Ari and Zac

Chapter 31: Chaos

Chapter 31: Chaos

The room had erupted into chaos, but Ari couldn't make sense of what was going on. She couldn't seem to think at all, really. It was as if her brain had gotten stuck in some endless feedback loop—like one of those old-fashioned compact discs, when the CD player hit a scratch and couldn't move past it. She'd been fixated on the same mental image from the moment she saw it, projected onto the living-room wall by the iScroll.

The Korean woman had stood with her back to the camera. And then she slowly turned around. And Ari saw... Ari saw...

Someone tugged at Ari's arm, disrupting her thoughts and dragging her to her feet. The sudden force nearly pulled her arm out of its socket, and Ari winced at the burst of pain. A hand gripped firmly at her elbow and yanked her toward the back of the house, away from the men who swarmed in through the front door.

She looked up and saw Zac's face. His mouth hung open, yelling, but his words were lost in the cacophony of other shouts. Still, Ari understood. She'd seen that look on his face once before. Chest heaving, eyes bulging wide... The same panic had overtaken his features that day in the aquarium, the first time Ari ever laid eyes on him. He'd been chased that day by a pair of men—shadowy figures in black caps and orange neoprene, who bore a striking resemblance to the army that invaded the house tonight.

"This way!" Zac shouted, pulling at her arm again. "Come on!"

They were headed toward the kitchen at the rear of the house, but Zac stopped short as the back screen door flew open. A burly man stood in the doorway and plunged inside, as a gust of icy wind slapped Ari in the face. Zac swiveled, changing course and pulling Ari in his wake. They headed toward the staircase, and Zac took the steps two at a time.

"Up here!" he said over his shoulder, dragging her into a bathroom at the top of the stairs. He let go of her arm long enough to slam the door shut and flip the lock. "There." He sounded breathless, leaning heavily against the door. He ran a frantic hand through his hair, and Ari could only stare at him in response as the unspoken questions raced through her mind.

What was happening? Who were those men? How long could a flimsy bathroom door possibly keep them out?

And what exactly would they do to her and Zac once they caught them?

"OK, it's cool," Zac said, reading the worry that must have been written on her face. "There's another way out." He slid past her, his hand grazing her shoulder as he moved to the other end of the bathroom. There was a narrow window over the toilet. The blinds clattered as he ripped them out of the way and then flung the window sash open. "This way. It leads out over the garage. We'll have to jump from..."

The raging wind howled mercilessly, drowning out the end of his sentence. He was already shimmying his way out the window, feet first. He reached back through the opening, beckoning for her to follow.

Ari reached for his hand, but she didn't take it. She pulled up a step short, and her hand rose to her throat instead. A new thought had just penetrated through the haze of confusion, and she gasped in horror as it hit her.

Lucy.

What happened to Lucy?

Ari's eyes left Zac and swung back in the direction of the bathroom door. She could hear footsteps pounding up the staircase on the other side. Her sister was still downstairs somewhere. The three of them were sitting side by side at the meeting before, but Lucy hadn't followed when Zac pulled Ari toward the stairs.

"Ari!" Zac bellowed. "Come on! There isn't time!" He lunged forward, reaching for her arm, but Ari pulled free of his grasp. She shook her head, and her hair swirled wildly as a new burst of rain-soaked wind swept through the room.

She couldn't go. Not without her sister.

Ari shook her head, and she shot Zac one last regretful look. If only she could speak, she would've explained. She still had Lucy's cellphone in her pocket, but there wasn't time to send a text right now. She would have to text him later. For now, she turned her back.

"Ari! No!" Zac's voice rose with desperation, but it didn't matter. Ari knew what she had to do, and she didn't turn to look at him again.

She pulled the bathroom door back open and stepped out into the hall.

***

Zac stood on the slick black tiles of the sloping roof, clinging to the window frame to keep his balance. The wind buffeted against his back, as he stared helplessly through the open window at Ari's retreating form.

"Dammit!" he cursed, half-sobbing in frustration.

He thought of climbing back inside, going after her. But he knew in the pit of his stomach that it was too late. The Counter-Disruption agents were already at the top of the stairs. They already had her—and if Zac went after her, they'd capture him as well. He wouldn't do Ari any good by trying to play the hero. His only hope was to escape. Find his grandfather and Cy. If they'd gotten out in time, then maybe they had a plan to rescue the others trapped inside.

But first, he had to get himself down off this roof. He couldn't do Ari any good if he fell and broke his neck.

Zac shuffled sideways, away from the open window before the agents inside could spot him. He kept his shoulder blades pressed flat against the side of the house for balance and carefully lowered himself onto his bottom, using his feet to brace his weight.

The wind whipped rain into his face, blinding him. Zac looked down to shield his eyes. Torrents of rainwater flowed past, threatening to sweep him along with the current. Slowly, one foot at a time, he scuttled forward, trying to crabwalk in the direction of the roof's edge.

He made it about half-way before a sudden gust of wind slammed into him, hard enough to knock him sideways. Zac let out a yelp as his sneakers lost their grip. He skidded wildly, fishtailing in a spray of water as he tried in vain to slow his fall.

It was no use. He was going over.

Zac rolled onto his stomach. His feet flew over the edge first, followed by his hips, and then his torso. He grasped desperately with outstretched fingers for any kind of handhold. It was only by sheer luck that he managed to grab onto the gutter before he went tumbling to the ground. With a grunt of pain, Zac held on with every ounce of strength in his one good hand, ignoring the slice of the rusty metal cutting into his palm.

For a moment, he dangled there. The rain had formed a waterfall around him. He watched it cascade toward the driveway underneath. He would have to jump for it, and he tried not to think about the way the water splattered violently against the hard blacktop below. He'd meant to lower himself down over the bushes, a few yards off to his left, but there was no way to get there now. A fall from this height wouldn't kill him, right? He was only one story up. A broken ankle at worst...

Zac closed his eyes, gathering his nerve. He couldn't pull himself back up with only one arm. He had to let go. He was only delaying the inevitable—

"Zac!"

The sound was nearly lost in the tumult of screaming wind and pounding rain. Zac thought that he'd imagined it until her heard his name again.

"Zacky! Hold on!"

Zac looked backward over his shoulder and saw the source. Cy was running up the driveway in his direction. Zac had never been so happy in his life to see his annoying cousin's face.

"Zac! I'll catch you! Wait!"

The other boy was beneath him now with arms upstretched. In other circumstances, Zac might have laughed out loud. Catch him? His cousin had his uses, but upper body strength definitely wasn't one of them.

At least Cy might break his fall. Zac didn't have time to formulate a better plan. His fingers had gone numb. His grip on the gutter was growing weaker by the second.

"On the count of three," Cy called. "One... Two..."

With a deep breath and a silent prayer, Zac let go.