Dissolve (27 page)

I quickly turned away from the scene, not wanting to spend one more second lingering on this awful sight. Stephan was a monster, but it turns out there were bigger monsters in this chess game.

I shivered once more and swiped at my rolling tears as I stepped out of the horrific shop and into the warm sunny afternoon. It seemed ironic that the storm had passed and the sun was peeking through the clouds. The true storm still continued to brew.

Everyone was silent as we hurried back to our seats inside the SUV and started the car. As quickly as humanly possible, Noah pulled out and drove back to the highway. We merged onto the interstate and continued full speed ahead, making our way around the stalled and wrecked cars. It was quiet for nearly thirty minutes before I spoke up, some fog finally clearing from my jumbled brain.

“If Stephan isn’t the bad guy any longer, then who is our enemy in all this?”

“No one to tangle with, they mean business. Nessa was right, we are in way over our heads,” Noah explained.

“I feel as if I could wretch, that was my cousin back there. I have known him all my life or so I thought I did,” Mia sobbed.

Shane wrapped his arms around her and gently stroked her hair, trying to calm her down. Nessa was pressed against the window, intent on staying out of this conversation or just overwhelmed from all the thinking going on. Vienna looked like a scared deer in the headlights and I could tell her mind was pulsing, streaming through all the information. I looked over at Noah to see a grim expression had settled over his weary face.

“I still think of Stephan as the enemy, dead or not. He killed my fiancé in cold blood and I had to walk in on that nightmarish scene. I will never forget it for as long as I live,” I said shuttering.

“I am so sorry,” Mia replied, sniffling.

Trying to shake it off, I changed the subject. “We wasted a lot of time back there; we still have two and a half hours to go. We are down to two hours left on the clock and we still need to find Liam. Time is not on our side and we need to cover some major ground in two hours.”

“I think just concentrating on finding Liam will take enough time. We still don’t know what will happen in Spokane. For all we know this unknown threat could be there,” I replied.

“That’s an excellent point. We have no idea what is going to happen past finding Liam. I just hope he is there waiting for us,” Shane added.

“Is it wrong that I am still hungry after all that?” I said.

“No, I think everyone is. Do we still have a few snacks left in back?” Mia asked, wiping at her tears.

Wanting to be anywhere but involved in this conversation, Nessa spoke up. “I will get them.” Then she had unfastened her seat belt and was facing backwards fishing in the bags.

“I have some M&M’s and granola bars left,” she said holding them up for us to see.

“Great, that is better than nothing. I am starved, hand me the granola bar,” I told her.

She proceeded to hand out the snacks and then buckled back up. She tucked her honey blonde hair behind her ears and I could see the pallid color of her skin. She was truly shaken by what we saw back there and I felt terrible that she even had to witness something that horrible. Nessa must have heard me because her eyes met mine before she spoke again.

“I am fine, Cora. I can only imagine how hard this is on you and Mia. You two have been the most traumatized by this unpleasant turn of events.”

“Speaking of unpleasant turn of events, have you seen any sign of someone following us?” Shane asked Noah.

“No, and I have been watching. I don’t want anyone tailing us regardless of the circumstances.”

I leaned my seat back slightly and tuned the rest of the conversation out. I tried to close my eyes but all I saw was blood, so much blood. I should feel relief that Tom’s death had been avenged, yet I couldn’t escape the horrors of Stephan’s death either. Restless and troubled, I turned my attention to the beautiful scenery as we passed through Wyoming and into Idaho at reckless speeds.

It turned out that Idaho was the eighth state mentioned on the note. The scenery had not changed and looked vacant just like Wyoming. We traveled across the small bit of state and finally made it into Washington to Spokane.

I returned to navigating and we managed to pull up to the museum with ten minutes to spare. Talk about cutting it close. We all piled out of the SUV and frantically searched for signs of any other living person. We walked around the architectural dream of a museum and scoured the perimeter with no luck.

“I don’t see anyone, why don’t we try going inside? Maybe he is waiting in there instead of sitting outside,” Noah suggested.

“Good idea,” I replied as I pulled open the front door to the museum.

Everyone trailed behind in a single file line until we reached the entry hall. He was there, sitting on a bench observing a painting. Liam appeared to be just a few years older than Nessa and I. His dark mop covered his eyes and his ears were gauged out. He was wearing a striped sweater vest and black tight jeans, chucks on his feet. His wrists were wrapped up with various arm bands and leather cords. He was totally not what I was expecting.

“Liam?” I asked stepping forward.

“In the flesh this time,” he said with a relaxed smile. “You must be the ones I am waiting for being as you are the only humans I have seen in days.”

“Yeah, I am Cora; this is Noah, Nessa, Shane, Mia and Vienna. It is a pleasure to meet you Liam.”

“Trust me, the pleasure is all mine. Now for the big question, what now?” he asked.

“That is an excellent question. Our time is up according to a letter we got, but we don’t know for what,” Noah replied.

“Do you mind if I see the letter?” Liam asked.

“No problem, it is in the SUV,” I said turning around and heading for the door.

That was when the unexpected happened. I went to pull the door open and it didn’t budge. Sure I must be mistaken; I tried again but with no luck.

“Hey Noah, the door won’t open. Maybe it is jammed or something.”

“Here, let me try,” he said stepping forward.

He tried the door but had the same problem. His brows knit and he turned back to us. “The door is locked from the outside and jammed with a piece of wood. Did anyone see anything when we got here?”

We all looked around but everyone seemed just as confused. The room suddenly felt a whole lot chillier now. We were all seven locked in a museum with no idea why.

