Her Compound

Chapter 8

We took a left out of the cafeteria and stayed to the right of the hallway as we made our way further down, passing the training room in the process. I looked into the room as I passed and could see a few people in the middle of the room stretching and warming up.

We then took the left turn down the hallway where Zack had gotten us originally, and the hallway where we weren't authorized to go.

"I thought you said we weren't allowed down this hallway," someone close to Zack said.

"I said you weren't allowed down this hall alone," he called over his shoulder. "You're with me so it's fine."

We all fell back into silence as closed doors after doors passed by us, until we all came to a stop in front of an open door on the left side of the hall. Zack smiled with a nod towards a small group of older men in white as they walked out of the room. After watching them disappear, Zack gestured into the room for us to enter ahead of him.

I looked away from the men who headed further down the hallway and then followed the rest of the teens as they did as Zack said and entered the bright room. It was one similar to the one they had gotten us from. The only difference was that it was bigger and there was a long table with twenty-five or so chairs with a familiar looking woman sitting at the far end near the wall.

She had her white-blond hair pulled tightly into the ponytail at the back of her head and she had tired looking blue eyes. For the tiredness that she gave off, she did an okay job of hiding it. Her shoulders were straight along with her back and her eyes crinkled around the edges as she smiled widely at all of us.

"Have a seat," she said, nodding towards the chairs in front of her. After she saw that we made no move towards the chairs, she continued on, her smile faltering ever so slightly, "Oh c'mon, I don't bite."

"I might if I have to," Matteo whispered under his breath with a chuckle as we all sat down at the table.

I ignored what Matteo had said - as I usually do - and made sure to sit close enough to the woman, but also close enough to the door for an easy escape in an emergency. So, I sat between Willow and Matteo while Logan sat on Matteo's other side on the left side of the table.

Zack then closed the door, - there goes my escape - and then walked to the right side of the room and placed himself in the middle of the wall, leaning against it.

I tipped back in my chair, resting my back against the cushioned backrest, and stared down at my hands in my lap. My finger played restlessly with one of the buckles on my black pants as we waited for the woman to say something. I thought perhaps the woman had disappeared, but a moment later she spoke up again.

"You all can call me Joan," the woman said before glancing at Zack.

I looked up from my lap and leaned forward slightly around Willow to look at the woman. So this was Joan? This was the woman Zack talked about when I saw his first interaction with Alex?

"I assume Zachary told you why you're all here," Joan went on as her dull eyes scanned everyone's faces at the table. "If you have any questions, please ask them now."

I looked around the table and watched a few tentative hands raise. Joan looked at the closest boy to her and nodded her head once.

The boy lowered his hand. "When will we be fighting the... creatures?"

"As soon as I feel that you are ready," she replied before looking at another teen. "Yes?"

"Zack said that the things can portal between each of our realms... Well, why couldn't they just portal to the compound and kill all of us?"

Joan glanced once again at Zack before turning to the teen that had asked the question. "We have studied one of the Feymon before, and had found that it takes a lot of strength to be able to portal. And above that, they need to have the exact... coordinates. Our compounds are in remote locations and are quite hidden from them."

My brows furrowed and I raised my hand. Joan saw my raised hand and I lowered it after getting a nod from her.

"What do you mean by compound's?"

"This war isn't just happening here," she responded. "It's happening all around the world. We have many compounds in each continent."

Many other hands shot up at what Joan had said, but she ignored all of them and stood up from her chair, the chair making a small shriek against the hard floor while her hands flattened down her white coat.

"I am really sorry, but I have a few things that I must get done right now," she said to us while walking around the table. "My son will be able to answer the rest of your questions," she then turned to Zack, "Something important came up, I expect to see you later."

Zack nodded his head and gave her a small smile. "Yes, Mother."

"Good," she then turned back to all of us. "I don't know when I'll see you again, but it will be soon." Her eyes then landed on my own before she turned away from all of us and opened the door, disappearing on the other side.

Once the door was closed and she had completely vanished from sight, I looked back at Zack with a very shocked expression as he made his way to the chair in which his mother had sat.

The question that I wanted an answer to from Zack during the end of breakfast had now finally been answered.