The Twelve Heroes: Finding Our Identity (Editing)

On The Run

Anthony's P.O.V.

I clutched Sophie to my chest and kept stride with the others. Now that there weren't any goons chasing after us, we could slow to a walk. Austin and Valerie hadn't noticed Sophie passed out until I stopped and told them.

"What are we going to do about Sophie? She can't us her powers unless she wants to black put. Look at her. She was clearly exhausted, yet she still tried to save us. Once we get to a safe haven, she'll need to rest for a while." I stated.

"Do you want to go to the hideout?" Valerie questioned.

"You think it's still safe?" I ask.

"Yeah, why wouldn't it be?" She replied.

"First, we need to get out of here." Austin said urgently.

"Agreed." Valerie said.

"Want me to take Sophie from you? You must be tired of carrying her." Austin obliged.

I shook my head, "She's not that heavy. Feels like she weighs only ninety pounds. I actually want to carry her." I commented, feeling very protective of her at the moment. She looked small and fragile in my arms, much like an infant.  Then, I noticed Austin looked uncomfortable.

"There's a reason why she's so light isn't there? It's not natural, is it?" I question.

Austin shakes his head and walks forward, taking the lead. This signaled that the conversation was currently over. I would have to ask Sophie about her weight and about last year. She couldn't ignore the question forever.

I looked down at her peaceful features. Her chest moved up and down ever so slightly. Her breathing wasn't back to normal yet. She looked serene in her sleep and I didn't want to risk waking her, but I knew I would. I adjusted her in my arms. She stirred, but did not awake.

Soon, we had come to a dead end. I looked around, unsure where to go next. Valerie looked around, desperately trying to find an exit. Before long, I had spotted the exit. It was unnoticed by the human eye. I supposed since we're magicians we can see it. Or maybe Hermes pointed it out to me. I don't know, either way, we were getting out of there. 

"Guys, look a the wall. You could see an abnormal crack. That must be the door. Now, just to figure out how to open it..." I pointed out. 

Austin walked over to the door and rubbed his fingers across the surface. He pushed his finger in a hole that I had not seen before and then the door opened. Austin smiled with satisfaction and walked through the door. We were finally free! Almost.

We walked into the small room containing one elevator. It was small and cramped. I wondered if anyone was claustrophobic. Just being in this roomed caused me to be claustrophobic. I pressed the button on the wall next to the elevator, there was only one, a button to go up. It glowed a faint, pale orange and then the elevator beeped, signaling its arrival. Considering I was the biggest and had Sophie to hold, I stepped in first. Once everyone was in and the elevator door closed, I thought that we would run out of air. The elevator was small and seemingly unstable. If one goon came in this elevator with us, or one more person for that matter, I'm sure it would break. 

Austin pressed the button labeled "1" for the first floor and then the elevator shot up, jolting me forward. I could feel the pressure beneath my feet as the elevator rocketed upwards. The elevator was made out of glass so we could see our surroundings. This also made me think that if we leaned against the wall it would shatter and break and we would fall, or fly, to our death. Valerie and Austin seemed to come to this realization before I did and were huddled in the center. Acknowledging the elevator was shabby, I backed away from the wall. I kept expecting Sophie to wake up during this transaction, but she never did. Taking in the scenery outside of the glass walls, I came up with where this place might be. The thought occurred to me that we could easily be in an hotel or fancy apartment building, but then it hit me. I had a feeling Vaughn had driven us far away from the accident. I'm almost positive we were in some kind of factory or something. But, no. We were in a museum. A big fancy museum. I know this because I saw the sign outside of the window. But, this leaves me thinking how could Vaughn have possibly snuck in four unconscious kids without anyone noticing? There's only one possible explanation. He knocked out the guards and snuck us in. Or, there could be a back door. But, he could have easily concealed us in something, well maybe not that easily, and have taken us through the elevator and into the floors below.

The elevator arrived at the first floor, where everyone would arrive once they got there. Then I think that it would be easy trying to hijack a car with all the ones that must be parked inside of the parking lot. The first floor was absolutely marvelous, though. I couldn't help staring at everything we passed. Ancient artifacts. Jewelry, although I'm not a big fan. An occasional fossil. There were all kinds of things. Everything was concealed inside of a glass container, though. The walls were painted a light beige and the lights were dimmed, as if to give the museum an ominous affect for the sake of the displays. There were red velvet ropes bordering the displays. Over all, it was a magnificent museum.

I heard a women shriek in the distance and hurried Valerie and Austin forward. There was no need to figure out why the women had yelped. But, it might have been our duty to help her. Oh well, we'll find out soon enough. Once we were in the parking lot, I handed Sophie over to Austin so I could check the cars. Figuring no one would miss it, I hijacked a particularly beat-up car. Luckily, the keys were still in it. Imbeciles. Who leaved their keys in a car while they go into a museum? No matter, their loss, my luck. It was an old blue Kia Sedona. Austin put Sophie in the back and then he and Valerie buckled up. Austin was in the back holding on to Sophie. I revved the engine and sped out of the parking lot. The sooner we got out of there, the better.

There was a GPS in the car so I typed in the address of Layla Peters's house. The closest address to the hideout. I didn't want to reveal the address of the hideout in case the GPS could be tapped. I was fairly sure that Vaughn wouldn't be chasing us, but I still tried to get onto the expressway and back to the hideout as soon as possible.

Knowing I was committing a crime by stealing the car didn't bother me. My life. Sophie's life. Austin's life. And Valerie's life is at risk now. Heck, everyone I know is at risk of dying now. So what is the point of fussing over stealing a car if you can die at any second? I'm sure if the people who owned this car contacted the police, the police would be able to find that I stole the car. Or maybe not. Hopefully not. I doubt they would believe my reasoning, anyway. I mean, who would believe this, "Hey, officer. I hijacked several cars because a dude named Derek Vaughn is chasing after my friends and I and is trying to assassinate us because we are magicians and we also have Greek gods inside of us"? No one would. I would lie to keep myself out of going to a place where I would be put into a straight jacket for being mentally ill. Just to make myself clear, I am not mentally ill.

I've been contemplating that for the whole drive to Layla's house. The ride seemed to come and go in a matter of seconds. I only remember the faint sound of Sophie's breathing. But, having the ride go by quickly is better than having it be agonizingly long. When I parked outside Layla's house I went to the back of the car and took Sophie. Valerie led the way, since she likes be the leader, and walked across the street to an abandoned house. The house had originally been burned down, but then Phil reconstructed it and used and illusion spell on the outside so no one would go wondering inside.

Once we stepped inside, I heard an audible gasp come from everyone. Everything was coated in a fine layer of dust, but everything was so wonderful. Valerie and I had only been to this place once about a year or two ago. We only got a few glimpses, but now we would be able to see everything. But, the first I would do would be to clean the place up and put Sophie on a bed.