Witness | Major Editing

4. New Aquaintences

4 | New Acquaintances

      I made my way over to the several walls of weapons, but eventually found my feet taking me to the case of knives.

      I ran my fingers across the edge of the glass, slowly walking from one end to the other and staring at all the blades. One set of blades caught my eye specifically, along with the sheath beside them.

      "I like these."

      Both were solid black, double edged knives of the same length. The sheath with them had a strap for wrapping around an arm or leg. It looked like it would come in handy for hiding them, but also easy to slide the blades from the sheath in a moment's notice.

      "Good choice," Amanda said, walking around the desk to unlock it with the same key she used to get into the room. She pulled out one of the blades and sheath and started handing it to me, but pulled it back last second. "Remember to be careful with this, it will cut you just as easily as someone else can." I nodded, reaching for the blade as she started handing it to me again, but she pulled it back. She chuckled when I groaned in frustration. "Just remember not to attack anybody just because they piss you off. We need to keep our job, as well as your being here a secret, Octavia." She shrugged. "It's also illegal."

      I laughed and waited to reach for the knife or speak until I was sure she was finished, then took the blade from her. "Thank you."

      We looked around at the weapons for a bit longer before heading back upstairs. By the time we'd finished, I'd picked out a pistol and a small pocket knife with a built in one-inch ruler, a short blade, some tiny scissors, a nail file, and a cork screw. The back of it had a little clasp to hook in someone's pants pocket, but I chose to keep it attached to my bra.

      Hey, if anyone ever tried kidnapping me, they'd check my pockets before my bra. It was a semi-smart idea.

      "Octavia?"

      Still getting used to my new name, it took me a moment to realize Amanda was speaking to me. "Yeah?"

      She'd already closed and locked the hatch to the weapon room, and now we were sitting on the living room couch talking.

      "Be careful out there. I don't mean to sound like an overprotective mother, but I also don't want you getting hurt."

      I nodded in understanding and tucked a strand of blonde hair behind my ear. "I know. I'm here to escape a murderer, not on vacation. I'll be careful."

      Amanda nodded. "Do you think you'll want anything to eat before you go?"

      I shook my head, standing and making my way to the front door with Amanda behind me. The sun would be setting soon, if the darkening sky was anything to go by. "I think I'll be okay. I should probably grab a jacket, though."

      "Here, take mine." Amanda shrugged off her gray, zip-up jacket and handed it to me. "It's actually getting sort of small for me, and it's thin enough to keep you warm in these cool temperatures. Keep it, if you want."

      I smiled after slipping the thin, light jacket on. It fit perfectly. "Thank you—for everything. It means a lot to me."

      "Of course," Amanda said. She motioned towards the door. "It's getting late. If you don't get a move on now I might just change my overly protective mind."

      I nodded once again and watched as she made her way upstairs. I then took a deep breath, preparing myself for the new environment I'd be living in for much longer than I was used to.

      Just before actually getting around to opening the door, it slammed open and nearly smacked me in the face.

      "Amanda?" a feminine voice asked. "Oh, you must be that Aislyn girl."

      Nearly every muscle in my body froze, the hairs on the back of my neck standing up in terror. If this girl knew who I was, who else did?

      "Shit," she muttered, running a hand through her hair with a nervous chuckle. "No one else knows about you. I only know because my parents are working on your case."

      I relaxed a little at that, but still had no idea who this chick was. "How did you find out?"

      She shrugged nonchalantly. "I hacked into my dad's computer and read the files. Don't worry, no on else could figure out the code. I only could because I'm familiar with my dad's patterns and thought process."

      God damn, she talks a lot.

      "Sorry, I'm just a bit excited." She held out a hand for me to shake. "I'm Azia."

      I shook her hand and gave a quick once over, noting the gorgeous hazel eyes and tanned skin. Her hair was a rich brown ending with blonde tips just past her shoulders.

      We dropped our hands to our sides. "Aislyn, but you'll have to start calling me Octavia Heart."

      "I like it," she said, stepping in and closing the door. "Does it mean something?"

      "How'd you guess?" I asked, leading her to the couch.

      Azia shrugged. "You seem pretty okay with the name change. Even someone used to changing names would seem a little uncomfortable with a new one, but you actually seem to enjoy having it different."

      "Octavia is a name I've always loved and wanted since I was little. I'd probably be a little more okay with it if I'd been able to keep my last name, but at least my new one is my mothers before she married my dad."

      "Wow," she muttered, furrowing her eyebrows and sitting on the couch. "How are you able to talk so calmly about them? I don't mean to pry or seem insensitive, but I probably wouldn't be able to handle it if something happened to either one of my parents."

      "Are you close?" I asked, a pang of sadness flowing through me as I thought about my parents.

      "Yeah." Azia nodded. "Definitely more so than Amanda and David are with their child. At least my parents weren't keeping their jobs from me."

      I nodded in understanding. "Oh yeah, so whats the story?"

      "Pardon?"

      "The story with their son," I clarified.

      Asia paused. "He's . . . interesting."

      "That's doesn't sound good," I said with a small laugh.

      "He's not bad," she reassured me. Brian said the exact same thing, yet I was finding it harder to believe the more I heard it. "He's just complicated."

      I opened my mouth to ask how, or what his name even was, but was cut off as Amanda came back downstairs. "I thought I heard voices down here."

      Azia stepped forward with a smile and wrapped her arms around Amanda. "Hey, Amanda."

      "I think I'm going to head out before it gets too dark," I said as Amanda pulled away and held Azia at arms length.

      Her attention shifted to me with a smile. "Don't be out too late."

      I nodded and started towards the door as Amanda and Azia continued their conversation. The cool air brushed past me as I stepped through and out into the new, unknown area that is Palm Beach, Floria.

•••••

This chapter is dedicated to chy_123 , who created the character Azia