Same Band... New School... New Species?!

Same Band...New School...New Species?! - 26

Driving through the city was the most nerve-racking thing I’ve ever done. I was worried for my brothers every second and at the same time terrified that one of those freaks was going to show up and force me back to that school… I couldn’t bear it if that happened.

“You okay Crys?” Lyle asked for the tenth time at least.

“Yes.”

“We’re almost out of London,” he told me. “Do either of you spot anything off?”

Darren Cross and I looked out of all the windows, peered into the city, but as far as I could see, no one was following us.

“I think we’re okay,” Cross said.

“Yeah,” I agreed.

“Okay,” Lyle nodded. “We’ll be there in just over half an hour.”

“So,” I turned in my seat as shotgun and looked at Darren Cross in the backseat. “How about you take this opportunity to tell us exactly who you are and how you know so much.”

He opened his mouth.

“And if you say Darren Cross I swear to God I will make damn sure you will never have children.”

“You’re in a good mood,” he muttered.

“My brothers are in danger because of me,” I snapped. “Again. Now what the hell is going on?!”

“I’ll tell you,” Darren Cross looked me in the eyes. “But not now.”

“Why not?” Lyle snapped. “Something you don’t want to share with me?”

“No,” he replied seriously. “But I’m not saying anything while you’re stressed.”

“Then you’re gonna have to wait quite a while,” I muttered.

There was silence for the rest of the journey. By the time we finally pulled up at the house, I was ready to pass out with nerves. My heart was thundering in my chest. Everyone else should already be here… if they weren’t, I don’t know what I’d do.

“Come on Crys,” Lyle turned off the engine.

I nodded mutely, unbuckling and jumping out of the car. The air was cool, but not freezing, which was odd for the time of year. It was already November… and it was night, it should be freezing. Or maybe it was freezing and I was just numb. Darren Cross looked cold, then again he had lived in a desert.

Lyle lead the way into the house, into the dark foyer and the silence.

“Is anyone home?” he called, voice still low.

“Yeah,” Sparrow called back, voice oddly muffled. “We’re in the basement.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. The vent in the front hall connected to the basement, so you can communicate like that. That’s why the rest of the house was dark, they were in the basement… they just all better be there.

Lyle lead us downstairs and Sparrow locked the door behind us. Nix sat in an armchair beside the pillow pit we had built when Frost bought the house. We all had houses in our names somewhere in Europe, Frost just happened to like Leatherhead. Speaking of Frost, he was in the pillow-pit, an ice-pack on his forehead.

“What happened?!” I demanded, panic striking me.

“Nothing big Crys,” he smiled. “There were too many people there for them to get anything big in.”

I stared at him for a while, making sure that nothing else looked hurt. He seemed okay… so my mind instantly spun to the next worry.

“Where’s Ink?” I looked around the room. He was nowhere to be found.

“Not here yet,” Nix sounded perfectly calm. So calm in fact that I knew he was worried.

“Give him time,” Lyle dropped into the pillow pit beside Frost. “He’ll get here.”

Darren Cross, looking completely and irritatingly at ease in a room full of worried people, flopped onto a sofa and closed his eyes. I just glared at him, hoping he got the angry vibe from me.

Minutes passed, then half an hour, finally an hour and I just couldn’t take it anymore. I guess I wasn’t the only one because Nix stood suddenly and started pacing. My jaw dropped. I have never seen him pace… not ever. If he’s upset he’ll get up and be proactive, not be unsure of what to do… this was scary.

“I think someone should go look for him,” Lyle said after a few more agonizing minutes of silence.

“No.” Nix responded immediately. “That’s what they want.”

“We can’t just do nothing,” I stood up. “Nix, we have no idea what they’ll do to Ink-”

“Ink can take care of himself,” Nix didn’t face me.

“Not against those people!” I darted around his side, staring him in the eye. “You know how he is Nix! He won’t stop fighting the whole bloody time! He’s gonna get himself killed!”

“I know that Crystal!” he yelled right back at me.

I flinched back, shocked. Nix… yelled at me.

“I’m sorry,” he ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know what to do.”

“I know,” I murmured, hugging him. Nix isn’t really much a hugger and he was probably still in pain from the attack, but he needed comforting. I wasn’t really expecting a hug back, so I was surprised when his arms closed around me and squeezed.

“I hate to break up the emotional rollercoaster over there,” Cross called from the couch. “But I just got a text. It’s from a prefect of the black dorm.”

Nix released me in a split second, striding over to where Darren Cross held out his mobile phone.

“You’re in contact with them?!” Frost demanded in shock.

“Now I am,” Cross shrugged. “I don’t know how they got my number.”

Nix took the phone and read the screen, then handed it back to Cross, then he walked back across the room and sat back down on the armchair.

“Nix?” I murmured, not sure of what to do. It was awkward to just stand in the center of the room, but I didn’t want to sit.

“They’ve got Ink,” Nix sighed. “And he’s alive.”

“And?” I prompted gently. “They said they want to talk, just to talk, then they’d let Ink go.”

“You believe that?” Lyle asked.

“No.”

“Do we have a choice?”

“No.”

“Did they specify who they want to talk to?” Sparrow asked.

“Crys, Darren and me,” Nix told him. “But you guys can be in the area.”

“If it’s a crowded place, we should be safe,” I offered hopefully.

“It’ll still be dangerous,” Cross put in.

“You’re not a part of this,” I snapped, losing all patience with him. “Ink’s our brother, not yours.”

He held up his hands in surrender, then appeared to go back to sleep. God he’s irritating.

“So,” Lyle watched Nix. “What are we going to do.”

“We’re going to give them what they want,” Nix shrugged.

A mobile phone came flying through the air without warning. Thank the Lord Nix has quick reflexes or the thing would have hit him square in the face. With only a slightly irritated look at Cross’ unmoved form, Nix opened the phone and typed out a reply.

“So?” Lyle asked when Nix closed the phone.

“Tomorrow night, 9:00 at Traf.”