Hidden Enemies | The Prime Archives #2 ✓

twenty-nine

"What do you think my power would be?" Archie asked from the passenger's seat of the car Oscar had been driving.

The two of them were currently parked outside of the private school Oscar's sister attended. He had offered to pick her up since his uncle was too busy at work. Archie had offered to accompany him.

Leaning back into his seat, he pulled out his silver lighter and studied the engravings in the metal. "That's a good question. I'm not sure. Maybe your power would be to annoy the bad guys until they surrendered."

"Oh, you think that's funny?" Archie shook his head while mumbling under his breath. "Besides, that's Zach's power."

Oscar laughed, nodding. "You're not wrong."

The thirteen-year-old speedster was quite the talker. If he ever got kidnapped, Atlas wouldn't even need to look for him or pay a ransom. The kidnappers would just give him back after being exposed to his crappy jokes and motor mouth for a few hours.

He peered out the window, quietly waiting for the school's bell to ring.

Though, it wasn't like he was in a rush to get back to The Acropolis. Over the past couple of days, the entire vibe inside the facility had been off. Everyone had kind of split into small cliques. He spent most of his time with Theo, Andre, and Archie. Emily, Kai, and Danai had sort of turned into some weird trio; they almost reminded Oscar of a punk rock band.

Not much had changed between Angus and Lucky. The two best friends never went anywhere without each other.

What was surprising was Chase and Stella. The pair had disappeared for two days without telling anyone. When they returned to The Acropolis, Oscar could tell something had happened. He just wasn't sure what.

Whatever it was had driven a wedge between them both.

Not only that, but the group was also still split on the whole PRA situation. Half of them backed Senator Crane while the other half wanted to see him locked behind bars.

As for Oscar, he didn't really have a strong opinion on what was going on. Sure, Crane was a bad guy and all, but he had problems of his own to deal with.

His jaw clenched as Ghost's voice invaded his ears.

He hadn't heard from the woman since Holly died. After her funeral and the rogue Primes vanished off the face of the earth, he had wondered if it was over; if he was free from being their informant.

He desperately hoped he was done. Holly's death was his fault. There was no convincing him otherwise. If they asked him to do something else, he wasn't sure he would be able to do it

If he truly loved his friends, he wouldn't betray them. Not again.

"Jeez, how long do they keep kids in school for these days?" Archie whined while checking his watch.

"I've got no clue," Oscar replied while peering out the car's window. "I'm just glad I'm not in school. I couldn't stand that place."

"Why not?"

He frowned. He and the classroom had never been the greatest of friends. In fact, they hadn't been friends at all. More like archenemies. Even before his parents died that fire, he was never the best student. He goofed off, opting to make others laugh instead of looking after himself.

That mindset only amplified once his parents left him.

"I don't want to talk about it," he finally said.

Archie shrugged his shoulders. "Okay then." He reached for the dashboard. The radio cut to some EDM station blaring music that made Oscar want to rip his ears off.