Project Frostbite

Chapter 13

A wave of deja vu washed over me in the form of a giant tsunami, and I swallowed when I saw Jekyll looking into the camera. Except there was something wrong with him. Something different. It was the exact same person I had seen in Firestorm's apartment, but he had changed. There were black bags under his eyes and he was no longer dressed in a grey suit and tie, but now wore a black bowler hat and a long black trench coat over his black clothes. A two-day stubble graced his unholy face. His eyes were no longer cold blue and calculating, they were a fiery red that could only scream demon. I realized: this was no longer Jekyll. It was Hyde.

"Nawh, aren't you going to say hello Tryston?" Hyde taunted, and he cackled, before moving the camera away from his face and panning to a small figure that was hunched over in a corner. I recognised her instantly. Her hands were tied above her head, forcing her to stand, and I saw the chain links were made of hot metal that glowed red every time her skin brushed against it. Two electric blue streaks of hair hung down from the messy blonde pixie cut that framed Firestorm's dirty face that stared stubbornly at the ground. Hyde wrenched her head up, forcing her to look into the camera, but she avoided my eye. "I think you forgot something when you left that forest." Hyde moved the camera along the wall. "Remember these guys?" Kyle and Azi were tied up beside Firestorm, their mouths gagged. Azi was sagging on his feet and Kyle's face was a mess of bruises and cuts, so much that I nearly didn't recognise them. Where was Arlo?

"What do you want Hyde?" I asked. I was fed up with his games.

"I want you Tryston, but it seems you are too stubborn to kill." Hyde replied icily. "Jekyll has been too soft on you, but now I think it's time to stop playing Cat and Mouse, don't you?" I stayed quiet, knowing what he was going to say. "How about a trade, Tryston?" Hyde asked. "It seems to me like Black Ice over here needs teaching a lesson on how to follow orders. If you aren't here tomorrow by sunset, your friends die. You want your girlfriend, come and get her."

With that, Hyde shut off the FaceTime, leaving me staring at a blank screen. Letting out a scream of frustration, I hurled the phone across the room and tried to stop pacing. I was meant to hate Firestorm with all of my guts after what I'd seen her do, and now I was beginning to doubt that the money had been the only thing keeping us together. Eventually I sat down, running both hands through my wet hair. What was I going to do? There was no doubt about turning myself in to save Firestorm, Azi and Kyle, but how could I gurantee that they would make it out alive? Where was Arlo?

After some deliberation, resolution, cold and heavy, settled in my stomach. Standing up, I retrieved the iPhone and found the number I wanted. After making the call, I searched through my backpack and laid out all of the contents. I still had about ten thousand in cash that I could use to get to the destination. All of the spare clothes I had went out the window and I changed into something dry, putting Kris' pocketknife into my pocket alongside the weapon Firestorm had given me. Last of all was the gun. With a deep breath, I checked it was fully loaded and put it in the waistband of my pants, the pain of it digging into my back a comforting reminder that I was still human.

I made as much room in my bag as I could, when I pulled out two pieces of paper. How they had both survived this far I did not know, but I still unfolded them with as much care as I would handle a newborn baby. My heart clenched as I read each of them again, but I steeled myself, leaving them on the table and pocketing the iPhone. They could track me all they wanted.

I pulled my hood over my head as I left the apartment, and headed straight for Azi's Joke Shop. I needed a restock.

Afterwards, I hailed a taxi and returned to Nicholl's Wharf. I saw with relief that Dmitri's red car was still sitting there, untouched and unharmed. The keys hung in the ignition, and I threw my extra bags in the boot with care, before starting up the car and putting the destination into the GPS. Hitting the gas, I dodged through the traffic and as soon as I was on the open road leading away from Manhattan, towards the sunny weather of Miami.