The Silver Braid, Page 2

  “True. But this way, I can learn from the best.”

  Uch, he was unstoppable. “Okay, baby boy, I hope you’ve packed thermal clothing.”

  “Where are we heading?” he asked again.

  “Rapid City, South Dakota”, I answered after several seconds of silence.

  A frown appeared on his face. “Why do I need to bring thermal clothing if we’re going to South Dakota?”

  “Because that’s where we have a flight to catch, you moron. Gosh, I wonder why they recruited you in the first place. Certainly not because of your brain.”

  Oliver rummaged through his backpack. “Because of my good looks, incredible body and very impressive fighting skills. And the fact that I brought popcorn.”

  I shook my head once more when I noticed he wasn’t lying – he really had brought popcorn with him. “You’re unbelievable.”

  “Thanks, babe.” He grinned. “Love you too.”

  I decided very wisely not to respond.

  * * *

  When we arrived in Rapid City a few hours later, I halted a taxi as soon as I’d made sure that Henry was in good hands – I’d landed at a member’s house. “I’ll pay you fifty extra if you can get us there quickly”, I told the taxi driver, who introduced himself as Greg.

  He needn’t be told twice – he drove like a maniac, all the while happily chatting to us. I swear that by the time we’d reached the airport, Oliver was looking a little green in the face. I kept my word and added fifty dollars to the total amount of twenty-two, earning a wide, half toothless grin from Greg. He took off an invisible hat and insisted on carrying my backpack for the far distance of five entire steps to the airport’s entrance.

  Edward’s private jet was already waiting for us – all we had to do was go through security and run to the gate, then board the plane. I dropped my backpack on the ground as I sat back in one of lounge chairs and let out a satisfied sigh. This was absolute heaven.

  After only three hours of sleep and then hours of flying Henry, tired was an understatement. And there was no doubt about it that I needed to be fit for the mission. Right after take-off, I decided it was time for a power nap and excused myself. I had just about enough time to catch the astonished look on Oliver’s face as I took the familiar route to what I considered ‘my’ bedroom – if you could even call it that, but it was a separate room and it contained a bed, so it worked for me. It had always been mine whenever Edward had taken me somewhere, ever since I’d been a little girl.

  I still remember the first time he’d taken me with him – I couldn’t have been older than four. I was used to living luxuriously, but seeing an airplane that could easily compete with Air Force One in terms of comfort, design and the money spent was something completely different if you’d only seen standard passenger airplanes on TV. Thinking back of that memory, I could only imagine what Oliver felt like now, especially because the building where all recruits were housed was nothing special – just like a standard high school dorm. Small and dark.

  When I awoke a few hours later, I felt much better. I took a quick shower and then headed back to where I’d last seen Oliver. He was sprawled on the sofa, asleep, his features soft and unguarded – different from how he looked during fighting classes. Innocent. I guess we all looked innocent when we were asleep, no matter how many we’d killed.

  I roughly shook him by his shoulder. There was no time for sentiment. “Wake up, baby boy. You’re drooling on the sofa.”

  He shot upright, his hands immediately going to his face to check. When he didn’t discover anything, Oliver shot me a dark look. “You’re impossible.”

  “So they say.” Unimpressed, I sat down and opened the file I’d brought with me, switching to my professional mode. There was no time for nonsense now. I spread the information out on the low coffee table. The numbers of people Infected in the past week. The notes of our informant on the case. Our final destination for today – if you could still call it today by the time we would arrive – marked with an ‘X’ on a map.

  Santa’s picture was safely hidden underneath all of it, concealed from Oliver’s alert eyes. I wasn’t ready to break that to him just yet. Considering the fact that he’d had no clue as to where we were going when he sneaked onto the chopper in the first place, I wasn’t going to enlighten him. All he knew was that this plane would take us to Helsinki, Finland. Little did he know that from there we’d catch another flight.

  My eyes scanned the map of Finland, lingering on the small ‘x’ for a moment.

  “What’s that?” Oliver asked.

  “A map, of course”, I replied without taking my eyes off of it.

  “I can see it’s a map, it’s not what I meant.” He pointed his finger. “That’s what I meant.”

  The tiniest bit of red could be seen through the paper that covered Santa’s picture.

  “That’s for a later concern”, I said brusquely, swiping the papers away and putting them back in the file, all except for the numbers of Infected. “Let’s focus on the facts first. The amount of people Infected and Changed has tripled – I repeat, tripled – just in the past week. Our informant told us that the Infected have found a way to transfer the virus onto paper – however they may have done that – which has been confirmed by our lab. They are planning to Infect a third of the world’s population, possibly up to half of it. It’s my job – our job – to prevent that from happening.”

  I rose from my chair and began to pace, hands clasped behind my back. “I have gathered a few clues as to where we might be able to find the Infected. We should be there in about…” I took a quick look at my watch to confirm the time, “twelve hours. I suggest you make sure you’re fit and ready to go as soon as we arrive at our final destination.”

