The Five

3. Safehouse

Her head was spinning.

Freya had no idea how long she'd been out, but she should have never let her mom and dad leave her alone. Not like this. Should someone from Serus come after her now, she would be easy prey.

Suddenly, a loud pounding echoed in her ears. It was like a cannon going off inside her head. She winced as pain surged through her. This was a nightmare. The pounding stopped for a second, then started up again. She had never gotten drunk or had a hangover, but she imagined the aftermath of binge drinking would feel something like this.

"Stop," she groaned loudly. "Please."

Miraculously, the noise stopped as if it had somehow heard her.

"Freya? Are you okay in there?"

The voice was somewhat familiar to her. It was close, but she was still extremely dizzy, and it was hard for her to focus her eyes. Her vision was blurry. It sounded like the person was talking through something. It finally hit her. They were probably standing outside the door.

"I-I'm fine," she lied. The truth was she was freaking out, but she didn't want them to know, especially if they were an enemy. "You can leave now."

"I can't," the voice said. For the first time, she realized it was male. Her head was so murky she couldn't tell the difference before. However, now she heard him loud and clear. "Kate and Tyler sent me to pick you up."

They did say they might send someone, but they also said that someone would come with a code word.

"What's the code word?" Freya yelled. She wasn't about to let him in unless he got it right. She looked toward the door. She could see the outline of a person in the glass window pane. It was frosted over, so she couldn't verify his identity. The plus side was he couldn't see her either.

"It's your favorite drink," the man shouted. "Chocolate milk."

Freya blinked a couple of times. He was right. Chocolate milk was her favorite. It had been since she was small. She looked down at the couch. Her hand was still resting on it. It was still basically holding her up. How was she going to open the door if she couldn't walk over to it?

"Freya?"

She stared at the door, her heart beginning to race. Something was happening to her. She wasn't going to be able to stand upright much longer. "C-Come in!" she said loudly. "I'd let you in, but I can't move. I'm too dizzy."

The doorknob turned, but the door didn't swing open. "It's locked. I know your parents. There's probably some sort of barrier on the door. You'll have to unlock it from the inside."

Freya sighed in frustration. Nothing could ever be easy, could it? If only her head would quit hurting and the room would stop spinning! She patted herself down. Her wand was still safely in its holster. She pulled it out and extended her arm. She wasn't sure where it was aiming, because she was in so much pain her eyes were still out of focus. All she could do was give it a lick and a promise and hope she didn't break anything.

"Here goes nothing," she mumbled. "Resero." She heard a click so loud it sounded like it was right next to her ear. "Ah!"

The door opened, and the sound of hurried footsteps filled her ears. The man who entered called her name, but his voice was faint. Her knees hit the floor within seconds, and she pitched forward into unconsciousness.

***

There was a swirl of faces. Each one presented itself like a slideshow in her mind, but only for a moment. There were three girls and two boys. There were two she recognized...herself and Addey. It could mean only one thing. These were the people Serus was looking for. These people making guest appearances in her mind had to be The Five.