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Up ahead, in front of a completely caved in house, is the red sedan that was originally supposed to drive her here. The car that brought her luggage is tipped over and stripped bare; the clothes I bought for Catalina are strewn all down the pockmarked street. Grey pillars of smoke billow up from the smoldering ruins of what I can only assume was her home.
I approach with extreme caution. Somebody was looking for my hostage, and when they didn’t find her, they ripped this entire town to shreds.
But how did they know she was coming?
It’s obvious, isn’t it? Leaks. Someone I trusted leaked the information. My once great ship is quickly sinking beneath the waves, all while my crew disappears into thin air.
But who’s doing the leaking? I only told two people where Catalina was going, and they’re both dead on the other side of the bridge. Other than that, there’s no one left who would know.
My phone buzzes in my pocket and I take cover behind the upturned red sedan to check my messages.
Your buildings are burning, Angel. You’ll be next. Leave the country now. Please.
Another text, but from a different number than the last one. GET OUT OF THE COUNTRY. NOW!!!
My instincts say they were both written by the same person. But who?
Before I can think too hard about it, a strange sound catches my ear. A faint sob carries on the gentle breeze. Someone is weeping.
... Catalina!?
“Catalina?” I whisper loud enough to carry on the wind, but not loud enough to carry any further. Despite the stillness that encompasses this dead town, I know at least one other stranger is here; a big stranger with alligator skin boots and a taste for my woman. “Catalina?” I repeat.
The sobbing sputters to a halt. Stillness takes hold of the world as I wait for the response I need to hear.
“Angel?”
Her sweet soft sad voice is enough to throw me out from under my cover. I don’t even think twice about it, I just run.
“Catalina!?” louder this time.
“Angel!?
Around the rubble of her old home is the girl I came to rescue. Her green tank top is torn and stained and the skin on her arms is scratched from branches, but she’s alive, kneeling in the wet grass beside a toppled chimney.
I slide on my knees to meet her there; my mind is empty as I instinctively take Catalina in my arms. She embraces me back. For a split second, we’re the only two people in the world.
The warmth of Catalina’s body kicks at my hardened gut and wraps around my frozen heart, but before anything can break or melt, we pull away from each other.
“Are you alright?” I ask, scanning her body for injuries.
Catalina wipes a tear from her cheek. “No...” she whispers, her gaze falling to the collapsed abode beside us.
I follow those shimmering brown eyes. A hand sticks out from under the wreckage. The skin is almost blue. That must belong to the friend she’s been talking about... My heart drops. “Cat... I’m sorry.”
We’re both losing everything in tandem. I have never felt so helpless in all my life, it’s infuriating. The longer I stew on my knees, the angrier I get. A desperate rage lifts me up. I grab Catalina to pull her up, too, but she doesn’t seem to want to move.
“What happened here?” she asks, her eyes lost in the ether. She’s not looking at me; she’s not even looking at her friend’s outstretched arm anymore. Her gaze wonders aimlessly through space. I’ve seen that look before; it’s dangerous.
“I don’t know, but I promise you I’ll find out.”
“And then what?” Catalina’s shoulders are slunk over in defeat.
“And then we get our revenge.”
That seems to snap her out of it. “Revenge... What can I do?” the faintest glimmer of a flame flickers in her eyes. I want to fan those flames of hers, feed them with the bones of our enemies.
“First, you can stand up.” I reach my hand down to the muddy bird. She hesitates, her eyes drawn back to the pale blue hand reaching out for help. I don’t let her linger on the pain. I can’t.
