Squad 6 | COMPLETED

Chapter 20- Chloe

Chloe

There was a strange sense of impending doom in her chest while she sat alone at the dining table, long after everyone had left. She had assigned the feeling to the fact she had killed a man, but being around people who took no notice of it had made Chloe doubt the actual importance of her actions back in London. She had killed him so he wouldn't kill. That made it even, right?

She looked at the photo on her phone. It was taken two years ago when Chloe was 14. It showed her and her best friend hugging while paint dried in their hair. They had spent that November afternoon painting an apartment on the third floor of a rundown building in the suburbs of Krakow. Before she met Irene, Chloe used to think life treated her badly. Irene had been by her side even when Chloe tried pushing her away.

Znajdę cię, She thought. I'll find you.

She recalled the meeting with Snakehead, her anxiety spiking. She needed to find out if he really had something to do with the people who kidnapped her. With each day she spent in New York and not looking for Irene, there was a chance her best friend had died. The jail sentence she had been so determined to avoid didn't look as scary as it once had. Not like anyone would remember a 15 year old drug smuggler.

What if Irene was already dead? What if she died like Paul did, unable to save herself, while she bled to death? Her thoughts let her have no peace.

She raced across the living room and knocked on Diana's door.

"Enter ye who dares!"

"I need your help," Chloe said.

Diana flipped through a magazine which she had placed on a blanket so she wouldn't have to hold it. It was open to a random page with makeup, showing two girls in bathing suits posing with their lips pouted, or smiling to show how much fun they were having. Almost everything was on show, three triangles covering the girls most private parts. A laptop was open on the night stand, a red dot blinking, unmoving.

"I didn't know that many different make up brands existed. I got mine from Nurse Patty. She has killer taste in lipsticks," Diana said, oblivious to the fact that Chloe was trying to swallow back her breakfast.

Chloe forced herself to focus on the conversation. She wasn't in a strip club in Poland. She wasn't dancing for other men, trying to numb herself to their touch. She was safe. Well, safer.

"We could go into town sometime and visit a mall or something," she offered, her breathing slowing down.

Diana's eyes glinted. "We can?"

Chloe shrugged. "Why not?"

Diana grinned, her curls bouncing around her face. She cocked her head to the side. "Sorry," she said. "I got distracted. These colors are insane. Purple would look really good on me. What do you think?" She lifted the magazine for Chloe to see.

Chloe swallowed a lump when she noticed a girl posing with a guy's hands around her neck while she smiled seductively. She didn't even notice the purple lipstick.

Diana dropped the magazine. "Sorry, sorry." She moved her hair behind her ear. "I'm all ears. What do you need?"

Chloe stuttered, flustered and trapped. "I, I want to find more antidotes."

Diana looked at her laptop and closed it, listening.

"I mean, we will stop Majesty but don't you think we should have the antidote at least? So we know what's in it and we can save people if they get hurt? People were already hurt and I just think that it would be good if there was a way we could get an antidote so we can prevent it and you know, I don't think Cassandra realizes that. I want to stop Majesty but I don't want anyone hurt." Chloe hadn't noticed when she began pacing the room. "Say something, Di."