Spy School: Why did you leave me? [EDITING]

[Chapter 16]

This picture is what Rio looks like at night.

Airplane headed to Rio

May 16

1400 (2:00 PM)

Ben POV

Surprisingly, the rest of the plane ride went smoothly. Due to previous events, I had decided that going on a plane was a living beacon for Spyder attacks. It was a little hard to relax when I half expected Spyder Agents to burst through one of the plane's doors, but I made it through. Erica didn't come down for lunch, so Zoe brought food to Erica's room. I heard Zoe trying to talk to Erica, but when Zoe came back she looked frightened, so I guessed Erica had blackmailed her. The rest of the plane ride was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. After that period of uncomfortable silence, our plane landed. Zoe and Mike were the first to exit. I was supposed to follow them, but then I had another idea. I turned to Raven, who was behind me and asked her a question.

"Hey Raven, could I wait for Erica to come?" I asked her.

"Call me Natalya, and yes, you may wait for Ms. Hale to come," she said, stepping in front of me and exiting the plane. Five minutes later, Erica came down. Or at least, it was someone with the same height and build. I couldn't see her face, because she was wearing a hoodie covering her face. She walked right past me, and out the doors. As she went by, I considered tapping her on the shoulder and asking what was wrong, but considering what she had done to Zoe, I decided against it. I just shook my head and followed behind her. As I stepped out of the plane, I was greeted by a gust of warm air. Wow, it's humid here! I looked around and realized there was forest everywhere. There was a staircase attached to the plane, and I stepped down it.

"Uh, where is civilization?" I said once I reached the ground.

"You'll be in the main city of Rio in around half an hour," Raven replied immediately. I decided not to question that, but I started thinking. Right now, we were in a forest. How could we enter a major city in 30 minutes? At that thought, a black minivan rolled to a stop in front of us. At least we don't have to walk, I thought as I stepped inside the minivan. Unfortunately, I found an unwanted answer to my question. As soon as the door closed, Natalya stepped her foot on the pedal, and all that was left behind was a trail of dust. 70...80....90... the speedometer kept climbing.

"Ummm, aren't we going a bit fast?" I asked. I heard a shout and looked around. Apparently, Zoe was treating this like a roller coaster. She had her hands above her head, and she was shouting. Leave it to Zoe to always find the good in things. I looked at Mike, whos' face looked a little green. He probably ate too much on the flight. Erica was emotionless as always, but I could see a thrill, a spark, in her eyes.

"If we want to beat the daily traffic, we have to get there fast," Natalya replied, not taking her eyes off the road. I looked out the window, and I was surprised. I swear a second ago we were just in the forest. But now the scenery was quickly changing. I saw the world around me transform from a desolate forest to a large urban city. There were large, tall office buildings on the sides of the street. People wearing many different colored clothes walked on the sidewalks. I could see the Christ the Redeemer statue watching over the city in the distance. We drove for another twenty minutes and then arrived at our destination. We were at a hotel. A very big hotel. From my point of view, I counted 20 floors, but I thought that there were more.

"Everyone out of the car," Natalya said, getting out of the car. Zoe hopped out of the car, looking as cheerful as ever. Erica followed with her unemotional face on. Then I stepped out, trying to get my eyes to adjust to the blinding light. Lastly, Mike stumbled out, looking completely traumatized. We checked in to the hotel. Turns out that this place was very booked up, so we had to share rooms. I was sharing a room with Mike, while Erica was sharing a room with Zoe. Natalya would have a room to herself.