Phoenix

37. The witch

The damp, salt-tinged air of the Dutch lowlands clung to them like a second skin as they trudged away from the silent, hulking mass of the Thalys TGV. The train sat motionless on its magnetic track, a silver ghost illuminated only by the pale moon and the flickering emergency lights reflecting off the surrounding canals.

Behind them, the sounds of sobbing passengers and the distant, rhythmic thrum of rescue helicopters beginning to circle the area provided a haunting soundtrack to their escape.

​Hasselwijen was a small, unassuming town nestled roughly three miles from where the train had been forced to a halt. In the daytime, it was a picturesque cluster of brick houses and narrow bridges, but at this hour, it was a labyrinth of shadows. Thiessen, the engineer who had nearly steered them to their deaths, had pointed them in the right direction with a trembling finger, his gratitude for their survival outweighing his duty to report their flight.

​"We can't stay on the train," Jin had muttered, his voice barely audible over the wind. "The moment the authorities arrive, they'll be looking for names, passports, and stories. We don't have time to explain why the CIA is trying to turn us into a roadside attraction."

​They walked in a tight formation, their shoes crunching on the gravel path that ran parallel to the tracks. Arya stayed close to Christina, her eyes darting toward the girl every few seconds as if she expected her to vanish or transform into someone else entirely.

The girl she had known as Eva Lawrence-the fragile, somewhat clumsy secretary-was gone, replaced by a young woman whose every movement was now precise and calculated.

​The hike took them nearly an hour. By the time the low-slung rooftops of Hasselwijen appeared through the mist, their muscles were screaming, but the adrenaline kept the exhaustion at bay. Jin moved with a singular focus, leading them to a small, 24-hour car rental kiosk near the town's peripheral train station.

With a set of high-quality forged credentials and a stack of Euro notes that ensured the clerk didn't ask why three disheveled people needed a car at three in the morning, Jin secured a silver Volkswagen. It was a common car, the kind that disappeared into the background of a highway-a perfect shell for fugitives.

​The engine hummed to life with a quiet, reassuring purr. Jin steered the car onto the highway, heading south toward Amsterdam, forty-eight kilometers away.

The lights of the city were a faint orange smudge on the horizon, but for now, they were alone on the black ribbon of the road.

​The silence inside the car was suffocating, thick with the weight of the questions Jin and Arya had been suppressed since the moment the train doors opened. Jin gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles white. He glanced at the passenger seat where Christina sat, her face illuminated by the amber glow of the dashboard.

​"Look, Christina..." Jin began, his voice rough.

​"Call me Tina," the girl interrupted, her gaze fixed on the darkness outside the window. Her voice lacked the soft, tentative edge it had possessed for the last few months. It was level, devoid of the performance she had been maintaining.

​"Okay, Tina," Jin conceded, shifting gears. "I think it's time you cleared the air. You just saved a trainload of people by dismantling a high-level Uno-code hijack in under five minutes. And then you claim to be the 'Number One' Uno... the creator of the entire language. You're barely twenty-three years old. The math doesn't work. The Uno-code was unveiled nearly two decades ago. How is a child supposed to invent the most sophisticated encryption system on the planet?"

​Tina didn't blink. She looked at him, her eyes reflecting the passing streetlights like a cat's. "I didn't lie to you, Mr. Kim.
I have no reason to now. I don't mind opening up, but I want a trade. This isn't just about me. I need to know the full extent of the damage. What is that witch doing with my code? What has she turned it into?"