When Rain Rises

Chapter 23

The world outside Rain's mind froze. The puzzle pieces began to come together all at once, each one jolting into the forefront of his mind.

Aunt Leith had asked him if whoever he was working for was associated with a color. She was so scared of that organization she would rather Rain be in a gang than have anything to do with them. The spy had torn those pieces of paper out of his journal for whatever reason they had, not Aunt Leith. Cloud had said she 'found' it, and when Rain had asked about how or where, she wouldn't say.

The reason Cloud wouldn't tell him was probably because the Crimson had threatened her. So then why give the journal to her in the first place? What was in it that the Crimson wanted her or Rain to find? What was in it that they tore out? Why only give him pieces? Those questions weren't important at the moment. They had been there, talking to his little sister. That had to be before Aiden had probably even noticed the spy—that was the first day Rain and Alyse had started training!

Rain wracked his brain for memories of that day. He was walking home and saw his little sister outside. He had thought it unusual at the time, but no big deal. She seemed to be by herself, but was she really? Was she talking with an unseen Crimson spy? Come to think of it, she said she was thinking about history or something, but that didn't really make much sense at all. She had been diverting his questions the whole time!

Then he had asked her about his past...and she really didn't seem to know. But a week later, she had the journal...had she told the Crimson about him not remembering his past? And then they gave her the journal, but with the pages ripped out. Was it to help Rain remember his past? But why? What would the Crimson care? After all, weren't they really after...

No, of course, they were after Rain this whole time. How could he be so stupid? They weren't trying to kidnap him to use against Aiden, they were trying to kidnap him because they sought him. After they murdered the teen who had tried to kidnap him, they then tried to kill Aiden. But when Aiden went to protect Rain, they stopped shooting because they didn't want to hit Rain!

That was why they told the teen to kidnap him unharmed, and that was why they were trying to seemingly help him remember his past. They were interested in him—but why? What did they want with a street-born? Did it have something to do with his past? Did they know why he couldn't remember it? Were they the cause?

Rain was answering questions only to raise more. The true question, however, was what he was going to do now. Before they came here, Aiden had told him that the spy was becoming more aggressive, but that they weren't sure why. His objective had changed—it was almost like he was running out of time. If that was true, then they could well expect him to become even more desperate now, and they needed to be able to predict his next move to outmaneuver him and get the upper hand. What could his next move be?

What would Rain do if he were trying to capture someone? What would his next step be if kidnapping them didn't work? How would he get to them next? What would be the best way? Rain was protected by the Vincent. He would have to get rid of that protection somehow, and knew now a direct assault wouldn't work. If he had the means to hire a hit squad or something, he wouldn't have hired a desperate teen to try and kidnap Rain. He wasn't that well-connected.

Or was he?

"Aiden," Rain turned to him, the intensity in his eyes matching his mentor's. "The Justicars, they've never been a problem for you before, have they?" Aiden shook his head, but didn't seem quite sure where Rain was going with this. "So isn't it weird they've suddenly become one now?"

"We were all standing right over a...a corpse," Alyse argued. "I doubt Aiden's been in that situation before."

"More than you know," Aiden dismissed her with a shake of his head. "Rain, you think the Justicars are working for him?"