(REWRITING) The Skylar Experiment : Coveting

Chapter Forty-Five - In Preparation

EMMA

DAD SWERVED INTO our driveway. The first thing we did for the end of finals was book a family gift-shopping session and consolidate our food for the upcoming family visits. Mom checked in the backseat.

"I'm going to need all the help I can get for those log cakes," she announced, her attempt at reminding me we were supposed to spent a lot of time together. Our house was hosting this year, and my parents were going haywire over it.

"I know, Mom." I hopped off the backseat and the piano cover of Ariana Grande's goodnight n go went off in my back pocket. ID displayed Miles' name. He'd stepped back after I cut ties with them, giving me space and time to work through my decision to remove myself from most of my high school friends—Riley being the last one.

I had to pick this up.

"Hey."

"Hi, Emma. I was wondering if you'd be down to practice tonight or tomorrow, if it's okay with your parents."

I stuck the phone between my ear and shoulder as Dad lifted the trunk, allowing me to pick up two bags of frozen goodies. It was a windless, clear-sky day. I loved winter days like these; no clouds, a bright sun, sharp air. I would have grabbed my skates and gone to the ice rink with the girls. Or we would have conquered the snow hills with our sleds.

"Um, yeah, I'll check. I'm sure it'll be good for tomorrow. What are you doing for Christmas?"

Mom asked who was on the line, to which I mouthed his name. We toiled up the walkway with our errands, Dad in the lead with the keys.

"Just keeping to ourselves," he replied. "We got another family member in healthcare, and they're working this year. I'm just glad I'm not in there with them after Riley's act."

I said nothing in the hallway, just shuffled off my wet boots and bent over.

Good intentions or not, mutants and their baggage ruined lives. I had to think of my family.

Not all of them were ruthless killers, and I meant what I told Riley in the changing room. But they didn't represent the whole picture. If I were to get close to whatever Lauren was up to, I couldn't do this while being friends with them.

She was not the same person, and frankly... I wasn't even sure if it'd be safe for Luc to approach her. Hunters have told me things she'd done, things I didn't want to think about because I still couldn't process.

For the rest of the semester, I'd made an effort to bump my grades up to counterbalance for all the missed classes. Sometimes I just felt like quitting and practicing my aim with the crossbow instead, but Miles surprisingly made me prioritize school. Hunters cared about diploma, apparently.

"You can try the mercury chains tomorrow," Miles resumed while I was stocking the fridge with new purchases. "We have special rubbery gloves to manipulate them. You'll see it's not as easy as it looks, but you're doing great so far. You could have been a long-distance shooter in another life."

I laughed at that, considering I'd never seriously touched a weapon until this year. He'd said the same thing after I fired an arrow in the middle of the target in his garage. Mom passed me a can of cranberry sauce. And we talked over the phone, keeping to more innocent topics like the gifts we bought, vacation plans. Mine mostly consisted of training and sleeping.

And I might just go skating because this weather was too tempting.

I helped my parents empty all the bags, then Miles inquired, "How are you feeling? With everything and stuff..."

Through a quick nod, I left the noisy kitchen and raced up the stairwell, out of earshot. I tried not to think about it. It was my choice; we all had to make difficult choices now. "Okay. I miss her and I'll miss Riley, but it'll be fine." One day.

"That means you have feelings and it's a good thing. I was honestly worried you self-medicated with too much training. You've been intense these days."

"I'm okay, really," I assured at the landing, wood creaking under my step. "Why are you asking now of all times?"

Ever since he brought me to the Order, he was much more open about hunter business. There was nothing to hide anymore. If he wanted to tell me news, he'd say it outright without sugar-coating it. If I showed that I couldn't take it, it'd look bad for me.

"I didn't think it would come to this, but the scenario is getting more and more likely, so you should know about something," he declared, dead serious, as I hovered my hand over the doorknob to my room. "I'm sure you've seen those men in suits walk around town since Homecoming, right?"

"Uh-huh." I wasn't sure where this was going. The door squeaked, and I stopped in the middle, facing the wide open window. My old curtains, refreshed a few years ago, billowed in the current. Out of sheer instinct, I looked to my pillows against the wall. "I noticed."

"Well, they're sort of back-up for us. First and foremost, they were here to watch over the mutants while we do our work. But... there has been an incident with 516, and she now walks freely. NIO has implemented more agents in the places there's a chance she could pass. Oakwood, obviously, is one of them."

My lungs hollowed and I set the phone down to my neck.

"She escaped from a facility?"

"A few weeks ago, yes. We thought we'd catch her by now and tie loose ends, but she's clever."

"Why are you telling me this only now?" I kept staring, afraid to move toward the window and glance around the roof.

"There have been sightings and every time, they're closer to us. The last time she was seen, about two days ago, she was hours away." His tone betrayed an urgency that sent a chill down my spine. "I know how much you liked her. Of course, no one is asking you to step in. I just hope I can count on you, in case Lauren reaches out."

With a resolved nod that he couldn't see, I answered, "Sure, as long as you keep me in the loop."

"Thanks. I'll see you tomorrow?"

I willed my legs out of their numbness, slow steps into the picture of blue horizon underlined with treetops. On many days just like this, she came to my room to kill time, barely fitting on the tight ledge. She could make cold winds warm, but now the crisp breeze penetrated my layer of clothes. Since her disappearance, I'd stashed some items in a box in a corner, never to be touched again.

"Yeah. See you tomorrow."

The music box had returned on the dusty ledge, its lid flipped open to reveal the dancing ballerina, exactly in the corner she'd occupy.

  ➹➹➹  

And... this concludes our last chapter in Emma's POV. There is nothing relevant left for me to narrate in her view that can't be shown through our main protagonist. Worry not, our huntress in the making will not disappear from the story, however the rest of the book will be read through Riley. 

I hoped you enjoyed discovering this character as much as I did.

Do you think that Lauren would be happy about Emma's latest decision?