I am Twelve - The Witch Assassin's Target

Chapter 20 - Hideout

#musicvibe - The fighter, In This Moment

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Pine Paw Pack.

October 18th, 2146

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Jasmine POV

I found Emma sitting by the creek, my mind almost exploding from what I just learned.

“You’re not going to believe what just happened.” I shrieked and sat down next to her. “That dream you had a few weeks ago? The one about the queen dying?”

Emma nodded.

“It happened!” I exclaimed. “You were right.”

“I know.” Emma whispered.

I reigned in my excitement when I noticed her sad frown.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. “Are you having more visions?”

Emma nodded.

“I have to go.” She said.

“Go?” I asked. “Go where?”

“To the castle.” She replied. “There’s a secret to unlock, and I think I have the key.”

I stared at her.

“What does that even mean?” I asked.

“I don’t know.” Emma replied. “I was hoping that I could go to the castle, and then maybe I could get some more visions to help me figure it out.”

“But you’re twelve years old.” I protested. “Visions or not, you’re not supposed to be responsible for what happens in the royal court.”

“I know!” Emma shouted back. “But something is telling me that these visions are important.”

She folded her arms across her chest, her eyes glaring at me through the thick glasses.

“I’m going.” She said and stomped off.

I sighed and ran to catch up with her.

“Then I’m going with you.” I said with determination.

“Good.” Emma replied. “I want you to come with me.”

“Mum and dad are going to kill us.” I muttered.

“We’ll leave a note.” Emma said as if it was obvious and I chuckled.

“Yeah, that’s probably not going to help.”

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Calais, France

October 20th, 2146.

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Valeria POV

It was late in the night when the ferry reached the docks, and I was relieved that it had gotten dark outside.

My body was shaking, and my feet and legs stung like they still were on fire. I knew that I was in bad shape, and I needed to get some rest and assess the damage in a quiet place.

While everyone was exiting the ship a few floors down, I stayed on the sun deck and waited for everything to quiet down. When I was in the clear, I jumped over the railing and flew towards the city.

I knew the address to the apartment I was going to. It was a hideout I had used when I used to work for MI6, and I figured that I needed a day or so to figure out my next move.

I wasn’t too worried about anyone finding me here. Mr Sampson knew that I had some hideouts, but he didn’t know the address for this one.

Before I boarded, I had managed to find a shopping center to get some clothes. I didn’t have any money on me and didn’t dare use any emergency fundings from MI6 in case they found a way to track me. So I waited until it was almost closing, then stopped outside a shop and used my powers to make the clothes float out to me whenever someone wasn’t looking.

I then left before anyone realized what happened, and I was relieved that no one seemed to check the live feed security cameras and caught me.

The red maxi skirt, long sleeved black shirt and the black jacket hid the bandages very well. Because of all the bandages and the pain in my feet, I just pulled the skirt down and floated a few inches above the ground in case it needed to look like I was walking, covering my face with a white scarf to hide my glowing eyes and the red burn on my right cheek.

I flew across the city, looking for Les Bourgeois de Calais. When I found the right area, I spotted the building I was looking for and landed on the roof. I was panting heavily and my whole body trembled, but I gritted my teeth and slowly made my way over to the window. I used my powers to open it from the inside and slid through as quickly as I could.

Hurriedly, I floated over to the door and turned the alarm off before turning the hallway light on and slumping down onto the dusty sofa in the living room.

I sat in silence for a moment, feeling completely numb inside. After everything that happened, my mind and my feelings were in total disarray.

The thought of Tyson drifted into my mind, and images of him putting his hands on Celeste’s stomach made tears well up in my eyes.

And yet, I felt nothing.

Maybe it was all too much for me to process.

I knew enough about trauma to know that this would come back to haunt me later. Right now, I was still in a state of shock and even if it made me feel a bit guilty, I knew that it was a normal reaction for some people.

I sat up straighter and used my powers to turn the ceiling light on. With shaking hands, I pulled off my shirt and frowned when I saw narrow black lines on my wrists and chest.

That’s weird.

I hadn’t checked properly when I woke up or when I left the castle, but they must have appeared in the past few hours.

Still frowning, I inspected my stomach before lifting the skirt up to look at my bandaged legs.

I knew that I needed to change them, but I had no equipment for that here. It was still in the middle of the night and I didn’t dare show up to a hospital.

My best bet was staying here, trying to get some sleep and try to figure things out tomorrow.

I turned the light back off, but sleep felt like a million miles away. When the sun started to rise, I was still on the sofa, tears silently falling along my face into my hair. I didn’t know what was worse, the pain in my body or the small remains of my shattered heart.