Cat and Mouse (Chapter 3)

Bump.  Bump.  Every little crack in the road caused our tiny, tin-pot car to shake like a bull had rammed into its side.  I grumbled under my breath and glanced at my reflection in the side mirror, which was heavily taped to the car so that it wouldn't fall off.  The places where the windows should be were covered in black garbage bags flapping loudly in the wind, and the ceiling was torn straight down the middle as though a dagger had purposefully gone through it.

The reflection in the mirror was rather grimy and blurry, but it gave me accurate feedback, nonetheless. I had been biting my lips for a time and they were now bleeding a bit.  My mane of dark hair had the tendency to make my skin look pale, and since I was terrified, the paleness increased a tenfold.  I looked like a ghost in this little, cracked mirror.

Why terrified, you ask?  Because according to my crazy dad, I had to move across the stupid city because I'm being hunted by two groups: those who want to put me on the throne, and those who will kill me because the other group wants to put me there.  I'd probably be fine with being queen (minus the responsibility part), if there wasn't a 99% risk of death involved.

Plus, I was going to be living with people I'd never met before, save one time when I was two, and I was leaving behind everything I knew.  And what if my dad was right, and they did come looking for me?  It wouldn't be exactly hard to trace his relatives and figure out where I might be hiding.  My dad didn't even mention when I'd see him again...

"Don't forget anything I've taught you, and you'll make it out there.  And don't forget me," Raul Jimenez had said with wetness in his beetle-black eyes.  We were standing in front of our house under an unusually hot son, the dry dirt in the ground whipping up in spirals around my bare ankles.  His face now swam, disfigured, in front of my mind's eye. 

Don't forget me.  What did that mean?!  How could I forget him unless we were never to be reunited?  I was already forgetting the tone of his voice and how much stubble he'd had the last time we stood together up close.  What if I forgot everything else about him too?  What if--?

I sniffed and turned my head to the window so the driver, my uncle, wouldn't see any tears.  He was an overly cheerful but painfully skinny man.  Tall with light brown hair that glowed bright yellow in the sun, my uncle Antonin's enthusiasm at taking me to his house seemed somewhat artificial.  He'd arrived exactly at noon, which bothered me.  I wasn't exactly the punctual type of person, and would have arrived at 12:30 if put up to the same challenge.  He was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet and smiling from ear to ear while waiting for me to say good-bye to my dad.

Another goodbye, slightfully painful but mostly embarrassing, occured this morning as well.  Daniel Flores happened to be walking by on his way to the Farmacia when he saw me standing with packed bags at the front of my house, awaiting the arrival of Antonin.  His mouth fell open with a sudden fear.

"What...Adriana!  Segnor Jimenez!  What's going on?"

My dad just turned away with a self-satisfied grin on his face, leaving the boy for me to deal with. 

I sighed as I faced Daniel, crossing my hands behind my back.

"Dan--Flores, I'm leaving.  Don't ask questions, don't bother my dad.  Go talk to Marie-Paule, she likes you, God knows why..."

I played with my long hair while he stammered and protested, asking why I was leaving and "But what about me!"  He tried to apologize to my dad, thinking it was his fault I was leaving, but my dad just easily ignored him.  By this point, it was getting pathetic.  Eventually, his spirit broke after repeating a while, and he walked away, head down like a dispirited dog with its tail between its legs.

Vicious was another matter.  He'd recovered easily from his "bath" last night, and was just as sad to see me go as Dad and Flores were, even though he probably didn't totally understand what was happening.  Although sometimes, like on this occasion, he showed feelings acute to a human's with his happiness, anger, or in this case, sadness and confusion.

When I stepped into Antonin's beat-up brown stationwagon, Vicious began to whimper and stood on his hind legs to lick my face.  That had to have been the only moment where I would have protested once more to my departure, but the determined look in my dad's eyes as he pulled Vicious back made me that much more happy I was leaving.  My dad and his rules just never agreed with me very well, and maybe in Rechoi, the section of the city where my dad's sister's family lived, would give me something more to look forward to.

But that didn't prevent me from being sad and missing everyone in Verte, even Flores, the little pest.  But especially my Dad.

