Life is a game, and we're all players right? Except it was in this very moment for once in my life I felt petrified beyond control. I didn't wanna play anymore. I wanted out of the game. We had just departed the torture chamber they had shortly converted into a conference room when my beeper started beeping. This only meant one thing. The person I was supposed to be protecting was in danger. And I was literally in another continent. Panic engulfed my heart so quickly it threatened to pump its way out of my ribcage. I sucked a breathe in. Then Garth's beeper started beeping as well and that's when I lost it. "Ameira I need you to portal us out of here." I commanded her, my voice stern but on the inside I was panicking. "I think we should wait to listen to what the board....." she started and I lifted my hands up. Why the fuck was I even asking when I could just channel her? "Don't you think that if the supposed 'reinforcements' have been doing their job right while we are here, our beepers would not be beeping." I asked her. She went silent. I reached for her ability and mimicked the hand motions she does and pushed my arms forward as a green black portal appeared in front of us, and a slight tremor shook the ground beneath us. "Come on Garth." I said. He didn't hesitate and jumped forward without a thought. I quickly followed bracing myself for the nauseating feeling that follows after.
I landed with my feet slightly apart and quickly closed and kept the portal untracked with another set of hand motions. A tiny feeling of being betrayed crept into my heart. Ameira chose to stay behind. Maybe it's for the best, or maybe its just because she's not been in my shoes... My attention was snapped back into my surroundings by an ear-splitting scream. I turned around quickly just in time to witness the floating piece of sharp glass edge itself deeper into the heart of a lady in a maroon and black leather jacket. Shit. I locked eyes with her for a moment and the realization dawned on me. Fiona.
Reika! she was next to the counter, now facing us, blood cascading down her hands as tiny smithereens of glass tore at the skin on her palm. It's like time was slowing down, she was falling to the ground as well and Garth raced to catch her before her body hit the ground. Two other gentlemen were beside Fiona's dead body, also in maroon leathers. Mages. "Why?" I asked them and for a moment they did not seem to register me because they were in disbelief of what had just happened. "Hey." I said taking a step towards them, which might have been a shitty thing to do considering we were not exactly allies. The blond one to Fiona's right looked at me, his brown eyes shooting daggers into mine. He wanted to kill me, but he couldn't, the realization hit quickly.
"They weren't sent here to take her, they weren't even sent here to attack us." Garth started saying, as he continued reading into their minds. "They've been sent here..."
"To bring her memory back." I finished, my gaze shifting from the now unconscious Reika in Garth's arms and the dead Fiona in theirs. "Why?" I asked again. None of them answered us. I glanced at Garth next. "They also don't know." he told me. They were just on an assignment. "She killed one of her own." The blonde one said. "Again."
"Again?" Garth asked but before we could even register what they were talking about they vanished. Leaving a dense tension in the air. She killed one of her people. Again? Mages?
"Okay so I decided to just get you guys some punch..." Kristina says coming in from the back but she immediately stops in her tracks and her jaw drops at the sight before her. "Oh my God what happened." she shrieks falling to her knees besides Reika and examines her hands. "Who did this?" She asks us as tears start falling from her eyes. "We don't know. We just walked in right now and found her here, any idea what happened?" Garth says as he reads the room. I was in the same emotional state that she was. I wasn't supposed to be, I was supposed to be doing my job, and now Garth is doing it because I'm wallowing in my emotional turmoil.
"Three.....three.. people walked in here some minute....minutes ago....and asked for a drink so...I ..." she says in between sobs and looks around. "Where are they?" she asks. "I'm sorry Kristina but we didn't find anyone in here." Garth explains as calmly as he can. Well, he lies calmly and I get up and quickly get the first aid kit.
An hour later, I carry Reika to her car and carefully set her in the back and head to the drivers seat as Garth takes the passengers seat. We settle in the car silently and I start the car. Kristina agreed to go home once we promised her that Reika would be safe. "I think something's coming." Garth states as I pull out of Spike's parking lot. "Why would you say that?" I ask him as I headed towards the main road, shifting my eyes from time to time from the road towards Reika who was still helplessly unconscious in the back seat. "Because they came to remind her." he starts. "My theory is, they would have just taken her and dealt with her later, meaning that they need her to remember then willingly go to them." he says and finishes with a sigh. As much as I dislike his theory it was a very likely possibility.
"And if they need her to remember, it means that...."
"Something bigger might be coming." I state and pull into her driveway. I shoot Garth a knowing look and sigh.