Kidnapped

Chapter XXIII

I thought about Carmen and how she just made a life here; she wouldn’t have been tempted to run away and risk her life.

“Is there somebody else here that’s working together with Patrick?” Adam interrupted my thoughts.

“No, not that I know.” Anna answered quietly. “I know Patrick owns the school and everything in it, but I personally believe that he does have people here that work for him. I mean, it would be pretty hard to keep everything supervised all by yourself.”

“For how long have you been living here, Anna?” I asked concerned.

“Too long; for as long as I can remember. I shouldn’t be tired of this, I have everything that I want, is just that I feel trapped and unsafe. Besides, my evolution is way slower than it should be. I can’t exploit myself if everything I do is so predictable.”

I folded my arms and dived back into my thoughts. I peeked at the others to see all of them waiting for me to say something. I sighed loudly and rubbed my palms on my jeans.

“We’re leaving tonight, but we have to convince Carmen to come with us.”

“I can do that.”

James flew quickly beside me, took my hand in his and whispered.

“What if she doesn’t accept and she divulges our plan?”

Anna laughed shyly and looked proudly at James.

“I can help with that as well. I can manipulate her memory or just sedate her and tell her it was all a dream.”

“Thank you, Anna. It’s a heavy load that you took off my shoulders.”

James and Adam let us know that they were going to pack up everything, then, they left the room.

Anna pulled my sleeve and sat me down on the bed.

“ I should be thanking you. I have been waiting for somebody like you, Andrea, to get me out of this place. I know there’s a lot that both of us don’t know about each other, but I promise you that you can count on me.”

I liked Anna, but every time I was with her I felt I should’ve been on guard. She was, indeed new to this, but she was stronger than me and I was the one who should’ve felt used. My father’s words just kept replaying in my head: Trust needs to be earned.

Despite everything, I ogled at her and gave her a friendly hug as a token of gratitude. She got up, arranging her white dress and before she closed the door, I heard her saying.

“Congratulations on your new power! Can’t wait to test the peak of it.”

It was not going to be that soon. I didn’t pay attention to her. I started pacing around the room and get the stuff that I needed on road. It was already a habit that my luggage was never unpacked. I knew how I had to leave again, how I couldn’t stay in one place for too long. I was, in fact, still free because I’d never really gotten to settle in properly; I’ve never even said that I wished to. I could had just left like I’ve never even been in that place.

We let the rest of the day pass ordinarily and at night fall, we all met at Adam’s cabin which was the closest to the main gate. Anna hadn’t arrived.

“She’ll be here, I know she will.” Adam cheered.

“If she’s not coming, we should…”

The door squeaked and opened slowly. We were always ready for when being caught so James and I shifted and Adam took his Taser out.

“Sorry I’m late.” We heard a shrill-tongued voice and a dragged bag. “Thanks for not leaving without me.”

I stretched my head to see Carmen, but there was nobody standing behind Anna.

“I reckon she didn’t agree.” James remarked disappointed.

“She is waiting for us at the gate. She said that we should give her 10 minutes more. What time is it, anyway?”

“A little past midnight.”

“What’s in your bag?” Adam asked.

“Oh, these are Carmen’s weapons. She thought they could be useful at some point.”

“Let me…”

Adam stepped towards the bag to grab it and when he touched Anna’s hand, she thrilled and pulled it back, still blushing. I couldn’t help feeling kind of betrayed. I looked at James who was smirking meaningfully back at me and I frowned, clearing my throat loudly.

“Did Carmen say what she’s doing?”

“No, just that we should wait for her.”

“I’m going out to check on her.” James offered.

“Thank you.” I smiled.

I opened the window for James and handed him a gun.

“What is this for?” he asked putting on his leather jacket.

“Defence, what else for?”

“Baby, I am a fire gun myself.” He grinned, before pulling my hair to kiss me eagerly and jumping out the window.

I looked down, waved him and watched him flying away like a shadow.

We’ve waited for about 5 minutes when I heard voices talking outside. I bent over the edge to see Carmen and James excitedly calling for us to come down.

I fast threw the bags out, helped Anna get down, leaving me and Adam alone to close the doors and make sure nobody heard us.

“I hope you’re still considering what I said because I surely do.”

I rolled my eyes in anger and refrained to yell at him.

“Just close the door and jump already.”

He grabbed my hand and put his leg over the edge, sustaining his weight on my arms and right before letting him down I whispered him.

“Anna likes you the way you are, all the same.”

He fell on the ground and looked inquiring at me, brushing off the dust on his clothes. I stepped back, away from the window, sighing and swearing. I turned off the light, put on my jacket and looked back at the room one more time. When I was just about to jump out, I heard steps approaching and watched the door opening.

I saw Noam. He was looking surprised at me, with some big, yellow eyes glowing in the dark, ready to attack me.

“Andi, come down!” I heard James calling.

Noam stepped back, not saying a word but bowing his head and closing his eyes. I closed my opened mouth and mustered a thankful smile right before jumping on the ground, still looking up.

We took no more time. Carmen told us to stay quiet and guided us to the main gate, where we saw the guardians staring intensely at us but not saying a word either.

Once we were out, we all started running, until, assuring that we were far enough from the school. We stayed close to each other, into a small crowd, with Carmen in front of us, James and Adam behind her and Anna in front of me. I looked at my phone which was out of service, looked at the time and put it back in my pocket. I passed by Anna, patting her on the back, reached and entwined my hand with James’, pushing him further forward so I could turn around to face Adam and confront him.

“You forgot to close the door.”

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