Miki squinted at it. "Okay I think I know where that is. I can't read Russian though." she grabbed her backpack and pulled out a folded up map of the city, unfolding and refolding til she got to the part that matched the map in Violet's hands. "Hmmm. I think I figured there was one in that area but I didn't have any specific." she pulled out a pen and marked the exact spot on her map.
He’s silent.
Yeah.
He sighs, still letting her rock him.
Kissa’s going to hate you.
He sits up, looking Silver in the eyes and bringing his wings up closer to his body.
Violet finds another, skimming through Ben’s notes and moving the map around. “Oh, Love, none of us can read his Russian. He writes cursive. Google doesn’t even know what he’s saying.” She points out another spot and starts to skim again.
"Oh, I'm sorry." Silver sat back, giving him space, and glanced over him. She gasped, a little quiet inhale, when her eyes landed on the scars lacing across his body. "Gabe…" she whispered. "Gabe, what did they do to you?"
Miki's eyes grew wide. "Russian cursive? Oh my word." She compared his notes and her map again. "Okay, I have that one." She made a note of it and then checked her devices. "What security measures do you have in place for this house?"
Gabe looks down to his chest, tracing along a white scar with his pale finger.
This was the dog.
He traces along another one.
This one was a whip.
He turns his wrists over to show the thick, white lines.
Kissa and me.
He looks back up to Silver and remembers she can’t hear him.
“This wasn’t them…”
Violet shakes her head. “I don’t know. This is Ben’s brothers home. Knowing his brother, it’ll be very secure. I know it’s not on maps and doesn’t have a technical address. Everything we do here is basically invisible.” She continues to skim the notes, growling in frustration. “Most of this is in Russian, my word. I’d like him to write in English if he would.”
Silver watched him as he slowly and methodically traced each scar. She could feel that he was thinking, doing that thing where he tried to communicate her without realizing he wasn't speaking. She almost smiled when he finally spoke. "You do realize I still can't read your mind?" she asked, gently teasing.
Miki nodded. "Okay good. That definitely buys us time." She skimmed through her information, switching back and forth from notebooks to her devices. "It might take some time to get responses from my sources to see if they've seen anything. Until then I can only cross reference my stuff with Ben's and maybe narrow the list of possible places." She chewed on her lip.
Gabriel looks back to his scars, possibly avoiding eye contact.
Sorry.
He coughs a little, "Sorry…"
He looks back up to her.
I didn't mean to spy. That wasn't even my mission. I didn't even bring anyone back.
"… did she hurt you?" He whispers, sounding a bit scratchy and hard to hear.
Violet continues to skim the notes for any English, though she's found the top 5 places he was interested in. Every now and then there was a small note in English, but it wasn't his writing, and sometimes there were Korean phrases and doodles on the sides from Cage.
She pulls out her phone and starts to text Cage.
"We have friends who went off wandering much like Silver did. We have the location on Cage and Hush, but the other three could be anywhere." She looks up to Miki. "Eventually me or Ben will go get them with the SUV."
It took a moment for Silver to realize he meant Kissa. Something was worming through her subconscious, a connection she couldn't quite grasp. "No. Well. Sort of. She didn't hurt me. But she attacked Miki on Ben's motorcycle and then caused Violet to crash the van. I think they're all okay though. I told her to leave them alone and I'd come with her instead. Ben and Miki were outside the van when I left, so they're well enough, I think. But I'm fine. She didn't do anything to me."
Two of the places Miki had marked matched up with Ben's, so she honed in on those, digging up all the info she had on them and comparing their maps.
"Ben doesn't have trackers on all of them? I thought he knew everyone's every move." Without looking up from her work she said. "How much do you trust me? Cuz if you'll let me… I can reach out to some of my people and have them keep an eye out for your friends."
Gabriel almost flinches at the phrase "She attacked". He didn't know the group well, but Kissa would be in a lot of trouble if the others figured out she caused an entire wreck. She wasn't supposed to attack or draw attention.
He looks up to the window beside the cot, staring out into the nothingness of a few tee branches and leaves. The window was nice, but the view was covered by a tee intentionally. He slowly blinks, then looks back to Silver.
I purposefully didn't bring her in, just for her to come here of her own will?
Why?
"Why did you come?"
Violet pauses for a moment, biting her lip.
"I… It's not that I don't trust you, it's just I don't think I trust people I don't know. I don't want to risk our safety, if that makes sense. More people than you probably realize are after us and because I don't know your sources, I don't know if we could trust them." She looks back to Miki, trying to see if she took the more-or-less confusing explanation well.
