Second Chances [Sweet Pea x OC]

Chapter 32

"Let's just go in," I said. "We've been here over an hour and no one's gone in or out. That's gotta mean it's abandoned."

"Not necessarily," Landon replied. "They could be using a back entrance, or they know we're out here watching."

"I say we just go," Colton said. "We'll tell FP we didn't see any activity and move on."

I groaned, looking at the brick building across the street. "Come on, this is boring just sitting around in different hiding spots spying on the Gargoyles. All we've done is sit around for the past week."

"We're not going in," Landon said firmly. "We're just doing recon, that's it."

"You say that like we're on some secret mission," I laughed.

"Well, we kind of are though," Colton said, smiling. "Hiding out to get info on the enemy. And we get to wear our Trainee jackets too, make it more official."

I stood, looking out the window one last time. "You two are wearing Trainee jackets, I however, am not," I said, turning to face the pair. "For all anyone knows, you two are being trained by me, which means you have to follow my orders. And I say we quit wasting our time and go over there, get some real info for once."

"I still say this is a bad idea," Landon sighed. "Just because no one's been in or out doesn't mean there aren't Gargoyle's in there playing G&G."

I rolled my eyes, the good mood I was in just moments ago fading. "The last time I went into a room full of G&G games, they were so high on Fizzle Rocks they barely even noticed we were there. We'll go in, make a quick count of the junkies, check for any signs of a lab setup, and get out. No harm done."

"Abigail, wait," Colton called after me. "If they're setting up a lab there, someone's going to be someone on guard. And if it's more than one, we might not be able to protect you."

"I can protect myself just fine," I snapped. "If it comes down to it, we can just pretend to be on some quest of our own. Raid the castle or something."

The stairs creaked under me as I started down, not waiting for my shadows. That was a lie, that I could defend myself, but at this point, I didn't really care. I was tired of sitting on the sidelines, being coddled by everyone. FP wouldn't let me join in any of the deputy training, not wanting to risk me getting hurt worse, and I wasn't in school anymore so even if I'd wanted to, there was no part for me in the musical with my friends. Not for the first time, I wondered where I was supposed to fit in around here.

I led us across the street carefully, still keeping watch for any sign of movement. This particular section of Southside had been falling apart when the Serpents still held it, and it was even worse now. We all froze when I kicked a broken brick on our way towards the open door but still nobody appeared.

"Hey, wait for us," Landon hissed as I peeked inside.

"Come on, it's empty," I said, waving the two to follow. It was empty now, but there were clear signs that the Gargoyles had been here. Symbols covered the walls, empty Fizzle Rocks packets littered the ground, and more of those creepy little voodoo-like dolls hung here and there over our heads.

After poking around the building and finding nothing useful, the three of us headed back to the Sheriff's station. FP wasn't there so I quickly wrote up my report, leaving out the part about us actually going into the place, and added it to the file he'd designated for my reports.

Back at home, I waited for Sweet Pea to finish with rehearsal, or whatever it was that Evelyn had them doing when they weren't rehearsing. The other day, she'd had them all laying on the floor, spouting some nonsense about everyone using their traumas and experiences to improve their acting. It sounded like some sort of cult recruitment strategy to me, but what did I know?