Crossfire

Chapter 3

It was four months into my search. There was still no sign of Shaw anywhere. I had managed to track down George, the man from the facility that could control the earth around him. He had helped me for a short while, but I eventually went back to being on my own. It was better that way. It seemed that the people I grew close to only got hurt in the end. We still kept in touch. I'd get a call every now and again, when he knew where I was. Sometimes he had a lead, sometimes he was just making sure that I was still alive. I appreciated it, even if I wasn't good at showing it. I wouldn't give up. I refused to. I would make sure that Shaw paid for what he had done. What they had all done.

That was what I was living for. It was all that I had.

I stared up at the hotel ceiling. I was lucky that Monica had come from a family of money, as strange as that sounded. That was how she was able to live alone. Her family had died years earlier, when she was a teenager. All of that had gone to me once she had died. I was the closest thing she had to a family. She was my family. There was no other explanation. Not for this. Not for the pain that her memory caused me. I had thought that the memory would dull the pain. How could I have been so wrong about that? I took a deep breath. This was all that I could do. I turned onto my side and looked at the wall. It was full of all that I knew about Shaw. It was giving me a headache. I turned and looked outside of the window. The sun was just beginning to rise. Another sleepless night. After Monica died, my nightmares had continued to get worse until I could hardly bare to sleep.

Coffee was my new best friend.

I slowly sat up and gathered my things. This was my last day here. This lead had turned out to be a dead end. I wasn't entirely sure what I had been expecting. I would call George to let him know that I was headed to the next place. That was all that I could do for now, at least until we found anything that could lead me to Shaw. Just one lead. That was all that I needed. Just one to get me on the right path. I pulled on a button down and some jeans. It wasn't the best outfit I had ever worn, but I didn't care what other people thought of me. I had a job to do. I pulled on an old blazer. There were two holes in the back of most of my shirts, just in case I had to make a surprise get away through the air.

It was as good a system as any.

I had a car that was going to be coming to the front of the hotel later in the day and one of the bellhops was going to take my things down for me. I had some time to walk around.

My most recent dead end had taken me to London, England. It was somewhere that I had always wanted to go. I hadn't really gotten a chance to look around. It would be my consolation prize. I was hoping that I would be able to get my mind off of all of the things that were plaguing me. Maybe give me a good night's rest for once. Wouldn't that be something? I sighed and left my room, making sure that the door locked behind me before walking down the pristine white hallways. I was greeted by a few of the other guests and some of the staff. I acknowledged them with a polite nod. There was well and truly nothing else for me to do, unfortunately. I didn't know these people and I had no intention of learning about them now. I never stayed anywhere long enough to really know anyone. I was afraid of getting close to someone. I thought that it would end badly for me and it probably would, if I wasn't careful like I was. I walked outside and was shocked by the cold air. It was unusual for this time of year.

I looked out at the morning crowd. It was men in suits, carrying briefcases while they walked to work. Women going into shops with their friends. They all had their own business. I was just another person they would walk by on their way, and they were just people that I saw while I was visiting. I turned left and started walking. Maybe I would buy something before I left. To remember that I had come here, even if the trip was a failure. I sighed. I didn't know what I was doing here. I had a purpose. I was procrastinating by staying here. That wasn't helping anyone. That wasn't helping me.