Enigma (Rogue #2)

30

The house was a small cottage nestled on the outskirts of a forest in Sydney. It looked abandoned like it might hold some mythical secrets in it.

No one had said anything in the time they'd trekked, except for Iris, who gave them brief directions so that they could race through Sydney to not get caught. Eniola didn't even want to talk.

The sound of the blasts and the arena that curved into the earth replayed in Eniola's head again, in a taunting loop. She felt like her body shouldn't have existed. Somehow she should've died, but she didn't.

Theo walked up closer to the door before he looked at them like he was trying to ask for approval.

"Open it," Iris whispered.

Theo touched the door as he felt around the side for a button that didn't exist. Then he pushed open the door, and it slowly creaked open. Eniola raised an eyebrow. How old was this place?

The door opened, and immediately everyone walked inside. The first thing Eniola could think of was grey. The walls, the furniture, and the bean bags were all grey. It's almost like the house wanted to match their mood. Eniola didn't even realize that the ceilings were short until Jay craned his head down so that he could walk properly. Right in the middle was a small hallway.

The rest of the house looked small to Eniola. It was all inside of one room. On the right side was a small kitchen with a counter and some cabinets. It didn't look homely, but it's not like they had anywhere else to go. She couldn't have demanded luxury.

"We need to find the suspension tank," Theo told her, and Eniola nodded. They both walked to the hallway, which was narrower than Eniola had thought. They bumped on the sides of the walls before Eniola stopped in front of a small door.

"Here," Eniola said before she took one hand off and turned open the door. It was even smaller than the main room. It was a small square and just big enough to hold the suspension tank that sat perched above the floor. Eniola had only seen them in hospitals, especially in the one her parents worked at. It was a clear tube-shaped container filled with blue healing gel. Beside it were screens that were blank with info at the moment, but she knew that were for statistics.

Theo gently laid Keone's legs on the ground before he walked over to the tank and lifted it open. It popped open with a hiss. Eniola thought it was probably from not being opened in a while. Theo came back over to her before he lifted Keone again and they both moved him next to the tank.

"One, two, three," Theo counted before they swung him into the container. They immediately submerged his body in the healing gel. Eniola moved backwards and sighed again.

The screens beside the tank immediately lit up with information. A white model of his body showed up next to a bunch of statistics about his body. Eniola sighed in relief. He wasn't dead, but he might as well have been. If the machine worked, he'd be alive.

And Eniola was too tired to think of what might've happened next.

"He's going to be fine," Theo said from behind her. "I hope so."

"Do you think that?" Eniola asked.

"I don't know anymore," Theo sighed. She turned to him, while he glued his gaze to the ground. Then he looked at her again, before he reached into his pocket and pulled out something. It was the knife Theo assumed would protect them in Tokjin. It kind of did.

"This thing is useless," he told her. "Do you want this?"

Eniola sighed. "Why not?"

Eniola grabbed it in her hand and twisted the handle around for effect. Theo sighed into a chuckle.