  “Yes, Sir!” Oliver grinned and saluted.

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “Don’t mock me. You may think whatever you want, but as long as we are on this mission, I am your superior. That means when I talk, you shut up and when I say jump, you ask ‘how high?’. Is that understood, Soldier Rhine?”

  His expression turned serious, realising the mistake he’d just made. He rose from the sofa and respectfully saluted me this time. “Yes, ma’am.”

  “At ease, Soldier”, I said with a nod. I gathered all my information and moved to a small office near the back of the airplane to work on the details of my plan.

  * * *

  Just before landing I changed into my thermal clothing, because I wouldn’t have time to change during our next flight. It was quite cold in Helsinki – minus eleven degrees Celsius, as opposed to the minus three in Wyoming – and I tried not to think about the temperature of our next location. Minus twenty-one. Just the thought of it made me want to crawl back into bed under the covers and turn on the electric blanket.

  “Okay, next stop: Rovaniemi”, I said as I left the plane.

  Oliver looked at me over his sunglasses. “Next stop? I thought we’d reached our destination.”

  “I never said that. I just said that our destination was Helsinki, which is true. We have to catch another plane in order to reach our final destination. Rovaniemi is located up north, about a two hour flight from here. Our plane should be waiting for us already.”

  The plane was a small, four seat propeller that I flew myself. It was much shakier than the private jet that had flown us over the Atlantic and definitely not as comfortable. The chairs squeaked and old, worn-out spiral springs pricked in my back. Judging by Oliver’s pained look, he had the same problem. I would give anything to have Henry here now.

  “So, why Rovaniemi of all places? I know you have more information than you’ve told me”, Oliver said after about half an hour of silence, though it wasn’t an uncomfortable one, as we flew up north over Finland.

  “How much do you know about Santa?” I asked after a few moments in which I pondered my options.

  He gave me a questionable look. “Santa? He’s old, overweight, dresses in red, has a knack for fur and delivers pre
sents. Also, he doesn’t exist.”

  “Five out of six. He actually does exist.” Secretly, I enjoyed telling Oliver this and let out a chuckle at the sight of his stunned face.

  “He does not. You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  I shook my head. “True story, I swear it upon my honour as a FFG member. The Infected plan to Infect all presents and then have Santa deliver them all over the world.”

  His lips thinned. “Cruel. So Rovaniemi… it rings a bell somewhere. Isn’t that where Santa’s workshop is supposed to be?”

  “Yep.” I put on my sunglasses as we flew out of the clouds and the sunlight blinded me.

  “But that’s fake!” he exclaimed. “That’s just something to make tourists fly all the way over and have them pay money! They call it tourism, you know. It’s just stories.”

  I arched an eyebrow and gave him a mischievous smile. “Then where do the stories come from, I wonder?”

  Oliver fell silent and stared out of the window for the rest of the flight; no doubt pondering the information he’d been given. When I started to descend he looked over at me. “Santa it is, then?”

  “Santa it is”, I confirmed.

  He shook his head. “I can’t believe he’s real. How long have you known this?”

  “He’s as real as you and me, blood and flesh, and for the record, I’ve always believed in him”, I replied casually. “I guess I’m just one of those kids who never stops believing, hoping for a better place in the world. Hoping that something that good and positive is real.” I let out a bitter laugh.

  Silence fell after that and I could sense that Oliver wanted to ask me something. I guessed he was deliberating whether or not he was allowed to ask me that. Even though we were friendly, I’d proven him earlier during this trip that I was indeed his superior. “Go ahead”, I said. “Ask.”

  “Has he ever… hurt you?” he asked after a few more moments.

  “Who? Edward?” I shook my head. “Never. He’s all businesslike when it comes to me. Always has been, except that I found out yesterday he’s been spying on me since I was fifteen.” I snorted. “I hope he enjoyed it. Why?”

  Oliver shrugged. “It’s the way you speak about him. You’re features harden, your body tenses up. I just wondered. But I’m glad he never has.”

  I smiled viciously. “He wouldn’t be able to take me in a fight and I think he knows it. He’s trained me too well.”

  With a gentle bump, I landed the plane on the runway and taxied to the terminal. As I shut off the propellers, I looked sideways to Oliver. “Rovaniemi. Welcome to the North Pole.”

  Oliver got out of the plane and took my backpack from me as I jumped out, too. “Is this truly the North Pole?”

  “As good as. It’s Finnish Lapland and about ten kilometres from the Arctic Circle. We’re not far off.”

  * * *

  The next day we roamed around Rovaniemi, looking for the Infected. But no matter how hard we searched, no matter which skill or plan I used, we were out of luck and came up empty-handed. The Infected looked like humans, except for the fact that their eyes were a deep black. The pupil was barely visible and had a silver glint to it. The lack of light was not very helpful in discovering them.

  The cold wind had been battering us all day and by dinner time, I was fed up and kicked an empty McDonalds bag out of the way. “This is no use.” I sighed. “Let’s have some dinner.”

