Secrets

Chapter Twenty Six

When she came to, she was still sitting in the backseat of the car, but wasn't being held in place anymore. She could hear the three men talking to each other and decided to not open her eyes yet or move in order to not alert them. The car was going at a high speed, and she felt exhausted. It felt like the middle of the night, and she had no idea where they were going.

"How long do you want to keep her?" the man on her right asked the man driving.

"Not long. A week maximum. We will find out about her magic tricks and their secret group, and then go public with it after we let her go. No one will know how we got our information because the public will be focused on us and our research" the driver said.

"If you say so, sir" the man said, and Kimby thought she could hear a hint of doubt in his voice.

What magic tricks? She thought. Were they talking about her?

Oh.

It suddenly hit her. They know about my skills? How? They want to expose the CA? she panicked internally, doing her best not to move.

Where's Kariann? She suddenly thought. Did they get her too? Where had Kariann been? Her memory of the night was fazed, and she couldn't clearly recall what had happened.

Oh, right. I was at this party. Then I went home by myself. That was a stupid idea. Kariann was in her room with Christen. Does this mean she's safe?

Then another realization hit her.

What time is it? I should've been home a long time ago. They must be worried about me.

This caused her to finally open her eyes. She hastily fumbled around looking for her phone and purse, but couldn't find them.

"She woke up" the man on her right suddenly said.

"Already?" the driver's voice could be heard.

"We're almost there. Watch her closely" he instructed, but Kimby was too tired to resist anyways.

A while later they drove off the highway and onto a bumpy road that led into a small town. It was dark outside and Kimby could only make out a few lights, but she was pretty sure she had never been here before. The place looked very rural and as they were driving through the small town, she could see that they were headed towards the very end of the town at the foot of a mountain with a deep forest. She panicked once again, but tried not to let it show.

They arrived in the driveway of a large house between trees, with no other houses around and only a dimly lit street light burning at the side of the road. The men grabbed her arm and lead her out of the car and towards the house. Kimby was so tired she didn't even think about screaming for help. She was cold and wanted to sleep, or to wake up from this bad dream. The strong grip of the men's hands made the dream feel eerily real, however.

The house was dark and quiet, and the driver unlocked the front door. Without switching on any lights, he led them into the house. They went down the stairs into the basement, and Kimby started feeling scared once again. The man who had been driving and whose house they seemed to be in opened another door and finally switched on a light in the room as they entered.

To Kimby's surprise, it was not a dungeon or prison cell like she had expected, but a rather spacious office, with a desk and bookshelves on one side and a camp bed on the other. The man quietly closed the door behind them, then spoke up.

"You will sleep there" he said towards Kimby, pointing at the camp bed.

The student was so tired, she just nodded at him. She was seeing his face for the first time. He seemed to be middle-aged, judging from his balding head, and was tall and pale.