Eden's Gate

Chapter 28: Where Do We Go Now?

It had been 5 nights since their grand escape, and they had wandered the forest trying to pick up on any sign at all of other psychics. Taylor's sharp Sixth Sense would be able to pick up the LaBeauxs, for sure, but they Kaitlyn was awoken by the yelling of Mr. Lepus. He had followed them all the way here?

"Hey! Hey guys! Wake up!" He demanded.

Kaitlyn sat up, rubbing her eyes, as did Taylor.

"Hey! Bunnybuddy, you're back!" Taylor said.

They held out their hand and Mr. Lepus pumped his fist into theirs.

Kaitlyn could tell that the plush doll was very agitated at something, which was weird, who knew that plushies could get upset. She poked his belly, and asked "what's going on? Weren't you supposed to be taking care of Voltaire?"

"Well yes but this is important," he said. "They've already sent out a search team to find you guys. They're getting the police involved!"

"What!?" Kaitlyn shouted.

They had thought she wouldn't call the police, because getting them involved might lead them to further investigate what happened with Edelweiss, Clifton, and now Richard and break up their scheme before it could be completed.

"Apparently Eliza has a couple of officers that she trusts to cover up what happens when they find you," he explained, "so she wasn't as concerned about that as you thought she was."

Taylor frowned, their eyes glowing amber for a moment as they intensely searched for any Signatures in the area.

"It's vague, they're far, but yeah. He's right. There are a few people at the edge of the forest, moving in."

"And if I can find you, so can they." Mr. Lepus warned.

"How did you find us, anyway?" Kaitlyn asked.

"You guys haven't exactly been covering your tracks. Literally - I've seen a few of your footprints along the way. Your campsites have been the worst though - they left big marks. You take them down but the marks are there. The holes in the ground from your tents, the ash from your fires. The ground is flattened where you slept. Things like that."

"Bloody hell," Taylor said, "we've been leaving our scent all the way here, haven't we?"

Mr. Lepus nodded, and went on, "It only took me a day to find and reach you guys."

"So what do we do?" Kaitlyn asked.

"We run." Taylor said, flatly. "We run, put as much distance between them as we can, and hope we come across the LaBeauxs when we do."

Kaitlyn pulled her thick parka tighter on herself. They had been out in the freezing cold for days. She was exhausted, cold, and trying desperately not to think about all the friends who she had left behind so she could protect those that remained. Despite their brave face, she could feel Taylor was too. They were so tired. The only reason they hadn't caught hypothermia yet was setting up their camp sites with the fires, which they spent a good amount of the day and night around. In the summer they would've made it a lot farther.

"Right." It was the only option.

They hurriedly destroyed the camp site. They knew there was no point in trying to cover up the tracks Mr. Lepus had talked about this time - there wasn't time. This was another race.

"What about you?" She asked.

"I'm coming with you," Mr. Lepus said. "I promise, someone's taking care of Voltaire."

"Who?"

If Mr. Lepus could wear a suspicious expression, he would be doing so right now, "doesn't matter, someone who is definitely going to take care of him. Don't worry about it, let's go!"

He helped back up the rest of the camp too, and they started to run. The weight of their supplies, the cold, and the exhaustion made their run less like a run and more like a scuttering jog of coughs and fear, but they were making it. Suddenly, they picked up a Signature. Big, bright, bold and powerful - it was impossible to mistake. It was Mrs. LaBeaux, and her power was spreading out over the forest like a lighthouse. They had their destination. It was a while away, but they'd get there.