Page 30 of Peaceful Chaos

Back to Life

Raven

I'm startingto understand why Javier said we wouldn't want to stay at Mt. Chaos for long. It's been three days, and I'm starting to climb the walls. I wonder if this is what Sin felt like back at our house. The pit, as I've come to think of the crater of the extinct volcano, crawls with people. They've all got a purpose, a mission to see to, and I'm sitting here letting the days blend together.

From the moment I crack my eyes open in the morning my day is a flurry of busy work with only one purpose, keep from thinking. I don't want to think about the mother I only recently found and basically lost again. I don't want to think about the little sister I haven't gotten to meet. Most importantly I don't want to think about the father who had no qualms about ordering surveillance cameras set up in every private space of my home.

Odd that we ran away from the invasion of our privacy to a place where there's no expectation of privacy. We sleep in one long room, with row after row of bunk beds. There are two communal bathrooms, with an open bay of showers. I share the female one with Jen and Amber. The only saving grace is that the men all use the other one. All the food is prepared in a large industrial kitchen and eaten in a cafeteria with benches attached to long tables. The food that comes out of it is perfectly nutritious and extremely boring. I find myself craving the poor attempts at cooking I produce from my much smaller kitchen.

Sin and I manage to find small pockets of time to sneak away. Those stolen moments keep me holding on, but they aren't enough. As frustrated as we both were in our house, packed full with our friends and my brother, I think we all long for the small amounts of privacy we had even there. Except, I guess, considering the cameras there was never any privacy to begin with.

Javier knocks at the entry of the barracks we've set up home in. Lucien jumps down from the top bunk he's claimed for the last three days. "Is there news?" He's eager to be out of here too.

Javier shakes his head. "I spoke to Marks this morning. He's having a hard time getting Holbrook on the phone. The DA is dodging his calls, but all we know is no charges have been filed yet."

Lucien kicks the foot locker next to him. "Fuck!" He yanks at his hair. "I'm losing my fucking mind. How much longer are we going to have to stay here?"

"That's actually what I came here to talk to you about," Javier says. "When you went into this communal living arrangement it was because the FBI wouldn't dedicate the resources needed to keep you safe from Damien, and the threats he made were credible. Perhaps they couldn't, I don't know. Damien does seem to have an uncanny ability to find every slightly corruptible civil servant and push them over the edge. I can't imagine it's easy to find enough agents to trust implicitly. I don't have that problem. I've got a large security force, and all of them are well vetted."

"What are you saying?" Sin asks, moving alongside Lucien. Every time there's a threat they gravitate toward each other. Being a team is so deeply ingrained in them, I wonder if they even know they do it.

"I'm saying the point when you went into that protection arrangement was because your only way to stay safe was to placate Damien. That's not going to work now. He is already pissed off that you ran. You disabled the cameras he'd hidden and took off. I'm sure by now he knows you found them, and he's lost a way to keep an eye on you. It's time to show him he doesn't have any power over you anymore.

"I'm not saying it's going to be without risk. There's no way he's going to believe you're in line with his demands anymore. If you go back home, he's going to make a move to remind you that he can get to you."

I look at my friends. Javier picks up on my thoughts and nods. "If you go back to that house he's going to kill or seriously hurt one of you. It'll probably be someone who will make the most emotional impact, but not impact him in any material way."

Shane reaches out and takes Jen's hand, while Teddy does the same with Amber's. They recognize, like I have, that they are the most likely targets.

"That won't work," Shane manages to force out. His voice sounds strangled with the fear I know we're all feeling.

Javier shakes his head. "No, it won't. I was told on my way up here today that the apartments are ready. You can go back to school, but all other excursions need to be planned and approved. Nothing outside of your normal schedule without running it up the chain first, will that be a problem?"

We are all shaking our heads, excited with the prospect of getting out of here soon.

"It won't be hard. We've got a clubhouse with a pool, a bar, pool table, and a theater room. We're setting you up in four units. I'll let you decide who lives where."

We all look at each other. "Four might be a bit excessive," Ford says.

"However you want to set it up. If you don't use all four, that's fine. The main thing is that now that Damien knows you aren't playing along we might as well show him who is backing you. I know the man is an egotistical narcissist, but Chaos has brought down dictators. One crime lord is a training exercise for my guys."

Sin levels him with a glare. "Don't underestimate him, or his ego."

Javier quirks an eyebrow. "I never do. Believe me when I tell you I'm ready to throw the full weight of my organization behind the eight of you. Whether this ends with Damien behind bars or in a shallow grave, this will end in our favor."

The next couple hours are a blur of packing and traveling back out from the mountains. Once again the sun is setting on us when we climb into the vehicles. They don't look much different than the SUVs the Feds drive, but Lucien whistles when he sees them.

"Armored vehicles and bullet proof glass?" He strokes the side of the vehicle lovingly and looks over his shoulder at Sin. "I don't think we need to worry he isn't taking the threat seriously."

We're mostly silent on the trip back to Playa, but there is one thing we need to figure out quickly. Sin and my living arrangements are the only easy decision we make on the way. Obviously the two of us are eager to live in an apartment on our own.

Javier is the only one from Chaos with us since they only have one SUV that can carry more than eight. The other vehicles travel in front and back of us providing back up should we need it. The precautions they're taking with our safety make the discussion more tense than it otherwise would have been. Under normal circumstances, Jen and Amber would live together, Lucien and Ted would probably take an apartment, and Ford and Shane would go back to being roommates.

In fact, that is the exact arrangement Javier suggests. Immediately Shane starts shaking his head."I don't think I like the idea of Jen and Amber in an apartment alone. I'm sure your complex has incredible security, but I'd feel better if they were with one of us."

Javier looks at him from the rearview mirror. "I'm not married to the idea. What do you suggest?"

"Amber should stay with Lucien and I," Teddy interjects.

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