Chapter 191 B4. 4.2 – Leaving a Mess Behind

I sat straighter after hearing this unexpected development. Or maybe I should’ve expected this. “They’re stopping the whole thing? I guess that makes sense, given the situation.”

“The Corebrings’ arrival is the main reason for the Professor’s decision,” said Deen. “We’ll never know which part of Dario’s story is true, whether this is a government project or not, but this secret organization most certainly wouldn’t want the Corebrings knowing about the artificial Cores. The Corebrings will purge the Professor and everyone else connected to the experiments.”

“We’re included in that list,” I mumbled.

“Yeah, the Corebrings are a problem,” Myra said. “No arguments there. But I think what pushed the decision to pull the plug is that I found Kelsey. Dario thinks there’s a traitor among us because Red Hood had shown up during our missions—the first time was at the warehouses, and the second was at the docks. Johann also told me about this earlier.”

“Just a coincidence because I’m Red Hood,” I said in a low voice, surveying our surroundings. No new customers. No new cars in the parking area. “There was no traitor before we formed the 3Bs, now, the 4Bs. Like, we haven’t even done any actual betrayal.”

“Dario zeroed in on me,” Myra said. “The fucker probably thinks I’ve contacted Red Hood some time ago, asking for help to cure my sister. Give Red Hood info about artificial Cores in return. Some cuckoo theory of the like.”

“Back when Red Hood didn’t exist,” Deen said, glancing at me with guilty eyes.

Was she thinking about the time we got kidnapped by the PCM? I made Deen believe that I became an Adumbrae to save our asses, though the truth was that I had already turned a few days prior. Good that Deen still blamed herself for that.

“If there really was an Adumbrae that could help me,” Myra said, “I would’ve come to them. The Professor’s chemicals and pills did nothing. Did you catch what Dario said last night? He basically admitted there’s no cure! They were scamming me!”

Deen shushed her. “Don’t shout, Myra.”  

“The fucker didn’t realize what he had spilled,” Myra went on, lowering her voice. “Now, he thinks I’ll leave the group and join Red Hood for Kelsey’s sake, taking this valuable artificial Core with me.”

“Something else happened that also spooked the Professor,” I said. “Remember Dario’s back-up plan? Turns out they were BID agents. Dario wanted to ambush my Pino self after I left the PCM base.” I had told Deen about this, so I might as well share with Myra. If the Professor went after us, his precious test subjects, then the Fletcher sisters should know it might involve BID agents. The more resources spent to capture the Fletchers, the better for Deen and me.

I explained that what Deen saw in her vision, coming to kill us all, was a high-ranking BID agent who followed the agent moonlighting for the Professor. I didn’t admit that I called Tower Cop, and Four Arms came along with him.   

While telling the story about how I, as Pino, pretended to be a Corebring and befriended Four Arms, I eyed the bowl of ice cream, waiting to pounce at the right time. The hot La Esperanza afternoon was doing a splendid job melting it quickly.

In the valley surrounded by the mounds of pistachio, buttered pecan, and mint chocolate chip ice cream was a pool where the three flavors swirled together. I wasn't too keen on tasting the mixture, preferring the individual flavors. But I had no choice because of Rule #5. Probably would still taste great.

“That really fucking happened?” Myra slowly shook her head. “Johann didn’t tell—Nah, Dario won’t share something like that with him.”

“But he told Johann his suspicions about you,” Deen pointed out. “Then, Johann passed it on to you. Did Johann ask any questions? About Kelsey’s location, maybe?”

“I know what you’re thinking,” said Myra. “Johann’s pretending to be on my side to get info. I don’t know and don’t… really care… if he’s a sell-out.” The slight hesitation betrayed Myra’s feelings for Johann. “I didn’t give Johann anything.”

“Where’s Kelsey right now?” Deen asked. “You don’t have to tell me the specifics.”

“Not at my place. But she’s near—”

I dipped my spoon into the middle of the bowl to scoop melted ice cream. Deen and Myra stopped their chat to stare at me.

“Just pretending we’re normal girls innocently enjoying a cold dessert,” I raised my spoon, encouraging them to start eating, too. They chuckled, breaking the serious atmosphere. “We should enjoy the little bits of normalcy we have left,” I said, imparting some wisdom on the other Bs.

