Runaway ~ TUA (Book 3)

Chapter 5

Taya laid on one of the hotel couches in the lobby with her legs up against the wall, her back on the main cushion of the couch as she hung upside down, reading one of the books she had snagged from the mall bookshelf nearby, The Outsiders was what it was called, reading it as she faintly heard Diego and Luther arguing.

"What're you doing?," a voice asked and Taya closed the book to see who it was. Stanley stood in front of her with a weird look on his face as he stared at her questioningly.

"Reading," Taya replied, returning the look that the younger boy was giving her.

"Why?"

"Why not?"

"The hell are you doing," Diego asked as he appeared, carrying a box while Taya sat up. "I told you not to be here."

"What's a molotov cocktail? Is it a drink?," Stanley asked, following Diego, Taya sighed and got up, also following them. Whatever it was they were doing, it was better than what she was doing, she loved reading but she wasn't really in the mood for it at the moment.

"No," Diego replied.

"Can I try one?"

"No!"

"I've had beer, you know," Stanley stated as he took another bite of his sandwich.

"I've had some of Uncle Klaus' tequila," Taya added, putting her longer hair into a loose braid in order to keep it out of her face.

"It's a homemade bomb, okay?," Diego sighed. The trio walked up the stairs.

"Sweet. I can help." The small group approached the elevator.

"Ever made a pipe bomb? Cause I have. I've blown up tons of mailboxes. There are secrets in the mix," Stan continued as DIego hummed in response.

"So, what's my job here, and how much you paying?" Diego pressed a button on the elevator after he put the box down, the doors opened with a ding before he grabbed Stanley and pushed him into the elevator.

"Your job is to study the inside of this elevator," Diego told him as he pressed all of the buttons, "Until I get back. And Taya's job is to watch you." Despite the teenager's protests, Diego pushed Taya into the elevator and the doors closed.

As the elevator began to go up Taya and Stanley looked at each other with confused and slightly pissed off looks.

"I better be getting paid for this," Taya grumbled as she inhaled.

"I'm bored," Stanley complained.

~~~~~~~~~~

Taya somehow managed to sneak away from Stanley, she didn't know how but she did. She joined Luther and Diego at a table, Diego gave her a look.

"Where's Stanley?"

"Still in the elevator. I snuck away from him while he wasn't looking, I also reset all the buttons so he'll be pretty entertained exploring the hotel." Diego just sighed and nodded before going back to his checkers game with Luther, who was complaining about losing again.

Allison and Viktor approached the table, Taya felt herself tense slightly. Her and her mother have barely spoken to each other since their fight. There was slight tension in the air when Allison and Viktor joined the group of three at the table, Viktor sitting in-between Taya and Allison.

"So, what's the plan? What do we do when the Sparrows get here?," Luther questioned.

"Wait, the Sparrows are coming here?," Taya asked, she had no idea about this plan. No one had filled her in, and that hurt in a way. She was part of the family too.

"Just follow our lead," Allison replied, ignoring Taya's question.

"Nice try. We don't take orders from you," Diego stated as he folded his arms, Luther agreed but Taya stayed quiet as she fiddled with her hoodie strings. Not paying attention to what was happening.

Luther's voice was the one to bring her back to reality, "Oh shit. They're early." Everyone jumped out of their seats as they looked at the entrance, and in walked all of the Sparrows, all wearing red superhero uniforms. The five Hargeeves stood in a line in front of the door, Taya stood next to Diego, farther away from where Allison was standing.

"Well, thanks for coming," Viktor started.

"Oh, yeah, super glad to be here," Jayme snarked.

"Where's the rest of you?," Ben questioned.

"Are you taking attendance?," Diego fired back, "They'll be here."

"Where's the briefcase?," Allison questioned.

"Where's our brother?," Ben threatened.

"We don't have your brother," Taya spoke up, Allison smiled sarcastically at Ben before taking a deep breath.

"Maybe we should try this again before I lose my temper," she started, her tone angry.

"Mom –", Taya tried, this was probably the first time she has said anything to Allison since their fight.

"I got this," Allison interrupted before she continued, "Hand over the briefcase or no deal."

"Yeah, tiny problem," Ben told her, "Deal's off."

"Molotov this, bitches!," Stanley yelled as he ran over, holding onto a flaming bottle, Taya turned around to see what he was doing as well as Diego.

"Stanley! Not now!" That was when Stanley accidentally dropped the bottle, setting a large banner on fire. The smoke alarm began to blare and hotel guests ran away in a panic. While everyone was distracted, Taya felt herself being pulled away by someone, and was thrown behind the hotel clerk table along with Stanley, she didn't have time to make out who had put them behind the table, though.

Taya and Stanley held onto each other tightly, neither of them knew why, maybe it was because both of them were scared and just wanted whatever was happening at the moment to end. They were both just kids. There was a loud blasting sound, and as soon as the blast came a deep wave of silence fell over the earth. Taya peeked out from behind the desk and she felt her blood run cold.

On the hotel floor, just a few feet away from her and Stanley, lay the burnt up and lifeless bodies of Jayme and Alphonso.