Eve looked in the mirror, running her hand through her disheveled hair. She couldn't believe her eyes. Platinum blonde locks intertwined with her ordinarily ginger hair. "No. No. Not now…" she ran to a cupboard, emptying it. "Not here! Where is it?!" she exclaimed, checking another drawer. Running around, she looked under Lily's bed, checked her room, the kitchen, the living room, and other spaces.
Eve's head ached; what she saw earlier may have been an illusion. She hadn't eaten today either; her body could be feeling the effects now. Sitting on a chair, she looked around for her television remote. Her headache increased gradually, but she ignored it.
Right now, Lily was the priority. She wasn't Austin's muscle or John's snark, but she still had her role. Regardless of the situation, she would always choose the humane option. In a world of conspiracies and supernatural occurrences, who was Eve O'Hearn to decide right or wrong? In the great scheme of things—hell, in her own group—she was not significant.
Beep
Her phone rang. It was a reminder she set to check on Lily. She had been so eager to move Lily earlier, so why was she hesitating now? The answer was obvious: she was afraid of what she saw. The mirror showed her something she hadn't seen in a long time.
Why was it now that such had to happen? Nonetheless, she had her duty. Putting it upon herself to keep this child company, she wasn't backing down now. Getting up despite her headache, she moved to Lily's room. Standing at the door, she surveyed the room. The bed was at the end, near the window.
To the left of the bed stood a mirror; to the right, a small desk. Opposite this was a bare vanity. She observed the child. Lily's body began shaking once more as Eve reasoned a necessary course of action.
"Maybe I'll just call—"
Ahhh! Lily's screaming cut her off.
She signed up for this and had to handle it herself. Running past the vanity, she now faced Lily in the bed. A bead of sweat lined the girl's forehead as she shook fervently. "Lily, if you're hearing me, it'll be okay," she told the girl the words she wished to hear herself. Sitting by Lily's side, she wiped the sweat off her forehead with her shirt.
Her seizures subsided. Eve smiled at the sight; the girl looked at peace. She twisted and turned in the bed. This time, it seemed natural. She was about to leave when she saw something on Lily's bed.
A plastic bottle, nearly empty. It was what she had been looking for.
***
It'd been some time since Sabrina had seen Lucas. She gave the bastard a date, and he didn't do anything with it. She found it funny that the man the higher-ups had eyes on couldn't decipher her words.
"It's the 31st," she recalled her exact words. That day—now gone—was the best chance the man had to get anything from her group. When she first approached him, she was surprised at his willingness to follow her.
Was he stupid or just that desperate for information? He believed some random woman would have what he needed, which didn't make sense. What she hated was the fact that she needed to act like a fool to meet him.
She got all dressed up, showed him some AI image of himself, and took him to an expensive restaurant. Throughout the 'date', he didn't compliment her once. If that wasn't bad enough, even his eye movement suggested disinterest.
Her tight-fitting clothes didn't catch his eye; He only asked question after question. She already heard he wasn't from here, but some things he asked were obvious facts. To top it all off, he didn't even pitch in a dollar to pay!
Clack. Clack. Clack.
She was brought back to reality by a knock on her door.
"Who is it?"
"George, miss," a tempered voice responded. Now George was her driver who brought her here after her date with Lucas. Sabrina wondered what had brought him to her residence at this time. She looked around her room. Honestly, she didn't want to speak to anyone right now, but she knew George wasn't entering till she permitted him.
Normally, he wouldn't do something like this. She remembered those geezers had a meeting. Whatever George had to say, she doubted she would like it.
"Come in!"
The door opened to behold a graying middle-aged man in a suit. He cleared his throat and made a deep bow. "My apologies for interrupting your sleep, miss." Standing straight, he continued. "The Order has mandated the immediate evacuation of all cadres from the Gold Coast."
Sabrina rose from her bed in protest. Her face said it all; she didn't agree.
"What nonsense is that?!" she banged her palm on the windowsill. Looking through her window, multiple vehicles were gradually leaving the estate.
"Please do not address their judgment in such a manner. It was they who came to this conclusion." She turned back, her face a mix of anger and doubt.
"You mean those guys that never show up to anything were at the meeting?"
"Please! Miss. Your tone reflects indifference," he howled, immediately regaining composure.
"I apologise. You do have a point. An evacuation on this scale is unprecedented," he appended.
Sabrina paced about her massive room, her head down. She wondered what could make them come to such a conclusion. After her interaction with Lucas, she reported back to the estate. Since then, nothing of significance had happened. So what was the reason behind this mass voiding?
"Forgive me, miss. I just recalled an important detail. The man… what was his name? The one you met that day." Sabrina looked George dead in the eye. A warning? A go on? He didn't know. The choice wasn't his, though. It was his Obligation.
"After you parted ways about a week ago, he entered a residential building—"
"So what?" she interrupted.
"The thing is, he's been there since."
***
Sabrina looked out the window as her car left the estate. There were many things she liked about this place, but she didn't have a choice. The evacuation was abrupt; she couldn't even take any of her belongings.
The car was now on the motorway, slowly picking up speed. She really liked the Gold Coast. The beaches, resorts. It was a place where she could unwind after all the stress these people put her through. Now they were moving to Brisbane. It was going to be a long, boring ride.
Most cars had taken different routes to avoid attention, and her's was the longest. They were going to pass border ranges on their journey. That alone meant this was going to be a four-hour ride. "Let's take another route," she pressured George, who declined with a nod.
"All vehicles are to follow their designated path. Anything else would disrupt our crusade." This much was expected. George was always stringent; It annoyed Sabrina beyond measure. These are the rules. That's against the rules. It's always rules and regulations with him.
Tapping the side window, her mind ventured to the conversation she had with George before. Lucas was seen entering a residential building with a huge guy and a ginger-haired woman. He was already quite tall. She didn't want to imagine anyone described as huge around him.
Also, who was this ginger? From what she was told, that woman was the only one who left the building. What could make someone stay in one place for a week? Could he be dead? She didn't know.
Wait… How did they have that much information on his movement? Those assholes were monitoring him all along. Why were they so interested in him? This question pestered her mind for some time. She couldn't hold it in anymore and decided to ask George.
"It seems they're not the only ones interested in him," his response confused her.
"What do you—?" she paused in realisation, lifting her head from her phone.
"Forget that. He's not your average male. He's actually from the USA." Now everything made sense. She had her suspicions, but his accent was spot on.
"Hold on. Does that mean they've been monitoring him before he came here?" she asked, confused. If that was the case, how long had they known him?
"No. They only discovered him after he set foot in Australia."
This back and forth annoyed Sabrina. Why wasn't she informed of any of this? Her foot tapped the floor repeatedly, catching George's attention.
"Any problem, miss?"
"Why wasn't I informed of this?" she queried. "You requested to be cut from any information related to The Order," he answered.
"That's true, but… but this one's different."
"How so?" he inquired.
"Never mind."
She remembered a question she wished to ask. "How did they get Lucas' information? Social media? PI? Email tracing?"
"None," George clarified.
"Then how?"
"The news," he responded.
Sabrina was confused by this answer.
"He was a wanted criminal who died in a plane crash," and that response didn't help at all.