“I won’t have any normalcy left soon,” Myra wistfully said while scooping a spoonful of mint chocolate ice cream. “I didn’t tell you guys over the phone, but I’ve decided to leave La Esperanza. Kelsey and I. We can’t stay here and wait for whoever to come knocking.”

“Where will you go?” Deen asked. “To your aunt?”

Deen must be referring to Myra’s aunt, who took care of them after their parents died. I was a bit hazy on Myra and Kelsey’s backstory. Something about getting brought to an Adumbrae cult commune by their parents. That was where Keke, Kelsey’s Adumbrae, showed up to offer protection and comfort.  

“We can’t endanger our aunt,” Myra said. “Dunno where we’re going. When we do decide, it’s for the best that you guys don’t know. This will sound drastic, but you should lie low. Think of leaving the city.”

“We’re planning on doing that,” Deen said. “We wanted to meet you and let you know in person. There are things we didn’t want to say over the phone.”

“How did you know about the Professor’s—?” Myra started to ask.

“We didn’t,” I said. “After learning about it, I’m going to say that our first reason for leaving is still the bigger issue. You see, we met Corebrings while escaping the tunnels…”

Myra almost choked on her “Holy shit! For real?”

I nodded. “Super bad luck.”

Deen bowed her head, gingerly reaching for the ice cream with her spoon. She shouldn’t worry that I’d reveal that she attracted the Corebrings’ attention because I’d rather watch her squirm with guilt. More specifically, since Gabe was always around, her power was never turned off. Nearby Corebrings could easily sense her after she took the booster.

“We couldn’t have escaped if it weren’t for Deen’s Guardian Angel,” I went on, driving guilt deeper into Deen’s heart. Funnily, Deen must be thinking I was trying to protect her image, making me a good person. “I had to transform and fight a bit, but we managed to get away. However, the Corebrings are now angry at Red Hood. We can’t—I can’t stay here, so I’m moving to Vegas. Mom bought a condo when she used to work there. Deen doesn’t have to—”

“I’m not abandoning you,” Deen interjected. I noticed she still hadn’t put the ice cream she had scooped into her mouth. “We’re best friends, and we’ve promised to support each other no matter what.”

When the fuck did we make that promise? I wondered, flipping through the messy pages of my memory. Deen must be dreaming scenes that didn’t happen.

“You don’t have to leave your life, too,” I said, in a fake attempt to dissuade her. I was the selfless best friend, ready to take on all burdens on my own.

“Did you forget what Myra just told us?” Deen waved her spoon with ice cream at me. “The Professor’s experiments will end. What does that entail? They’re not going to have us fill out survey forms, dole out gift cards for our troubles, and leave us alone afterward.”

I nodded, wearing a conflicted expression to disguise my smirk. Deen was fabulously sassy there. “You’re right, Deen… They’re not going to leave us alone. But what will they actually do? Myra, did Johann say anything more?”

Myra shrugged. “Nothing that could help us. If I were the Professor or that fucking PCM scientist head—”

Deen and I had eye contact for a moment before pretending to be nonchalant.

“—I’d cart my test subjects to my lab. Didn’t Dario mention that they couldn’t remove these things from our chests? We’re not humans anymore. Then, that’s fucking it for us. They can’t allow us to wander around.”

“Like euthanizing lab rats after an experiment,” I blurted. Thankfully, nobody asked me how I knew about that.

“We’d be lucky if they’d immediately get rid of us,” Myra said. “Know what they’ll do? They’ll continue experimenting on us if they catch us. We’ll be prisoners for however long our bodies will last. I can’t let Kelsey experience this again. Leaving is our only option.”  

“We should go together,” Deen said.

I stopped in the middle of scooping ice cream. “Wha-what? It’ll be more difficult to move if there are four of us.” I didn’t want to host three people at my place! One was enough. More than enough, actually. I was tolerating Deen because of her power and the many times she had bought me pastries. And where would the Fletcher sisters even sleep? I preferred the living room not to become another sleeping room.

“Not possible,” Myra said. “Unless you ditch your car. I’m not going to put my sister in the trunk and gamble driving through the checkpoints.”

“With my power—” Deen began.

“We can’t be too sure about your Guardian Angel,” I said with clenched teeth. “Remember that it only wants to protect you.” She didn’t need to be reminded about Gabe’s bullshit betrayal.

