"Really?!" Nadia shot up, tripping over her feet as she ran to the
door. Dan grinned awkwardly, "Hey, glad to see you all." Nadia ran
to him, throwing her arms around him and hugging him tightly. Dan
awkwardly returned it before Nadia released him, saying, "Come on
in!" Dan stepped inside smoothly, closing the door behind him. "I
hate to intrude," he began, "It is so close to Christmas after
all..."
"You're always welcome, man. Hungry?" Colt smiled, shutting the
door behind him. "Take what you want from the fridge. Why don't we
go talk in my room?"
"I'm good, ate before I got here. And yeah, I think we'd better
talk in your room. Just the three of us." He shrugged off his coat
and tossed it over his shoulder, glancing nervously at the windows
and doors and muttering something under his breath. Nadia nodded,
gathering up the player and the chip. "Okay, then lead the way,
Colt."
"Sounds good to me. Come on up." The tall blond led his friends up
the stairs, through the lounge, and down the hall to the left.
Their parents' room was at the far end of the hall, Nadia's was on
the opposite side of the lounge, and his own was across the hallway
from the one that had been Cam's. Colt's room sported slate-grey
walls and the furniture was modern-themed. His bed, which had a
boxy white frame and electric blue covers, lay up against the wall
in the back left corner. In the front left corner was a white desk
and in the front right was a carpet that hosted a TV and two large
navy bean bags. He sat on the bed, leaving the bean bags for his
friends.
Nadia flopped down onto the beanbag, but Dan just closed the door
and checked the window, before sighing. "We have a lot to talk
about." "What do you mean?" Nadia said, raising an eyebrow. Dan
glanced at her before explaining to her what he had told Colt.
Nadia went pale, before swallowing hard and saying, "Well..what do
you have in mind?" Dan looked down at her hands. "What's that?"
"Some kind of recorder? Not sure..I have a chip I'm supposed to put
in it." "You should."
Colt stood and made his way to his friends, kneeling beside Nadia.
While curious as to what could possibly occur, fear was threatening
to crash over him. Not again, not again, not again.
Nadia's expert fingers slid the chip into the recorder, and
immieadiently, the screen lit up with a recording of a Latino
woman's face that looked eerily like Nadia. "Hey Nadia," the woman
said, a tired smile on her face. "You probably don't remember me.
But that's to be expected. The important thing is that you're about
to get into some very nasty trouble with some familiar people, no?
I'm talking about the society. This is so much bigger than the
Killing Game. I need you to stay put, I'm going to see you very
soon. Te quiero mucho, hija mía. Y espero que algún día me
perdones."
The blond's eyes widened. Even after the message ended, Colt was
just left staring at the screen, trying to process what he had just
seen. "Nadia... That wasn't... That couldn't possibly have been...
Who I think it was?" WHAT IS GOING ON?!
Dan was in disbelief as well. "I...I knew there was some kind of
resistance, but I didn't know Nadia's mother was involved. I think
she wants you Nadia."
Colt blinked. "Hold up, a resistance? A resistance to a resistance?
I thought the police tracked down the Society after... y'know." The
19-year-old touched his hand to his temple. He really didn't want
to have to deal with this all again. "Why would they want to
involve us again? Nadia and I are barely even adults."
"Please, do you really think the police could take out the Society?
They're going underground if they're still around. And...I think
it's because you've both been inside the society."