To Be A Champion

Chapter 33: I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

I don't like the dark.

It's dark, cold and I'm tired. Exhaustion clings to sore muscles, my body feeling the brunt of running around so much. I've done this for years, but that doesn't make this any less painful.

But I think it's good that I don't sleep. It's been five days since I had that horrid dream with Catherine, five days since Nicole learned about the whole deterioration thing. Whatever emotion she had shown Rory in the backroom of that corner shop, she's determined to not show me. But she's the least of my worries, not when I keep thinking that Catherine might be waiting for me when I close my eyes.

She hasn't visited my dreams since she told me she was free, but I don't fancy the idea of seeing her again. Just because she doesn't intend to kill me doesn't mean she doesn't like to taunt me and wind me up more than I already up.

So, while I am tired and the darkness seems to swallow me whole like the clouds have done to the moon up in the sky, and the cold causes goosebumps to rise on my arms, I'm glad I'm out instead of in bed.

"Jody, Five, you've reached town," Sam says, his voice alert. "We don't know who was working with Jones, or who has the Edda, or who drew all those super creepy pictures of people they wanted to kill, or if they're the same person. It's dark, but try to stay out of sight. I've got some cams on the island, but," He sighs heavily, "yeah. Many of them don't seem to work well in the dark, so I might not see if someone's following you. Have you got the map?"

Runner Four reaches into her backpack and pulls out the piece of paper, allowing me to use my small flashlight to shine on it. It gives off very little light, just enough for us to see what's been set out in front of us.

This was one of Jones' papers. Tom and I were going through some of them a few days ago when we found it. We thought it might be useful.

"It marks out a route in symbols and says, 'Follow in the footsteps of the father of the slain.' That isn't sinister at all," The blonde says with a shudder.

"Yeah. But it still could be useful. Amelia and her people have been going through what we haven't been able to, reading everything and anything in Jones' stash. After Callista and Tom showed this to them, they correlated that and everything else with Ellie's notes. The only thing they've sure comes directly from the Edda is that map."

"Which is why you and Five will follow the route for me."

I jump at the sound of a feminine voice in my headset. "Amelia! Sam, why didn't you say she was with you?"

Amelia giggles at my hissing voice. "I'm not. I'm in my stateroom in the Undaunted. Since Team Janine has proven a complete liability, I'm overseeing this mission."

Jody scowls, green eyes flashing with anger. "Hey! Janine's not well. Paula says she's permanently lost vision in one eye. And we still managed to make a successful alliance with Dearg labs, and we discovered that the red fungus comes from Mor Island like the Edda."

"And you managed to get one of those Dearg interns to turn V-Types and make things more complicated by finding out Five here is some kind of Build-a-Barbie from Dearg. Lord knows we need her emotions getting in the way of things."

My jaw drops at her jab. "Hey-"

"Oh! And how could I forget? You also discovered several caves bursting with red fungus, which might have been useful to know about earlier." She sighs dramatically, and I grit my teeth. "I've sent Marines to scour them with flamethrowers. All traces of silver mud will be delivered to Dearg for analysis."

Sam huffs. "The laird is doing a good impression of an irritated landowner rather than a sinister skincoat. He complained to Janine about damage to a historical sight."