Collateral

Chapter Thirteen - Arsen

Arsen's eyes fluttered open.

He felt confused at first. Where was he?

Then he remembered. At least, partially. The prick. The conversation came back in pieces, some almost incoherent.

"Myra!" He yelled as loudly as he could. His throat was as dry as cotton. "Where are you?" He glanced around. The musty smell invaded his nostrils and the paint flaked off the walls.

"Stop being so loud," Myra said, coming into sight and gesturing at him with her hand, like shooing away a fly, but in style.

"Where—"

"Questions, questions. I haven't killed you yet, so take that as a good sign." She circled the chair that Arsen was tied to.

"Yet. That reassures me so much," he said sarcastically. His hands seemed to be zip-tied behind him. He tried to shift them out but the ties dug into his wrists. He felt warm blood flow from the wound.

"I'm sorry." Myra almost looked like she meant it. "A necessary precaution. I don't want to kill you, Arsen, but I can't have you telling everyone I'm still around."

"So what do you want if you're not going to kill me?"

Myra came to stop in front and faced him. "An alliance," she proposed. "I want to know what's going on inside."

Arsen laughed but it turned into a cough.

"Would you like some water?" Myra offered.

"No," Arsen answered. It would probably be poisoned. After all, he didn't know anything about her. "I'm good. Also, I won't help you."

Myra groaned in irritation. "I was really wishing that you weren't going to be so stubborn! Fine. I need your help, Arsen, one way or the other. ADAM's going down and either you help me, or you go down with it."

"Yeah, I'll pass," Arsen replied. "I don't feel like killing my friends today."

"I used to think they were my friends too. Jesus, Arsen, why won't you just help me?"

"Firstly, I don't know who you are," Arsen said, "and secondly, I don't believe you."

"I can kill them anyway. And you along with them, but I'll keep you alive for a little."

"You just said you need me."

"There are different kinds of alive, Arsen, and I really don't think you want to experience them." Myra's voice rose with each word.

After a beat of silence, Arsen spoke. "About that, I'm not exactly scared of you."

"You should be." She took out a switchblade and flipped it open. Arsen tensed, but she just circled behind him and sliced the ties open.

"Wha—"

"You'll see, Arsen," she said in a soft voice. "Soon, you'll see."

"You would not believe what just happened," Arsen announced, rushing into the building. He was greeted by everyone standing there, just staring at him sadly. Except for Magnus, he was smirking with his arms crossed.

Reyna looked at the ground.

"What?"

"Arsen," Rylan whispered. "Why wouldn't you tell us?"

"I tried to keep them away, Arsen," Reyna spoke, not meeting his eyes. "I really did. I'm sorry."

"Both of you, quiet," ordered Magnus. He addressed Arsen smugly, "You're screwed now. How long did you think you could keep it a secret, anyway? I'm not stupid, Arsen."

Arsen had a pretty good idea of what they were talking about now.

"They're coming in five minutes. I'd recommend you say your goodbyes."

Arsen threw Reyna a confused look. She walked up to him and threw her arms around him, whispering in his ear quickly.

"ADAM agents are on their way right now. They're coming to test you. And when they find out that their surgery didn't work on you, they're going to kill you. But you have a chance to escape. Daren left the door unlocked. You can run."

"Reyna, I—I'm not going to run."

"Please, just do it."

"I can't be a fugitive, I can't do that to my dad and Holly."

"Damn it, Arsen, run. Your window's closing. Now." Reyna slid a compact handgun to him.

Arsen closed his eyes, tensed, and sprinted for the exit, sliding the g*n into his waistband. He wasn't sure he could use it, but it made him feel better knowing it was there.

He heard Reyna let out a yell, the sound of impact and a dull thump against the floor.

He spared a glance backward, seeing a fallen Hunter and Reyna, who had punched him. Daren held back Magnus. His team was helping him escape. Arsen's lips curled up into a smile.

He waved down a taxi.

"I don't care about the fee, just get me out of New York," Arsen said. "Fast." The driver blinked at him. "Now, preferably."

"I need a place—"

"Queens, okay? Just get me to Queens. I'm kind of in a hurry."

He glanced back to see Hunter running towards the taxi.

The driver seemed to notice, too, and panicked, stepping on the gas.

Arsen saw a black car full of what he assumed with armed ADAM agents pull up. Magnus started yelling and motioning toward Arsen's taxi.

"Kid, I don't want any trouble with the government," the driver said.

"Just drive and you won't have any."

The news sang mundanely in the background.

We're receiving breaking news right now, a criminal has escaped from prison. The criminal is wearing a black windbreaker and jeans and is suspected to be in the Brooklyn area. He is considered to be armed and extremely dangerous. If you see him, please notify the authorities in your area.

Arsen felt the driver's eyes float to the rearview mirror, watching him.

"Turn that off," Arsen said. Great. You look guilty now.

The driver slowly moved his hand towards his phone.

"Don't touch the phone," Arsen warned. He grabbed the g*n at the same time the driver grabbed his phone. "I'm not going to hurt you, just put it down. What's your name?"

"Ed—Edward." His voice trembled.

"Alright, Edward, you just need to give me the phone. I promise I'm not going to hurt you." Arsen realized how it sounded, with the g*n pressed against the back of the seat. "Come on. I don't want to hurt you."

"Then—then don't," Edward replied. That would be the obvious answer, but there really weren't many other options.

"I can't let you call anyone. You need to keep driving. Focus on driving. Don't crash." Pretty hard, Arsen knew, under the threat of death. Arsen would never pull the trigger, but Edward didn't know that.

He sighed, running out of patience. He lunged forward, snatching the phone and throwing it out the window.

Edward squealed.

"Drive. Get me to Queens."