"Are you doing all right over there, Adriana?"  Antonin said in his scratchy voice, the voice of a long-time smoker.  

"Mm.."  I murmured, not really interested in chit-chat.  

We sat in a humble, agreed-upon silence for the next ten minutes or so.  My uncle was a peaceful, overall happy man.  I don't see how he could be, with five kids, the oldest of which was only a year older than me.  My dad nearly suffered a brain aneurism every time he talked to me and his blood-pressure must go sky high every time he hears a complaint about me from the school or neighbors, so I can't imagine what having five children must be like for a father.

I guess my dad just wanted something nice to come back to after his long NSSOE missions, something comforting.  And I never gave that to him...How could I be so selfish?  Unfortunately, you never seem to realize how selfish you've been until there's no turning back and the damage is done.

That reminded me of Daniel Flores.  The poor kid had never even kissed a girl, and though I begrudgingly gave him his first kiss (which lasted no more than three seconds, I swear on Armando Reville's grave), I never let him get any farther.  If he wanted a real girlfriend experience, he'd better stop wanting so much but giving so little in return, and he'd better look for someone who actually cared about him, which was not me.

The car suddenly jerked to a halt and I slammed against my seatbelt.  Huh, these things do come in handy, I thought to myself.  Then I looked at the road.

There was a truck ahead of us, with three fat men picking up a dead (once beautiful but now bloody), Genet laying on the side of the dirt road.  They were loading it into the back of their truck.  Its small, feline body and long tail were limp in the fattest man's hairy red arms.  Its beautiful leopard print was dull and empty of life, despite the sun.

I felt like I was going to throw up right then and there.  "Are they taking that home to eat?" I asked unbelievingly.

"Kitty a la mode!" Antonin proclaimed, his eyes nearly popping out of his head in excitement.  "With a side of fries, please."

After one confused moment, I burst out laughing.  That was the cheesiest joke I'd heard in a while, but it made me laugh for at least a whole minute.  For a moment, I forget what I was worrying about. Antonin's face was so bright and determined when he'd said it!  The men had cleared off the road and we were driving further, toward the heart of the city, which would then lead us to Rechoi.

I was going to like Antonin, as long as he kept telling cheesy jokes.

Screeeech! I stared  unbelievingly at Antonin with gritted teeth as his old car sreeched into his drive way, tires sliding everywhere while trying to park.  It was making a noise like the sound of nails on a chalkboard, or scratching metal.  Antonin huffed and puffed until getting the car into the right position until, finally--

Silence!  The car stopped squeaking and swerving and I jumped out of it as soon as possible.  Only then did I realize the crowd of people standing near the driveway. 

We'd parked in front of a long white house, just one floor, but with plenty of yard space all around it.  Rechoi, which was situated in the far north east of the city, was known for being widely spread out and not being very neighbor-friendly, which was fine with me.

Last night, for a moment, I thought about how my dad's family would feel about me living with them.  But not until this moment, when I saw them in person, did I really worry about it.

There were six of them standing in a haphazard line, slouching with dirty clothes and messy hair.  It didn't seem as though they were always like this, just as though they were exhausted for the day.  None of them looked very excited to see me.  I stood nervously, waiting for them to either accept or berate me for turning them into fugitives by keeping me here.

The brunette, weak-looking woman with no fat on her was in her early forties and was clearly Antonin's wife, since she was the only adult in this line of people.  I felt bad I didn't know her name, nor those of any of the five children standing with her; in her arms was a baby boy who couldn't be older than a year and was the only one who didn't look completely worn out.  To the right of the mother stood a boy and a girl who were so alike it was impossible for them not to be twins.  They both clung to their mother, had the same, scrutinizing expression on their faces, and stood at the exact same height.  On the other side of their mother stood an eleven or twelve year old chubby boy with the biggest frown on his face as though he'd rather be anywhere else at the moment, and a girl around my age with long chestnut-colored hair that flowed down the back of her patched, brown dress.

This girl stared at me with hard, cold eyes, her arms crossing her chest and clutching herself, as though she was nervous she'd fall apart without physically holding herself together.  She didn't even blink while staring at me with such a naked hatred in her eyes I could almost feel it burning me.

