Child of Recklessness (Trials of Strength Book 2) (3 page)

‘
Shit,’ Anna whispered.

‘
That’s not all,’ the voice on the phone said.
‘Wait.’

Grainy
photos of the three of our heads appeared on the screen, mine
covered in a lot of blood. The woman’s voice came back as the
pictures shrunk and moved to the top right corner of the
screen.

‘
These individuals are wanted in connection with the murder,
and are described as dangerous and probably armed. Police are
urging the public not to approach them, but to telephone the number
onscreen immediately if sighted.’

I shook
my head. It looked like we had less time than we had
thought.

The news
reporter finished, and the screen returned to the studio. A man
appeared behind a desk, staring into the camera. He was about to
continue with other news when the screen went blank and turned
red.

‘
What’s happening?’ I asked, and Anna shook her head, flipping
through channels before finally returning to the one we were
on.

‘
We’re having problems as well,’ Anna’s phone buddy
said.

We sat there for a few seconds, and then the screen went
blank. When it lit up again, the words
EMERGENCY BROADCAST
flashed and the
same woman we had watched before reappeared, her face shocked and
fearful.

‘
Citizens of Redburn, this is an Emergency Broadcast, you are
urged to pay close attention to this message,’ the reporter
flustered. ‘Our previous report on the murder of a man today has
taken a startling turn. These faces you will see in a few seconds,
wanted in connection with this murder, are also wanted for the
destruction of a highland town several miles from here. The town of
Greystone was viciously destroyed a few weeks ago, and police have
issued a statement regarding these now fugitives.’

And
that’s when our lives became infinitely harder than we could have
imagined. Our faces filled the screen. These were not the grainy
zoomed in pictures we’d just seen, but clear and smiling faces.
Mine, from what was probably my college ID, Anna’s from what looked
like a driver’s license and Chris, in army fatigues.

‘
Holy fuck,’ I said.

*

After
the pictures appeared, Anna and I flew into action. She finished
quickly with the man on the line, taking a note of some address and
promising to see him there, and then we grabbed the rest of our
things. Before I could question her, the phone rang again, and I
picked up. It was Chris.

‘
You’re not going to believe what I’ve just seen,’ he
said.

‘
Oh I think we will, especially if it includes us being
murderers and terrorists,’ I replied as Anna handed me a
backpack.

‘
Lucas, we have to rethink our priorities here,’ Chris said as
the car’s motor hummed in the background. ‘Is your father really
worth it?’

‘
What?’ I asked.

‘
Never mind,’ he sighed. ‘I’m parked out front, get your arses
out here.’

I hung
up, lingering on what Chris had said about priorities, when Anna
confirmed we had everything. We opened the door and made our way to
the ground floor. The cushy hall was inhabited by only one person,
a receptionist behind her desk.

‘
Come on,’ I said. ‘Let’s just leave.’

Anna
nodded and we made for the automatic doors that led to the street.
I could see Chris and the car through the glass, and I was afraid
that with our new circumstances, any sudden movements would cause
armed police to descend on us. I sighed with relief when we reached
the doors.

‘
Excuse me?’ the woman shouted and a cold chill crawled up my
spine. ‘Are you guys checking out?’

I turned
to see a small woman around thirty running towards us. I was about
to reply when she skidded to a stop, wide-eyed and terrified. Her
mouth flew open and she screamed, turned and then ran back to her
desk. She grabbed her phone and sprinted from the hall.

News spreads fast I see.

We sped
up, exited through the open doors and dove into the car. We told
Chris what had happened and he swore, something I realised he did
often, and pulled away from the pavement. We sat, breathing
heavily, and scanned the streets relentlessly.

A sharp
pain throbbed in my mind. It was too much, hunting my father,
Anna’s brother, a twin sister I may or may not have, a shady group
trying to kill us, and then there was our own government hunting us
for things we hadn’t done. Add into the mix the baby Anna and I had
on the way and things looked mightily screwed.

As these
thoughts flitted through my mind, I felt something. It was like a
twinge, something I should be realising that could make sense to
the nightmare we found ourselves in, but I couldn’t for the life of
me figure out what.

‘
Who was that on the phone?’ I asked Anna in the front seat, I
needed a distraction.

‘
It was Brian,’ she answered, turning round.

‘
Who?’ I shrugged.

‘
Brian Butcher, Paul’s son,’ she explained. ‘Looks like they’re
doing what we’re doing, looking for your Dad. They gave me this
address.’

Anna
handed the piece of paper she had written on to Chris.

‘
What is it?’ Chris asked.

‘
I’m not sure,’ Anna replied. ‘It’s on the outskirts of the
city. We don’t have to stay, but it’s somewhere we can catch our
breath.’

I nodded
and Chris shrugged.

‘
It’s worth a try,’ he said.

‘
We should tread lightly though,’ I said, staring into the
street.

No one
answered, but they knew what I meant. Back in Greystone, trapped
underground, Paul had broken down and caused a few problems. I
didn’t blame him. He had lost his other son during that time, and
had been drugged by the resident psychopath in our group. After we
escaped we didn’t know how to get into contact with any other
survivors, we’d just hoped they were safe. I hadn’t entertained the
idea of them going after my father like we were.

A few hours later the sun drifted over the horizon, and stars
filled the sky. After several wrong turns and panicked arguments,
we reached the area Paul and Brian had told us of. It was
surprisingly empty, with mainly rundown buildings and questionable
stores. When we reached the address I had to blink a few times. The
building was large, its stone edifice towered high into the sky and
the words ‘
Redburn’s Trinity Hotel’
hung over the entrance. The majority of its
windows were boarded up, and at the side of the building homeless
men and women gathered around a burning fire.

‘
Nice place,’ Chris said.

