Heroes

Chapter Fourteen

"She was grabbing her stuff, and she ran after pinning me to a dumpster with a bunch of nails." His breath came in short gasps as Celia turned and ran straight towards the spot Rory had come from.

"Why didn't you call for help?" Celia questioned agitatedly. They were standing in the open like a bunch of sitting ducks.

Rory looked slightly ashamed. "I honestly thought I could handle her myself. I wanted to prove to you guys that I'm capable of taking care of myself."

Celia sighed and shook her head. "Where did she run?"

"She ran towards a few houses. I don't exactly know whose, but they looked silent." Rory looked slightly guilty as he spoke, but Jake was quick to come to his rescue.

"It's okay. As long as we find her I'm sure Celia won't kill you." Jake gave Celia a purposeful look then, and Celia shook her head. "Yes you will," he declared then turned back to Rory. "Now lead us to her," he ordered. Rory solemnly nodded and turned his back towards them before trudging off with hunched shoulders towards the spot he had last seen her. "He clearly regrets it, Celia, so you need to stop being so hard on him," Jake insisted as he glared at her.

Huffing, she decided not to reply, and she followed Rory without a word. She kept her eyes on everything around her, and if she saw a flicker of movement, she would pause and wait for whatever it was to be visible. However, after only a few minutes, people started to emerge from their homes. They looked curiously at the runners which caused them to speed up in order to get away. "Their siesta must be over," Jake commented as they walked. Celia kept her head down and didn't say a word. She felt so out of place in the area, and it almost reminded her of the orphanage.

"Rory!" she called as she reached his side. "Can you sense where she is? You must be able to." He nodded and paused, leaning against a brick wall for support. Closing his eyes, he concentrated until he yelped and nodded. He rubbed his forehead and reported the news back to Celia and Jake. "She's not too far from here. Let's go." He seemed to be holding onto her location as he walked forward. Avoiding people's stares and slightly scared faces, they walked towards a dumpster then stopped. "She's here."

Celia blanched. "She hid in a dumpster? I think she is more intelligent than that."

Rory shook his head. "No. She's in there." He pointed to the window above the dumpster, and Celia nodded in understanding. Celia led them around the building to the front and walked in. It may have been someone's home, but Lexie was one of her own, and she wasn't letting a runner be alone, especially this one.

"You," she pointed to Rory, "find her. Jake and I will make sure no one follows you." Rory nodded and kept going towards the stairs, and Celia took a chance to observe their surroundings. They were in a quaint home with a Spanish style kitchen and a small family room in the next room. It seemed like no one was there besides Lexie, but Celia had to be sure. She peeked into a bedroom and was met with a woman snoring in her bed. She silently closed the door and turned to Jake with wide eyes. "There's someone sleeping in there."

Jake set his mouth into a thin line. "Okay. We just can't wake her up." Suddenly, a loud crash rang through the house, and Celia glared at the stairs. "Well that didn't last long!" Jake hissed as he turned back to the door. "Did she wake up?"

Celia swiveled around to peek through the doorway, but the woman was still snoring; she had only turned onto her side. "No," Celia breathed in relief. She sagged against the doorframe, and Jake walked silently up in front of her to peer through the crack in the door. Reassuring himself that the woman was sleeping, he stepped away from Celia and put some space between them.

"Should we... umm... should we go up to see if Rory is okay?" Jake stuttered. He nervously ran a hand through his sandy hair and looked away from her, realizing how close they had actually just been.