Glitch

7

My head snaps up from its place leaning on my hand when I feel the uber screech to a stop. Not with excitement, but with sheer relief. Brynn has been talking non stop for the past half hour we've been driving. For the most part I tried to tune her out, but even now she's boisterously telling me about a family vacation she went on to Hawaii when she was five.

"Um, Brynn, I think we should get out of this guys car now," I interrupt rather abrasively. Not surprisingly, Brynn is unphased.

"Oh, ya, thank you so much," she calls to the driver as we hop out of his red prius. He gives us a wave and pulls back onto the road. I look around at my surroundings for the first time. We're still in the city (I can see the top of the Columbia Center in the sky), but definitely on the outskirts of it. "C'mon," Brynn says, gesturing for me to follow her into a brick red office type building that seems unlikely to be residential. I frown, but follow her nonetheless. Inside of the front door is a small lobby looking area, completely empty except for a couple of guys sitting and talking in the corner. I narrow my eyes at them.

"This is where you live?" I ask Brynn, not looking away from the two men. Her response comes from right behind me.

"Not exactly." The next few seconds pass in slow motion. The two men in the corner stand up from their conversation. I notice that they're bigger than I originally thought, and one has a wicked scar on his forehead, and the other has a tattoo covering nearly half his face. I also notice the pistols strapped to each of their legs. Instinctively, I whirl around to face Brynn and position her in front of me in a choke hold, hopefully discouraging the mystery men from opening fire on me. Although they make no move to draw their guns, the look of alarm on their faces give me the slightest hint of satisfaction. I tighten my hold on Brynn's neck, and she wheezes slightly.

"Whoa there, dude, let her go!" One of the two men cries out. His hands are up in the air, a horrible position for fighting. I look to him, then back to Brynn, then back to him again. "We're on your side, man! You're hurting her!" On my side? How could they be? How could they know what my side even is? After another moment of deliberation, I release Brynn to the floor, where she begins to gasp for breath. I feel a twinge of dare I say, guilt? The other guy, with the tattoo, rushes to Brynn's side, causing me to step back several feet.

"Brynn, oh my god, are you okay?" he asks her, eyes full of concern. Brynn sits up slowly, and when she talks her voice has a slight rasp to it.

"I'm fine, Len," she says, touching the red skin of her neck. She raises an eyebrow at me. "Jesus christ, killer, how about we don't murder the help." Now it's my turn for an eyebrow raise.

"How do you know that I'm-" I start.

"A killer?" Says Len, the tattoo guy, excitedly. "We know all about Killtec, and when you popped into Seattle twice in one day, well, we thought it was worth investigating. Turns out we were right."

"Right about what?" I ask, a little taken aback. Never in my time as a killer have a met anyone who knew about Killtec. It's supposedly a pretty top secret operation. Obviously the buyers know about it, and the staff, but other than that I thought it was just rumors. Turns out I was wrong.

"Just come with us, okay?" Brynn suggests. She starts towards the door on the far side of the lobby with the scar face guy. Len gestures for me to follow their lead. Tentatively, I walk through the threshold and into a brightly lit lounge type room with about ten other people in it, all of whom are dead silent. I look around, taking in the new faces and information. I think at this point I would really appreciate it if someone told me what the hell was going on here.

"Welcome to Lifetec, Kyree," a voice from behind me says calmly. I never told Brynn my killer name, let alone anyone else here. I turn to place the voice with a face, and lock eyes with a young, blond woman with the most entrancing indigo eyes I've ever seen. Kamryn.