"Hola, Adriana."  The mother walked towards me with the infant in her arms, clawing at her hair.  "It's so good to see you now after so many years!  You've gotten so tall, just like your dad and my husband!  What is it with your family?"

I smiled gently, used to people commenting on my giant-esque qualities.  It was a relief that she said it was good to see me.

"Hi, what's your name?  Sorry, I don't remember," I shook hands with--

"I'm Viviana, but just call me Tia Vivi, okay?"  She had a warm smile, despite looking like she hadn't slept for five years.

I looked at the children standing behind her, next to the front door.  All of them were looking back at me cautiously and slightly reproachfully.  This is going to be difficult, I thought. 

Before the awkwardness suffocated all of us, Antonin rushed to the rescue.  He pulled all of his children forward and began introductions, just like the overly friendly man he was.  "These twins here are Julia and Jean-Luc, all right?  They're both really shy, so don't mind if they're quiet sometimes!" He added the last part in a whisper, patting the two children on their heads.  They scrunched up their faces and began to shuffle the dirt with their feet after he left them alone.

"Our baby here is Pierdo," Aunt Vivi provided sweetly, rocking the baby slowly back and forth.  Then she held him out to me.

"Oh, no, really--" My protests were stifled by the surprise of finding a baby in my arms.  I didn't know what to do with the little thing.

Wow, he stinks, I thought to myself, trying not to wrinkle my nose in disgust.  That would give a bad first impression.  I held him with my right arm around his neck and under his crotch.  My other hand awkwardly patted his head.  His mouth hung open, little blue eyes darting everywhere in a stranger's arms.

"Uh...I'll take him." Anxiously, Tia Vivi took Pierdo out of my arms almost immediately.  She'd never let me hold that baby again.

"Anyway..." Antonin began, gesturing towards his last two children as an indication that they should introduce themselves.  The young boy rolled his eyes.

"This is Amadis," Antonin interjected hastily, "and next to him is our oldest, Bethany--Bethany!"

Bethany had been staring at me throughout the introductions with sharp, blue eyes.  When her father said her name, she turned away and walked to the house without a word nor a glance back.

"What's her problem?" I asked angrily, forgetting that I was trying to be nice to them in return for keeping me.  If you want to be mad at me, have a good reason for it.  There's no reason to hate me the first time I set foot on the property.

"Oh, nothing, it's all right...She just doesn't like that we've been so busy lately," Tia Vivi answered quickly, nervously looking back and forth between me and the door her daughter had just slammed.

"Busy?  Busy with what?" I asked, hoping with all of my hope that it wasn't because of me that they were in such bad shape.

"Well, you know...Putting protections around the house, like invisible fire shields, and the like.  Also putting up alarms everywhere that recognize when anyone except a family member tries to enter the house.  Oh, that reminds me!  You need to let it recognize you so it knows not to go off whenever you're around."

I was dragged to a small, stone fountain decorated with bird sculptures sitting in the grassy yard.  At first I didn't know what I was doing there, but then I saw a small red, glowing button in the eye of one of the birds.  The other eye was spouting out water, but this one merely glowed, as deeply red as a polished ruby stone.

"Activate." Viviana said in an authoritative tone, still grasping with veiny hands onto little Pierdo, who was drooling profusely onto her clothes.  "Register new member."

An automated voice responded out of nowhere, "Register new member.  New member, present yourself."

Viviana nodded to me and nudged me in the back.  I stood directly in front of the fountain, waiting.

I gasped as a ray of red light passed all through my body, from my head through my fingers and down to my toes.  It was over as quickly as it had started.

"Okay, come on, let's go inside and I'll show you around."

We approached the door with the rest of the family (sans Bethany), in a single file line.  Why?  Because when one person approached the door, they would be scanned with the same red light again and be admitted to the house.

When it was my turn, the red light didn't startle me anymore, but a strange feeling was bubbling in my stomach.  A feeling that told me my stay here was not going to be a good experience.

