The Elite (Editting)

Chapter 27: Herded

            "Could your elbows be any pointier?" Xenia complained as I slid down the chute. I could've cried for seeing my good friend but I looked around and notice we were missing someone.

        "Where's Gabriel?" I asked, re-securing my backpack to me and untangling myself from Xenia.

          "Ooh, you two are in deep," Xenia said, standing up. "I'm so glad this place has a high ceiling, you have no idea how much it hurts to walk around bent over or to crawl everywhere."

          "Xenia!" I said. "Where is my Gabriel?" Another thud resounded in the laundry chutes. Xenia and I quickly ran into dark corners of the room just in case it was a foe coming down.

        "So now I'm your Gabriel?" I heard him say before I saw him. I could almost picture the cocky smirk he'd have on his face.

      "Gabriel!" I sprang forth from my hiding place and wrapped my arms around Gabriel, running my fingers through his hair, ensuring that he was real.

      "If this is the welcome I get, maybe I'll be late for secret meetings more often," Gabriel said, encircling my waist. "You know I wouldn't leave you Belle, not on purpose at least."

      "Enough, enough. Don't you two get all romantic on me, I'd be forced to laugh hysterically," Xenia said, stepping out of a dark corner.

        "Thanks for ruining the moment, Xenia," I said, stepping back from Gabriel.

      "Any time," Xenia quipped. "Now, help me move these boxes so we can get out of here."

      "This doesn't make any sense, how do you know how to get out of here?" I asked Xenia, clearing boxes from one side of the room to the other.

      "It makes about as much sense as Loverboy here being able to hear thoughts: these are gifts we were given by the gods," Xenia replied, continuing her work.

      "Actually, my reason makes quite a bit of sense," Gabriel said, grunting in exertion. "My mother is goddess of wisdom and thought. Me, being her child, I have inherited some of her powers, I can read minds."

        "So what did you get from your family tree, Donatella: apples, beauty and oranges?" Xenia joked. We had all stopped working to see that there was an indentation in the wall we were working in front of.

      "I don't know," I answered quietly.

      "I didn't mean to offend you, just trying to lighten the mood," Xenia replied.

        "You have special abilities too, you just have to discover them still," Gabriel said supportively. 'You can hear thoughts too.'

      "Yeah, I know, I've been wondering about that too," I whispered in reply.

      "What are you two whispering about? Didn't anyone ever tell you it was rude to whisper?" Xenia said. "Now kiddies, back to the task at hand: our escape."

        "Isn't it obvious, we go out the door," I said, moving toward the door.

      "Yes, but can it really be that simple? I mean, did Athena the wise and mighty seriously go through all the trouble of stalking us and sending her goons out just to let us escape through a properly placed door? I don't think so," Xenia said. "In fact, I think maybe she planned the whole thing. Why else would the henchman make sure to be seen, chase us down a specific hallway, then give up without even catching us?"

      "We weren't being chased-" I began.

      "Or even followed-" Gabriel continued.

      "We were being herded," Xenia finished.