Dean looked at me with one eyebrow cocked as he walked in the door. He had his black suit on so I could assume he hadn’t gone to bed yet. Although this was his house, he mainly stayed at the academy to be there in case he was needed. Didn’t matter, he spent more time there even when he did stay home at least after we had gotten older.
I could see the tired look on his face. He had been taking things hard. His normally bright red hair, always trimmed to look military, looked a little less red and grayer than before. His sparkly green eyes weren’t sparkly anymore. They had a dullness to them that told of his sadness. His posture, the straight back type man that let you know he was in charge, was hunched over looking defeated. Dean wasn’t taking any of this well.
“Now will you please explain to me what happened? All I got was that someone was in your room, dead on the floor and that you were bleeding from your side but alright otherwise.”
I put my head down to hide my smile. Poor Lorik, he was a smart guy but when he panicked he didn’t think straight. I waited until I could compose myself enough to look up without laughing then told him everything that had happened from the time I woke up.
I watched as he reached over, took the pillow and flipped it over to examine the holes in it. I knew without a doubt one of them would ask the question, so I waited patiently.
“Wait, how did you keep from being shot by using a pillow?” Zavier asked me.
I got the other pillow and handed it to Dean. He gripped each side and held it out in front of him. I took Dean’s gun off his side since it already had a silencer on it and walked across the room. Lorik jumped in front of Dean.
“You’re not shooting at my Dad!”
Braydon gave me a crooked grin and walked over to get the pillow from Dean. He held it the same way as he stood apart from the others. I raised my arm so that the sights were right and pulled the trigger. A hush fell over the room until Braydon bent over and began moaning. I rolled my eyes. Gabe had jumped up and was trying to decide if he wanted to go to Braydon or if he thought I was going to shoot again.
“Not funny Braydon,” I said as I scowled at him.
He peeked up over the top of the pillow and grinned at me. After winking he lowered the pillow and was met with glares and stares as they all figured out the bullet hadn’t touched him.
“I found a material on the internet one day that is bullet proof to a certain degree. I’ve put it in all the pillows in the house as well as my jacket, and the vest I made. It’s what protected me from getting shot several times now.”
Zavier took the pillow from Braydon and poked his finger through the hole and dug out the bullet. He held it up to show the others but was studying how it impacted on the material at the same time. He loved ballistics. I knew this was something he would enjoy and was glad to see it peak his interest. It’d been far too long since I had done anything with any of the guys. When I stayed here after everything happened, I mostly stayed in my room.
I tried to get that train of thought out of my head. The last thing I needed was to begin thinking of that horrible day and have my back do its thing again.
“Well, I guess we have no choice but for you all to come to the academy and stay,” Dean said as he looked around the room at everyone.
I dreaded this. There was one apartment, if you could call it that, in the academy that was available. Three total; one was for Dean, one for the computer tech that monitored gps systems for the assassin’s, and then the one we were getting. This meant that all six of us were going to be crammed together in a one bedroom, one bath apartment.
Even that makes it sound bearable; it’s not. The bedroom was in the same room as the living room. The only other rooms in the place were a kitchen and bathroom. It’s not that I don’t appreciate the place to stay; it’s that all of us together would end up with someone cranky and snapping at everything. Mainly Lorik.
I watched as everyone went about getting things together. I walked over to talk to Dean.
“You have an idea of whose behind this, don’t you?”
He nodded but never said anything else. I sighed and got up to pack up food since Braydon refused to let me pack my own clothes. I ended up with several bags that I was sure the boys would complain about since they would have to help carry them in.
“I need to get some more things from my house,” I told Dean as I walked out of the kitchen.
“I don’t think that is wise,” he stated as he crossed his arms over his chest. I laughed to myself; he was expecting a fight on this.
“Well it’s just that I need more protection and I’m almost out of stomach pills.”
He turned his head to the side looking at me then closed his eyes and shook his head. Argument won. I tried to never argue with Dean. I just always pointed out the importance, nothing more.
We packed everything up and climbed in the SUV. I told Dean directions to get to the back road of my house so that no one would see us enter. I had a back way of getting in as well. Or more like an underground way of getting in.
