Hush Hush & Deception: Stolen

Chapter 11

The grey clouds loomed in the sky as the crew sped down the cold Kansas River. All of them sat quietly except Amy, who made strange noises every now and then. Some were small coughs, while others were manic giggles to a joke she told herself. Veronica sat alone, her head steeped low. A bruise now adorned her face where Alexis had slapped her out of anger from her betrayal. Scarlet and Sonya were snuggling close to each other for warmth, while Finn rested against Phil’s shoulder. He hadn’t recovered at all from his injuries, so they had to find a hospital soon. Alexis was seated at the head of the boat, with Joey driving as they looked for any sign of life.
    “Brrr!” Alexis said, shivering from the cool breeze flowing of the river, “How long until we get there?”
    “I don’t know,” Joey replied, “we’ll know when we see lights.” His skin had taken on a paler tone from the tempature. He sighed lightly, his breath a light shade of gray in the moonlight.
    “We won’t survive much longer in this if we don’t get there fast,” Alexis stated, motioning to Finn, “I can’t imagine how much pain he’s in right now.”
    “Neither can I.”
    The duo looked back out into the distance once more. The boat sped on, hitting the waves as it went downstream. Scarlet stirred from her slumber, slowly lifting herself up. She looked around the boat; the multiple bodies barely moving in the dark. She walked over to the starboard side of the small boat, close to where Veronica was seated. She grabbed a small crate and pulled it up, making sure to keep a safe distance from her.
    “So,” Scarlet began quietly, “what convinced you to do it?” Veronica remained to herself, so Scarlet continued.
    “Was it because of him?” she asked, “Were you mad at how he was treated? Do you think he deserved what he got?” Veronica was still quiet, but Scarlett noticed her legs were now shaking. It wasn’t much, but it signaled that she was on the right path.
    “Or,” Scarlet said, scooting a little closer, “could it be because you didn’t know? He kept it a secret from you, and when you learned of what he had done it drove you mad. You bottled up all that insanity, but before long you had to release all that anger, and the best way for you to do just that was to do what Magnus did: betray everyone.”
Her legs began to shake a little more, and now she was fiddling her fingers too.
    “You didn’t know that he was a double-crosser, that he had betrayed multiple organizations. You didn’t know that he was a traitor.”
    The last word struck Veronica like a ton of bricks. She stopped shaking, and Scarlet noticed a small twinkle reflect of off a tear falling. She whimpered a little before looking up to face Scarlet. A small stream of tears was crossing over the purple bruise, her eyes red with stress.
    “How was I supposed to know?” She said quietly, her tone shaky, “He never told me anything, and I was so in love with him I never would’ve known.”
    “It’s not your fault,” Scarlet replied, “you never saw it coming.”
    “I was completely blinded by ignorance, and I never thought anything like this would ever happen. Yet, when it did, I told myself that it was all fake, but at one point I had to admit it to myself.”
    Veronica tilted her head back towards the deck, quieting herself once more. Scarlet took a deep breath and got up, slowly walking towards the front. Sonya had woken up a few minutes before, and it looked like Finn and Phil were both waking up too. In front of them, bright lights began to sparkle from afar. The looming suburb of Overland Park began to pass around them as they were floating along.
    Out of the darkness, small buildings began to grow around them. At first, they were only a few floors tall, but as they drifted further they began to grow taller and taller. The skyscrapers of Kansas City illuminated the sky around them as the Kansas River began to widen into the Missouri.
    “It looks like we’re not in Kansas anymore,” Phil said, smirking.
    “We aren’t,” Joey said, not picking up on the joke, “Kansas City is in Missouri.” Phil glared at Joey before looking back down the river. Joey turned back to Phil, noticing than that Phil’s face looked almost white. The One Kansas City Place was shining like a beacon in the night, the lights of other buildings reflecting off its windows. The boat passed underneath multiple bridges; the busy nightlife of the city at full roar.
    Joey steered the boat towards a beach, making sure to park it as quietly as he could. The crew slowly walked off the boat and onto the steep hillside, with Sonya grabbing Amy, Scarlet taking Veronica, and Finn on Phil’s back. They climbed up the steep hill, dragging themselves up to a shady street underneath an old factory. The crew walked down the street, eventually finding a payphone at a busy intersection. Sonya called 911, and in a few minutes the police were there to escort them.