Enigma (Rogue #2)

12

Eniola was not floating in the vast expanse of space for a long stretch of time.

Instead, her body struck a soft surface as she crashed-landed from the weird portal that Zaira had created from Enigma. She groaned as she rolled over and faced the stars. It reminded her of the days when she'd have to do espionage in order to play SCOPE.

Eniola wasn't the only one. Everyone fell beside her at just the right time. Zaira sprung up immediately as if this was just another normal Tuesday for her. Lucia groaned next to her as she rolled over, too. Iris didn't seem fazed at all as she sat up with a blank expression on her face. Maybe there's some sort of cyborg anti-crash landing protection thing.

Jay landed flat on his face and Eniola thought it was funny, only after she moved and breathed. He rolled over and sighed, and Theo, like Zaira, gained a random burst of energy and stood up with Zaira.

Everyone looked dazed yet so stressed and sad at the same time. Eniola's heart was still feeding off the adrenaline of the night as she sat up. Eniola registered where they were. They were on some grass, tucked into the corner of a tall building in a high-profile district. How had they gotten here?

"Where the hell do we go?" Jay asked. "And what just happened?"

"Paradox tricked us," Lucia said, looking into space, before standing up. "And we just caused a break-in we didn't cause."

"Surely we can explain?" Iris mentioned. "Right?"

"Yeah," Eniola haphazardly agreed. "There's probably not any footage of us entering the building."

"We have to leave," Zaira said, ignoring them. "It's not safe anymore for you or for me. We're right outside the building. We have to move somewhere."

"We shouldn't do anything drastic," Iris began, cutting her off. "We have to think this through. Maybe the cops will let us explain and-

"Look!" Zaira yelled, over to the bright street corner filled with holo-screens that had only blurred into focus now. Eniola's hand immediately flew to her mouth.

This holo-screen wasn't trying to sell anyone a nose job or anything. All 5 of their faces, all 5 of their passport photos, were all projected on the screen for everyone to see above their names. But that's not what got Eniola. It was the "WANTED" text in red that made her jump. How quick were they?

Her heart sank. Physically sank. It was like someone had twisted adrenaline too slowly, yet made her heart erratic with feelings she couldn't even describe. All 5 of them were there. They were 'WANTED'. In a country, Eniola had barely been in.

Eniola broke her gaze away. Everyone's eyes were now glued to the screen, accusing them of something that they had never done. Zaira's face was still frozen in fascinated horror. Jay and Theo wore blank expressions on their faces. Lucia kept her widened gaze glued to the ground. A tear dropped from Iris's cheek.

It was because of Paradox.

"See?" Zaira strained. "They are going to find us, and Paradox is going to get away. We have to leave South Korea. Now."

"Where will we go?" Eniola asked. "The airports are closed and not to mention, we're wanted now." Eniola took in deep breaths, but her stomach pained with rising stress, ready to carve its way all over her body. How was this happening? She dug a hand into her curls and held them there.

Theo kept on tapping his foot on the ground, and his tongue darted to the corners of his mouth. He ran a hand through his brown hair.

Eniola gulped. Theo was always the last to crack. It was his leader persona everyone, but he knew he put on. And it was cracking. Lucia leaned into him before he put his arm around her.