Pursuit (Book Two in the VENOM Series)/ON HOLD

Chapter 8

Josiphina

I was a flash, tearing through the hallways of the office building, used as a front for VENOM. Shouts followed me, filling my eardrums, but I didn't stop. I didn't know where I was going, but every time.e I found a door, it led me to another room, and to another door.

"Miss Rachel! Stop right there!"

But they could fire guns at me, and I would never stop.

Finally I reached an exit doors I reached for the knob...

A silver huddled knife pierced the wood beside me. I turned around for a brief moment...
CJ...

That was it, e I flew through the doors, and into the open air. The rainstorm outside swallowed me up, and I was free.

*************

I snuck onto a train headed for New York, and watched Brazil fade away into the darkness. I'd been there two many times. My passport was still safely hidden in my boot, and I snuggled up in the storage compartment reading every single word again.

Cities past by in a blur, every second flowing like an eternal stream of impatience. The train felt like a cage, closing in on me. Suddenly, I was on my feet. Through the window, I could see the broken down houses, the slums of Brooklyn. I was home.

As the train began to slow down, I ran to the caboose and jumped over the rail, landing on the soft grass.

Brooklyn.

I missed you.

"Jo?"

It was a small voice, carrying over the sounds of the disappearing train. I turned around and faced Natalie, now eighteen. She reached over, and picked up her silver cat, Pickles. It took me a moment to connect. I hadn't seen her since...

April?

"Natalie," I whispered. "I -I don't know what to say."

"I don't either," she shouted. "You left me all alone at school. They took me and threw me out side on the pavement, and I turn around. Boom, there you are. Sleeping peacefully on the car with your boyfriend in his Cadillac, while I lie there, both my arms bleeding. So yeah, I don't know what to say. You just-"

I ran up and covered her mouth, realizing how much she didn't know. "Plot twist," I whispered. "He's my brother."

Suddenly, Natalie changed, her anger instantly turning to excitement. "Oh my gosh, you have a brother? I never knew about this! Tell me everything."

"Well," I began, "he went missing, after my dad died, and apparently, mom never told me or Gloria about it. Then one day, he just shows up! He's even older than Gloria, and yes, at first I thought he was pretty hot. Now he's-"

I cut off, realizing where I was going. My brain locked up, and all I could hear was the gunshot.
"Jo, run."

I was still running. But maybe...maybe it was time to stop running. I needed to fight. I had warrior blood in my veins, and the spirit of battle in my heart.

"I have to back..." I whispered.

"Wait, what?"

"I have to go. I have to save David, I have to back, I have to..."

"No, you are not leaving me again, you are not leaving!"

"Natalie..."what could I say? "Natalie, I have to go. Please. I have to." There were tears in my eyes, but I could still see Natalie's pain.

But I had to go. I was a spy. We have to break people's hearts. We have to lie. Our whole purpose is to deceive. And I couldn't let everyone down. Sometimes I had to sacrifice everything to do what mattered most. This mattered most.

This was who I was.