The Race

014 | Cami

The news of the gala was all over the place. Many news stations had recorded the entire party without us noticing, and others had interviews with witnesses. Naomi had Asia steal a phone just so she could update her followers. It was a quick post, but most of the team didn't like it.

"We shouldn't be posting on social media," Maybelle said.

"You guys shouldn't," Naomi said. "But since I have thousands of followers, I should be able to post one photo with a small caption."

"What did you even say?" I asked.

"I just told them I was fine and that I would update more after we win."

I rolled my eyes. Of course she did. I did look like we were on track to win, but I wasn't sure.

"On a different note..." Aralee said, changing the subject. "Great job Harper on finding the sixth clue!"

Harper smiled. "It was easy. The boy gave it to me right after the first slow dance."

"We are definitely going to win!" Aralee cheered. "This is awesome!"

Many of the girls smiled and chattered amongst themselves. I was driving, so I turned on the radio to drown out the noise. I liked music when I drove. It didn't matter what type.

"News about The Race! The female team had gone to get their fifth clue when a member of the male team attacked! Three people were injured and one was found dead. The boys are currently on their fourth clue, while the girls are on their sixth. Many people want the shooter, Blex, arrested. However-"

I changed the station. I had heard all of it before. But every music station was transformed into a news station after the attack. I turned off the radio and turned to Lark, who was sitting shotgun.

"You excited to go to Russia? It is your home." I asked.

"We'll be far away from where I live," Lark said. "But it'll be cool to see the Catherine Palace. I've only seen pictures."

"It's weird how secretive it is, don't you think?"

"Well, the entire royal family lives there. They rule all of Russia, you know?"

"I guess they would need their space. I would," I said with a laugh. "So what's it like to have a monarchy?"

"It's kinda the same, but kinda different," Lark said.

The conversation seemed to die there. I looked forward, focusing on the road. I looked at the map, looked at the road, looked at the map, looked at the road. The cycle repeated again and again until we arrived at the airport.

Three hours later, we were already in the sky. Harper and Asia sat beside me. I wanted a window seat, but it was taken. We had gotten our tickets last minute. We were lucky to even have a seat in the plane.

"Hey, guys," Harper whispered. "Look over there... some guy is coming toward us!"

"He looks like he is from that Russian news channel," Asia said. "I can not remember the name... but I recognize the uniform."

"Who would wear their work clothes on a plan?" Harper asked.

"Someone traveling for work," I said.

"He better not try to talk to us," Harper said. I agreed.

"Hello," the man said. Harper rolled her eyes. "Could I ask you a few questions for-"

"Leave us alone," I said.

His eyes widened. "I'm so sorry. I just want to-"

"Leave us alone," I said again, a bit more firmly.

The man started to scribble something down quickly. I snatched it, tired of this already.

"One of the girls, part of the female team in The Race, wants to be alone. She is clearly upset from the shooting." It stopped there.

Harper, reading over my shoulder, groaned. "Is this really what you were going to tell everyone? Idiot. She wants to be left alone, not be alone."

"Exactly," I agreed, cocking my head upward.

"Sorry, sorry," he said. "You can keep the book. I'll go now..."

"You better not make up any more crap, okay?" I asked, grabbing his wrist and sinking my nails into it.

"No, no! Never!"

"You swear on your life?"

"Yes! Now let me go!"

I released him and he ran back to his seat as quickly as he could. I let out a breath that I had been holding unknowingly.

"Wow, nice job, Cami," Harper said.

"That was terrible, wasn't it?"

"No. You put that man in his place. I had no idea reports twisted things like that."

"Well, they do... a lot."

"Speaking from experience?"

"My friend's, Rosalin. But the past is the past. Let's just forget about that."

"I totally will forget about you going all crazy on a reporter."

"I wasn't crazy! Was I?"

Asia and Harper laughed. "You were not too bad," Asia said.

"You were very well behaved," Harper said.

I opened my mouth dramatically, but then burst out laughing. We all laughed together, not caring about the looks we received from the passengers. This moment was one of the very few moments of The Race that was good. I would savor it.

"We're landing in an hour," Asia said.

"Russia, here we come!" I cheered.

An hour later we landed. We drove to the Catherine Palace during the night and arrived in the morning. We had a plan similar to the one we used at the Hagia Sophia, but we didn't know where anything was. We knew that the clue would be in the queen's closet, but we didn't know where that was. According to old textbooks, it was somewhere west, but we didn't know for sure. I needed to find the security room as well, but I had no idea where that was.

Our plan wasn't very good... but it was the only thing we had.

I rushed in with Maybelle to cover me. All the others were looking for the queen's closet. I raced around as quietly as I could, but a guard spotted us. Luckily, Maybelle was ready and the guard soon found a knife between his eyes.

We kept moving forward. Since there were no signs, we could only hope for the best. After a while, we luckily found the security room. When I creaked open the door, we found two armed guards inside.

Maybelle quickly threw a knife, knocking out one of the guards, but the other one was ready. He fired, missing Maybelle by a centimeter.

Maybelle rushed up quickly and stabbed her knife into his chest. In another quick motion, she dragged it down. His chest was open wide, almost like he was getting a surgery, but with no medicine. He died quickly.

"Nice," I said.

Maybelle smirked. "I enjoyed it. Now start hacking."

"I'll do my best."