The Protectors Of Fortune And Power

Chapter Eight: Running to Safety?

I didn't wait around for the shapeshifter to attack or explain how the heck he knew who I was. I ran. Sprinted for the exit as fast as I could with an injured leg. Normally I would stand my ground, but I was in no position to fight. My first instinct was to run straight to headquarters. But the more I thought about it the more I realized that the shapeshifter would most likely go there too.

I changed directions and headed to the one place I knew the shapeshifter would never find me. Trixy's house. No one besides me in headquarters knows where she lives. And the shapeshifter has never seen me with her. Which makes it the perfect place to hide out. When I arrived I was not even out of breath. I was however in lots of pain.

I rang the bell and stepped back a little. After a few seconds of waiting and no one answering I tried knocking. Still no one. I pulled out my phone and saw three missed calls and voicemails. My phone is always on silent during a mission because I use my comm link to communicate. The first two voicemails I ignored but the third one was from Trixy.

She had called three days ago and left a message for me. She said that she was leaving town for a few days and wouldn't be back until today at 6:00 p.m. Trixy wanted to know if I wanted to hang out when she got back. She finished the call with call me back when you get this.

I instantly called her up. She answered on the third ring, "Hey Crystal! I thought I wouldn't hear back from you in time. Are you able to hang out?"

"Yeah totally. What time are you going to be back?" I had to sit on the porch step to rest my leg. I kept glancing around, nervous that I would be spotted by the shapeshifter or his men.

"Not until 6:00 p.m. tonight. We could grab food and then a movie after?" she suggested.

"Sounds good. Hey, any chance you have a spare key to your house?" I had to get inside. Being out here was freaking me out.

"You mean outside? Yeah. Why? Something not well at home?" Trixy was always so concerned and kind. Always willing to help me when I needed it.

"No. My mom is yelling at me again. Mind letting me spend time in your house for a little bit? Or until you arrive?" I explained.

"Not a problem. Key's hidden in the fake rock on the porch. See you soon!" Trixy hung up.

I rushed to pick up the rock and pulled out the key inside. I inserted it into the lock and went inside. Relocking the door behind me I headed straight for the kitchen. Trixy always had ice packs around because she was accident prone.

All the windows were closed because of her trip so I just headed into the living room and sat down. I put an ice pack on my leg and tried to relax. I thought about contacting Xavier,  but was too afraid to do so. If I called him while the shapeshifter was there I could be putting everyone in danger.

Normally I had lots of patience and can stay calm in dire circumstances, but I was terrified. My comm link buzzed on my wrist causing me to jump a mile high. I answered by pressing the bead once. "Yes?"

"Agent Gem thank god you're ok. Are you safe?" Xavier asked.

"Yeah I'm safe. Why? What happened?"

"Someone tried to get into our headquarters. I am assuming it was the shapeshifter. Well he got in and began demanding to know where you were. Are you hidden?"

"Yes. The shapeshifter won't find me. That was exactly why I didn't return to headquarters. You all would have been at risk."

"Stay safe. And keep in touch whenever you can. If you go dark I will send help."

"No don't. It will be too dangerous. Besides, I am possibly the only one who can stop him. I will be fine."

"Alright, but Crystal? You better come back to me alive. You hear me? Alive. I don't want to have to plan a funeral for you."

"I'll come back. I swear." I tapped the green bead twice. Being as jumpy as I was at that moment I knew I had to settle down. So I carefully made my way around Trixy's house looking for something to do.

6:00 p.m. finally came around. I was in the living room when I heard the front door creak open. "Crystal? You still here?" Trixy's voice carried through the house.

"Yeah Trix, I am in your living room."

"You hungry? Because I know a great pizza place you would love."

"Sure, let's do it. And I think we also discussed a potential movie?"

"Let's walk there and talk about the movie options on the way."

We headed out and began our walk down the street. It wasn't dark yet, but it was already growing chilly. Trixy had a list of movies playing tonight on her phone. We finally decided on a comedy at 8:00 p.m.

“Hey I noticed you are limping. Did that happen before or after the fight with your mom?” Trixy asked.

“I don’t really want to talk about it if that’s okay. I just had to get out of there for a bit.” I explained. Lying to Trixy always brought me down. But that was the consequences of being a spy. If you do make any friends you have to lie to them left and right.

“Alright. I know what it’s like you know. To fight with parents. Except it rarely happens to me because I don’t see my parents as often as you. Also I thought you had big plans to move away from here to try and prevent your mom from visiting. What happened with that?” Trixy wondered.

“Yeah, no. The apartment I wanted got sold before I could earn enough money to buy it. Haven’t found another decently priced one since.” I lied. I had told her that despite the fact that I loved getting visits from my mom, I still wanted to move away from here and experience somewhere new.

“That sucks. You’re just having bad luck everywhere aren’t you, Lena?” Trixy replied, “I mean Crystal.”

“Who’s Lena?” I asked. My body instantly alert. Trixy couldn’t be the shapeshifter, could she? No she must have just been replaced by him. Yeah that’s it. She was captured and replaced by the shapeshifter. I thought to myself.

“No one. She is just another friend of mine. You two look a lot alike.” Trixy explained. But her explanation felt rushed and sloppy.

“Don’t lie to me Trixy. I know your only friend is me.” I took a step back. My breaths came in fast gasps as my heart began to race. I had to calm down or I was going to have a panic attack. First thing I had to figure out was whether or not Trixy had really been replaced by the shapeshifter.

“I want to believe that it’s you but right now I can’t. You need to tell me something only Trixy would know.”

“Crystal? What is going on? I am me. I don’t understand why you’d think I wasn’t.” Trixy kept walking towards me and avoided the request. Something definitely wasn’t right.

“Stop playing around shapeshifter. Clearly it’s you. Why don’t you show me who you truly are!” I shouted. Lucky for me if a fight broke out there weren't that many people around to witness it.

“You really are quite a tricky person to find you know. Sadly for you, you won’t be able to run much longer.” the shapeshifter turned into a snake and snapped at my leg. I quickly pulled it back and tried to get a hit in.

The shapeshifter kept shapeshifting into different animals and really strong guys. It was really hard for me to get a punch or kick in because he would just change into something else and avoid the attack. A guy appeared again and punched me in the gut dropping me to the ground.

“Oh Crystal. I told you that you wouldn’t be able to run anymore.” he shapeshifted into a snake again and bit my arm. Instantly my vision blurred and my muscles felt heavy. Within a few seconds I was unconscious.