The Phantoms

Chapter 6

Double update to make up for the weeks.

It takes forever for the night to end.I have to pinch myself several times so I wouldn't fall asleep. I last until dawn starts spiltting the sky into shades of fiery orange and light blue. That's when I reach over and shake my partner in crime awake. His hand shoots out of the blanket to grab my wrist in a painful grip.I wince,my heart pounding as his eyes shoot open,sharp and alert. He lets go when he sees my face.
I rub my wrist and shoot him a glare. "Morning,"he says,smiling as my eyes narrow at him.Sadist.
I wordlessly climb into the passenger's seat,too spent to start a fight.Evan seems to sense this because he doesn't either.After a couple gulps of yesterday's leftover lukewarm water,he turns the ignition,turning to face me as the motor roars to life.
"The card."
I freeze.I still don't trust him.
But he didn't trust me yesterday either yet he stuck to the plan.And if I'm going to sleep I don't want to be awakened every time we stop for petrol.
With obvious reluctance I hand it over to him.If it were anyone else I'd have smiled and immediately given it up like it was no big deal.
Then I'd steal it back the moment their heads were turned,along with the car if I had the opportunity.
But Evan's brutal honesty makes me feel safer with him even if every other aspect of the guy screams trouble.
I cast him a sullen glance,angry at him for not being as easy as others to read.For scaring me in more ways than one.
For making me keep choosing to trust him over and over.
It's with this half-sane thoughts that I succumb to a suprisingly peaceful sleep.
When I wake up again,an airport looms into sight,an airport whose every view and angle Evan and I have studied thoroughly a few days ago.
I immediately sit up.I don't know the last time I've slept this long.Not to mention this peacefully.Maybe I should take road trips more often.
A familiar black blanket clings to me,it's borders tucked snugly under my body.I subconciously push  away a mental image of Evan  pulling a blanket over my sleeping self.Too intimate.
Evan's back is turned to me.I watch him silently.He'd told me that his grandma was a phantom too.That she was close to finding the portal when she died.That she'd left him and Gail a small note on the back of Gail's diary before she did.Will Rogers Airport.
Nothing else.Which means this trip could have been a waste of time.That all our planning could have been useless.For all we know,she could have been talking crazy,like a dying woman would in her last days.
Evan and I had agreed that if the clue really was valid,it would make sense that the portal was near an airport.It'd give the hunters access to transportation to any part of the world.All they'd need to do is forge a few papers and book a flight online.
I keep watching Evan warily.If this was a setup on his part then this is it.This is where I get betrayed and die.
And if I am doomed there'd be nothing wrong with playing a little trick on him first.I swiftly pull my knife out of my waistband and press it to his neck.His body goes so rigid you'd think he was made out of stone.
I pull the knife away and start laughing.He turns around slowly as if still afraid of what he might see.The paleness of his face beneath his golden tan makes me laugh even harder.Evan starts laughing too but it's short,more out of relief than mirth.
"How long have you been carrying that around?" He asks,gesturing to the knife.I smile in response. How long do you think? I ask him with my face.He seems to get it since he scowls at me and drops back into his seat,although his posture is still tense.I laugh again.
"Oh stop pretending you didn't bring a weapon yourself."
He looks at me,his features arranged into irritation.
"What?"
I roll my eyes. He is such a terrible actor.
"You haven't let me near your bag since we started this journey.What's in it?A gun?"
His eyes narrow.I smirk.Gun it is.
"You're unbelievable." He says,running his fingers through his hair.It sounds like a grudging compliment. I smile,tucking the knife back into my waistband.
A moment later the smile leaves my face. Evan registers the look on my face and quickly sits up straight.
"What's wrong?"
I'm silent for awhile,a bundle of emotions wrestling inside me. After a solid second,I jerk my chin towards two men who are passing by Evan's window.They're probably heading home from the airport,since they're both pulling  huge suitcases with them.
One of the suitcases moves.
I hear Evan's breath catch as he finally sees what I did.
"That could be nothing but a smuggled puppy," I say,my calm voice at complete odds with my acrobating insides.Evan slides me a look that tells me just how stupid my statement was.
I certainly don't wish it's a puppy.My heart may be pounding harder than a whole drum set and my hands slightly shaky as I reach for the door but I've been waiting for this my whole life. "Wait." Evan catches my arm.His whole body is tense,his eyes even sharper than usual. "Wait until they get a bit farther.We don't want them to see us." I nod,grateful that his masochistic,bipolar,untrustworthy ass is here with me.
When the men are far enough we step out of the car as one,my hand grazing my knife through my t-shirt once seeking comfort from the solid metal.Evan pulls his bag out of the backseat and takes the gun out. It clicks as he puts the safety off.He slings his bag over his shoulder and nods at me.Fitting my own bag over my shoulders as well,I take a breath and start to walk.
I wish we can follow them from the safety of the car but that would be too obvious.