The
building was dark and eerie. We exited the car and gathered our
things, wondering what to do next when a shadowy figure bounded
down the steps that led to the hotel entrance. He looked a few
years younger than me, sixteen, maybe seventeen. I barely
recognised him, his black hair was slicked up, and thick, black
glasses rested on his nose, shielding hazel-coloured eyes. Far
different from the terrified shell we had all been back in
Greystone.

‘
Hey, Anna,’ Brian said, reaching her and giving her a
hug.

I tried
to remember whether Brian had been the son of Paul’s she had dated
before.

‘
Hey you,’ she replied, smiling.

‘
Chris, Lucas,’ he nodded to the both of us. ‘Looks like
trouble follows you around wherever you guys go. It’s good to see
you again.’

Chris
inclined his head back and Brian looked at me.

‘
Sorry if I’m not so forthcoming,’ I said, ‘but the last few
times we’ve met, I distinctly remember you shoving a gun in my
face.’

Brian
laughed and shook his head.

‘
Sorry about that. These are the times we live in now,’ he
replied. ‘Oh, and I’m not the brother you’re thinking
of.’

Anna
frowned and Chris chuckled. I couldn’t help the smile that spread
across my face, and Brian turned, motioning us to follow. We
climbed the stairs and entered the decaying hotel.

‘
This place, how did you find it?’ Anna inquired, side by side
with Brian.

‘
It’s a long story,’ he replied. ‘It belonged to some rich dude
who opened it up on a whim. When the recession hit, he abandoned
ship and a while later it closed down. That was a few months ago.
Apart from the vandals who smashed it up, everything still works,
for now anyway.’

We
reached two elevators and Brian punched the button for one of them.
We waited in the dark and silent entrance hall as the elevator
hummed down to our floor. I could see shapes and figures lying
around, homeless seeking shelter. With a ping, the elevator doors
opened and we filed in.

‘
Is this place safe?’ Chris spoke up.

‘
Is anywhere?’ Brian laughed. ‘We guess so. No one’s gonna come
looking for us in amongst this kinda crowd. Plus we’re on the
outskirts of the city, any sign of trouble, we can make a quick
getaway.’

Anna
leaned against the wall as the elevator rode up. I moved in front
of her and smiled, taking her hand. She looked
exhausted.

‘
You okay?’ I asked.

‘
Tired,’ she said. ‘I just want this day to end. To wake up and
find everything was a crappy dream. Well, apart from you. Do you
think you can make that happen?’

I
chuckled and pulled her close.

‘
I want to. More than anything,’ I whispered.

I was
lucky. Thanks to my new gifts I rarely got tired. I never felt weak
or slow, just alert and ready.

The
elevator stopped and the doors opened onto a long hallway. The
floor was a crimson carpet that didn’t quite reach either side of
the hall, and the stone walls were adorned with faded portraits and
landscapes.

‘
It’s like a medieval castle,’ I said. ‘Creepy.’

Brian
nodded and said, ‘Yeah, I think that’s what the owner was going
for, although in the end it definitely didn’t do him any
favours.’

The
floor consisted of two rooms, well, massive suites. It was the
floor reserved for VIPs, people who could afford such luxury. The
dark however made my skin crawl.

‘
I thought everything was still working?’ I asked.

‘
It is,’ Brian answered, ‘but we try not to use the lights,
especially during the night. Technically we’re still trespassing,
and the police know the homeless use it, but if we broadcast it
they usually turn up and bust some heads, fucking idiots. They
blame the homeless for being burdens on society, so yeah they can
bunk here, but if they start to treat it like home, using lights
and stuff, well, you know…’

He took
us down the hall, two sets of double doors across from one another
led into either room. Brian stopped at the one on the left, and
with an ordinary looking metal key, opened it. He ushered us
inside, then turned back and made sure we weren’t followed before
locking the door again.

‘
My Dad and I are in the other room, but you guys can sleep in
this one. We mainly use it as our base of operations kinda thing,’
Brian said.

As you
entered, the room dipped down a few stairs. Across from us was a
set of windows that covered the span of the entire room, the city
spread out below in a twinkling of lights. In front of the windows
was a bank of what looked like desktop computers and laptops, a lot
of them. To either side were doors leading off, no doubt to the
bedrooms.

‘
They made it!’ a voice I hadn’t missed chimed.

A man
almost the spitting image of his son appeared from the darkness. He
had the same black hair and dark-hazel eyes, but his mouth drooped,
and it looked like the man was permanently growling at something.
In his late-thirties, early-forties, Paul looked a decade older. He
rushed over and a jolt passed through my body, a warning. Paul
however scooped me into his arms, squeezed me into a hug and set me
down.

What…

I
blinked rapidly as he did the same with Anna, whose face contorted
into the same frown I had. Once she was down, Paul moved over to
Chris, who with one push of his hand and shake of his head, saved
himself from the strangeness that we’d been subjected
to.

I looked
at Brian and he shrugged. His face creased in concern, and before
any of us could say anything, Paul had our bags and was ushering
Anna over to one of the rooms.

‘
It’s awesome to see you guys again,’ he was saying. ‘Things
have been hellish with you gone, come on, I’ll show you the
rooms.’

Anna’s
head turned and her wide-eyes pleaded for help. I couldn’t suppress
the grin spreading across my face, and she narrowed her eyes, her
mind no doubt plotting revenge.

‘
Sorry about that,’ Brian sighed.

‘
Is he okay?’ I asked.

My
memories of Paul weren’t pleasant. We had never been friendly,
especially hugging buddies. Greystone changed him, the events there
hadn’t agreed with any of us, but Paul had found it more difficult
than the rest of us. He had tried to take over the group, sinking
to dangerous lows to do so. To top it off, he lost his son, and a
woman named Grace, a spy undercover for my father, had been
drugging him.