to be enough,” I said. “You’re going to have to tell me where you came from, Remus, and how you got to be in that chair.”

The man paused. Was that supposed to mean something?

The man, Remus, answered.

“I was on a trip, with about a hundred others. We were on our way to El Paso. But, actually, I believe our final destinations would be much more south than that. As for how I got in this chair, that’s just bad luck. And as for why you’re here, I’m guessing you got my message?”

My eyes widened.

Another one of them. Like Olivia, like her father.

The message. The coordinates.

“You’re part of the group that was being transported?” I asked.

“Yes, that’s what I said.”

“And you’re the one that sent out those coordinates?”

“That’s what I implied.”

I frowned at him. “I’m just making sure. A lot’s happened lately and I feel like I’m beginning to lose grasp of even the simple things. It’s been a long day, basically, and it’s not even noon yet.”

“That doesn’t sound promising for our chances of escape.”

“I’m trying,” I said, breathy at the end, saying it more so for myself than him. The effect was marginal.

Remus twisted in his seat. His arms were at his back. He tugged, but they weren’t moving.

“If you’re going to try,” he said, “Start by getting me out of this. Hurry.”

Oh, right.

By the way he was moving, he didn’t seem to be too injured. He could move of his own volition.

But, he was still bound, and he’d need my help.

I grabbed him by the shoulders and eased him up, out of the chair. He grunted, but managed. I turned him around and examined his hands.

Zip ties had him bound by the wrist. Tight, enough to made his hands and fingers red, the skin right under the restraints more red and irritated. But, that could have just been from him trying and failing to get out of them.

I checked my pockets, feeling for my knife. I found it, and flicked the blade out.

“I’ve got a knife,” I said. “It’s going to be a bit of a squeeze, though.”

“Do be careful.”

I put the knife up close to the zip ties, between his hands. Part of the blade pressed against both of this palms.

“Pull apart as much as you can,” I told him.

“That’s the best I can do.”

“Then stay still.”

Several hard heartbeats passed.

He couldn’t heal like me. He was breakable.

No more mistakes. Couldn’t afford them.

I bit my tongue until it hurt. I flicked the blade forward.

“Ah!”

Remus gasped, harsh. He tripped, and I brought a hand out to catch him.

Getting his balance back, he stretched, putting his hands up in front of his face, rubbing his wrists. He breathing was more measured now, but obvious and noticeable. Deliberate.

“I’ve only ever been in cuffs a few times in my life,” Remus said. “I don’t need to do this, but I almost feel compelled to. You see it in a lot of movies and shows.”

I watched as he settled himself, putting his arms to his sides. He stood straight. He was hunched over before, slumped when in the chair, so I hadn’t realized how tall he was at his full height. Several heads over me. I had to crane my neck up to face him, to address him properly.

He was wearing a grey sweatshirt, the sleeves long enough to cover his lanky arms. And with black jeans and red loafers, he had dressed comfortably for an uncomfortable trip, squeezed in with a hundred other people.

He had some blood on his face, but not his clothes. He didn’t seem to be showing any signs of strain or injury.

I asked, just to make sure.

“Are you hurt? Anything else I need to know about?”

Remus shook his head, and cleared his throat. “No. They got a few good hits in, but I’ve walked away from worse. I’ll deal.”

I lifted an eyebrow.

“Then that’s good, because I’m going to need your help for this next part, if you’re up for it.”

“If it means leaving as soon as possible, then sure, I’m up for it.”

I attempted a smile, but an awkward, high-pitched giggle escaped me. I turned my head and coughed to try and mask it, pretend that it was a lead up to that, instead.

“Thank you, I’m going to need it.”

“No problem, now come on, we should go. I’m not sure how many of those guards you, um, took out on the way in here, but there no point in sticking around.”

Remus walked over to the body in the middle of the living room. The guard that I couldn’t remember taking out. Was I getting so exhausted that I was having momentary, brief gaps in my memory?

Shit, it would be dangerous if I was. Something I’d have to keep in mind.

“There’s a kitchen right there, on the other side of the counter,” Remus said, handling the guard. He removed a gun from the guard’s hip, taking it for himself, tucking it in the waistband of his pants. I didn’t even notice the guard had a gun.

