The bedroom door slammed open, the abrupt interruption jogging me from sleep.
"Rise and shine." Penelope cackled. "It's time to see your boyfriends." Her lips curved condescendingly.
I rubbed my face, still acclimating to being awakened suddenly.
"I'd apologize for scaring you, but I'm not."
She grabbed my arm forcefully and pulled me up. Her mood had darkened, my fear of her officially growing. She pulled me into the living area, grabbed her dagger, and continued pulling me out of the apartment. The position of the sun told me it was probably around nine in the morning, and by the looks of the scenery, we were still somewhere around the lake. It made sense that Zander would live near Sandpoint. The Hunters moved here nine years ago, which would be around the same time Zander was turned, but it was still unbelievable that one of them would do that. Wes had described the transition from human to immortal, and it sounded awful for both involved. There was more to the story, and if I could figure it out, then maybe Penelope would stop all this.
"Get in," she snapped.
She drove a newer model Mazda Miata. I slid in and got my leg out of the way just before she slammed the door closed. She revved the engine and swung out of the apartment complex. Daring a glance over, I could see her jaw clenching. I needed to get her talking again.
"Fancy car." I smoothed my hand along the pristine dashboard, pretending to admire it.
"I have friends, too," she answered smartly.
I shuddered to think what friends she kept. Working at the bistro would definitely not pay for this. Of course, now I knew that was just a ruse so she could keep tabs on us.
"Where are we going?"
"To a remote location for a little family reunion." She chuckled lowly, sending chills down my spine.
Her dagger was within reach, tucked into her belt, but judging from the other night when she tried to grab me before Elijah showed up, she was fast. I wondered if speed was her gift.
"What's your gift?" she asked me abruptly, as if reading my thoughts.
"What makes you think I have one?"
She picked up speed on the freeway. Traffic was light in between rush hours, but there were still enough cars on the road to alert how fast we were going.
"Don't play games with me. The Order doesn't want just anybody. I've only ever brought back Specials."
I sank in my seat, not exactly sure how much I should tell her. I didn't want to tell her anything, but she was angry, and who knew what she would do if I pushed her too far?
"It's stupid." I tried to blow it off.
"No gift is worthless."
I chewed on my finger nervously. "I have good instincts."
"That's a pretty impressive gift," she admired.
"How so?"
"Instincts are primal. Ancestral. Ingrained in your DNA. Most people are too self-centered to connect with their instincts, and those that aren't usually ignore them because they are selfish. But if someone were able to harness their instincts—to become one with their true nature and tap into their ancestry—their power is limitless. You're not just a Special, Abigail. You're a Chosen, which makes you invaluable."
My stomach turned. I had just given her more ammunition. How could I be such an idiot? So much for great instincts. "What's the difference?" I pressed for more information. She was the first person to go into detail.
"A huge difference. There can only be one Chosen at a time. When one dies, another one is born. It's mystical. It lies dormant in the Chosen until it's time."
"Time for what? I'm not going to become Buffy, am I?" I joked, but I was also terrified.
"Did you tell your immortal boyfriend about your gift?" She looked over, smirking proudly.
"No," I admitted apprehensively.
"It's best you don't. For your sake, anyway."
My stomach was knotting tighter and tighter with each second that passed. If I were a Chosen, then why wouldn't my dad tell me? Or even Elijah? And I guess the more important question was, how did being a Chosen change my fate with Wes? I leaned into the window, craving privacy as the suffocating space closed in on me. "Why would you tell me about being a Chosen?"
"Why not? It in no way affects me or changes the predicament you're in. Plus, you haven't been trained, and you have no idea how to wield your power yet. You're just a fragile human girl. But I have to admit. I'm a little jealous."
I turned to her, shocked. How could someone so deadly be jealous of me? "But you move so fast, and Elijah was even afraid of you."
She laughed loudly. "Oh, he was? Good." Her smile could reach the sky. "Elijah is pretty amazing in battle, too." She winked.
My body heat rose with envy. "How do you know Elijah?"
"He didn't tell you? I guess you aren't as close as I thought. We were at the training facility together. We became close."
Gross.
"I had hoped we would be partners after our training, but he requested to work alone." Her voice filled with disappointment, which gave me a small taste of satisfaction. He volunteered to work with me and gave Penelope the boot.
"What do you hope to accomplish with all this, Penelope? You said it yourself; your brother is gone. Nothing can bring him back."
Her fingers tightened around the steering wheel, and she floored the gas. We sped up considerably on a deserted stretch of highway.
"And for that, all the guilty parties will pay."
"And somehow you think they are just going to risk their own lives for me?"
"I know they will for three reasons. One, a father would do anything to save his little girl. Two, Wes loves you, and three, you're a Chosen."
In one breath she had just threatened the lives of two of my loved ones. "How could you think of condemning someone else to the same kind of loss that you have experienced?
She might have been considering what I said, but it passed quickly. "It's nothing personal." She cranked the music up to deafening decibels, signaling the end of our exchange. We were surrounded by long stretches of farmland and then nothingness and then farmland again. We had been driving for a few hours, and I was famished. I was relieved when we pulled into a roadside gas station with a mini mart.
"Stay here," she demanded, locking the doors and initiating the alarm.
I slammed my head back on the headrest and clenched my stomach. I needed food. A few minutes later, Penelope approached the car with a large plastic bag, hopefully full of food.
She tossed the bag onto my lap. "Take what you want. Just leave me the bar."