I sit back and let him do his thing as he drove down the back road without a problem. My guess is that he already knew of this area or he wouldn’t have found it so easy. It had been surrounded by trees and made to look like nothing was there.
I put my hand on the door and told Dean to keep the boys with him. Braydon was going with me. We jumped out of the vehicle and ran straight down the path. We ran through bushes and in between trees until I came to a small clearing. It was less than three feet in diameter. Braydon stopped and watched as I lifted what look like a root in the ground. It raised the hatch and showed only darkness below.
I jumped down and moved out of the way after telling him to shut it behind him. He dropped down beside me and I reached out for him. I hated darkness. It didn’t help that we only had a couple more hours until daylight. Not only did it make the area darker but it also meant that we had to hurry and make it back so the vehicle wasn’t spotted by anyone roaming around.
I run my hand up Braydon’s chest and down his arm. I took his hand and put it against the wall and pushed on it. He applied more pressure and the lights at the other end began coming on, one by one, making their way towards us.
The tunnel looked exactly like what it was. I had worked on it for over a year, bracing the roof of it with pillars until I could put cement blocks along the walls. I had installed lighting along the entire length of it and fixed it so that if I turned the lights on on one end they came on first at the other end. It allowed me to make sure no one was there, and no one would see me in the darkness until the lights reached me.
We ran on tip toes so as not to make much sound. We got to the corner of the tunnel and Braydon put my back to the wall while he glanced around to make sure no one was around. He nodded and we shot around the corner. We stopped at the first ladder and I motioned for him to follow me. I opened the door to the security room beside it and pushed the lever up on the wall connecting the rest of the power.
The monitors lit up around us and I looked at each one trying to determine if anyone had been there. The first ladder led to my storage shed. I used it to store the stuff I use to make my weapons. I looked at the monitor to make sure the lock on the outside hadn’t been tampered with.
I hit another button on the keyboard and used the camera to check inside the house as well as around it. There was nothing out of the ordinary. I activated the metal gates I had installed on the inside of the house. It would cover the windows and doors from the inside allowing us to move around the house freely and no one be the wiser.
I nodded to Braydon and we went up the first ladder. I opened the hatch and looked around to make sure there wasn’t someone hiding and moved on up into the building allowing Braydon access. I grabbed a duffel bag and began filling it with cylinders and titanium blades. I grabbed the tools needed to make more swords then tossed it down the hatch to the tunnel below.
We quickly descended and went to the ladder that
would take us to the house. Braydon went ahead of me. I step out of the hidden passageway in the pantry and almost fell to my knees. The house smelled like Dad. My heart was pounding in my chest as I tried to steady myself. I didn’t want to do this. I wasn’t ready to face this house without him.
“We’re here to get some things Rissa, just like we do when he’s on a mission.”
I knew Braydon was trying to help me. I would rather pretend that he was still alive then face this. So that’s what I did. I told myself I had talked to him earlier that day and he’d asked me to pick up some things and go stay with Dean at the academy because he was running late.
I took a deep breath and ran to the kitchen to get the remainder of the IV, antibiotics, and pain medicine that I stored in the fridge. I put it in a bag and grabbed bags of frozen veggies out of the freezer to help keep it cold before tying the bag up. I opened the coffee can, digging around until I found the little hook. I lifted the container with the coffee in it and dumped the syringes out onto the counter.
I grabbed the medical supplies and ran to my room, putting them on the bed. I ran back to Dad’s room and over to his closet. I grabbed several of the outfits I made him, as well as several vests. I knew they would come in handy for the guys. I pulled a duffel bag out of the bottom of his closet and shoved everything in. I moved a panel on the wall and began turning the dial on the safe.
When the safe was open, I sat there trying to remember what it was he said I was to get if something were to ever happen to him. I grabbed the large brown envelope lying on the top shelf and looked at it. It had my name written on it and a reminder to get the box on the bottom shelf. I grabbed the box and looked at it.
To be opened as soon as possible Rissa!
That thought brought tears to my eyes. There was something in the box he felt important enough for me to open. Something I didn’t think I was ready to see.