“I’m worried that…” Deen bit her lower lip.

“If you’re thinking about the intrusive third party,” Myra said, tapping her head to refer to Keke, “then I’m also worried. Don’t have an answer to it. However, I also don’t want to rely on Erind connecting with Kelsey. There might be negative consequences we don’t see now. I’m not saying anything’s wrong on your end, Erind. But we shouldn’t give our little friend a chance to mess with you.”

I gave Myra one firm nod. “That’s settled then. The 4Bs will become two separate 2Bs. But we’ll reunite someday.”

I stretched out my hand to the middle of the table, my palm facing downward over the ice cream bowl. I nudged my head toward it, inviting them to put their hands on it. As much as I hated physical contact, I wanted a cool parting scene for our team. An emotional but empowering background music should be playing now.

Deen quickly placed her hand over mine. I gritted my teeth upon her touch.

“What’s this supposed to be?” Myra laughed as she shyly joined our team’s hand-stack.

I lowered my hand, theirs above mine, and threw our stack upwards. “Go team 4Bs!” 

Deen made cheering noises. Myra scratched the side of her neck, unsure of what to do. A Cindy’s employee who had just walked through the door glanced our way. Three guys seated inside the restaurant, on the other side of the glass wall, also stared, mostly looking at Deen. 

Myra flipped them off with both hands. “Focus on eating, you creepy fucks.” They couldn’t hear her, but the message was clear. They grudgingly faced a different direction. “Damn right, look away!”

“Don’t get so worked up,” Deen said. “They’re not doing anything weird. And if they were, I would just ignore it.” Nonetheless, Deen combed her hair to hide the side of her face, and she shifted the angle of her chair. 

Myra clenched her fist. “I’m just antsy… with everything.” She opened her hand, slowly exhaling. “I’m good now. I just have to get back to my sister. By the way, what happened to the USB thing? The one from the PCM?”

“I have it,” I said. “We decided not to give it to them. It’s obviously valuable, and maybe we can use it someday. Also, it might be fun to have different groups chasing after us.” Chaos was my middle name, and it had served me well so far.

“Of course, it’s better to have fewer people hunting us,” Deen said with a disapproving tone.

“You guys be careful, okay?” Myra said. “Dario’s going to go after you first.” She pointed at Deen. “Specifically, you. Your powers are too valuable. Also, you, Erind. The Professor’s going to be interested in the crystals on your palm.”

I slightly raised a brow at that. Was this the real reason Myra didn’t want to team up? She’d prefer if the Professor focused on Deen and me.

“I know,” Deen said. “But they won’t—”

Our phones simultaneously rang with the same tone reserved for emergencies. I quickly read the message. “Another Adumbrae attack? How many did the PCM capture?”

“Maybe it’s not the PCM,” Myra said. “What if the 2Ms have returned?”

“We don’t have time to speculate,” Deen said. “We’re leaving now. Myra, good luck to you and Kelsey.”

For the third time during our mind-bogglingly snail-paced journey out of La Esperanza, a police officer knocked on our window. Routine stuff. They didn’t single us out for being sketchy or whatnot. 

All he did was ask questions, flip through documents, and cursorily search cars. Open the trunk, plus and thank you.

Each cop could have a pin and poke everyone here—okay, that was unconstitutional in the first place—but if that was allowed, what would they do next if there was an actual Adumbrae? They wouldn’t want an actual fight to take place on this freeway with a bazillion cars around. This was more to assure the public and maintain order.

“Gabe’s silent,” Deen said. “They don’t have anything that can detect us.”

“I told you that they won’t try to stop an Adumbrae from leaving the city. The mayor would absolutely love that.”

“The mayor has left the city. Him and his family. I saw it on Snippet.”

I snorted. “Nothing new about the rich fleeing. Oh, look. You’re rich, too. Guess what we’re doing?”

Deen frowned, my joke not clicking with her. “I’ve read comments on Snippet accusing the some of the mayor’s family of being Adumbrae. It’s probably true, if they were connected with the 2Ms.”

“There’s no way they weren’t.” Tired of all the Adumbrae stuff, I closed my eyes. Implement small talk evasive maneuvers. “I’m going to nap for a bit,” I said, reclining my seat.

Then booming music made the windows vibrate.