Chapter 15
Chicago, Massachusetts here we come. Yay :(
I woke up gasping for air after the vision I had. Was it true?? Hazel and the others were still sleeping peacefully so I decided not to wake them up. The night was still young so I decided to get out of bed and go to the top floor. As I was walking to the top floor with a blanket wrapped around I thought constantly about Alex. When I reached it I sat out of the window on the balcony. The view was amazing. Lights were brightening up all of Manhattan. Cars were still driving at 3 am and traffic was ballistic. I sat there for hours thinking about everything swirling in my head when I didn't know that I had fallen asleep.
"Hey wake up it's time to get going Tatia is with us remember?" Layla shouted. I immediately woke up.
"I'm awake!" I replied. She shrugged and then walked back downstairs. At least I had a nap without having a creepy vision. As I went back with the group we packed our bags and made decisions on where to go. Everyone started talking in between each other while Tatia was in the corner of the room still tied up.
"Maybe somewhere European?" Aanisah suggested.
"We have to go somewhere we know we'll be safe. I'm thinking of South America" Layla replied.
"Guys, we should go to Russia. They won't find us there!" Hazel yelled. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore.
"Boston, Massachusetts, that's where we need to go," I answered. Everyone looked at me in shock.
"That's ALIRON Headquarters! We're trying to get away from them, not close to them!" Layla roared.
"Guys I know but I had a vision last night" I quietly said.
"What kind of vision Jamie?" Hazel asked.
Undoubtedly I filled everyone with the details but left out Alex. I couldn't bear to tell anyone that.
"Well, then it looks like Boston is where we are going, let's go," Layla stated. Layla was very quiet most of the ride. She gave us commands and then kept herself to herself but I knew she was hurting. This is because whenever one of us talked about ALIRON she instantly had a grievous expression but as quickly as it occurred, it was withdrawn. When we reached the airport, Layla told us to be on guard as we might run into somebody we didn't want to see and because we had put Tatia in a wheelchair to make people think she was injured and couldn't walk. The airport was long but we got first class which was cool. I spent most of the journey either writing, eating or having power naps. When we got to Boston there was a downpour of rain and it was freezing. We rented a nice apartment on the corner of Provincetown which was swarming with people. We started unpacking but we recognized that there were only four rooms and five of us so I told them I'd sleep in the front room. They tried to object but I insisted on it. Finally, when everyone settled in we took Tatia and put her in a small storage closet by the kitchen and locked her on a chair with metal chains because she broke the others. Then we took out laptops and found out as much as we could about ALIRON. After what felt like six torturous days of identifying information, Layla told us to take a well-earned rest. As a treat, we took a day off and went to a cafe nearby. We ordered some croissants and hot chocolate for a start. We talked about the plan of going to ALIRON and we still had no idea how to get in. We changed the subject and I asked Layla a question that I knew was a bad idea.
"Layla, what was your relationship with ALIRON if you don't mind?" I requested. Layla looked startled but then told us her story.
"I don't normally tell people about my story but I trust you guys. We're like a pact now. I wasn't meant to be at ALIRON but I had to. When I was small my parents were always moving because they were part of the army so I had to change schools twice a year. Then, one day, my dad quit his job and joined a new company that was starting to get popular. We moved to Boston and I never saw dad as much. One day, I came home to see the house on fire. A letter was on the front saying ALIRON till death. I investigated what it meant and found out that my parents worked for ALIRON but died because of a piece of false information from a project. ALIRON then found out about me and tried to brainwash me. Even before I could leave, they adopted me and I was kept in this nursery until one day they made me an Apex Alpha" She stated. Then I gazed at Hazel to see her have a shocked face when Layla spoke.
"Every day I tried to escape but I was unable to. Then you guys came and I took my chance. I did what I could to survive!" Layla cried.
Her hands were on her eyes like she was trying not to show she was crying.
We all went by here and hugged her.
"Oh, Layla, you can always trust us. We are a team now and we are never going to leave you!" I answered.
Everyone smiled at her but then Hazel ran back to her room. I wandered after her and found her in her room on the floor sobbing.
"Hazel, what's wrong?" I asked.
"Jamie I've been hiding something from you and I think you need to know." She replied.