Defenders

Defenders (10)

The ride back to the DAU was silent, even though all five of us were antsy. Nay spent the whole trip wrapping my scratched arm, which I was very thankful for because as soon as she was finished, the pain was gone.

My teammates and I still said nothing as our mentors led us back into the meeting room we had first met them in. I knew that whatever they were going to show us was important, and my teammates did as well, so we weren't about to do anything stupid.

I could tell that Hank and Nay were trying to think of them best way to tell us whatever they were going to tell us. It worried me, because I was sure that if this was hard for them to just tell us, it was going to be hard for us to deal with.

"So, what are you going to show us, Nay?" Aiden was the one who finally had the guts to ask, the rest of us still staying silent. Our blonde mentor turned back toward us and let out a sigh.

"We're going to tell you all about Redrum," was all she said, and the name sent chills up my spine.

My teammates and I glanced at each other, but only Aiden seemed to have any inkling of a clue what exactly Redrum was. I didn't bother asking him, since I knew Hank and Nay were about to give us a better explanation.

"Redrum," Hank began, as if sensing our confusion, "is... well, it's kind of hard to explain."

He glanced at Nay now, who was giving him a look that I couldn't really read. It was obvious to all of us that they didn't want to talk about this, at least not yet. What the heck was up with Redrum?

"Redrum is an organization that is a lot like the DAU," Nay explained carefully now, as if she had to make sure she got the information right. "Except, they don't fight evil. They are evil."

"I know about it, kind of," Aiden muttered now, his hands in his pockets. "My dad briefly told me about it. It sounded like something he didn't want to talk about."

Hank and Nay gave each other a look. It seemed that Aiden's father had a reason to not want to talk about it.

"Redrum is where members of the DAU choose to go if they don't want to be good," Hank continued for her. "Or it's where people go if they don't get recruited at all."

My mind immediately went to Lena. Did she know about Redrum?

"Wait," I found myself uttering, causing everyone to now look in my direction. "That guy at the beach, Randall... When I asked if he was a part of the DAU, he said he used to be. I know that he was just for training, but did he want me to think that he was a part of Redrum?"

Nay nodded. "He didn't know that you hadn't been informed on what Redrum was."

"Redrum was actually started by a member of the DAU," Hank informed us all now, and that was the part that was the most shocking to me. He was going to tell us more until he saw the glare that Nay was shooting his way.

Obviously, whatever he was going to continue on with was something that Nay didn't want us to know just yet. Alright, I was okay with this. At least they were telling us this much. I was sure someday we'd get to know the rest.

Hank made his way to the largest computer in the room, but my teammates and I stayed right where we were with Nay. She seemed to have more to say to us.

"Once we tell you about all of this, there's no going back," Nay warned us now, and I felt my chest tighten. "I don't want to make it sound completely horrible, because it really isn't too bad, but Redrum means serious business. They're our main threat."

Nay now beckoned us closer to the large computer screen. She bent over the keyboard and typed, and the five of us waited while she did so.

"We're going to be showing you two members of Redrum." Hank gestured toward the computer as Nay continued to type away. "These two, at least for now, are going to be the only members that you're going to have to worry about."