Glitches
Chapter 29
Beatrice was currently trundling along in the trunk of a new Dodge Mustang wondering where she had gone so wrong so quickly. One minute she was watching and worrying about Ben. And the next moment she felt an ultra sharp knife beneath her throat and a gruff command to disappear. The trimmers in the building had begun then and Bea began to realize what it was that was happening a moment too late. This time the knife pressed deeper it drew blood and so she complied.
Leif and Beatrice were flying then, escaping from the collapsing chaos all around them. And in that moment her thoughts were all about her friends and Ben. Benjamin had a propensity for escaping the impossible, but would he get out this time? What about the others, did they even stand a chance? And now as Leif landed them across the street on the top of a building adjacent the hotel to watch the destruction she wondered what would become of her? The next thing she knew she had a choker placed around her neck – it was the color of steel – but blinked light blue in several spots. She’d heard of these mental handcuffs before but she’d never seen one. The moment it was put on she tried to phase. Nothing. Bea even tried to Empath a thought at Leif. Still nothing.
And for the next 16 hours she bounced along in the back of this plastic smelling new car wondering if she was going to live through the week. She knew immediately where he was taking her. There really wasn’t much guessing in that. When they stopped finally stopped in Omaha Leif pulled behind a small local hotel and let Beatrice out. As they walked in Beatrice was more than a little shocked at how rundown the place was. The hotel was called the The Crazy Grifter, and it seemed to be from a bygone era.
Beatrice could tell Leif was in no mood for conversation. And he seemed almost just as equally happy to kill her as talk to her. Which was fine with her. The last thing she wanted to do was to talk to him. When they got into the hotel room he unceremoniously tossed her towards the bathroom. As she tried to close the door he kicked it back open catching her broadside as the door exploded back open. She picked herself up off the ground besides the toilet and shook her head to clear the fuzziness. If only she could phase she knew she would have killed him right then and there. But in this state she didn’t stand a chance and knew it. And so she sat on the toilet. When she was finished, Bea walked out tentatively. Leif had pulled a pair of handcuffs out of a backpack and handed them to her and pointed to the pipe under the sink. When she had complied he motioned for her to tighten them further – and the pressure on the cuffs caused a loud clicking sound that indicated she’d done as he had instructed.
Leif thought for a moment and then he grabbed something out of a duffel and walked directly towards Beatrice. It was duct tape. Leif ripped two strips off and put them over her mouth. And then with that he walked out the door.
At some point in the night he had returned, but Beatrice hadn’t noticed – she hadn’t cared to notice. She’d spent two hours trying to get the duct tape off but her hands were secured too high and she couldn’t find the leverage to make it work. So she slept. Beatrice could hear him sleeping in the room now though. She tried reaching out to effect his dreams by instinct having forgotten about the collar. She swore under her breath when she remembered just how powerless she really was.
—–
Making it out of Durango had been easier than Ben had imagined it would be. Yolanda had borrowed a van from a quiet side of the town. It was an electronics repair van of some sort. Which was absolutely perfect. And once we were all packed we put Jake in the driver’s seat and took off. There were two checkpoints on the way out of the city. They took Jacob’s driver’s license for a moment, obviously trying to match him against a list of known identities they were trying to find. From the front driver’s side window everything looked like piles of equipment and electronics in the back. We had to clear piles of junk out to make room for everyone to sit, but it was the perfect escape vehicle. Thankfully the van hadn’t been reported missing yet, that could have made the entire trip a short one.
I figured it would take a full day, 24 hours, to get to Chicago from here. We had snagged piles of odds and ends foods so that we could keep going strong throughout the day. And once we got out of Durango I put DJ in the drivers seat. I guessed that he’d be able to handle driving 24 hours solid only stopping occasionally for gas better than anyone.
I searched my mind for any hint of Bea, a hint of some kind. I knew her scent well and I knew that if she came through this way I would spot her trail. But there was nothing. That was more disconcerting really than anything else that had happened so far. What if Leif had just killed her? What if left her for dead somewhere and I was running off in the completely opposite direction? Worse yet, what if Yolanda was correct and this was all just some larger scheme to get me to Chicago and to the Elders? What if I was walking straight into a trap? I couldn’t deal with that right now. I had to make the best decisions I could with the information that I had. One foot in front of the other. And absolutely the most important thing right now was finding Bea again.