My senses start to open up again and after several seconds of walking  I start to take in my surroundings quickly,making up for the short time I'd been in a red haze.It's all open roads and empty sidewalks,no hidden corners or narrow alleyways.
I berate myself for not doing this the moment I woke up.My anger usually fuels me and I let it. But I can't let it blind me as well.
Our feet make no noise as we follow the hunters over a short distance. I suddenly feel grateful for all the tight rope walking classes Lauren had given me as a child.
The hunters stop in front of a wall. Evan stills beside me.I instictively move into the closest shadows. But the hunters don't even glance once around themselves.My eyes move to the wall they're standing before. It's white,a shiny kind of white that makes it look freshly painted.It has a normal green stripe on top of it.
It's connected to a small building,an ordinary one that,from it's uncolored bricks and windowless sills,looks like it's still undergoing construction.
But there's something off about the wall,something unnatural,something that would make a casual observer unconciously veer to avoid it and a truly observant one look back.
It's just chilling,like a midnight call from an unknown number or a deja vù that raises a bad memory.
The hunters step through it as it's made of water.
My mouth falls open. Out of the corner of my eye,I see Evan's brow furrow.
When I'm sure they're not coming back,I move forward. Evan hisses my name.
I ignore him and keep moving,stopping only when I'm centimeters away from the wall.
I slowly raise a hand to hover next to it. Nothing.Just that same chill.
Footsteps sound behind me.A moment later,Evan's hand is on my arm,trying to pull me away.
I look at him robotically as if still in a daze.
"You crazy?" Evan asks. He sounds angry at me.
I shake his hand off impatiently. "Calm down,I'm not going in."
I fish a random piece of paper from my pocket and toss it at the wall,stepping back quickly the moment it leaves my hand.
I can't help fearing that something is going to explode.
It doesn't though.The paper passes through as easily as hunters did.
I draw in a shaky breath and turn to Evan.
"Now I'm going in." I say,holding out my hand for the uniform. I inwardly curse at my thoughtlessness. I should have tried it on earlier.
Evan looks like he wants to argue with me but seems to change his mind when he sees the stubborn set of my lips. He simply hands me the clothes,something that looks suspiciously like concern in his face.
I take the uniform and walk to the right side of the building to don it on. I hold it up in the light for close inspection. It's a simple close-fitted black jumpsuit along with a hood in a duller shade.
I sigh in relief when I put it on.It does fit me.
Never have I been so thankful for my slight,curveless build.
Evan is already in his own uniform when I come out into the open again. His shoulders are set tight.
"Relax,"I murmur,doing so myself with enormous effort. We have to look like we belong there. I try and channel the confident,righteous stance I've seen in every hunter I'd fought.
Brushing a hand over my hood once to make sure every lock of hair is tucked away,I step into the wall again,fighting not to cringe.
I pass  through.
I look back at the wall,heart racing as I wait for Evan.A second later he appears next to me,features set into harsh lines. I suppose it's his way of dealing with fear.
I turn back to the place we've landed in. It's not what I expected. Whenever I'd thought about the hunters' world,I'd imagined tall skyscrapers and super advanced technology.
Not a few scraggly bushes and a bunch of small wooden cottages.
And such a hot sun.
I frown.Why is the sun so hot? I distinctly remember that it was evening right before we stepped through the wall.
Maybe the climate is different here.
I silently touch Evan's arm and nod to the denser growth of bushes there is. Even that looks like can barely conceal us,brown and thin as it is.
We've barely hidden ourselves when the door to one of the cottage-like houses bursts open.
A man bursts out,yelling at whoever is inside in a rough voice.He's wearing a brown vest and leather pants,which both look like something from the medival times. A woman follows,looking scared,dressed similarly in medieval time clothes,meaning a heavy looking pink dress with clearly visible laces at the back.
More time passes.People in the same type of clothes come and go,arguing,yelling,bargaining. No one  looks happy. I hear one shout "Aye!"with no laughter in his voice and nobody took it strangely as if the time of "Aye" isn't past us.
My brow furrows in confusion. Where are the smiles? The content,snobby faces that only money and power can develop? The righteous smirks,and most importantly the technology I assumed would come with all of it. This people just look angry. Worn. Starved.
After hours and hours of exploring,Evan and I creep back out of the portal. No one had challenged us when we'd finally dared to leave the bushes.In fact,they parted for us. Mothers drew children into their houses when we approached. People instinctively hunched in on themselves as if trying to make their bodies invisible as we passed.
Whatever these people are,they're not hunters. They seem as scared of them as we are.
The moment we reach the car,I collapse into the passenger's seat. And break into hysterical laughter.
Thoughts hover in my head. Mom,school,how soon we should get back to Ebony.
I push them all away for once,craving this one moment of free insanity.
If I was in my right mind I would've turned to Evan to gouge his reaction. But I'm not in my right mind so I keep on laughing,not caring about anything in the world.
Because the portal that I've been looking for half my life - is not what it was supposed to be.