Then, Remus picked the guard up, hooking his hands under the guard’s armpits. He leaned his head to the right of me and the chair.

“In case anyone comes in here, we can delay things having them have to go around to follow this blood trail.”

Blood trail. A line as wide as my foot dragged behind the guard while Remus moved him around, passing me to get to the kitchen. How bad did I get him?

“Is he alive?” I asked, concerned.

“He isn’t dead, but I’m no doctor. Does it really matter?”

It did, in a far but still relevant place in my conscious. I was here to save my crew and my passengers, and find some form of revenge against these people who sent us here, but I wouldn’t need to kill to achieve that. I’d admit that I’d been close, that I’d stood at that particular edge before. But, unless I couldn’t help it, I’d backed away.

“Let’s try to not get anyone killed,” I said.

“That’s your call, and I make no promises.”

Remus popped his head up from the other side of the counter. He grinned.

“I just want to get the fuck out of here.”

Again, I lifted an eyebrow. I was with him on that, but something about his expression rubbed me the wrong way.

“We should go then,” I said, mimicking his words.

He nodded, and went back around to meet me. I moved, too, just to get ahead of him.

“I’ll lead the way out of here,” I said. My thoughts went to Isabella. She was out there, waiting for me. I’d have to get back to her and secure her again. And I’d get back to D after we were all clear, outside.

Remus stepped ahead, even faster, crossing the living room to enter another room. He disappeared behind the door.

“Hey,” I said, but he didn’t respond.

The music cut, and all I could hear was a ringing in my ears. Constant, loud. How long had that been there?

Remus returned to the living room, with a large gym bag around one shoulder, a wire in his hand. Another thing, too. A phone, it looked like.

“Don’t need to keep blaring that, anymore,” Remus said.

“What is that?” I asked.

“My phone. I had a program that broadcasted a message out to any radio that could pick it up within a certain radius. It was set up like an alarm that could only manually be turned off by me. If I was ever away from my phone for too long, it would activate, the music being an indicator for me and a cover for anyone else. It really pissed these guys off, that they couldn’t put a little alarm on snooze. And as for the bag, it’s stuff. Tools that may prove to be of some use to us.”

I pulled out the walkie-talkie I had procured from Tone’s truck. “So that’s what I was hearing this whole time? It was coming from the phone?”

Remus started coiling up the wire around the phone, and putting them both into the bag.

“Yes, it was.” For a third time, he grinned. “Clever, no?”

For a third time, I lifted my eyebrow at him. The gesture was useless each time, considering I had a mask covering the upper half of my face. My eyes, more specifically.

Just who are you, exactly?

I breathed, and shook my head. That was the most in the way of doubt I could raise towards him, for the moment. Didn’t have time to question who this guy really was. I needed help, he was willing to offer that, and he seemed to be resourceful. He was the one who lead me here, after all. He had some tricks up his sleeve.

I would be another gun for Remus, and he could be the one to aim and pull the trigger.

“Very clever,” I said. “So can we go? I have people I need to get to.”

Like Isabella. Again.

“Of course.”

Remus didn’t concede to me as we left the apartment, though. He had gotten ahead of me, and took the lead once we went into the hall. For someone who was just restrained, who had been breathing heavy, slumped in his seat, he was moving pretty fast.

“We’re going this way,” he said, going down one particular direction. Deeper into the apartment complex, away from Isabella.

“Hey, do you even know your way out of here?” I asked. I wasn’t trying to come off as whining or indignant, but with how tired I was, the crackling, scratchy tone that my voice came out with suggested otherwise.

“If I can’t find my way out of an apartment complex, then I have much larger problems on my hands. But I know where I’m going.”

“Where?”

“Straight to the leader of the cartel who runs this town.”

That one sentence. It was like getting hit by a truck. So much information, all at once, when I’d been getting next to nothing… I was floored. If I wasn’t already on the move, I would have dropped at the weight of it.

“Leader? Cartel?” The key words came out of my mouth slurred, as if I couldn’t believe them, myself.

“Yeah. It’s gotten to be quite the shitshow. But, I don’t want to waste the breath on it, not now.”

No please, I need all the breath I can get.

I kept my cravings to myself. My thirst for information, and other things.

My voice and throat were getting scratchy. Dry.

