It All Started With The Butterflies

Chapter 76

Chapter 76: Stakeout

"Shh," I put my index finger on my lips, as Caspian noisily plopped down next to me.

"No one's here," Caspian argued, but then gave in to my glare and mouthed a silent 'sorry'.

"The homeless people might hear you," I told him, and took a deep breath as a scruffy looking man passed just in front of the garbage can we were hiding behind. When he passed in front of the can I thought he had seen us, but it turned out he was just sieving through the garbage, which was weird since we were outside a homeless shelter. Didn't they serve food inside? Maybe he had been looking through garbage cans like this his whole life, and it was now second nature to him. I couldn't imagine the desperation these people were forced to endure every day, searching bins for food. My heart sunk down in my chest when he found half a banana; it was rotten, but he held it to his chest like it was a precious treasure that had been buried for years. His hands were blackened with dirt, and his hair was long, greasy and clammed together in more than one place. His cheeks were hollowed out and his eyes were surrounded by purple, almost black, shadows.

"That was close," I whispered in Caspian's ear, when he had gone.

Caspian nodded and suddenly I wished I hadn't told him to keep quiet: the silence was deafening and foreboding.

I peeked up above the smelly garbage can and looked at the door of the shelter. It was a plain beige building, with a thatch-roof. The straw was coming out in places and it hung lifelessly down the sides of the roof. The windows were open, and I could vaguely see the outlines of people moving around in the rooms.. A chillness surrounded the air.

I shivered involuntarily and Caspian handed me his jacket. I took the jacket silently; I didn't think I needed to explain that the coldness I felt had nothing to do with the weather. I took one of the sleeves of the jacket and pressed it to my nose, hoping to use Caspian's aroma to disguise the smell of the dump that surrounded us on all four sides. The tension in the air was so thick, a knife could slice through it.

Caspian gathered me into his arms, and together we waited for something to happen. Neither of us was entirely sure what to do when Janet or Newton got here; and that was not something I wanted to discuss. I could only hope that the professional killers weren't as professional as they looked in the video.

We jumped at each sound. The first time it was just the front door opening, as a lady in a black T-shirt that said 'Community Outreach' walked out to have a cigarette. The second time it was someone in a green uniform who was taking the garbage out. An apple core landed on Caspian's head; under any other circumstances I would have laughed at the appalled look on his face, but I was too stressed out to allow my eyebrows to unfurrow.

We waited, but nothing happened. The sky dimmed around us, and it became dotted with specks of gold. The moon took the place of the sun; and still we waited. Caspian had suggested we leave when the sun had begun to set, but I had been adamant. We couldn't leave just because all the other attacks happened in the middle of the day. This one might not be the same, and I was not ready to give up all hope yet.

"You'd think they'd be more considerate of the time of day they chose," Caspian sarcastically stated. "The villains can't expect the heroes to wait for them."

I rolled my eyes at Caspian's pathetic attempt to make a joke, but I chose not to comment, since he seemed rather proud of himself for coming up with something like that. His lips twitched at the corners, but he prevented himself from full on smiling when he saw the solemn look on my face.

"Don't be so grave," Caspian teased, still holding back a smile. "You're not dead yet."

"You're so not punny," I replied humouring him, but not letting my guard down.

"I highly doubt they're coming today," Caspian told me, sighing.

I pursed my lip and sighed.

"I'll call Lewis, see if they've had more luck than us." Caspian slumped against the garbage can and pressed some buttons on his phone.

He held the phone to his ear and gave me a weak smile. The phone was answered after the first couple of rings.

"Hey, Lewis," Caspian greeted, his voice awfully cheery for a situation like this.

I didn't hear the other side of the conversation, but I saw Caspian's face lose all colour. He quickly put the phone down and threw it on the ground next to him.

He turned to me with wide eyes. "That wasn't Lewis."

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