I shoved everything in the duffel bag and ran over to his bed taking his pillow as well. I held it to me and inhaled the musty smell of my dad. Tears stung my eyes. I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t pretend he wasn’t gone from my life. I had to get a grip if I wanted to get us out of here.
I shoved the pillow in, grabbed the bag, and ran to my room. Braydon already had a bag with clothes, shoes, the medical supplies as well as all my other meds in a bag of its own. I walked over to the closet and slid the wall aside. Behind it held my important things.
I reached up and grabbed a suit and vest that I had made for Braydon and turned to see him watching me.
“Put this on and then put your clothes over it, the vest goes last.”
I watched as he went to the bathroom, leaving the door open a crack. I grabbed my suit and did the same only I tossed the t-shirt in the trash can and put the boxers in my bag. I wasn’t bothering putting anything over it. I grabbed a pair of boots out of the closet and slipped them on. I zipped the vest up over my outfit and left the hood down.
Braydon come out just as I began filling another bag with another suit, vest, and boots. He looked at me but never said a word. I grabbed my pillows off the bed and used them to transport my two laptops and tablet. I grabbed a few sets of contact lenses, and other things I used as disguises. I knew I was taking more than needed but I wasn’t taking a chance.
The last thing I grabbed was a wooden box at the bottom of my closet.
“Nova’s,” I told Braydon.
He didn't respond. I knew he was trying to figure out how we would manage to get all of this stuff back to the vehicle. I grabbed a pump sitting on my dresser and went over to the bags that contained my disguises. I hooked the pump up and turned it on. It was quiet and if you didn’t see it working, you wouldn’t know it was. I watched as it began to pull the air out of the bag and shrinking it down. By the time it was done I was able to stuff it into my other bag.
I took my pillows and stuffed them in Dad’s bag. That left three bags to carry and the box of Nova’s. I had to figure out how to make this smaller. I looked at the bag that contained Dad’s things. If I moved the box, the envelope, and my pillows with the computers, I may be able to shrink it down to put into another bag. But that would leave me putting my computers in the bag with my weapons.
I didn’t have much of a choice. It was either that or leave the weapons behind.
“Where are my blades?” I asked Braydon since he was the one that had taken them from me.
“In the SUV.”
Great. I hadn’t even thought about them while we ran here and now we may be in danger on the way back. Then I remembered the two others I had built. I hadn’t really gotten to try them out so I didn’t know how well they’d work. It was either use them or slow us down.
I ran back to my closet, moved the large wall panel aside and moved the empty clothes hangers. I tapped the wall and a small compartment opened up revealing my two blades and the holster belt I made to go with them. I quickly put the belt on and slid the blades in place.
“We’re leaving the other bag in the tunnel. We can’t take it all and I think I have what I need. If we need it later, I’ll order more,” I told him from the closet.
“I can carry two. I’ll put a strap across each shoulder.”
I walked out of the closet to see him already putting one of the straps to the bag over his head and across his chest.
“I’m going to need help with this. I can’t run and carry it.”
I watched as he looked at the box. He was trying to figure out how to do this. I grabbed the other bag and tossed the strap over my head and across my chest like he did. We each grabbed a handle on the box and made our way to the hidden entry.
“We need to toss this stuff down.”
I looked at him and smiled.
“I don’t think you want to do that.”
I watched him take the bag off and lower it to the tunnel floor. He did the same with mine making sure to be careful with it. He reached for the box and I shook my head. He looked at me a second and then jumped down into the tunnel. He reached up and I handed him the box so he could sit it down and help me down.
Before I could even take a step down I remembered something else I needed to get. “Wait,” I told him as I ran back to Dad’s room and grabbed the picture off the wall. I pulled the back off and gathered all the identification cards he had hidden there. I ran back to Braydon told him to shove those in his pocket and waited for him to help me down. I knew Dean would want those so no one could use them.
He refused to leave that bag behind. No matter what I said. I watched as he crossed the straps over his chest. I did the same with the one I had and we each grabbed a handle to the box. I stopped long enough to flipped the lever off and shut the power down to the monitors then we were running down the tunnel toward the woods.