Villains Rise

Chapter 6 -- Stay back 100 ft.

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"Owen, for crying out loud, where are we going now?"

He stops dead in his tracks and looks both ways before he sprints across the street. I follow him after standing in place for an eternity. Did he really just run away from me?

After I've crossed the dark, desolate road, I realize I'm in a part of town I never knew existed. Grafitti plasters every inch of the brick walls. The gang symbols, the words of wisdom, the random doodles... It's completely breath taking. The sight of it encaptures me and Owen has to tug on my arm to tear me away.

"Give me your hands." He demands. I hold out my arms in front of me, and watch him pull out the key to my freedom. I plan to bolt the second the handcuffs are unlocked.

Owen slides the key in place and looks up into my eyes. It's as if he's daring me to run. I could run away and come back before he even realized I was gone. That's what he expects me to do, right? He's setting me free.

Those piercing hazel eyes penetrate through me, and it dawns on me that maybe we want the same thing. He's trusting me to help him. This gesture itself represents trust. So I can't run if I really care about my town.

Click. The handcuffs clatter against the cracked sidewalk. Owen's eyes have not shifted from my gaze yet. I guess I'm still here.

"You're not going to run?" Owen asks, baffled. His eyebrows furrow in confusion.

I sigh, not wanting to admit to my error. Here I am, and I've made my decision.

"I'll stay and help you defeat The Undergrounds."

With that, Owen smiles from ear to ear. Laughing and smiling all in one night? This boy has gone mad. How will he explain his sudden happiness to his father?

"Alright then. In that case, I'd like for you to meet someone. He's a friend from college." It's hard for me to believe he has friends, but I won't say this out loud.

Owen leads the way to an apartment building that looks a little out of place in this part of town, with it's stable structure and somewhat clean looking frame. We enter the lobby of the building and begin to climb the steps that creak under any ounce of weight. It occurs to me that I could race up the stairs now, but I don't want Owen to become upset with me. Well, any more than usual.

"So what college do you go to?" I ask quietly. It's getting late, and we don't need to bring any attention to ourselves.

"High Rock community college." He answers in a low voice. That's where Mason goes.

When we get to the third flight of steps, Owen takes a sharp turn off of the staircase and onto the designated floor. He hastens down the hall.

"So do you know Mason?" I ask, right as Owen stops at a particular wood door. He knocks a total of three times before opening his mouth to answer my question.

"Owen?" A voice comes from behind us. I turn to see a certain boy that should have a warning label across his forehead. It would read: All girls stay back 100 ft.

"Dude. Who's she?" I realize that with my new hair, Drake doesn't recognize me. Thank God. Drake pushes past us to put the key into his door and bumps into me with one of his grocery bags. His arm muscles can withstand him carrying at least 20 bags at the moment.

Owen waits to speak until the door is closed behind all three of us. Now I definitely feel trapped. Mayday, mayday! Abort mission! Abort!

"Can you give us a minute?" Owen turns to me. My eyes wander for a spot in this tiny apartment to hide, but they've already wandered to a small door in the back of the room. Maybe there's something about these extra rooms that I need to take a look into.

I expect to hear their voices carry, but I have to admit they're good at whispering. Or maybe they're not in the room anymore...

Panic rises in my chest. Did Owen abandon me? Is someone here to kill me? Is this all a trap?

Quickly, I turn myself invisible and walk into the doorway I saw them enter. I'm so glad Owen took those handcuffs off. I peek my head into the doorway and see an opening in the floor. It almost looks like a laundry chute. Though, this isn't a hotel, so that can't be right.

No matter how loud the voice in my head is, screaming at me not to jump, I find myself bracing for the impact of wherever I land.

Then I enter into a dark, never-ending drop.

A/N
I was going to make this chapter longer, but I figured I'm already behind my updating schedule and needed to wrap things up.

So who is this new character, Drake? What's going to happen to Della? And why does it take Owen so long to answer Della's questions?!? 😤

Thanks for reading!
Always, Sunny