Chasing Time

Hiding Out

Upper Terragon boarder.

18:35, 16th July, 3000.

Frederick stood there, his fists clenching and unclenching. In all his life, he had never been as disappointed as he felt in that moment. When morning came earlier that day, he had turned to his wife and told her that he would cut off their son if he failed him. She has pleaded and begged as he expected but he was dead set on what he planned to do.

The message he sent to Stanley was clear. If the people he was moving with refused to take the generous offer, he should eliminate them, then return home. Stanley knew that the boarders closed at seven o'clock everyday. In a few minutes, the opportunity Frederick generously presented would be cancelled and he would have to give another order.

"He might have ran into some trouble with them. Maybe he tried to eliminate them and was caught..." Councilman Jayden said in a bid to alleviate some of the Head Councilman's worries but Frederick's frown only deepened.

"We posted people all around that building he's staying. They're watching them. If anything is happening, he'll have backup. Him not being here means he has failed me."

Jayden swallowed at the gruffness of his voice. Being the youngest member on the Council of Thirteen, he could relate to Stanley to an extent. He just imagined how overwhelming it would be for him to have been told every day since he was born that he would have to rule an entire city with no choice in it. Stanley was making it clear that he did have a choice and he planned to use it.

"Well...we still have a couple of minutes more, maybe-"

"Maybe nothing. None of them are coming and I'm getting really cold." Frederick interrupted and rubbed his gloved hands together to make his point. A tent had been set up in front of the boarder to accommodate the Head Councilman and to welcome the people they had been expecting. Earlier, he was seated in the tent, patiently waiting. When the clock struck six in the evening, he walked out and stood in front of the boarder and had not left since.

"Is everyone in position?" Frederick asked. Jayden swallowed, feeling kind of uncomfortable to come between father and son.

"Yes sir," he said "but might I add something?"

"What?"

"I'd suggest that we watch them for a while before moving. If we can follow their movements and predict what they'll do, we can use this to our advantage..."

"How could this possibly work to our advantage?"

"Stanley will always remain an Upper and your son. If we can get to him, we'll be able to get information out of him and-"

"No." Frederick cut him off, then turned to look him in the eyes "we don't have to follow them. Put out a beamer, let all the bounty hunters know that my son has been kidn*pped and those four are the culprits. Make sure the Lowers know as well. Those hungry bastards will hunt them out for sure. Make sure that the bounty is generous and they should return my boy alive or they don't get it."

Jayden let out a sigh of relief. The initial plan was to eliminate all of them but he was glad that the Head Councilman rethought it.

"Right away, my Lord."

•|•|•|•|•

Unknown Sector, Middle Terragon.

00:03, 17th July, 3000

"Where are we going?" Julia whispered as they followed Layana through an underground tunnel. The Clairvoyant had suddenly gotten up in the middle of the night, asked everyone to pack the little things that they could and led them out of the building through a secret passageway.

"Why are you always asking that?" Travis whispered back "don't you trust her?" Despite their hushed tones, their voices bouced out the walls of the tunnel.

"I don't know where we're going," Layana responded with a gasp. She stopped and turned around to face them. Melinda yawned and stretched her hands above her head.

"I woke up suddenly and Gaya was right above me. 'You're in trouble' she said and the next thing I remember, we're running through this tunnel..." she whispered and looked up around them. The others stared at her in shock.

"You mean you don't remember yelling at all of us to get up and dashing through the building like some kind of cloud ninja?" Julia asked, almost sarcastically. Layana frowned, then pouted and looked at them.

"I think Gaya might have possessed me...but why?"

"Oh wow..." Stanley said, scratching the back of his head.

"Can't you ask her?" Miranda asked.

"She only comes when she wants, I don't know how to call for her..." Layana said, despair obvious in her voice.

"Okay, just relax. I'm sure she's trying to show is something...let's get to the end of this tunnel first. Maybe there's an answer there," Travis said and grabbed Layana's hand to reassure her. She took in a deep breath and nodded.

They started walking again, after a few minutes they reached a vine covered entrance. They exchanged looks, they were all apprehensive about touching it.

"Oh, for God's sake..." Julia muttered and pulled a knife from her right boot. Weapons were the first thing she thought of packing when Layana rushed them out of bed earlier. With a couple of quick slashes, the vines came down and the entrance was freed.

Layana felt eyes on her, she turned her head and saw Melinda staring daggers at her. She frowned then looked down and realized Travis was still holding her. She snatched her hand away and glanced at Melinda who had looked away but still had a pissed off demeanor.

"You'll be safe in here," Gaya's voice sang to Layana. The goddess appeared in front of her and stroked her face with locks of her hair "enemies plot against you but you do not see it. You have to be careful."

"Why won't you just tell me where the gate is? So we can save the worthy ones and get on with our lives? Why do you keep playing with us?" Layana suddenly lashed out. Gaya drew back in surprise "why did you possess me without...asking. Have you done that before? What's the whole point of all this?"

"Layana," Julia whispered and placed hands on her shoulder. Layana looked at her, her chest heaving "I don't know how this happened but..." Julia said and waved her hand to the entrance. Layana followed with her eyes and landed her gaze into the cave like room. It was equipped with basically everything that was in Layana's apartment.

"How..." she whispered and walked past all of them and into the cave.

"I have possessed you many times before, setting this up in case you need to hide. I know you're frustrated but it's not time yet for you to find the gate." Gaya said, her voice more tranquil than usual.

"Layana?" Stanley called out to her. She turned to face them and smiled slowly.

"Gaya told me we have to hide, for now. I'm sure we'll be safe here while we find out what's going on."