Again?

I could feel the sweat begin to permeate through my mask.

“Where exactly is this leader?”

“There’s a fort. It’s in the heart of the town, on the opposite end of town hall, just past the plaza. It’s what the town used to be named after, back during a time when it wasn’t like this. That’s where everyone is, that’s where they all are.”

Having a destination in mind, it helped. And it helped in a way that was all-encompassing, clearing most of the fog that clouded my judgement, giving me clarity. Using another metaphor, the roots and weeds were chopped away, clearing a path that I could actually take. And just knowing where to go gave me that much more stability.

It wasn’t perfect, but it was something.

“I really, really like the sound of that,” I said.

“Good, because that’s where we’re headed.”

“How far is the fort?”

“Um,” Remus started, as we reached the end of the hall. He didn’t continue until we went around the corner. “I won’t lie, but it is quite the distance. I don’t suppose you have a car with you?”

I shook my head. “No. I don’t even know how to drive.”

“Well that’s good to know. Let’s find a car we can use, then. But it might be tricky.”

“Could be worth it.”

“I don’t disagree.”

I glanced back at the corner we passed, well aware that the more we walked, the more distance I was putting between me and Isabella.

I had to steer this back to her.

“How about I take the lead, I can clear a path for us and scout ahead for anyone else. Just tell me where to go.”

“Splendid idea, V, but do you have any idea what this place is, who runs the operation, here? One false step and you’re done for.”

“I know that much, but I managed to get this far despite taking multiple false steps. On accident. Do you even know who I am?”

I couldn’t believe that I had to pull that card, but I needed to reconvene with Isabella. Sooner, rather than never.

Remus stopped and turned. I stopped too.

“I do know who you are, V. I knew it the second I laid eyes on you. The mask, the blood. It doesn’t take that many braincells to put the two and two together. Why do you think I just went right into working towards our getting out of here? Because I don’t need to waste time to clarify myself on things I’m already aware of.”

I blinked. I hadn’t even caught on to the fact that he didn’t question me or my being here, or how I managed to get this far into the town and to him despite sheer amount of opposition that blocked my way. I couldn’t even catch that I was being slow on the uptake.

How much of a help was I actually going to be? Or would I hold us back in a critical moment? Everything, and everyone, brought to ruin by my fatigue.

It was a very real possibility, and I hated that it was.

“Okay, fine,” I said, backing down. I’d just have to reach Isabella some other way-

Before that other way could come to mind, my ears caught a noise. Faint, but it reverberated throughout the halls.

I grabbed Remus by the arm and ran, pulling him along. I must have put more force than was needed, because he recoiled, letting out a sharp gasp of air.

“What?” he questioned, struggling to not trip over his own feet.

“In here,” I whispered, but I pushed the words out with conviction that I didn’t have before. With that same strength, that I pushed him towards a door, another apartment. It was cracked open, but a glint of light reflected off a chain in the gap. I moved us around so I could get at the door first.

Leaning into the door, I pushed it with my shoulder, hard. The door broke free with a snap.

“They know you’re free, we have to get out of here, now.”

“There aren’t any stairs in here!”

“Funny, you think that’s a problem.”

It was funny, because I had to stop myself from breaking into a hard fit of laughter.

I lead us through the apartment, and I was running too fast to properly process what I was seeing in here. Too blurry, unfocused.

Candles. There was a whole collection of them, some were lit, more were not. Placed all over floor, clumped together in groups, obstructed our path through the apartment, and I had to be careful while still trying to hurry out of here. I didn’t want to knock any over and set the whole building on fire.

Or… maybe I did? Either way, it wasn’t part of my plan.

Other details clashed together to create a disturbing, harrowing image. Crosses were scrawled all over the walls and floor of the apartment, scratched into the wood, coated in what I hoped was red paint. Wreaths of branches and leaves circled certain clusters of candles. The room was thick with the smell of wax and incense.

The hell?

A ceremony or a rite or something. For what, though? A cult? It went with the grim scene I’d come across at the park, and it went against what Remus had told me, earlier. What was this place?

But, there was no time to stop for answers, I had to keep it moving.

