Never Again

Conceal My Identity (26)

I stand in front of these strangers with nerves clear on my face. I take a deep breath and try to seem confident.

"I'm sorry, but, what's going on exactly?" I ask, taking a step forward and scanning the new people's faces. The woman with dark hair walks up to me slowly, "Well, I'm suspecting that Blaze and Janelle decided to take further control than what was expected by bringing you here. We were making a more developed plan, but they went behind our backs to get you here." The lady darts her eyes past me over to Janelle and Blaze.

"She was going to have to take the pill soon. We had to go for it," Janelle defends, coming forward to stand beside me.

"And it wasn't all on their parts either. I wanted to come here," I say, remembering again that I wanted to be here with Trace, but that's not happening now. I blink back sudden tears and turn my head to the side, trying to jam the thoughts into darkness.

"I knew to," An older man with dark hair and brown eyes speaks up from the table, "But... where is Trace? He was coming with you, correct?" The man's eyes are full of confusion and hope. I suddenly start to seriously tear up, and a cry escapes my lips. Turning around, Janelle engulfs me in a hug as I try not to cry too loudly into her shoulder. Oh my goodness, I'm so weak, I think.

"He was... captured, Dad," Blaze says beside me. The man must be Blaze's and Janelle's dad, I take note of, now able to pull away from Janelle. I turn back around and face the rest of the group, wiping my eyes and tear stained cheeks. "He was? By the government?" Says the man.

"Yeah, Janelle and Olympia got away but the Mulisors took Trace, likely to the government buildings," Blaze clarifies. Mulisors must be the women fighter, I notice. The man's face drops and he nods, looking numb, and sits down. The women with dark hair curses and shakes her head, "Don't worry- we'll get him back. Let's just figure this out later. Right now we need to get Olympia somewhere safe." She pushes forward and motions for us to follow her.

"My name is Rissa, by the way" The lady says as she leads Blaze, Janelle, and me out of the room and into an empty hallway. "I'll show you where you'll be staying, at least for now. We weren't expecting you quite yet, so you'll get somewhere better soon enough." I nod and we continue down the hallway until we come to another door. "Heads down," Rissa says, "Don't draw attention."

We come into another large room, where Rissa leads us through until we get to a hallway with doors along it. We get to a room where she opens it to reveal a dull room half the size of mine at home, with a bland bed and a single small window. "Sorry it's less than what you're used to, but hopefully it'll work for now." She gives us a small smile and leaves. The three of us walk into the room and Janelle and I sit on the bed while Blaze leans against the wall oppisite us.

"So... what's going to happen? We'll get Trace back, right?" I ask, searching their identical brown eyes.

"Well, yes, eventually," Janelle comments, "But it may be a while. We have to wait for all the comotion about your escape to settle down before we invade." I scrunch my eyebrows together. I really wanted to get to Trace as soon as possible.

"But... what if it's too late by then?"
I coax. Janelle sighs and looks down. I focus my attention on Blaze, who runs his hand through his hair, "It will be fine. They will keep him as bait until we come looking for him." Sighing, I nod- they probably will. We sit in silence for a moment, when a thought pops into my mind.

"Guys, I want to come with you, to get Trace," I pipe up. They quickly turn their heads, and I'm taken aback by the surprised and actually kind of horrified looks on their faces.

"What?" I ask in confusion, slightly scared by how terribly afraid they seem to look from my previous statement. "Well, uh, that wouldn't really work," Janelle says, biting her lip.