Fading Angel | Nico di Angelo

Chapter 6: Squish

Montauk--the town it turned out we were in--looked... dead. After we discretely dropped out room key onto the receptionist's desk and hurried out to avoid suspicion, we started walking again. It was time to find a mode of transportation. We were the first ones back outside after the massive downpour, it seemed. The streets were abandoned other than the occasional passing car, each of which caused us to scram every time they drove by and sprayed water from the street. The road no longer looked like it was flooded, but everything--the street, sidewalks, lawn and buildings--have clearly just been doused. I wonder what we looked like, four random kids who didn't seem to belong together traipsing through an empty-looking town after it rained.

Although I was technically the leader of this quest, it really looked more like Piper was in charge. She walked at the front with Jay, whose head was constantly turning in every direction, as if he was trying to absorb every last detail of the area. I walked behind the two of them, and Nico was behind me with a considerable gap between us; his head still down. Was he really that desperate to stay away from everyone? What was his problem? I shook my head. It didn't matter, did it? In a few days this would be over and we'd never talk to each other again. It was as simple as that.

Suddenly, Piper came to a halt, and I collided with her, bouncing off her back. I looked up to see we were in front of a new building. Three was a long sign pointing to it, reading enterprise, the E highlighted green while the rest of the sign was black. Below the word enterprise were, in smaller lettering, the words rent-a-car. The building itself was small and gray with a similar sign above the door, and stretched out behind it was a roof held up by columns and no walls, the same logo on it and underneath which sprawled rows of cars.

"We have a winner," she said briefly, before heading right inside.

"I have a bad feeling!" Jay sung feeling so that it sounded like it was three syllables. A son of the god of prophecy saying he had a bad feeling? That wasn't exactly reassuring. Yet, despite the glumness of such a statement, he was singing it. I couldn't decide whether his cheeriness despite the situation and what he had said was endearing or just a bit annoying. I didn't have time to thinking about it, thought, because now he had grabbed my wrist and was tugging me inside after Piper, Nico following behind.

Jay let go as soon as we were standing beside Piper, and she was already speaking sweetly to a man: surprisingly tan, a bit of sideburns, a black suit with a tie the same color green of that on the sign. She stopped talking to the so far unconvinced-looking employee and turned back to us three. She whispered, "Why don't you guys go find a suitable car? I can handle this. Nothing that stands out in a crowd." She made a small shooing gesture, then returned to her 'persuasion'.

This time, I was leading, swiftly going out the back and entering the area with the roof and the cars. Before me were cars of all makes, models, and colors. I, however, knew nothing about cars. I doubted Jay or Nico did either. So, basically we just had to find something that seemed in good shape and wouldn't stand out. There were four rows, and I stared between the first two. Nico went in between the second and third rows, and Jay was the farthest from me, between the third and fourth rows. Most of the colors here were bright and bold, not really what we were looking for. Instead, my eyes scanned the ones in whites, blacks, silvers and grays, safe options for blending.

Aside from Jay, Nico and I, there were only a couple other people in the lot. A woman was down near the other end in Jay's vicinity, and the other a man on the other side of the cars behind me. Nico walked facing me as he viewed cars, keeping my same pace, but I wasn't the one he was looking at. His eyes were transfixed on the man behind me.

"Melody?" His voice was slow and soft, still not looking at me. "Do you . . . see anything off about that man?" His eyes finally flickered to mine.