I was introduced to the house as well.  It was a small, rather empty place, with only minimal brown furniture and plain white walls.  There were a few pictures sitting on a mantel, however.  A lot of family pictures; one at the annual parade of Esperanfort's founding, one of the family at Easter.  And then individual photos of the kids.  I sought out one of Bethany, the evil one who hated me for no reason.  She looked much happier in this picture taken of her very recently, with her hair pulled up, a clean face and nice clothes.  

Why did she hate me?

"Come, Adriana, I want to show you where you'll be staying.  You'll be in Bethany's room."  Viviana's eyes searched me as though I was going to protest to this, but I stayed quiet and followed her down a narrow hallway, a few doors leading off to each side.

My new room was the last one.  Although I hadn't brought many personal objects to fill up the room with, it still surprised me that Bethany had left the room a complete mess with only a clean bed for me.  There was barely any space on the floor around my bed, and only one small night stand.  

Bethany was sitting on her bed with both arms and legs crossed.  It seemed as though she had been waiting for us.  "That bed's yours.  Don't touch anything that belongs to me.  I go to sleep at eleven every night, so that means you do as well.  If you want us to protect you, you have to follow our rules."  With that, she flipped her long, chestnut hair and walked over to her appalled mother, not sparing me a glance.

"Betha--" Tia Vivi began in a berating voice, but I cut in angrily.  "What is your problem?  I can do whatever I want!"  I couldn't help being furious with her, even though I was a guest here.

"Okay, do what you want," Bethany's calm attitude to my anger only infuriated me further.  "But don't blame me if you get caught."  The cold, churning feel of a threat lingered in her words.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Glistening coils under a new moon awoke, uncurling in the mud.  A sleek brown body moved across dirt and worms and bird droppings and whatever else lay upon a thick and muddy forest floor.  

But this was a special snake; he had fangs, two inches long and each imbued with poison.  His long tail ended in a five inch spike that could rip through any flesh if whipped in the right direction.  Its scales seemed innocent, but each one contained a burst of fire underneath, waiting to engulf and kill any enemy with its flames in an instant.

The snake's eyes were blue.  The eyes were the only visible thing in the pitch darkness, their pinpricks of light disappearing when the snake curved around roots and slithered over fallen trees.  

Bang!  What was that? The snake's head swiveled in all directions, the skin on its neck being stretched to fullest extent as he searched for another midnight forest dweller.

It could have been the falling of a twig, or another animal, or the stupidest animal of them all; the one they call the human being.  Of course there were the Povras, with their powers that they hold above us and damned us with forever.  Trapped as animals.  But nonetheless, powerful animals...

No human nor Povras could know what is happening here, the gigantic, man-crushing snake thought as he slithered now more cautiously through the cold forest.  

That thought reassured the snake as he arrived at his destination.

It was a patch of the forest that looked the same as any other patch, but not when you're a snake who can see the past.  This special snake stared all around the floor, watching the beings who had passed through here recently in his sharp mind's eye.  

Other animals, but not quite so much animals as deadly weapons with advanced thinking, such as this snake, had passed through here.  No Povras...except, wait!  Who's that man?  The images of days passing through the snake's mind and of every being who had passed through this five meter space suddenly stopped and focused on a giant of a Povras, who was staring wildly about the forest.  He seemed to be searching for something.  Why, this scene had occured just yesterday!  What is this man doing here?  How can he know anything of--

I jerked awake, sweating and shaking, regaining consciousness in my Povras body once again.  I was spread out all over my new bed, the blanket laying on the carpeted floor.

I sat up slowly.  I'd never had a dream like that before; scary and at the same, all too real.  Who was that snake?  Why could I hear its thoughts?  And why had it seen my dad?!

So, it was a bad idea to take a nap after eating Viviana's cherry pie.  She'd offered it to me and the kids so graciously, I couldn't help but eat two and a half slices.  I kept telling myself (while slowly expanding my waist line), that it would have been rude not to have done so.

Then I took a nap once I'd returned to my room and unpacked.  Bethany was nowhere to be found, so I took advantage of being alone for a while to relax.

The dream had been terrifying, yet somehow familiar.  Was it because I'd seen my dad that the scene was recognizable or was it something else?  Something about the snake?

Slam!  At that moment Bethany swung open the door, which banged as loud as a gong against the wall, making me jump and fall out of my bed like a maniac.

