Chapter 9

By the time we reached Collier Heights, it was pouring down rain. It only took about 5 minutes before actually reaching my house. It was still the same 2 story house with the windows in the front that looked into my room that was upstairs. The 2 door garage was closed and hasn't been opened in months, and the 3 windows on the bottom story, right next to the door, looked into the office that my mom used to spend the majority of her day in. I took in a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves.

"What's wrong," I heard Lydia ask from the back.

Without taking my eyes off the house from the car window, I responded "I..I don't know. What if he isn't there? What if he got the vaccine and he...," I paused, stopping the thoughts that were flooding my head.

"Do you want us to go in with you," Lydia said.

I looked at Trevor and then her before responding with a small nod. As soon as I did, Trevor grabbed his gun and got out of the car. I looked back at Lydia and gave her a faint smile before she got out of the van. I looked back at the house, grabbed my gun, and stepped out of the car. Trevor came around to where I was standing and put his hand on my shoulder.

"You'll be ok. Whatever happens," He said. I looked up at him and gave a faint smile.

I took a deep breath before walking up to the brown door. I stared at the door for a minute before punching in the code to unlock it. I heard the click of the lock unlocking itself and opened the door. As soon as I did, the house was dark and the only light was the ones coming from the windows. The first thing you see when you open the door is the hallway that has the office next to it. A few steps forward, you could find the stairs on the left, and the room it would be in is the living room, connected to the dining room and kitchen with no walls dividing the 3 rooms.

"You guys stay down here, I'm going to check his room. Check if anything in the pantry and refrigerator seems like it has been eaten," I said. Lydia and Trevor both nodded before heading into the open kitchen. I start to head upstairs slowly and carefully. I looked both ways in the big hallway, first looking at the hallway that led to my room then looking the way that led to Jareds. I walked slowly to Jared's room, switching the safety off my gun but having my finger off the trigger. I heard a crash downstairs, turning around to see if it was actually behind me.

"Trevor? Lydia? Are you guys ok down there?" I asked, shouting a bit. I stopped in my tracks waiting for one of them to respond.

"Yeah, we're ok. Keep going," I heard Lydia say from downstairs. I felt a shiver go down my spine but I turned back around, to face the hallway to Jared's room. I continued to walk down the hall until reaching his room. I hesitated before grabbing the doorknob and twisting it, opening the door to open my eyes to the dark blue room that I remember seeing 3 months ago. I walked in, my gun still at my side, looking for any indication of someone being in this room in the past 3 months that I was gone. I walked towards the bed that was neatly made. Looking at the blue sheets and red pillows on the bed, as if they were meant to be there.

That's when the glass caught my eye. I walked over to the nightstand to where I saw the glass of water. I picked it up and there were still ice cubes in it. Jared always put ice in his water, he would never drink it if it wasn't cold. I felt relief go through my whole body. He was still alive, and he was here in the house.

I turned to face his bathroom and walked over to it, but the lights were off. I searched inside the bathroom, but nobody was there. I don't know where else he could be. I knew that the pantry still had a little bit of food left since the last time I saw it, it was half full of snacks and cereal. I turned around and started to walk out of the room. I walked down the hall and found the stairs. I walked down the shiny, wood stairs, looking at my feet instead of straight ahead.

"He's still alive. He is somewhere in the house. Did you guys find any food in the pan-" I paused, looking up at Lydia. Only Lydia. Her face was filled with fear, and that's when I noticed the tall girl standing behind her, holding the gun to her head.

* * *

"Drop it," She said, with a steady voice. It took me a moment to actually do as she demanded. I crouched down to the floor and placed the gun beside my feet, holding my hands up, showing I had nothing in them.

"Lydia, are you ok?" I said, trying to hide the anger that was building up in my voice. She nodded. I looked back at the girl with long, dark brown hair and dark brown eyes.

"Ok here's the deal. I take you and Lydia to the van, without any problems. Then I take you guys back to the warehouse in Augusta, and I get my money. Deal?" She said, with a bit of an evil smile showing on her face. I didn't respond to her little question until she put her finger on the trigger.

"Deal! You have a deal," I said, through gritted teeth.

"Good. At least you're a little smarter than little sister here," She said, looking back at Lydia. I felt shock throughout my whole body. I couldn't help but stare at the girl that was holding the gun to Lydia's head. That's when I connected the dots.

