Chapter Twenty
Catherine
"It's time for war." He says, as we follow Arthur out of the room and into the corridors. There's no feeling to describe me right now- it's like a fan girl meeting the character she fell in love with-but most of all, I know I'm grateful. Grateful for him, grateful to him and I don't know where I'd be if this was anything else.
Arthur opens the door to an enclosed room and the bright lights hit me unexpectedly, blinding me for a second, as we enter. In front of me Andrew is showing off some of the lab's best guns, loaded with melted iron, molded into bullets.
I hang back, having already seen this, and push Peter gently, signaling him to go ahead. The white tables are polished, the black guns popping out of them. The scientists- or gun makers- are smiling proudly as Andrew continues down the lines.
The tables are sorted into two parallel sections with light blue drawers and a cabinet for each. Against the wall, huge glass wardrobes are fitted in, holding all sorts of elements; liquid and solid in it. At the end of the laboratory, a selection of weapons, from guns to knives, to tiny microphones, are all placed together.
I walk over to Aunt Marge, who is leaning against this particular section and watching the group. "So," I say to her, "what do you think of them?"
"They're all extremely capable. Great guys, honestly. But..." she says slyly. "That one guy with the light brown hair and fair skin. You know, the one with turquoise eyes?"
"Yes, Peter." I say, looking away so that she doesn't see my crimson cheeks.
"Yeah, him. I like him the most."
"You do, don't you?"
"Yeah I do. What about you?"
"He has excellent hearing and I'm not going to risk getting heard." I stay stubbornly. From across the room, Peter grins at me.
-
"Alright then." Aunt Marge announces when they finish the tour of the room and have finally reached the weapons cabinet. "Now, we're going to give out some weapons to each one of you pertaining to your skills. Obviously, because some of you'll have skills that actually need weapons, some of you might have more than the others in number."
I step aside as she turns around and starts handing out the ammunition from inside. Aunt Marge hands out a chip, a dagger, and gun to everyone.
Then, she starts handing out things in particular. Harry has knife skills, so he gets more of those. Arthur's powers include controlled magnetism-which will prove to be of great help now- gets some additional features to help him out on his suit.
Each one of us have received a black, leather suit with a circle consisting of a diamond and a gun pasted on the corner right next to our hearts. The sleeves are long, till our wrists, and even covers our necks. I wear high boots, ending just below my knee- but comfortable enough to run in- and the boys have shoes of the same colour.
Throughout the suit, tiny pockets contain more explosives and tiny oval shaped objects that let out smoke in ten seconds of pulling the lever. We all play around in our new suits in a room created specifically for the same until we are called for dinner. It's like being at home.
I lead the way to the dining room, when Peter suddenly leaps forwards and holds my hands, his finger to his lips. William does the same. They heard something.
Peter motions to us to follow him quickly, down into the bottom of the diamond where we had kept them hostage. I look at him, worried. What is he doing?
We move swiftly through the compound, pausing at every turn to stop and listen. After lolling around for about ten minutes, we end up at the same stairway leading down that we had run out of two weeks back. Peter pulls me ahead firmly and points down to it.
"Go in there." he whispers hurriedly, "and don't, under any circumstances, come out until I come. Okay?"
"What's going on?" I ask him.
"Not now. Oliver, go with her. Lucas, you too. Both of you'll stay down there and out of sight. Am I clear?" Oliver nods at him quickly and comes ahead. I look at Peter. "What's going on?"
"I have to go right now but you'll be okay if you stay inside." He pecks me gently on my cheek. "Promise me you won't come out until I'm here?"
"Promise me you'll not do anything stupid?" He nods. "And you'll come back with all your limbs intact and safe?" He nods once more and then sighs. "Say it."
"I promise." I kiss him on his cheek and go into the darkness with Oliver and Lucas right behind me.