"Sorry." She said unconvincingly, with a sneer on her face.

I grumbled pointlessly at her while she redied herself for bed.  Was it eleven already?  I was wide awake, having just napped for three hours.  Not in the mood to go back to sleep anytime soon, a glorious, revengeful idea crept its way into my mind, as glorious and revengeful ideas always do when I'm treated unfairly.

I waited a half hour until I heard deep breathing and was certain Bethany was in a deep sleep.  I had to plan this carefully, so she wouldn't realize what had happened until morning.

I concentrated on her sleeping form, thinking about her being as light as air. It wasn't that difficult, since she was pretty much a toothpick.

Slowly and undisturbing to her sleep, Bethany's body was lifted into the air.  I sucked in my breath sharply as she rolled over (in midair), while sleeping.  But her eyes stayed closed and her breathing was even as I formed a net out of nothing by focusing on holding her to the ceiling.

By now, Bethany was like a cocoon, tied to the ceiling about five feet above her bed.  

I laid down smiling, eager for her reaction the next morning.

"AHHHHHH! LET ME DOWN!" I was woken up by a shrill scream and burst out laughing.  Bethany's head was sticking out of the brown tendrils of the cocoon, and so was one arm. The rest of her body was twisted like a pretzel.

"How'd you get up there, Bethany?" I asked, trying to appear innocent while tears of laughter strolled down my cheeks.

She struggled, her face turning red.  "Let me out!"

I put a shocked expression on my face, eyebrows high and mouth hanging open.  "Me?!  I didn't do that to you! I was sleeping all night."

"Then who did it?"  I didn't answer but watched as she ripped the ropes of the cocoon in half, with surprisingly strong arms.

She fell to her bed with a hard plump sound, and let out a huff of air.  I almost felt bad for being so mean.  But then--

"I'm going to tell my parents what you did and then--"

"What?  I'll be out of here?"

"I-Yes..." Bethany stared up at me as I walked over to her bed, towering over her figure.  She stood up and faced me.  She was about five inches shorter than me, so it didn't really help her to be standing next to me with such a vicious expression on her face.

"You're going to tell on me?"  Her eyes bored into mine as I questioned her like I thought the idea of her telling on me was a joke.  We were less than six inches apart from each other, her breath hot on my shoulder.

"You don't deserve to be here.  And you don't deserve to be queen!" She hissed like a cat on the last phrase, her spit just missing my face.

"Yeah, I know you think that, b***h, and I heard you last night saying not to blame you if I get caught.  But remember that whatever happens, your parents want me here and they don't want me to get caught.  I don't think they would like it very much if someone took me from here."

Something changed in Bethany's expression.  Her shoulders slumped a bit and her eyes lost their fire.  But the fire turned into a hard, unreadable darkness.  A dark lake of secrecy that actually scared me, in comparison to the fire.

"I won't tell my parents."  Her voice was almost dead with the dark silence it carried.

I raised my eyebrows at her.  Somebody has issues, I thought.  I left the room for breakfast, Bethany staring at me silently as I left.

The Cherlot family (as I learned they were called), lived modestly.  Their small kitchen had peeling flowery wall paper and mismatched chairs at the table, which took up most of the space in the room.  Everyone squeezed into a cramped space at the table for a breakfast of eggs and toast.

While munching on my toast, I inconspiciously listened to the others' conversations.

Julia and Jean-Luc were both laughing at Amadis, who just squirted milk out of his nose for their entertainment.  They both clapped and laughed identically but quieted themselves while their mother chastised Amadis for being rude in front of their guest (Me).

I thought it was rather gross, but if it made the twins laugh, I didn't care.  Even though they seemed to be afraid of me (judging by their stony faces when I smiled at them over my glass of milk), I liked them the most out of all the siblings.

Bethany, my least favorite, was speaking to no one, spinning her glass of juice absentmindedly in her hand.  I wondered briefly what she was thinking about before I realized I didn't consider the girl worth a chunk of dirt stuck to the bottom of my shoe.  I then turned my attention to the parents of the Cherlots.