I rushed us into the bedroom, to the balcony on the other side. There were more ‘decorations’ in here, too. A skull, resting on a pillow atop the bed, goat heads, mouths yawning wider between the gaps in the room. Or was my eye flickering again?

Brief, I let go of Remus to slide the balcony door open, and turned to gesture for him to come outside. I noted how gripped the door, his feet planted on the other side of the sliding door.

“You’re crazy if you think I’m making that jump.”

“We don’t have much of a choice,” I told him. “I heard some of them, back there. They know you’re out, and they’ll be looking for you. You wanted to get out of here? This is the fastest way.”

“You really are crazy.”

I shrugged. “It’s still our best route out of here.”

I heard some of them again, this time much louder. They were coming this way.

Remus heard them too.

“Dammit!”

With caution, he put one foot forward, onto the balcony, moving like a newborn fawn testing his legs.

Ugh.

We didn’t have the luxury for this.

I snatched him by the arm and swung, throwing him off the balcony. I used so much force that he didn’t even get the chance to scream. All I heard was a soft, hushed breath leave his lips as he passed me.

I laughed, he sounded funny.

I followed right behind him.

It was a stunt to pull off, but nothing I couldn’t handle. As we moved through the air, I put my arms forward, catching him. I put one arm around his legs, and the other on his back for support. We dropped several stories, but he was more than secure by the time I hit ground.

Bracing myself of impact, I aimed for a patch of grass, wanting to land of soil rather than cement. My knees bent at the force, and I moved into a crouch, keeping still for a second longer than usual. I felt like I had shaken Olivia too much when I had her in my arms, so I needed to exercise some restraint with Remus. Not everyone could handle the amount of force and pressure exerted whenever I jumped or soared on top of roofs. I’d have to be more aware of that.

Taking a second, I set Remus down, letting him get back to his feet. But he needed a second more, it seemed.

Remus ran his fingers through his scalp, fixing his bag over his shoulder.

“Never…” he breathed, “Do that again.”

“Get over it, we need to keep moving.”

I kept moving, heading around the side of the building. I’d given him more than enough time to catch his breath, regain his composure.

Now he was following me. If only I could get back to Isabella from here, but it wasn’t like I was familiar with the area. In all of the destruction and dilapidation, everything looked the same.

I rummaged for my phone as I ran, taking it out. I saw that my call with D was still going. I set it to mute, then swiped at the screen to write out a message, keeping an eye up front.

I sent a text out to Sarah’s phone.

I had already experienced some short blackouts, but my memory hadn’t completely failed me. When Isabella had called me about the ambush on the RV, it was using Sarah’s phone. She’d have to have it on her when we met up again at the trailer.

We’d be screwed, otherwise.

I shoved the phone back into my pocket, slowing down enough for Remus to catch up. Being in a hurry, it would have been easy to leave him in the dust.

“We have to get a car,” I said.

“If there’s people around, there’s a way of getting around.”

“Cars have a way of making noise or leaving a trail. Being out here, in the middle of nowhere, it’ll be easier for us to stick out.”

“I thought you said you’d clear a path for us?”

I couldn’t help but smile at that, all of my teeth showing.

“Okay. I will, then.”

I turned to run again, going ahead to search for options, make progress. As I moved away from the cover of the apartment out into the parking lot, a few immediately became available.

Cars, parked close to the front of this particular building, grouped together, taking up several parking spots. This town really was fucked.

There. A pickup truck, nothing in the back. It would have to do.

“There!” I said, pointing it out to Remus. We both went straight for it.

I arrived before he did. I slid over the hood of the truck, to get to the driver’s side. The window was down, but it would take too long for Remus to crawl his way in.

I put my hands on the door.

Before Remus could catch up, I tore the door out from the side of the truck.

“Christ!”

Remus ran around the truck to meet me.

I struck a somewhat awkward pose, having to balance on one foot while holding a sizable, oddly shaped metal door. But I managed, and kicked at a compartment right underneath the steering wheel. Not enough to destroy the mechanism, but enough to get the plastic covering loose.

It got loose, and it yawned open, wires of different colors spilling out of the opening.

“Please tell me you know how to hotwire a truck,” I said.

Remus answered without missing a beat, getting into the truck while working the wires.

“I do, but it’ll take me some time! You use a key for a reason!”

“Then make it fast!”