Cage takes his hand again, shaking a bit with anxiety. “Where’s Ben?? Where do we go??” He whispers.
(@Rocky)
Silver met his eyes. "I wanted to keep the others safe and I knew she wouldn't leave without someone… and… I missed you." her voice lowered. "I was worried about you. And she said… she said some things about you. I knew you had come back here and I knew you weren't safe. I wanted to come find you and get you out."
Miki nodded. "It's okay. I won't contact anyone without your permission and I totally understand. But I do have more resources and they are trustworthy. Many of them have helped me look for Silver over the years. I just wanted to let you know there is more help when we need it. But I wouldn't tell them about any of you until you were okay with it."
Gabriel looks to the ground and starts to fiddle with his fingers.
This is what Kiss wanted.
“W-What did she… sigh say about me?”
Violet nods. “Perfect. Thank you.” She stands, dusting her skirt off and actually taking a look around the living room. There are two large couches across from one another and to the right is a small dollhouse and scattered dolls. The wall above the dollhouse has small, terribly colored pictures and doodles tacked to it. To the left is a staircase to upstairs and behind them is a doorway to the kitchen.
(Sorry I’m back) Leo spoke once they were far enough away “Ben needs our help something bad happened”
Silver swallowed and tried to remember exactly what Kissa had said to her about Gabe. "Um. She knew we were friends. She said… that she didn't want you to suffer but you wouldn't tell them anything. That they were hurting you to try and make you talk. And on the flight here she told me to not talk to you because it might get you in trouble."
"This might take a while, honey, so maybe you should take a nap or something while you have the chance." Miki suggested gently.
(I’m going camping so I won’t be on until friday)
Gabriel furrows his brow, still staring at the ground.
That doesn’t piece together.
He looks back up to Sil, still a little irritated that she willingly came, but relieved she didn’t try to fight Kissa.
“I’m fine.” He states quietly.
This is normal.
——-
Violet nods. “Right. Well, if it might take a while then I might just head off and pick up Hush and Cage if that’s alright with you?” She pulls out her phone and checks her tracking system. “They’re not too far from here.”
(@Bandito, you still here??)
(Sorry I’m back) Leo spoke once they were far enough away “Ben needs our help something bad happened”
Cage’s eyes go wide, but at the same time his phone buzzes. He checks it and is a little more than relieved to see it Violet asking where he is and telling him not to go back to Ben’s house.
“Violets okay.” He states reassuringly.
(Have fun at camp!)
Silver frowned, watching his face and feeling the turbulence of his thoughts inside. "What's wrong?"
Miki looked up at her. "Are you sure it's safe for you to go out alone? Or at all? We just got attacked. I know we need to get your friends to safety too but running out alone and without a plan might not be the greatest idea. Is there any way you could contact them? Do they have phones?"
Did he stage this?
Gabriel look up to Silver, a little hint of worry on his pale face.
“Sil-Silver, who brought you to me??” He hastily asks, taking her hand.
———
Violet bites her lip. “They do have a phone, but they’re not replying.” She looks back to her phone, sending Cage another text.
Silver's heart skipped at the edge in his voice. She'd never seen him so visible agitated. She squeezed his hand. "Umm… this guy. He was in a big room with a bunch of other people. Kissa brought me in and he said hi and lead me out. He tried to be nice and…" she lowered her voice to almost a whisper. "He said he was on our side. I didn't believe him. He said his name was… Airow. Or something. He had red hair. I don't… I didn't trust him. I wouldn't trust anyone in this place."
Miki nodded. "I just don't think it's a good idea for you to go out alone. Do you even know where they are?"
Airow.
He runs a hand through his hair, sighing.
He stands and starts to pace, his wings dragging behind him, scraping the floor with an awful, but quiet sound.
One hand pats his collarbone and the other rests on his dagger.
He won’t hurt her. I’ll keep him away.
He turns to face Silver again.
Get out while you can.
"Hey," Silver got up, watching him pace, feeling his agitation like sandpaper across her veins. "Gabriel. What's the matter?" Everything is the matter, be more specific, she kicked herself mentally. "I… I know it's dangerous to be here but it's dangerous for you too and I was trying to keep Ben and the rest of them safe. Please talk to me, Gabe. I can't help you fix it unless you talk to me."
He goes to speak, but instead starts to cough violently. He gasps for air a little and rubs his chest, wincing.
“Leave while you can.” He rasps