Embers & Ice

Chapter Fifteen

There was something very terrifying about the sounds coming from the room outside the lab. Jenny and Eli stood frozen in fear, listening to the thumps and the footsteps and the muffled voices and wondered what to do. Joshua had been gone only an hour, and there was no way to tell when he’d be back.

“Jenny-”

“Shh!” she hissed and Eli shut his mouth with a snap. Her eyes roamed the lab, praying they were safe and the room was protected. The door had a code, and she was sure there was something hiding it from plain sight. Whoever was out there must have no idea there was a laboratory behind the wall.

Then suddenly, there came a familiar creak and the voices were louder.

They found the entrance.

“We have to hide!” she mouthed to Eli, whose face was paling quickly.

“Who is it?” he replied, staring at the door. “Is it the Agents?”

Jenny hoped to God it wasn’t, because Joshua said the Agents only hunted people with powers. What would they do if a couple of regular people got in their way?

It wasn’t long before Jenny found out. Those behind the door had some sort of machine that roared to life, and in seconds Jenny and Eli were scrambling to the back of the laboratory and hiding under the desks; the only place they could find that would conceal them, if only a little. Jenny’s heart shivered in her chest as the door broke, scattering sawdust and stone across the floor.

She closed her eyes and covered herself, hearing footsteps and male voices. A hand grabbed her elbow and dragged her out from under the desk. Eli shouted at them to let go. Dust was everywhere, clouding her vision, making her cough and splutter as she was hauled to her feet.

“Find it,” someone directly in front of her ordered. His voice was low and calm. Jenny looked up into a face she would easily forget if she had passed him on the street. But the situation was different. His eyes were big and blue, brighter than the ocean. His hair was gelled back and his lips were abnormally large and red.

“What do you want?” she asked.

“Where is Joshua Harrison?”

Jenny glanced at Eli who struggled in the grip of two other men of Asian origin. They all wore black suits. They looked like smart business men. How did they find them?

“He’s not here,” said Eli.

The man turned slowly to face him. “Thank you for pointing that out,” he spat and clicked his finger. “Keep looking.”

One of the men standing by the glass tank where Joshua kept the Ravenadium made to open it. If the Agents got their hands on it, Joshua’s life would be over. Her life, too, might be over.

“Wait!” she shouted and they turned to her. “I’ll tell you where he is.”

The blue-eyed man smiled, showing perfect teeth. “Go on.”

“He just left, I think he was going to the… store. But he mentioned something about stopping off at his apartment upstairs first.”

Jenny thought she’d actually sounded quite confident in her lie, until the blue-eyed man smiled wider and stepped closer to her. She felt the need to hurl.

“I have always been very good at picking out the liars,” he whispered. “But it’s okay, because the both of you are not my priority. Joshua is. You’re worthless until you provide me with the correct information. Since you failed on that part, this conversation is over, and so is your life.”