Within These Walls

Life After Dark: 11 (WTW Sequel)

(Updated every Sunday by 6pm EST. I'm sorry for the short length of this chapter, but I'm dealing with a family emergency and don't have much time. Thank you so much for your support! Also, I love the guesses and speculation you guys make. Some of you are scary-good. :D)

"Finding them should be our first priority," Janie says.

Pablo snorts as he puts his handgun back together. It's fifteen past one, and we're all in the living room together. Marcus is on the big white sofa with Willow. Pablo is sitting on the loveseat, and Janie is perched on his armrest, her expression hardened by determination. The rest of us are sitting around them on elegant chairs we dragged from the dining room.

One of the servants is serving us tea and coffee, neither of which I'm interested in. I lean back in my chair and keep silent. I'm not worried Marcus will kick me out if I say something. I'm quiet because I'm not sure what to say. What Janie's suggesting is suicidal. It's the right thing to do, but it's also something that could get us killed or captured. But I'm guessing Pablo's disagreement is for another reason: he doesn't care enough to try to save them.

"You getting anything about Alec?" Marcus asks him.

He shakes his head. "Radio silence."

"He's lying," Janie says angrily. "Why would he admit to picking up something if he can get out of helping Adam and the others?"

Pablo gives her a mocking smile. "You'll never know, will you?"

It sounds like this conversation is about Pablo's ability. It didn't cross my mind until this moment that he might have one. I study him curiously. His ability helps him pick up things. Is he a telepath? An empath?

I lean forward as they continue to bicker, resting my elbows on my knees. "What's he supposed to pick up?" I ask Willow.

"He has a predictive ability," she answers quietly as we watch Janie get up and pace the room. Janie rants about how much Adam and the captured kids have done for us and how we can't just abandon them. She even throws in a line about poor Saige being lost and lonely without her boyfriend to keep her safe. Meant to win over Marcus, I'm sure. "He can make predictions about what's going to happen in the future to some degree of accuracy," Willow adds.

My eyebrows shoot up. "You mean he can see the future?"

"Not exactly. It's more of a hunch about something that's going to happen. Like, he can guess the winning numbers of the lottery numbers way better than humanly possible. And he's usually right about the weather. Unlike Marcus, Pablo isn't hot-headed. He's calculating and likes to plan things ahead. Hence the ability to predict the future."

"So why is he getting nothing from Alec?"

"It doesn't work one hundred percent of the time. It could also be because Alec has gone somewhere our powers can't reach. Just like the Shroud couldn't get to us back at the facility."

"That's where he is now?"

She shakes her head. "Gardiner cleared out of there before the police got to it. They probably set up another base, but we have no idea where that might be."

Something else she said sticks in my head. "Did Pablo win the lottery? Is that how we have all this money all of a sudden?"

"Yes."

"That's a relief," I sigh. "And here I thought you guys robbed a bank."

Willow laughs. "The only time we cheated the bank system was when I set up accounts for us under fake names and distributed the money between them, but other than that, we try not to blur the line between good and evil too much."