Ghost Scarab

Corey

A lot of the dialogue in this chapter comes directly from the Scarab Beetle book mainly I had to change things to better fit Sang's personality and to account for her messed up voice.

I watched as Axel retreated into his room to call my sister. I sat on the couch in stunned silence. My head was spinning. I had agreed to help a group of strangers satisfy their curiosity about the actions of an unknown man. Not only was I going to steal his wallet, but I was also going to have to put it back. They promised to help me out, told me that my lack of identity didn't have to hold me back that I had options.

I learned that my father had planned on sending Marie and me to boarding school, a boarding school that was shut down due to abuse accusations. Marie had a cell phone. I wondered how she was able to afford it and how she dared to risk it. Having a cell phone would have made it simpler for potential employers to contact me but I knew how Mother would react if she ever discovered me with one and decided I wasn't willing to risk it.

I was pulled from my thoughts when Brandon placed a cool glass of water in my hands. I gave him a grateful smile and took a long slow sip from the glass. Brandon took a seat next to me, "Corey went back to our apartment to get a small whiteboard. He thought it would be a good way for you to communicate when Axel isn't around to translate for you."

I don't think anyone had ever treated me with such thoughtfulness and as crazy as it seemed to me I felt safer with these men who I hardly knew then I could ever remember feeling with my own family.

A sharp shrill ringing sound broke the silence of the room and the remaining member of the group turned towards Kevin.

Kevin fished a cell phone out of his pocket. He quickly glanced down at the screen and immediately answered it. He stood and rushed to the front door. I heard him ask, "Hey. Is everything okay?" before he stepped out into the hallway passing Corey on his way out.

"Was that Mindy calling again?" Corey asked as he made a beeline over to where I was sitting. He handed me a small whiteboard and a marker before turning his attention to Marc who had started to speak.

"Yeah, she's doing that a lot more recently," Marc said nodding.

I wondered what was going on. I had felt incredibly uncomfortable earlier when Kevin was talking about not wanting me around because of his girlfriend. I hadn't understood why he felt that way but it made me feel unwelcome and I had to fight the urge to leave. Now the way Marc and Corey were talking it made me think that they weren't happy that Kevin's girlfriend was calling a lot.

I uncapped the marker Corey had just handed to me and wrote on the whiteboard, "Is that a bad thing?"

Marc shook his head, "It's not bad. It's just they've been getting really close. He's been a bit distracted but it's no big deal. It happens, right?"

I shrugged, I had no experience to draw from and wasn't sure what they were worried Kevin would get distracted from. I also thought I detected a note of sadness in Marc's voice but I didn't know any of them well enough to say for sure.

Marc began going over the information for me to catch me up on their plan. Brandon disappeared as Marc spoke only to return several minutes later with a bowl of soup. I flashed him another smile of thanks and took a bite. It was canned soup which I normally wasn't a fan of but I was ravenous.

As I ate I paid close attention to what Marc was saying. The location of the party was a fancy mansion. The house belonged to my target, Blake Coaltar. They had an overview of the house as well as a few pictures of the house and grounds. There was a photo of the target; it was a faded image from a security camera. The house itself looked like one of the estate properties that you found further down the peninsula. I couldn't even begin to guess how much a house like that would cost which raised an important question.