"Ma Cherie, I have to work later tonight.  Clemont is going to be out of work today, because he's been sick all weekend.  I have to catch up on the work that's not been done because of him."

Tia Vivi hesitated before responding, feeding Pierdo some cereal.  With a strained expression on her face, she answered her husband, "But who's going to pick up the children after school?  You know Bethany can't do it, and I'm not going to let Amadis bring them back by himself."  She'd lowered her voice on the last part, but Amadis, now building a tower of toast, did not hear her.

Antonin was shooting sideways glances at me throughout Viviana's explanation, trying to hide them from me.  However, I grasped what he meant before Vivi's eyes grew round with reproach.

"No, we can't, Antonin!  It's her first day here, and she needs to stay hidden."  Vivi wasn't bothering to lower her voice, and it didn't matter anyway, since we were all so cramped together I could hear them even if they'd been whispering.

Figuring I had nothing better to do with my day, I intervened, "It's fine, Tia Vivi.  I'd be bored in the house all day.  Just tell me where to go, and I'll take them there."

"Oh, no, sweetie, it's fine.  Really, you shouldn't go out of--"

"Mom, she should go.  Let her earn her keep here." Bethany chimed in.  I thought she'd been ignoring us the whole time, but there she was, throwing in her worthless opinion once more.

For once, however, I agreed with her.  "I'll take them.  I can wear some sort of disguise!"

The idea seemed to intrigue Tia Vivi, and although she began to think about it first, it was Antonin who responded to the idea.  "That's a great idea, Adriana.  I'm sure I can manipulate your features somehow, and you can wear some heavier clothes.  Viviana, can Adriana borrow some of your old wigs and costumes?"

"Si, of course she can.  I used to be an actress." She explained with a smile, in response to my questioning look.  

Antonin thought about throughout breakfast, and the Viviana returned to feeding Pierdo.  Their children had all been sent to finish getting ready for school.  I didn't have to go to school, since I was being searched for, my dad had ordered.  I didn't have a problem with that!

While sitting at the quiet breakfast table, except for strange, baby noises produced by Pierdo, I saw the newspaper sitting in front of Bethany's recently vacated seat.  Something on it caught my eye.

"$100, 000 MONETARY REWARD FOR THE CAPTURE AND SAFE ARRIVAL TO THE PALACE OF ADRIANA JIMENEZ."

Blood frozen in my veins, I snatched up the paper to scan small article.  It was taking up most of the front page, with a hand-drawn picture of me.  The accurateness of the picture scared me; it would make it that much easier for someone to find me.

I folded up the paper and threw it on an empty chair before Viviana or Antonin could notice my sudden anticipation.

So much money being offered for...me?!  This situation was a lot more serious than I thought.  I'd never felt so terrified or...important.

I sat for a few minutes twisting my fingers and holding my jaw taught, until Antonin announced, "Okay, Adriana, are you ready to put on your disguise?  I'm going to be leaving, so I won't be able to do it later.  You'll have to wear it all day until it's time to pick up the kids from school.  I'll walk with you on the way there, since I'm taking them to school this morning.  That way you'll know which route to take later."

I nodded and followed Antonin to his and Viviana's room.  With the open window, a smooth, rain-smelling breeze coming in, and the natural light that filled their small but cozy room, my senses picked up and I instantly became more cheerful.  After sleeping in Bethany's stuffy, crowded room, this was a huge relief.  

Antonin worked for a few minutes, grabbing some baggy but plain clothes from a drawer, and a wig from a shelf in their closet.  The wig was bright blonde, short and very spiky.  I furrowed my eyebrows at it, trying to imagine what I would look like as a blonde punk.  Once the clothes and wig were on and I got used to seeing what felt like a sunflower on top of my head, Antonin handed me a pair of sunglasses and dark face make-up.

I'd thought their room was clear and nearly empty, but after I thanked Antonin for the rest of the disguise, I glanced back to their closet as he reorganized it.  My mouth dropped open with envy.

It was a walk-in closet lined with walls covered in shoe boxes and wigs.  In the middle of the closet were racks of dresses and costumes.  Reds, blacks, greens, silvers, sequins, pearls, silks...Viviana had so many stage outfits!  Maybe I'd go out in disguise more often if I got to wear some of the nicer clothes.