The girl that was about to give Lydia and I back to The WildFires was Trevor's older sister. She was trading her little sister for money. Just like she traded her mother for money. I could feel the shock turn into anger. I took a step forward and that's when she pointed the gun at me. I stopped in my tracks.

"And no fighting back either. Let's make this easy princess," She said. I nodded, saying that I was going to comply. She started to walk slowly to the door, with Lydia in her grip. I followed her so she wouldn't think I was running away and shoot Lydia because of my actions. We walked out of the house and to the second car that was parked behind the van we came in. She opened the back door of the car we were taking and told Lydia to sit down and put her hands out. Lydia did as she was told and put her hand out.

Lisa grabbed a zip tie from her jeans and tightened it around Lydia's wrists. Once she finished, she turned around and pointed the gun towards me. I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Listen. I get $10,000 for both of you. Whether you are dead or alive. Honestly I whichever one but the choice is up to you princess," She said. I slowly put my hands in front of me. She grabbed a zip tie from her jeans and tightened it around my wrist to the point where it started digging into my skin.

"Why? Why did you sell out your mother?" I asked as she opened the front door of the car.

She put an evil smile on her face and said: "Because, money is much better than a bitch that didn't care about me."

She closed the door to the car and walked around to the driver's side, opening the door and getting into the small silver BMW. She closed the door behind her and pointed the gun towards me.

"You don't speak. You don't touch anything. And if I so much as see a glance indicating to run, I shoot. Got it?" She said, with a fake smile on her face. Lydia and I both nodded. Lisa started the car and put it out of park.

I tried to find something I could break the zip tie with. I felt something poking me in the seat and tried to find the sharp object and see if I could cut the zip tie off. That's when I heard the 2 gunshots. I could feel the back tires pop and hear Lisa mutter something under her breath.

"Not a word," She said, opening the door and then closing it as soon as she got out.

"Lydia, is there anything back there that you can cut the zip ties with," I asked, looking in the rearview mirror. She started looking frantically around the back seat until I noticed her hands were free.

"How did you-" I said. She interrupted me before I could finish.

"Lisa put it on too loose. I could easily slide my hand out from the zip tie. If you're wondering where Trevor is then I don't know. I was in the pantry when he closed the door. Once Lisa found me, he was gone," She said. She found a small pocket knife on the car floor and signaled for me to give her my hands. That's when I saw Lisa fall to the ground and heard her scream in pain.

Lydia and I both looked at each other and she worked faster to cut the zip tie. I heard the snap of the zip tie and then opened the door to see what was going on. That's when I saw him standing in front of the house. He ran towards the car as soon as he saw me get out.

"Are you ok? I heard someone coming and I got out before they could see me," He said, cupping my cheek in his hand. I put my hand on top of his and I nodded. Lydia got out of the car and punched Trevor's arm.

"What the hell Trevor!" I heard her shout at him as I walked around the car to meet Lisa on the ground, trying to stop the bleeding in her thigh.

"You little bitches didn't say you had Trevor with you!" She said through gritted teeth. Trevor walked around to where I was standing and met Lisa's eyes. He didn't seem shocked. Instead, there was anger in his face. He picked her up from the ground and walked her back to the house. Lydia and I followed behind them.

Trevor walked her all the way to the kitchen and sat her down on the closest chair he could find. He grabbed a zip tie from Lisa's back pocket and tied her hands together.

"You are so dead! You just made the hunt a little more interesting," She said, with an evil smile on her face. I could see Trevor tense up at her words. He was gripping the gun in his hand so hard that his knuckles turned white.

"What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were dead," He asked.

"Everyone did. But it wasn't that hard to make up a believable lie," She said with a hint of pride in her words.

"Lydia, go outside," He said, without turning to look at her. She grabbed my arm and I shook my head saying that I had to stay here. She let go of my arm and left the house, closing the door behind her. I turned back to Trevor and then back to Lisa. Trevor held out the gun behind him and I took it from his hand, placing it on the kitchen counter.

"I'm going to ask one more time. What the hell are you doing here?" He said, inching closer to Lisa.

"Well isn't it obvious? I came to get my rewards," She said, looking at me. Her eyes looked me up and down before returning to Trevor with a smile on her face.

He stepped forward and punched her across the face. She laughed a little bit before spitting on the ground.

"She...is not a stupid prize," He said through gritted teeth. I put a hand on Trevor's shoulder and he stepped back from Lisa.

"Aw how cute! The whore is dating you," She said.

I saw his hands clench into fists and I stepped in front of him before he punched her again.

