UNKNOWN GUEST

#106 Another Jailbreak

Aunt Lena was at the wheel, driving like she was late for a race no one told me about. Mom sat next to her, one hand on the dashboard, the other casually tapping her thigh as if we weren't heading into the unknown. I was slouched in the back seat, staring out the window at the snow-covered wilderness passing by.

The landscape looked... familiar, but something about it felt off—like a dream I half-remembered. The road we were on cut straight through a dense alpine forest, draped in layers of white. The snow clung to every branch and blanketed the ground in silence, leaving the world around us pristine and undisturbed.

Our car wound deeper into the forest, the thick woods pressing in like they were trying to swallow the road whole. The trees were massive, their limbs heavy with snow, and the only thing breaking the stillness was the soft hum of the engine. The sky overhead was dull and gray, as if the sun had decided to sit this one out.

After what felt like an hour, Aunt Lena turned off the road and drove even farther into the woods.

"Where are we going?" I muttered to myself, trying to make sense of the sudden change in scenery.

When the car rolled to a stop, we stepped out into the cold, our boots crunching against the snow. I looked around—and there it was: a white, rusty helicopter parked in the middle of the clearing like it had dropped out of a spy movie.

"Uh... a helicopter?" I asked, glancing from Aunt Lena to Mom, trying to piece together what was going on.

Aunt Lena strolled ahead with Mom, both of them calm as if a random chopper in the middle of nowhere was perfectly normal. They spoke briefly with a man standing by the aircraft. He nodded, gave a quick wave, and then disappeared into the woods like he'd never been there.

I crossed my arms, waiting for an explanation, but of course, no one offered one.

Mom turned toward me and gave a little wave. "Come on."

I sighed and trudged through the snow to meet them. "All right, can someone please tell me what's happening here?"

Mom raised a brow, that familiar mischievous glint in her eye. "I hope Clint taught you how to fly a helicopter."

I blinked. "Yeah... I know how to fly it. But—where are we going?"

Her lips curled into a smirk. "We're breaking into another prison."

"What?" I blurted, feeling the confusion settle in. "Wait—who are we breaking out this time?"

Mom gave me a look, one that said stop asking questions and get moving. With that, she climbed into the helicopter, Aunt Lena right behind her, both acting like they did this kind of thing every day—which, to be fair, they probably did.

I stood there for a second, hands on my hips, staring at the helicopter like it might offer me some answers. It didn't. "Okay, then..." I muttered under my breath, heading toward the cockpit.

Mom peeked her head out. "Any day now."

With a resigned sigh, I climbed into the pilot's seat. Aunt Lena slid into the co-pilot seat beside me, already grinning like she was enjoying the whole thing way too much.

"Don't crash us," Aunt Lena teased, flipping switches like she was a natural.

"Wow, thanks for the encouragement," I shot back, rolling my eyes. The controls hummed under my hands as the rotor blades started to spin, stirring up the snow around us.

Mom settled into the back seat, strapping in like she was just along for the ride. She seemed perfectly at ease—as if breaking into a prison was no more stressful than grocery shopping.