Manhunt

Chapter 30

It was about eleven o'clock at night when Red left, but not before whispering to Julia that everyone was outside watching from their posts. She nodded before hugging her tightly, thanking her and everyone else for risking everything, and prayed that they'd stay safe. With a wink, she'd told her that there was no need for praying, and that they had confidence in their ability to kick ass. Grinning at that, Julia closed the door behind her and went back into her room where Caroline and Sydney were preparing themselves to sleep.

Sydney was the first to fall asleep, her breathing deep and even, while Caroline struggled to fall asleep. She was a bit of an insomniac, so Julia watched as she stared at the ceiling above her before sighing and turning to face her friend.

"I hate being nocturnal." She muttered jokingly, slipping her arm under her head.

"If it makes you feel better, I can't sleep either." Julia admitted in a hush voice, attempting to keep Sydney unconscious. "It's a good thing that we aren't sleeping in the same bed, or we'd be having that laugh attack we always seem to have."

"Honestly, why does that happen?"

"I wish I knew." Julia laughed softly, grinning. "Good times, though."

"Who cares if we look insane while doing it?" Caroline shrugged, smiling back. She glanced at the wall beside Julia's bed, carefully looking over the carvings that Matthew left behind. "I think I like those markings there—it gives your room a bit more character. Funny how you and Red decided to do that one night...and with a knife, no less."

"It was sort of inspired by something that we saw online." Julia shrugged, the guilt of lying eating at her heart. She had to stop lying to them, even if Red was the one who had fed the story to them. Julia had to go with it, for she didn't have a valid explanation.

"Red is pretty cool." She brought up, laughing silently. "She's a bit crazy too, like us. Do you call her Red because of her hair?"

"I think it's her favorite color." Julia confirmed, thinking back on the day she had earned her permanent title. "She was also wearing all red that day too, for some reason." In reality, she often wore red during missions so that the bloodstains weren't as obvious. Needless to say, Julia couldn't share that with Caroline.

"Interesting choice of fashion."

"My thoughts exactly."

The two talked until Caroline fell asleep, a satisfied smile pulling up her lips. Julia continued to stay awake, acting as a watch dog for her friends, who felt like sitting ducks. She didn't want anything to happen to them, and as much as she trusted her parents and Virtus, she had doubts with their decision to have the girls over.

She watched the clock tick by, bringing the hour closer to midnight. She had her usual knife strapped onto her thigh, but it was accompanied by another short blade around her ankle. Red had given Julia her gun, but it sat inside her drawer, waiting to be used.

Movement in her peripheral caused her heart to stop, and she peered at the shadow of a figure that squatted in front of her window, seemingly hesitating to knock on the bulletproof glass. Julia slipped out of her bed and pulled out her knife, stalking slowly over to it. Looking closer, her eyebrows furrowed, and she lowered her knife. What the hell?

Why is Zane here?

Julia stood in front of her window, staring at him intently and making rapid hands motions in what she hoped he took as "Why the hell are you here? You scared the shit out of me." He looked around outside before motioning her to come out. She shook her head and bit her lip before sticking up her pointer finger, asking for a minute. He nodded, and she took that as a chance to pull her sneakers on and grip her knife tightly before going through the many locks on the window and opening it.