"Don't. If you keep provoking her then she isn't going to break," I said. He ignored me at first and then met my eyes. His hands opened up again and I turned back around to face Lisa.

"Why do The WildFires want me? There are plenty of other girls out there like me," I said, keeping a distance between her and me.

"Do you mean normal or with extra side-effects?" She said, with a smile on her face. I could feel my brows draw together in confusion and anger. Trevor managed to ask the question before I did, stepping closer to Lisa before I stopped him with my hand.

"What do you mean extra side-effects?" He asked.

"You're really telling me that you haven't figured it out?" She asked.

We both looked at each other and then back at her.

"Talk," Trevor demanded.

"Scientists found out that there are only a few others that have other side effects. It speeds up their healing process and other advantages. Your little bitch right here has the quick healing side-effect. And maybe more but who knows?" She said looking at me and then back at Trevor. He let out a low growl when she called me a bitch but I ignored him. I stepped closer to her and asked, "Why me? Why am I so important?"

"Well why do you think? It's never been about the clients. The clients could care less but it's about the labs. Haven't you ever wondered why the population in the warehouse goes up and down every month? It's because we work with the labs. We put the kids in dangerous situations that activate their hidden side-effects and then give them to the labs for money. We aren't a gang. We're part of the expirement. We find kids with extra side-effects and after that we don't know what they do to them," She said, explaining to me the reason they want me back. I stepped back, trying to process what she just said. I looked at Trevor and I already knew that fear was all over my face. He grabbed my hand and hid me behind him.

"What? Do you think you can protect her from Jason and Luke?" She asked. Trevor didn't break eye contact with her.

"Trevor, they're going to kill her in there. If you think before was bad, how do you think they are going to react when they give her to the labs. The WildFires are just there to extend the experiment. Giving us more information about the side-effects. It's never been about The Lightning Disease. It's always been about trying to get kids with enhanced bodies. Sight, smell, hearing, healing. Just so they could give the next generation more advantages. The Lightning Disease was just a chemical they dumped into the water and the ones that survived were the ones that could survive the next step in the experiment. The vaccine. Then they get side-effects from all the vaccines. They are just suppressed until a certain situation," She said.

"What makes you think they are going to get her back?" He said, narrowing his eyes at her.

"The little bitch has 3 soft spots. Lydia, obviously. You. And her little brother Jared," She said, looking at me. Trevor could feel me tense up at his name and he squeezed my hand lightly telling me to relax. But I couldn't. I let my hand free from Trevors and walked towards Lisa slowly.

"How do you know about Jared?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.

"Your little blonde friend, of course. Claire I think her name was. You were hard to find information on but your little friend cracked for a bit of cash," She said, smiling. I felt rage flow through me. I clenched my hand and put full force behind my punch across her face. I was about to punch her again when Trevor caught my wrist. I looked back at him with anger in my eyes and he just shook his head.

I lowered my hand and Trevor put himself in front of me.

"What do they plan on doing with her brother?" Trevor said.

She took a moment and looked at me. "Well first, they are going to sit you down in a chair and tie you down so you can't get away. Then they are going to put your brother in the same room and make you watch as they rip away the only family you have left," She said, with a small smile on his face. What did she mean rip him away? Were they going to kill him? I felt angrier than I have ever been in my life. I tried to launch myself towards her to beat the shit out of her, but Trevor felt my movement and turned around. My hands were in the air when he caught my wrists and whispered in my ear.

"Calm down. Nothing is going to happen to him and especially not you. Not with me around," He said. I found his eyes and they were as dark as ever. Almost black but they had a certain brightness to them when he talked to me. He kept his hands on my wrist until I unclenched my hands. I took a moment to look at him and then look back at Lisa.

"What the hell is wrong with you? You put a gun to your sister's head, gave your own mother's location, and now you're trying to kill 2 more children? What the hell is in it for you?" I ask through gritted teeth. Trevor looked at me one more time before he turned around to face Lisa again, waiting for her answer.

"Guess I'm just in it for the money. Honestly, I could care less about my own family," She said. Trevor grabbed the gun on the counter and clicked the safety off. He aimed the gun at Lisa's head.

"You have 2 options here. Either you walk out of here alive and leave us alone or I shoot you right here, right now," He said.

"You won't shoot your own sister. You have always been a softie Trevor, and that will never change," She said, with an evil gleam in her eyes.

"Amber, turn around," He demanded. I could feel the shock on my face but I did what he said. As soon as I turned around he said "My sister would never hurt our family," Before pulling the trigger.