Chapter 24 – Mission set
The day of the sleepover comes quickly. I should have been excited, thrilled that I'm going but my stomachs in knots and I feel like I'm going to be sick. Uriah wants something from them and I still have no idea why the book is so important and how to get it. Most of all I'm stealing from a Pack that has taken us in.
A Pack I know without a doubt is protecting us.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I release a pent-up sigh. I need to get out of this as quickly as possible and so far, both Gee and Ethan are MIA. I slip the last dagger I have into the lining of the bag, sliding it shut again.
You can do this, you can do this I internally chant, rubbing the side of my head in a ditch attempt to massage the constant headache that has persistently developed in the same spot for the past few days. Swinging the bag over my shoulder I make my way down the narrow corridor and then the huge, over extravagant staircase.
You're protecting your family and this Pack. You're not bending to Uriah's will. You've got this Scarlett. I'm going to turn this on him and sort this shit out. I can do this I chant, chewing on my lip. Just flow with the punches for now, stick to defence.
I glance around but can't spot anyone as I make my way to the kitchen, catching Mum's familiar cherry scent. Before I can say anything she quickly interjects, not even lifting her head from the stack of papers she's working through. A pair of thin rimmed glasses perched on the end of her nose "how's my secret gymnast this afternoon?"
I groan and shove my fingers through my mussed hair "Mum, seriously?" Ever since she heard about me saving Taylor and watched the video some idiot posted online, which doesn't capture my most flattering angle, Mum instantly tried to talk to me about it. She's apparently suspicious about how fast and easily I managed to get up there. She's adamant that I'm some sort of secret gymnast and will not, no matter what let it go.
Sighing, I grab a piece of her toasted cheese sandwich off her plate and sit opposite her "it was a child's climbing frame. Any idiot could have done it. How long is it going to be till you drop that?"
Mum flashes me an amused smile, placing her pen on the stack of papers in front of her "how long is it going to be until you start telling the truth?"
"Why are you so suspicious?" I lean back and nibble on the edge of my toast "actually, why is everyone so suspicious lately? First, it's Archer, then Brad, then Officer what's-it-name..." I frown then quickly fill in the gap "Goddard, Officer Goddard and then Nan and now you!"
I narrow my eyes, quickly turning the question on her to get her off my back, but she isn't having it "it's funny how I saw the video and the minute you found out about it, it's gone. Nowhere to be found on the internet."
I raise an eyebrow, looking coolly at Mum and shrugging my shoulders "so, now I'm also a secret hacker?"
"I don't know, are you?"
I crack an amused smile she's not that far off actually. "So, let me get this clear. I'm a secret gymnast with a hacking hobby that I like to do in my spare time, oh and a Flash in the making" I tap my chin "I wonder who my Cisco and Caitlin are?"
"You did move way too fast to catch Casey the other day, definitely a Barry Allen in the making, when were you hit by lightning?"
I laugh and flick a crumb at her as she sends me a wide grin "okay. That does sound a little farfetched."
I lean forwards and wiggle my eyebrows suggestively "but maybe I'm just trying to make you think it's a ridiculous idea to get you off my scent" I wink and lean back, crossing my ankles as Mum releases a bout of laughter. I shrug my shoulders and splay my hands out dramatically, wiggling them at her as if to shoot some sort of electrical current from my fingertips "you'll never know." She chuckles and picks up the other slice of cheese toast and takes a big bite into it.