Taking the metal door with me, I hopped into the back of the truck. I set the door down and crouched, peeking over the roof of the truck to keep an eye on the apartment’s entrance.

No one, not yet. But Remus had to be faster.

Isabella, too.

As if a response to that particular thought, I heard banging on the side of the truck bed, like someone was trying to get on.

I looked, and that someone was Isabella.

She climbed up, getting in with me. When she had settled, she looked back at me, and gave me a curt nod, and a thumbs-up.

I returned the gesture. It was good to see her again.

I went back to looking out for others.

“How is it?” I yelled.

Remus answered.

“Almost! Shit, I’m not good at improvising!”

Good thing I am, then.

“They’re coming,” Isabella said, flat. It was a warning all the same.

“Hurry!” I yelled.

Remus answered, not with a word, but with a hum. The truck came to life.

Then, the truck lurched, stuttering back. Remus had pulled away from the other cars before setting himself straight, able to go forward.

“They’re here.”

I saw them, spilling out of the entrance of the building, realizing what was going on. Dogs and horses. They were the ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ type. Because they did exactly that.

They shot at us as we made our escape.

Bullets ricocheted off the truck, some flying past my head. I heard glass break.

More cracks.

It wasn’t that I didn’t care, or that I wasn’t worried. I was, but the constant stress, the escalation, the never ending fighting for my life or others, the stakes kept getting pushed so much that it was funny.

I couldn’t not find the humor in that, and I broke into a fit of laughter. The sort of laughter that paid no mind to social conventions, whether or not there were other people around. There was no suppression. It was freeing, it was wild.

It was good.

The truck managed to get out of the lot, despite the barrage of gunfire. From the proximity of them, I could hear that Remus was shooting back, as well.

“Up ahead.”

My eyes followed Isabella’s warning.

Two cars, coming right at us, going fast. They’d tear us off the road and surround us if they got any closer.

I got up, bringing the metal door with me.

I didn’t much thought into what I was doing. Just what felt right, necessary.

Much like my shield from before, I spun, then threw the door, aiming for one of the cars.

The door spun like a disc, even curving through the air a little. It hit a target, cutting and slicing through the front engine of the car on my right.

It swerved, getting off the road. The other car even jolted out of the way. They gave us an opening that we immediately took at advantage of.

I heard Remus yell something, but the wind was too strong. Isabella was much clearer.

“Nice hit.”

She smiled at me, but I was already showing teeth.

Getting the affirmation wasn’t bad, though. Hearing it helped me feel it. That we were doing okay, that we had a chance.

And that chance was all I needed to keep it together.

Getting out of range of the gunfire, taking multiple corners, using buildings for cover, Remus drove to our destination. And I was grinning the whole ride there.

—

What happened next would be no laughing matter.

We had abandoned the truck several blocks down, right before we got to the plaza. We’d get spotted if we attempted to get any closer using a vehicle, sticking out with people in the back and a whole door missing. Going on foot wasn’t too bad, though. It wasn’t that far, and it had given us some much needed time to get some much needed information, and using that to plan.

The info I was getting… so much sweeter than blood.

“It may look like a mess, and while that’s because it is, there’s also a method to it. This was all by design and intention.”

“It was?” I questioned.

“Yes. The town was already doomed from the start, when the local economy started to stagnate. Then, as it declined, that gave room for seedier groups to come in and take root. An underground market developed, until it grew large enough to subsume the whole town without little opposition, thanks to the right corrupt politician in the right office, the right officer keeping tabs on the right things, and the right kind of reports being sent out, as to keep the outside world from looking too closely.”

“Sounds like a lot of work,” Isabella ventured.

“How do you even manage to get that far in a project like that?” I asked.

“Helps when you’re coordinated and have enough manpower to work with. Connections, too. Only a cartel would be able to pull this off. Either that, or the government. But I’m not up to discuss conspiracy theories.”

“Sure,” I said. “But that doesn’t explain all the fucked up shit we saw on the way here. The stuff I saw. The bodies, the masks, the cult stuff. None of it really adds up.”

“It does, in that it doesn’t. It’s all a front, a way to scare off anyone who tries to come here, or anyone who was unfortunate enough to come here by accident.”

