The Runaway Wife

Chapter 13

As Jylie led Jackie through the Red Dragon HQ, which was essentially a town hidden in the remains of some sort of old underground mine, all of its inhabitants stared at the red haired girl. Every one of them had seen her on the news over the years and knew exactly who she was. As they glared at her, she pulled her expensive coat tighter around her shoulders. If only she had some plain clothes. Then she could fit in with the dirty, brown outfits they were dressed in.

Skylar deserted the girls to join some people he knew. His expression aimed toward the runaway wife echoed those of the others.

"When they look at you, they see John," Jylie whispered as she led Jackie through the crowd toward the largest building at the end of the huge cave. "Ignore them. They'll learn to trust you eventually." Pushing open the front door to the large, stone building, she gestured for her friend to step inside.

Jackie glanced back at the rebels once more, taking in the small tents they were living in and the small children playing in the mud. She'd been living in luxury while her husband forced these people to hide underground. Biting her lip in anguish, she let Jylie shut the door behind her and lead her into the center of the room where many important looking people were waiting.

A large table displaying a hologram of the country stood in the middle of the room, similar to what she'd seen in the tent where she'd met Jylie and Skylar. Standing around it were seven people. To the left was a man with dark brown hair, dressed in an outfit that looked like it belonged in a pirate film. He sneered at everyone in the room, not just her, and had several grenades strapped to his chest. Next to him was a good looking man with several machine guns attached to his back. He flashed her a fake smile before turning to look at the girl across from him. She looked far younger than the rest and had brown hair with blonde streaks running through it. If she had any weapons on her, they were hidden in the baggy pants she was sporting.

Next to the young girl was probably the most muscular man Jackie had ever seen. Every vein on his arms popped and he seemed to enjoy showing them off because his shirt didn't cover up much. By his side was Miya's husband, Roderick, who looked like he'd just had a shower. He was dressed in a light blue shirt that stood out against his dark skin. Smiling genuinely at his sister in law, he asked if she was doing okay.

"She'd better be," the woman at the front of the table interjected. She had dark purple hair, tan skin, and black clothes that were meant to show off her body (mainly as a distraction). Her dark eyes examined Jackie and hid any emotions she was feeling at that moment. "If we're going to have her help us, she needs to be at her best."

Miya appeared behind the woman, grinning but looking exhausted. "Hey, Jackie," she said, waving at her. "I'm glad Jylie got you here safely." It looked like she wanted to join her sister but instead stayed by the stern woman's side.

The purple haired woman looked Jackie over, squinting, then waved her away. "We'll talk to you in a moment. In the meantime, sit over there." She pointed toward a bench by the door and began discussing the map. It showed the locations of Red Dragon hideouts throughout the country. There were quite a few but they all looked very small compared to the size of the Hikari Company's locations.

Jylie sat next to her friend and patted her shoulder. "Don't worry. Naomi's like that toward everybody. "

Jackie nodded silently, afraid to say anything in front of all these strange people. Most of them looked like they'd kill her in two seconds if she said the wrong thing, though Jylie would probably be able to protect her with the weird green orbs she threw from her hands. Since they had nothing to do, the magical girl gave Jacelyn exposition about all the people, which made her see some of them in a new light.