The Blazing Rebellion

Chapter 10

Sera POV

Five hours before (this chapter takes place just after Chapter 7)

Sera followed Leilah, Kayden, and the rest of the group of Spectre members through a dark alleyway. They'd been waiting for her once she'd found Kayden and traveled to meet them; now, they were on the way to find the other Spectre members, the ones who'd stolen some of the dampeners.

Unlike the original plan, they weren't going to fight. They were instead going to try and reason with the other side of Spectre. Sera assumed this was why Leilah was now a part of this; originally, she hadn't been coming on the mission. Now, however, she was leading them through the suspiciously quiet town to find where the other members had been.

According to Kayden (he'd updated her on a bit of information after transporting her to the Spectre lab where Sera had worked with Leilah many times now), this alley was where the other members had been testing the dampeners on different people. They hadn't gone after any other high-tiers after Sera's ability had been taken; apparently, they'd wanted to change something about their products first. Maybe they wanted it to be stronger. After all, Sera had been able to get her ability back... she shivered to think about what things would've been like if it hadn't worked.

Suddenly, the group in front of Sera stopped walking. She paused too, confused. Are we already here? She didn't see any recognizable signs of a hideout.

Leilah turned around, her light green eyes narrowed in worry. Sera could feel that she was nervous about this meeting. It could easily go wrong. After all, they weren't meeting back at the Spectre headquarters that they all knew, but in a dark place with plenty of places to hide. An ambush would be entirely possible. Sera forced herself to let out a breath she'd been holding. Relax. It'll be fine.

"This is where they said to meet," Leilah told the group, still frowning. "Remember, don't attack; I'm going to talk to them first. Just wait in case you need to back me up."

Sera nodded with the rest of the members, still feeling nervous. There was so high of a chance that something could go wrong. She could get hurt again, have her abilities ripped from her. This time, maybe they would actually succeed in kidnapping her. Sera hoped not. No one knew she was here after all, except maybe Arlo (though she hadn't told him the details of this mission) and therefore it would be hard for any of her friends to save her... if she didn't show up at school for multiple days, too, John was sure to get worried. She didn't want to ruin his progress in improving himself by vanishing when he needed her.

She'd already blown him off earlier... although she hadn't really had another option, it was still a bit painful to think about. She hoped she hadn't messed anything up with him. In John's eyes she'd seen a sort of suspicion, as if he knew something she hadn't told him. It had felt more like she was being interrogated rather than simply being asked where she was going.

Sighing, Sera wished again that they could've been drinking boba together instead of her going off and doing dangerous things while John was probably wondering where she was.

The sound of footsteps from behind Sera distracted her from her thoughts. She spun around, her eyes lighting up dark blue as she activated her ability. Behind her, she could hear the other members doing the same. Several figures stood in front of them; they were dressed in dark clothing with masks covering the bottom half of their faces. One of them stepped forwards.

"Leilah." The voice that spoke didn't sound as if it came from any of the figures. Sera realized a minute later where it had come from; one of them was holding an iPad on a call, the screen showing a light brown-haired man. His face was shadowed, and Sera couldn't distinguish any of his other features. Something about this made her even more uncomfortable. It felt like they were making some sort of shady deal that she didn't want to be a part of.

"Stand back," A voice whispered from behind Sera. She jumped a little and turned to see Leilah making her way to the figures. Sera could see that they were surrounded on the other side of the alley, too, with more of the dark-clothed figures. Hesitating, Sera stepped back towards where the rest of their group was waiting for further command. She watched Leilah approach the figure holding the iPad. "What do you want?"

"I thought we came to a truce last time, Leilah," The man spoke from the iPad again. Sera watched her sister sigh.

"I told you that I don't approve of your methods," Leilah told the man, frowning. "You took some of the dampeners. How do we know you won't use them on another high-tier?"

Sera could see the shadow of a grin cross the man's face. "You don't. But if we join back together, we can accomplish much more than if we keep fighting."

Leilah's frown deepened. "Let's talk about this in person."

"Alright. Bring her to me," The man commanded, saying the last bit to the figures. The one holding the iPad nodded, turning it off and looking straight at Leilah.

"Come with us," He told her. Sighing, Leilah started to follow the figures as they turned and walked away. Just as they reached the end of the alleyway, she paused and turned back to face her group.

"Wait back at the lab," She told them. Then, she vanished around the corner along with the rest of the figures.

Sera waited at the lab for a long time before Leilah finally came back. It was dark outside now, and school had long since ended. Everyone at Wellston must've been back in their dorms by now. Still, Sera waited for Leilah to return with a few of the other members of Spectre.

Finally, when she was just wondering whether she should go back and wait for Leilah's response in her dorm, her sister entered the room. Sera was instantly on her feet.

"What happened?" She asked. The other members were already at Leilah's side, waiting for her answer. She could see the slight concern on their faces.

"We're bringing Spectre back together. They're going to work with us again," Leilah told her, smiling at Sera. Despite her calm expression, Sera didn't feel comforted. If anything, it made her more worried. Leilah seems to be hiding the details.

"What did you discuss with him?" One of the other members asked. Leilah's light green eyes flashed with a hint of worry.

"Kayden, bring Seraphina back to school," She commanded, ignoring the question. Sera frowned.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" She asked her sister. Leilah sighed.

"Yes, wait for me to call you back here. For now, go back. Everything is fine," She told Sera, her fake-looking smile reappearing. Kayden stepped forwards from the crowd, reaching for Sera's arm. Before she could ask anymore questions, he'd brought her back to Wellston.

"I'll come get you for your next mission," He told her, vanishing once again as soon as he'd let go of her. Sera frowned as he disappeared.

Even if Leilah had told her everything was fine, she wasn't sure whether to believe it. She'd thought before that Spectre working together once more was a good thing, but now it didn't feel like it...

Sera couldn't shake the feeling that bad things were to come.