Unsung

Chapter Eighty

People give you the weirdest looks when you walk down the street as a group of teens who all look like they've been involved in a high school fight club. Even at the institute, a place where injuries were common, gazes lingered longer than was normal, and you could see the questions on their faces, even if they didn't voice them.

But none of us said anything. Even when Trick jokingly asked if we'd joined a "Walking Dead" cosplay group. We just laughed it off, like we were in on the joke.

We had to if we wanted our plan to work. And we needed it to work.

"Archers! Please take your places behind your lines!" Drew yelled out from behind us loudly. "First person to hit five bullseyes wins a prize."

We looked over at the older archery instructor as he stood with perfect posture and a mischievous look on his face. He was wearing a blood-red polo shirt, a white golfer's hat and khaki shorts. The only thing about his uniform that ever changed was the color of his polo shirt. Other than that, he always looked the same. There was actually something oddly comforting in the fact that I always knew what to expect with him.

"What do we win?" Ty called out, resting his chin on the tip of his bow.

Drew frowned. One of his biggest pet peeves was when people abused the equipment. And using the bow as a glorified walking stick? Not exactly his idea of respecting the gear.

"It's a surprise," Drew answered, boring a hole into Ty with his pointed stare.

Looking down at the other end of his bow which was resting on the ground, and then back to Drew's displeased face, Ty slowly lifted it up and cradled it like a small child. Drew's frown disappeared, but his annoyance didn't.

"Take a moment to prepare yourselves," he continued. "The contest will commence shortly."

Standing in the lane next to mine, Ris nonchalantly made his way over to me and gave me a look.

"It's time," he said, and then gestured across the facility almost imperceptibly.

My gaze followed his, trying not to be obvious about it, and I watched as Cain closed the door to his office and headed down toward the main floor. The nerves in my stomach flared with every step the Professor took to descend the stairs, and I finally had to look away to keep from throwing up.

"You really think this is going to work?" I asked, hoping he'd changed his mind in the past few seconds and I didn't have to go after all.

Why it was up to me to draw our enemy out, I still didn't know. If McKayla's theory was correct, that the Skulk King was after all of us, then an argument could be made for someone else going. But Ris had insisted it had to be me. And I was too tired and scared to fight him on it.

"It's gonna work," Ris promised. He slipped something small and cold into my hand, pressing the rectangular object into the middle of my palm for safe-keeping. "Just plug it in and it'll do the rest."

I nodded and then glanced at Drew's back before taking a step and promptly falling to the ground. Gripping my left knee tightly, I let out a little yelp and lowered my head like I was in pain.

"Are you okay, Ms. Allen?" Drew asked, looking concerned as he crouched down beside me and reached out a tentative hand to touch my leg.

"I don't know," I said, sounding unsure. But as soon as Drew touched me, I let out a wail.

"I think I twisted it," I said, guarding it protectively.

"We better call the trainer," Drew said, looking around the room for one of the medical staff that was always on-site for injuries.

"I can go," I said quickly. "I mean, I think I'll be okay if I don't put any pressure on it."

Drew looked like he was about to argue with me, so I stood up, careful to keep the weight off my fake injury.

"Besides, you've got a contest to run," I said, gesturing behind him.

Drew glanced back at the others who were all waiting at their respective lines, and then bit his lip, torn. When he looked back at me, I was already hobbling away.

"Okay," Drew called after me. "But stop and ask for help if you need it."

I just nodded as I moved slowly off the archery grounds. When I thought I'd gotten far enough away, I began to jog to the stairs and bounded up them two at a time. At the top, I hung a right, making my way toward the meditation and Krav rooms as quickly as I could without arousing suspicion from passing instructors. A few seconds later, and nearly out of breath, I found myself in front of a closed door. Looking around to make sure nobody was watching, I turned the knob and slipped inside.

Cain's office was clean. At least, a lot cleaner than it had been right after the FBI had raided it over a week ago. His computer was back. Or rather, he'd replaced the one that had been confiscated with a newer, sleeker one.

I crossed the room as quickly and soundlessly as I could and sat down behind the Professor's desk, touching the sensor pad on the laptop until the screen stirred to life. The university logo appeared, rotating in a circle as it changed colors like a disco ball.

I pulled a piece of paper out of my waistband and flattened it out on the desktop nervously. Doing my best to decipher Ris' chicken scratches, I found the folder that controlled the security cameras and entered the code that was written on the paper.

Within seconds, more than a dozen camera feeds popped up, displaying nearly every inch of the facility. The rock climbing wall, meditation room, shooting range, main floor, it was all up there in front of me. It was the epitome of being a fly on the wall. And it was probably how the Skulk King had been a step ahead of us this whole time.

Until now.

Retrieving the item Ris had slipped to me downstairs, I glanced over at the door, wondering how much time I had left before someone came in. As I pushed the USB drive into one of the holes in the side of the laptap, my leg began to bounce up and down impatiently as I waited for it to do its magic.

Ris had said I wouldn't have to do anything past plugging it in. That the program on the USB would run itself. But for a split second, I wondered if he hadn't finally hit the limit on what he was capable of.

The system suddenly began to whir and one by one, each feed turned to black, except for the one of me standing alone in Cain's office. Searching around the room, I found the camera secured high up in the corner and gave it a triumphant smile.

Turning my back on it again, I snagged a piece of paper from the printer tray and a marker and began to write. When I was finished, I spun back around to the camera and held it up so whoever was watching could see it clearly.

We know who you are,

and we know what you've done.

Meet us here tonight or

we're going to the cops.

When I was sure they'd had enough time to see the message, I tossed the paper in the trash, pulled the USB drive from the computer and watched as all the feeds returned to normal.

Even if the Skulk King didn't take the bait, the program we'd downloaded onto Cain's computer would be able to pinpoint wherever the feed was streaming to. Which meant we'd have the Skulk King's location and identity and more than enough to take him down.

Giving the camera one last smile, I turned and walkedout.