“A front? But there were bodies, people were killed here. If a cartel wanted to scare people off, they wouldn’t need to go that far.”

“Image is everything, you’d know that, wouldn’t you? You wear a mask after all. In their eyes, it’s a necessary sacrifice, in order to properly sell that. Is it a cartel, or a cult? Is anyone really here, or is it just a myth? By keeping this sort of thing vague and inconsistent to the rest of the world, it scares off anyone who would normally be curious. Fuckington’s reputation acts like it’s own giant barrier.”

Remus breathed, slow, before adding, “Honestly, it’s pretty genius, this whole setup.”

The day was getting longer, the sun higher, the hour brighter, and my thoughts were too scattered to parse any of this properly.

“It’s more ‘mad’ than ‘genius,’” Isabella offered.

“Yeah, that sounds about right,” I said.

“You think so too?” Remus asked. “Splendid.”

“What are they called now? Does this cartel or cult even have a name?”

“They do. The Organization of Order.”

Weird name, not that I’m in any position to judge.

It almost made me laugh. Almost.

But, I did consider his answer.

“How do you even know all of this stuff, anyways?”

A noticeable lull in the conversation.

“You pick up a lot whenever you’re bound for a long stretch of time,” Remus answered.

“Fair enough,” Isabella said.

We were getting around the plaza, now, approaching the fort. The buildings around here were as small, if not smaller than the other town, with a larger stretches of soil and grass between them. It was getting harder and harder to stick close to the buildings, using them to hide behind. There were longer stretches of time and distance of us being out in the open, and when the whole point was to sneak up to the fort as much as possible, being visible was what we had to avoid.

“This way,” Remus said, turning onto another street, away from the largest open field we’d encountered yet. He picked up the pace.

I could see it from here. It was more like a facility than anything fortified, several buildings in the distance, normal in appearance. Old-fashioned, maybe even antiquated. I could see some vehicles, jeeps and trucks that were blockier and more sturdy. They reminded me of the trucks the border patrol had.

That felt so long ago, already.

I blinked, feeling my eyes stinging. So tired.

I could feel myself melting away in the sun.

There were some people in the distance. Too far to make out, and it didn’t seem like they noticed us. For the moment, we were still in the clear.

Didn’t look like they were my people. I wished I could get some visual on them.

According to Remus, they were right there. We were so close.

We walked, and my view of the fort was interrupted by another building. A general store.

Remus went off the sidewalk, to the middle of the street. He stopped right there.

“Why are we stopping?” I asked.

“We’re not. We’re just going another way.”

I tilted my head.

Remus noticed my reaction, and pointed down. We were standing around a manhole cover.

I looked back up. “Really?”

“Yes really. These older towns don’t exactly have the best kind of sewer system, but they are expansive and connected. We should be able to get right under the fort from here.”

“Should?”

“We will. We know what direction the fort is. It’s just a matter of navigating through the passages and into whatever room they have that’s connected. There’s going to be a boiler room or a generator room we can come in from. Better still that we find that on the way. If we can get a hold of their power, cut it off or sabotage it in some way…”

“That’s another way you can get an edge in,” Isabella said, finishing the thought.

“This better work,” I said.

“It will. It’s not like we can just walk right in and ask to take everyone back. You wanted help? This is how you’re going to get it.”

It was the most we could work with, it felt like. But, we had to make the most of it.

I moved without having to be asked. I bent down to pick up the manhole cover, tossing it away.

Remus commented as I worked.

“Honestly, I have to say I’m impressed. You’re actually much more of a terrifying figure than I initially thought. Despite being hit back harder, you’ve managed to return that favor tenfold. Truly impressive.”

“Thanks,” I said, absentminded, as the manhole cover fell back to the ground. The hole in the ground seemed to stretch wider.

There wasn’t a hole, before. It’s here now.

Remus gave me a look.

“You all ready?” he asked.

Isabella and I nodded.

“Then I’ll let you lead the way, clear the path once more, V. Let’s save what we can of the transport.”

Yes. I liked the sound of that. I really, really liked it. I was going to save Sarah, save Tone, and take Isabella and Olivia and everyone else to safety.

Serious business, but the prospect of success made me smile.

Leading the way, I went down first, moving in silence, dropping into the darkness once more.

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