Week 22.2 – Hiding Out

Previously: Twain was escorted to safety and hidden away from the Cobalt Czar’s men by the mysterious and beautiful Yi Fan. And now…

A little over an hour after she had left, Yi Fan opened the door to the storeroom and waved Twain over. In the hallway, an old Mongolian man stood next to a large wooden crate. “Get in,” she said in Mandarin. “We’re getting you out of here.”

“To go where?” Twain asked.

“Someplace safe,” she said.

“How safe?”

“There are always degrees of danger,” Yi Fan said. “But let’s not pretend you’re that concerned about safety.”

“How would you know what I’m concerned about?” he asked.

Her eyes twitched as if the remark hurt her, but she forced a smile. “If you were only worried about staying safe, you wouldn’t have come here. Now get into the box, quickly. I’ll answer all your questions once we’ve reached our destination.”

[blockquote type=”blockquote_quotes” align=”left”]…the crystal grew warm against his chest and it almost seemed as if it were illuminating the inside of the box…[/blockquote]Twain had to admit, she had a point. He had come here knowing he was walking into danger. And if he planned to continue, it made more sense to confront that danger with an ally rather than alone. At the least, she might be able to help him skirt some of the more obvious dangers.

He shrugged and stepped into the crate. Before he could sit down so they could nail the lid on, Yi Fan stopped him with a hand on his arm. “What’s that?” she asked, nodding at the canvas bag holding the mask. “You didn’t have that before. Where did it come from?”

“I found it in there.” Twain looked toward the storeroom he had been locked inside. “I grabbed some food for the trip. I’m hungry; those guys interrupted me before I could finish eating.”

She didn’t look as if the remark convinced her, but she nodded and let go of his arm. He sat on the floor of the crate, and the old man nailed on the lid. He felt the crate being carried out, and then it was loaded onto a vehicle. He wasn’t sure which direction they drove, but whereever they were going, the roads were bad. Which meant it could be anywhere in the whole damn region.

He didn’t know how long they drove, but he spent at least the last half of it curled up on the floor in a cramped fetal position. Lying down made him less apt to be hurt from the jouncing. He spent the time thinking about the fight in the alley, not that he could remember any details. But as he tried to replay it in his mind, the crystal grew warm against his chest and it almost seemed as if it were illuminating the inside of the box. Not physically, but more as if he were dreaming of light while awake. If he didn’t know better, he would have said he was catching a serious buzz from something.

Eventually, the vehicle slowed, and then stopped, and the box was carried into another building, Yi Fan shouting clipped commands in Russian. The top of the box was lifted, and hands helped Twain stand up on cramped legs.

Where is Twain now? What does Yi Fan want with him? Find out more in our next episode, tomorrow-ish!

To read from the beginning, click here…