“Let’s look around for an emergency exit or a back door,” I suggested.

“Good idea, but let’s stick together. I don’t want anything to happen to any of us just in case we come across someone,” Noah said.

“There is a back exit; I saw it when I was wandering around waiting for you all. Follow me,” Liam told us.

We followed the punk guy through the museum until we reached the back exit. Noah pushed on it with no success. “It is locked or jammed too. Damn, we are trapped. Does anyone have any ideas?”

“Maybe this is all part of their plan. There could be a reason they trapped us in here,” I said optimistically.

“What, to kill us like Tom and Stephan?” Mia asked with a note of panic in her voice.

I winced at the mention of Tom. Bringing them up just reminded me that we were in a game we might not win. Logic went out the door a long time before now. We had been genetically modified for some unknown reason and the world was collapsing around us. That was when I remember there were eight states in the note.

“Liam, did you know that eight states have already been decimated?” I asked.

“Yeah, I saw it in an electronics store on the way over here,” he replied.

“Eight states out of fifty is not a good sign,” Shane explained. “What if it is a terrorist trying to take over the United States like China or Russia? Our country could literally fail to exist anymore. That is a terrible thought.”

“Even more terrifying is the thought that it is a global terrorist and we are the only ones left when this whole thing is over,” Mia added.

That thought just sent a shiver through me. I couldn’t imagine anyone evil enough to decimate the world population, let alone one that would show mercy on us. “Do you think there is anyone else out there like us?”

“Well, there are the seven of us for sure but if we are all from St. Louis, it stands to reason there could be more from another city. Who knows?” Noah said.

I let out a yawn and Nessa followed suit. My eyes fluttered and I swiped at them. “Geez, I am suddenly tired. I guess I didn’t get enough sleep last night,” I said.

“I am tired too, Cora. It is probably from stress and this whole crazy mess,” Nessa added.

“There is officially no way out. What do we do now?” Shane asked.

“I am not sure about you guys, but I’m going to go lay on that bench over there until you all figure this out,” I said as I turned and made my way over to the wooden bench.

“I second that,” Nessa added as she headed over to another bench and stretched out.

“Fine, you ladies have a nap and we will search for a key or something to unlock these doors,” Noah said.

The minute they had left the room, I looked over at Nessa. “So, did you get a read on him? Is he a threat?” I asked.

“I read him, but he isn’t our threat. He is just a spiritual gothic guy who got caught up in all this like the rest of us. He isn’t aiming to harm anyone. If anything, he is a pacifist.”

“Anyways then, we are back to square one I guess,” I told her.

“Yeah, I am a lot spooked out by this situation now. At first we were running for a crime we didn’t commit and then we got cool superpowers that we didn’t ask for. Now there is another murder and we are locked in a building with a bunch of other gifted people. It is strange and awful to think we are just disposable pawns in a game of political chess.”

“Maybe there is a bright side in all of this and we just haven’t discovered it yet,” I said turning my head to look over at her.

Nessa gave me a slow smile before speaking again. “At least I have my best friend through all of this. I don’t know what I would do if you weren’t here with me.”

“So what do you think of Liam? He is pretty cute right?”

“Yeah, he is pretty good looking. I don’t know him well enough yet so the jury is still out,” Nessa said nonchalantly.

“Give it time,” I said before turning away and yawning again.

I lie there staring up at the ceiling for a while, just thinking about the day’s events. It was no wonder I was tired. We started the day on the run, got swallowed up and spit out by a tornado, found a murder and sped to reach the art museum only to be locked inside. I put my trust in the others to find a way out and drifted off in and out of much needed sleep.

When I woke, Noah was running his fingers through my hair and smiled as I cracked my eyes open. “Hey sleepyhead, it is time to go.”

“What, did you find a way out?” I asked.

“Actually, the front door has been unjammed and the lock undone. Whoever wanted to trap us, only wanted to do so temporarily.”

“That is the best news all day,” I said throwing my arms around Noah in a big hug. He lifted me up and spun me around and I just giggled. It felt good to let go even for a few seconds. Then reality crashed back and I stepped away from him. “I guess we should go then, it looks like Nessa is already awake and everyone is waiting at the door.”

He grasped my hand and I didn’t pull away this time. I took a deep breath and we followed the others out the door and into the waning sunlight.

“Hey Liam, can I sit on your lap? We have a few too many to shove into this SUV,” Nessa asked brazenly.

“Yeah sure, it does look like a tight fit,” he said grinning.

I didn’t miss the smug look Nessa shot me when she got her yes and then saw us holding hands. My cheeks blushed and I was about to break away when Shane called us to attention. “Well guys, it looks like another note on the windshield.”

Shane pulled it open and read it aloud:

This time strikes twelve. You have to go where it all began-

Chapter 25:

“This time strikes twelve? Does that mean twelve states or twelve o’clock?” Nessa asked.

“I think twelve states,” Noah replied.

“I wonder which four are gone now,” Liam wondered aloud.

“We will listen for breaking news once we are in the SUV. It sounds like our answer to this mess is in St. Louis. I think you all will agree that is where this all began,” I said.

“Let’s go then, it sounds like we will never get out of this darn vehicle at this rate,” Mia grumbled.

“Can I see the note?” Liam asked.

“Sure,” Shane said as he handed Liam the note.

“Are all the notes like this?” he asked while looking over it.

“Yeah, except the earlier ones are signed by Stephan. He is dead so now they aren’t signed. You can see them later if you want,” Noah replied while fishing the keys out of his front pocket.

“How do you know he is dead? Is he the one who did this to us?”