After I finished applying the make-up and putting on the sunglasses, I looked in the mirror, a stranger staring back at me.

"No one will ever recognize you as Adriana Jimenez, I promise," Antonin chuckled as he reemerged from the closet, carrying a pair of heavy black boots for me.

"They won't recognize me, but don't you think this outfit is a tad conspicuous?" I asked as the new boots weighed me down on our way out to the kitchen.  

He didn't have time to respond as Tia Vivi squealed with excitement at my outfit.

"I haven't seen these clothes in forever!  Woww!"  And she ran over to inspect me.  All of her children except Bethany and Pierdo were standing in front of the door, giggling at my appearance.  "Here, m'ija, let me fix your wig, it's rather crooked."  I tried not to wince or complain as she moved the wig around on my already sore head, pulling it tighter and making sure there weren't any stray black curls.

Antonin showed me the way to Amadis, Jean-Luc, and Julia's school.  Amadis told me I looked like I was in the mafia and I didn't know what to respond, so I stuck my tongue out at him, making Jean-Luc and Julia laugh.

It was a rather short walk, but through some main roads, so I understood why Viviana didn't want the kids to come back themselves.  On the way back, we saw some Acquis, two men.  I immediately knew they were Acquis because of their black uniforms and the red badge pinned to their chests reading NSSOE, but Antonin took longer to recognize the danger.

Damn, if only I'd noticed them earlier!  I swallowed and tapped Antonin's hand, gesturing with my eyes towards the Acquisitioners.  He gasped and stood up straighter, greeting the men as they finally reached us.

"Ben Dour, mis Acquis.  Tod este ben, no?"  Antonin greeted them cheerfully in Esperans, but they stared him down.  As the taller one looked at me, I twitched and moved back a step.

"What is your problem, girl?"  The other one asked in an accent, his beard twitching as he examined me.

I'd recognized that man!  He'd occasionally accompanied Dharla and my dad on Acquis missions.  I couldn't remember his name, but he'd always remembered me whenever he came to our house.  I refused to look him in the eye now, afraid he would recognize me.

Antonin came up with a quick excuse for me.  "Sh-she doesn't like being close to strangers.  I'm sorry, So desolo.  I should take her home soon."

"Is she your wife?"  The taller one asked, getting closer to me.  "Because, you know, we are looking for Adriana Luz Jimenez.  Have you heard anything of her, sir?  Or you, girl?  Do you know her?  Perhaps a friend?"

I tried to play up the shy role Antonin had given me and bit back my sarcastic retort.  I shook my head, still looking down, and pretended to sneeze.  I could feel my face growing red with fear as he continued to scrutinize me.

"You'd better get your wife home, sir.  It's going to rain soon."  The shorter one gestured to the dark gray clouds, which had just unleashed a roar of thunder.  Antonin nodded and placed his hand protectively on my shoulder, the tall Acquis still shooting glances at me as we took our leave.

Once we were a good distance away, Antonin broke into a panic.  "They-You...How could they know you're in Rechoi?!" He asked in a terrified whisper as the first drops of rain hit the pavement.

"They don't.  Didn't you know they're searching for me everywhere they can?"  I decided not to mention that I'd known one of them, and we both decided on not informing Viviana of the incident, for she certainly would not let me pick up the children after school.  Antonin just warned me to be careful on my way.

Reviews

I'm really enjoying this story. Character development is outstanding and the story is unfolding nicely. Good work!

[snopadelic]

I like the bits you've added to this chapter I think it's adds depth to her character without changing who she is

[snopadelic]

Your descriptions of the character are awesome, they really do lift them off the page, and gives them a extra bit of edge. The dream sequence again was outstanding, the description of the snake was perfect, very menacing. Infact that bit could stand as a chapter on its own. Theres a bit of humour where adrianna gets her own back in bethaney which i liked as well. I'd would defo like to know a bit more about the extent of her powers and how susceptable she is too attack as well. The only slight critisisim i have is I'd like to know a bit more about how she feels about the power of postiton she could possibly hold. Its hinted upon at the start in the ride to the destenation but she dosn't really say much more about it.