Time Hunter (Book 2 - Jump Line series)

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

A big part of me didn't want to look into her eyes again. She was the person who had caused so much hurt and pain. It seemed as if she didn't even have a soul. There was nothing warm about her.

"Why do we need to go back to Artek now? Are you sure she even wants to see us?" I asked, trying to make sense of my internal emotional struggle. She scared me, but she also intrigued me. We were probably more alike than I wanted to admit.

"I've already talked to her. It's time for you all to hear the truth before we take the next step," Paul said, cutting into my thoughts.

"What is the next step?" Samuel asked. I could tell he, too, was trying to process everything. If we went back to Artek, would we be in danger?

"You'll see. I'm not prepared to show you." Paul's eyes suddenly darkened again. The look caused me to take a step backward.

"Wait!" I put my hands on my hips. "What aren't you telling us?"

Paul smirked. "There's a lot I haven't told you, but, quite honestly, I don't think you're prepared to hear the entire story."

"Try us," Audrina said, raising her eyebrows. "We might surprise you."

"I don't know if you are mature enough to hear the entire story," Paul responded.

The response caused Audrina's face to go from ivory to crimson in two seconds flat.

"Paul, I don't need to be here. Let's get that straight. I'm tired of all these games you and Dr. James are putting us through, and I'm definitely tired of you altering my genetic make-up without my consent. The last time I checked, this is my body." Audrina crossed her arms over her chest.

"No. You're wrong," Paul said, a evil smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. "All of you signed agreements when you first joined, giving us full authority over your bodies. You're not in control; I am."

"We'll see about that," I mumbled, hating Paul more than ever. He had no right to speak to any of us in this awful tone.

"Let me get one thing very clear, Esa. You are biologically my daughter, but, more importantly, you are also a soldier designed and trained by OnyxFive. Your allegiance is to us and no one else."

"No. You've got that very wrong. My allegiance is to this team," I responded, clenching my fists. I wasn't going to let Paul get away with telling me whom I needed to obey. The one thing I was sure about in this world was that this team was my family, not Paul, and definitely not Dr. James. Especially after everything I had heard and seen over the past few hours.

Paul began to laugh. "You can't run from me this time. I will find you."

"Who said we were going to run?" Gave asked. "We don't run, we jump."

Samuel lunged for Paul and sent a volt of electricity through his body, causing him to fall backward, twitching, against the wall.

Gave tugged at his medallion. "Let's go!"

We all leaped onto the Jump Line before Paul could recover from the attack. I glanced back for a brief second and saw Paul staring at me as we disappeared. I knew he would find us. There was no way he was going to let us get away. He was right: he would definitely be tracking us.

"Where are we going?" I couldn't help but ask.

"We're going to 2010, Esa. It's a year you're most familiar with," Samuel said.

"Ugh. I don't want to go back to 2010."

But before I could say anything else, we landed in a heavily wooded area. Large trees with lush green leaves loomed high above us. The sky was grey, and then I remembered...it had rained the last time I was in 2010. We tended to jump back in time to places and times that were familiar to us. This was the day when Samuel found me.

"Why are we here again?" Gave whispered as we all looked around, trying to get our bearings.

"I think this is probably a pretty safe year. Because we've all jumped to this year so many times, our current energy might be masked by our secondaries and tertiaries. We just need to stay out of sight of any normals," Samuel said, crouching behind a large tree as he surveyed the area.

"Or we could just find some real clothes and cover these outfits so we blend in with the rest of society," I responded, pinching at the white fabric.

"How are we going to find clothes when we're in the middle of nowhere?" Audrina asked.

"Let's hide out here until nightfall. Then we can jump into a store in town and acquire some clothes," Samuel said.

It wasn't a bad idea. The lush landscape would definitely provide us with some cover.

"We also need some sort of shelter," I whispered. "We need somewhere we can go to while we get back on our feet, so we can rescue Theo."

Samuel looked over at me. "I have a better plan. I thought 2010 was the year we should land in, but I really think we should be in 2105." His eyes lit up. "We need to go to NorthStar. We need to figure out what's really going on."

We all stood there silently as we took in what Samuel was saying. 2105. NorthStar. It was a risky move. The last time we were there, we had blown up most of the facility.

"What's the latest on Luther and Troy? Do we know where they're at?" Audrina asked. "We probably need some Intel on them before we go back to their turf."

"No." Samuel shook his head. "I think Luther has just been leading us on a wild goose chase to keep us busy and away from Troy while they finish getting things ready for their next mission to Merak. Our last visit to NorthStar probably accelerated their timetable."

"I'd love to pay that slime bag another visit," Audrina said, pulling at a lock of her long white hair. "It's been a little too long since I've seen his ugly face."

Samuel stared at her for several seconds. "We're not paying anyone a visit. The goal is to stay out of sight while we figure out what's going on. We may need to separate, to keep our energy levels down, but the key is to observe and see if we can figure out the truth."

"No, we won't have to do that," I responded.. "Remember, Audrina and I no longer have electricity. Can you feel any energy coming from us?"

Samuel and Gave both shook their heads. "No." "Good point."

"At least it will make us harder to find," Audrina said, but we both knew that it was scary to no longer have electricity coursing through our veins. It had been one of our most powerful weapons.

"Why did Paul alter us?"

"It obviously wasn't Paul," Gave said. "It was Dr. James. My guess is, she grabbed both of you and took you to Artek for the majority of the time and then, right as you were both about to wake, she moved you to OnyxFive."

"Maybe." I wondering who else might be a part of this game. The sound of someone running toward us caused my head to jerk around. "We need to get out of here. Someone is coming," I said, grabbing my medallion before we came face-to-face with whoever was out in the woods.