She shut the door again. While she attended to the gas pump, I peeked inside the bag, happy to see a plethora of junk food, as well as a warmly wrapped hot dog. I grabbed it and inhaled it quickly. As Penelope slid back into the car, I was downing a large soda. A look of repulsion stared back at me.
"Dude, if you were hungry, you could've said something." She shook her head. "Hand me my bar and a water."
I dug them out and handed them over. She popped open the water and tore the wrapper off the protein bar. "We're almost there."
I immediately lost my appetite. A half hour later, we pulled off the road and made our way to one of the many large farmhouses we had passed. It was massive, painted bright white with yellow trim.
"Was this your brother's, too?" I asked.
"Close. This is where I grew up. The house that was nearly lost to the fire. My grandmother had it rebuilt with the insurance money before she died. The deed was left to my brother. Neither one of us could stomach coming back here, though. This is the first time I've been back."
It was infuriating that one minute she could make me loathe her, and the next pity her. "Penelope, this isn't going to end well. You know that, right?" I said sheepishly.
"I do, and since I don't have anything else to live for, I don't really care." She opened her door. "Now, get out."
The dagger was still firmly in place on her belt, and I was still clueless as to how to get out of this, especially now that we entered the land of nowhere to run. I was either going to have to impair her ability to walk or kill her. The only problem was I didn't want to hurt her. I wanted to help her. She was a victim of circumstance and still in mourning. It felt wrong to convict her because of that.
She unlocked the front door and pushed me inside, dragging me by my arm down to the finished basement. It was a little dusty, but looked newly constructed. The only furnishing was a mattress on the floor.
"I'm going to rest up. We have a big day tomorrow. I'll bring you food later. There's a bathroom behind that door." She stomped back up the stairs, closed the door, and locked it. It could have been worse, I guess.
The windows were sealed shut, and the bathroom was at least stocked with soap and toilet paper. There wasn't even a towel to dry my hands. With nothing else to do, I lay down on the mattress and sighed loudly. I was going to die of boredom. I remembered the charm and key in my pocket, so I dug them out, examining them again, trying to figure out what the key could possibly open.
I jumped up when I heard the front door slam and ran to the window facing the driveway, listening carefully. An engine roared to life and then faded. She left. My heart kicked into high gear as I ran up the basement stairs and forcefully jiggled the knob. Putting all my weight into the door, I pounded against it with my shoulder, barely causing it to vibrate. It was solid. There was no way I was going to be able to knock it down, and I had missed Picking Locks 101. Screaming loudly in frustration, I went back to the window and looked around for anything to break it. There was nothing except my elbow. I raised it hesitantly, knowing the pain it would cause, squinted my eyes, and sucked in a deep breath as I braced myself for the blow, but I couldn't do it. I dropped my arm and lay back down on the mattress, deflated. I imagined Wes coming to my rescue, even hearing his voice whisper my name, but as time passed so did my hope.
Fear returned as the front door slammed once again, my heart jumping with it. The basement door flung open. "You can come up to eat," Penelope yelled.
The smell of greasy hamburgers and fries wafted down the stairs. I had barely eaten since my grandpa's house. The fact she was feeding me at all was a good sign. I was trying to remain cautiously optimistic.
I scaled the steps slowly and peeked through the door before entering. The kitchen table was in sight, an unwrapped burger and container full of fries placed at one seat. Penelope was sitting across from it, inhaling her food quietly. She didn't even look up when I walked up and sat. I was afraid to agitate her. Even the crinkle of the wrapper made me cringe.
I ate my burger slowly, buying more time out of the basement, taking in my new surroundings as much as I could. When Penelope grabbed for her water, I noticed a tattoo on her wrist. I didn't know how I missed it before. It looked like a combination of the infinity sign and the yin and yang symbol. One end was shaded dark and the other translucent.
"What does your tattoo mean?"
She turned her wrist over and ran her thumb across it. "It's the crest for The Order. The shape is the infinity symbol of immortality, and the shading represents the dark and light. Both bring balance."
"Why the immortality symbol?"
"Because humans and immortals are infinitely bound. It's a reminder of the infinite threat immortals pose to human kind. You're branded when you complete the training and become an official member of The Order." She scoffed. "I was so proud the day I got this. I wanted every immortal to pay for what they did to my brother. I didn't want justice. I wanted revenge. I believed being a part of The Order would make it possible, but then I found out they were just as vile as immortals." She paused. "You see this scar?" She pointed to a diagonal raised scar across the crest. "I wanted to cut it off my skin. I hated The Order that much, but then crossing it off seemed more symbolic and serves as a reminder of what my new mission is."
"And what's that?" I was almost afraid to ask.
"To take down both."
Her confidence was astounding. She might be capable of taking out a few, but to think she could take down two completely different worlds seemed pretty unrealistic, especially now that she had blown her cover. She had completely lost it, and finding a way to escape was the only way I was going to survive.
After dinner, she ushered me back down to the basement with a towel and toiletries. "Shower if you want," she said just before locking me in.
The only light came from the bathroom, so I left it on for the duration of the night. Once I was sure that Penelope was asleep, I shoved the towel and a rolled up sheet under the throw blanket, hoping if she peeked down she would assume it was me. I rushed to the window and tried to open it. It took a few tries, but it finally shifted under the pressure and slid open. I jumped up into the window well, closed the window quietly, and climbed up the ladder, peeking my head into the yard. The rocks on the ground glistened under the moonlight, lighting the path I would take. I crouched to the window to make sure there were no signs of movement and then stood up, my heart beating out of my chest and my legs wobbly from adrenaline.
It was now or never.