Chapter 5
I will begin working on the next chapter once I have 20 comments on THIS chapter! Thanks for being patient, people.
Jared did manage to get to sleep, but it was a fitful rest. Gunshots filled his dreams, and blood. Distantly, he could hear Quinn saying something, then Father Martin, warning him of something. His mother was there, her face mangled and broken. Lastly, there was his father, grinning widely.
"Jared. Jared!"
Jared shot up in bed, his hands moving to cover his face instinctively. He lowered them after a moment, peering into the dark. "Quinn?"
"Not exactly." The lamp at his bedside clicked on.
"Kiara?" Jared blinked the sleep out of his eyes. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm not here just to chat." Her hair was tied back into a lone braid running down her back. She was dressed in a black hoodie and jeans, along with her familiar cowboy boots. "I need your help."
Jared raised an eyebrow as he sat up. "Need my help? With what?" He was wide awake now.
She hesitated before sitting down on the edge of his bed. "You know how there are certain demons that eat different things?" When Jared nodded, she continued. "Well, I happened to learn of a heist happening later today. A harvest, really." She folded her hands in her lap. "They're planning to massacre a school bus of kids."
Jared's hair on his arms and neck stood up. "When?"
She shrugged. "At some point today. I intend to put a stop to it." She looked down. "It should be relatively safe, but it might be a bit more... difficult for me if it happens during the day."
"Wait, why?"
Kiara sighed. "Most of my gifts, especially the combative ones, rely on a dark environment. In broad daylight, all I can really manage is some party tricks."
Jared folded his arms. "So you want me to come be your meat shield?"
"
Their
meat shield," she corrected. "With the two of us, lowlifes like the encubix wouldn't dare to attack - daylight or not. Or even if they did, we could probably fight them off."
"Encubix?"
She snorted. "Soul tappers. They're pretty subtle, so I doubt any humans wrote myths about them." She smiled. "Basically, they are able to harvest death, and they have the ability to read minds. Mostly," she remarked drily, "just human minds. It takes much more out of them to try to read a demon. They'll probably just organize some sort of accident. Maybe a shooter or something, if they get really bold."
"So..." Jared said slowly, "You want me to help you rescue some kids? It doesn't sound too risky..." He reached for his phone. "Can I call Quinn about it?"
Kiara shrugged. "I guess. Just make sure Senguine doesn't hear about it."
Jared paused. "Er, why not?"
Kiara sighed. "She's against taking action, and I bet she'd ESPECIALLY hate to have her new pet project out in the real world." She waved her hand. "Even she admits that she's paranoid."
Jared nodded. "Alright, hold on." He hit the speed dial.
The phone rang once. Twice. On the fifth ring, he got the answering machine, a rare event with Quinn. Jared frowned. "She didn't pick up."
"She's probably still sleeping." Kiara glanced over to the clock on his dresser. "It's only 6:30. Are you coming or not?"
Jared hesitated. If Senguine was against this, maybe he shouldn't go. And something about Quinn not answering her phone had him feeling antsy. On the other hand, wasn't he supposed to help people, Kiara included?
He let out a deep breath. "All right. Let's do it."
**************
"Wait,
Amber
High school?"
"Yeah. They have a field trip planned for today. Why?"
Jared had an odd sense of déjà vu as he pulled into his high school's parking lot. It had been so long since he had been here... A week? Two? It felt like a lifetime.
Kiara had already arranged forged permission slips for them, and honestly, Jared felt like they could pass as high school students. Heck, he was still supposed to be one, and she was probably around that age as well.
He pulled to a stop, put it in park, and turned off the car. "Any idea what we're trying to prevent?"
Kiara shrugged. "It probably won't be anything too extreme - they'll have to be pretty close to attempt a harvest. They're pretty perceptive, so I wouldn't even be surprised if they sense our presence and don't even try to make the harvest."
That eased his nerves a bit. After more than one life-threatening experience recently, he was feeling a bit wary. But hopefully having a calm experience would make things a bit less scary.
As they got out and started walking, a thought came to him. He frowned. "Kiara, how do
you
know about the heist?"
She glanced at him. "I haven't spent my life just in hiding. I have contacts, spies. People who work for me. None of them are very powerful, but it makes them that more effective."
She quieted as they neared the school bus. It was a small high school, and it was only juniors and seniors who had been offered the chance. Jared distantly remembered hearing about it sometime back in January, but he hadn't thought much of it. Something about a National Park?
The bus driver didn't even blink as they boarded, handing their permission slips to him.
He surveyed the bus. A few kids seemed to recognize him, and they whispered amongst themselves quietly, but mostly he was ignored. There were few empty spots left.
He nodded to Kiara before leading the way to near the back of the bus, where the last empty two seater was.
Suddenly, a hand shot out and grabbed his arm. "Jared!"
He flinched, but quickly recovered. "Oh, hi Nasha."
She scowled, her red hair flaming in the morning light. "Don't 'Hi Nasha' me!" she hissed, tugging him down into the seat next to her. "Where is Quinn?"
Jared had rarely seen Nasha's temper, but Quinn had told him about it. She was built tall and lean, her freckles hardly affecting her intimidating nature.
Her eyes narrowed. "And who's this? I don't think I've seen her around before..."
Kiara stared down at them warily. "I'm Kiara, a friend of Jared's," she said cautiously.
Nasha flicked her gaze back to Jared. "Does Quinn know her?"
"Um... yes?" He didn't know what to do.
"Really? She never mentioned it. In fact," she snarled, "I thought Quinn was your only friend. That's what she told me."
Jared held back a wince. "Yeah, uh, we're new friends."
"Hey you in the back! Find a seat, lady!" the bus driver hollered.
Kiara looked around, wide-eyed. They had only made it halfway down the bus before Nasha had grabbed Jared, and there were no nearby empty seats.
"Up here, by me!" Zoe perked up cheerfully. "I've got a seat open!"
Kiara glanced back to Jared, who nodded. They had attracted enough attention.
Kiara had barely made her seat when the bus rumbled forward.
Nasha wasted no time. "You haven't answered me. Where. Is. Quinn?" Her nails dug into his arm.
He winced. "Look, what's the big deal? What makes you think I know?"
She stared at him flatly. "Her parents said the two of you eloped. Then you suddenly show up ON A FIELD TRIP with ANOTHER GIRL." Nasha's jaw clenched. "Oh, and to top it off, she suddenly stop answering my phone calls, doesn't show up to school, and..."
Her eyes lit up. "Give me your phone."
"What?" Jared shook his head. "Listen, I'm not about to-"
She gripped his arm again. "I can and will call the cops. Her parents have already put in a search warrant for her, with you as the perpetrator." Her gaze softened. "I just want to know that my friend's okay."
Jared sighed. "Fine. Here." He pulled his phone out of his pocket and handed it to her. "But she didn't answer me this morning..."
A quick glance at the time on the phone said that it was nearly eight. She should be up by now.
Nasha snatched it from his hands and quickly started dialing Quinn's number from memory. She held it up to her ear as they waited.