  Oliver nodded. He, too, was tired from being on the hunt all day. “Do you want to go back to the hotel and change so we can go to a fancy place?”

  My eyes roamed the street, finally spotting the yellow M I’d been looking for since I’d kicked the bag. “That will do.”

  He followed my gaze and strode next to me towards McDonalds, hands in his pockets against the cold.

  Once inside, Oliver headed to the counter to place our order and I took off my coat and gloves. I rubbed my fingers, trying to get some warmth back into them. Despite the thermal gloves, they were still numb. I could only imagine how Oliver felt – he had indeed forgotten to bring his gloves.

  I looked around. It was quiet, almost too quiet for a place like this. One day until Christmas Eve. This was hopeless. I sighed and went over all the information in my mind. The Infected had to be here – they simply had to. We’d looked in every single place they usually hid – dark places, away from the light so nobody could see their eyes. Rovaniemi, with its little daylight in the winter, was the perfect place for them to hide. It also made our search more difficult, yet we’d done a good job of searching the city.

  I gnawed at my bottom lip, lost deep in thought as I ticked off all their hiding possibilities. All of it was immediately forgotten when Oliver arrived with the food. I dug in. For the next ten minutes, none of us spoke, just savouring the warm burgers and fries.

  “So, what’s the plan for tomorrow?” he asked after he’d finished his food.

  “Santa’s workshop”, I replied between the last two bites of my burger. I grabbed my Coke and took a long sip.

  Oliver raised his eyebrows at me. “Santa’s workshop? I thought we were here for… business?”

  “We are. Rovaniemi is famous for Santa’s workshop – the one that every tourist wants to see – but little do most of them know that Santa’s actual workshop is also located here.”

  “Which one are we going to?”

  “Both. The entrance to the real workshop is hidden in the fake one. Since we can’t find any Infected here, we’re going for plan B. ” My expression turned grim. “We're going to Santa and take it from there.”

  With one swipe of my hand, I put all the rubbish on the plate and dumped it in the nearest bin. Oliver opened his mouth to say something when I sat back at the table, but I held up my hand to silence him. My eyes narrowed in suspicion and like that, he was alert, too.

  “What’s wrong?” he whispered.

  I looked around, searching for anything suspicious. “It’s too… quiet.” Everyone had left, except for one man who was fumbling with the bin right behind me. Then it dawned on me. A trap. Just as I jumped up from my seat, the man sprang at me. I twisted mid-air and managed to kick him in the ribs. He stumbled, but remained upright. As soon as I was on the ground, I leapt again, this time putting much more force behind my attack. Unfortunately, the surprise was gone this time. He caught my leg and sent me flying across the room where I crashed into a chair. In a flash I was up, my eyes searching for Oliver.

  He was over in the corner, battling two more Infected. From the looks of it, they had disguised themselves as staff members. Shit. How had we not noticed this? We should have noticed! But in my heart, I knew the answer. We were tired, cold and hungry, and we hadn’t seen anything unusual all day. That, and the fact that Oliver and I got along well and liked to joke around. I’d let down my guard – only a little – but enough to not have seen it coming. Edward would kill me – if the Infected didn’t do the job for him.

  This guy was strong, I realised as I got off the ground and defended myself. The older they were, the stronger they got. A bit like vampires, except that the Infected could walk around in broad daylight and a wooden stake would not kill them. Anything silver enhanced with crystals – a sword or bullet was what I preferred – would. The only problem was that my sword was in my bag, which was currently out of reach.

  Instead, I grabbed a silver dagger with crystals out of my boot as soon as I had the chance and charged again. I managed to knock him off his feet and the table cracked in two when he hit it.

  “Leigha!” Oliver yelled behind me.

  I pivoted around – it did not look good. One of the Infected had him in a tight grip, the other one lifting a hand with pointy nails. Before he had the chance to Infect Oliver, I threw my dagger at him. The point buried itself directly between his eyes and he dropped back, screaming, one that died before he hit the ground. Dead. It had happened in less than a second. Before the other guy even realised his friend’s fate, Oliver had wriggled himself loose
and fought back.

  Quickly, I turned back to the one I’d been battling. He was scrambling back on his feet and I only had a split-second to make the decision. Then I dived right for my bag and took the hilt of a sword out of it. I pressed the button – a special place on the hilt that could only be activated by my fingerprint – and my saviour appeared out of thin air, its crystals gleaming in the light. All our weapons were amazing when it came to security at airports. No one ever bothered with it, because it didn’t look like an actual weapon.

  My opponent’s eyes went wide when he took in the sword, his gaze lingering on the crystals. This was serious and he knew it.

  “Not what you expected, is it? Next time you go out for a hunt, make sure you’re aware of just whom you’re hunting.” With a loud scream, he charged at me, but I blocked and stepped out of his reach. I feigned to the right, went for the left, and just like that, he was dead. His body sank down to the ground. They were strong and fast, but not always the brightest, depending on how intelligent they’d been during their mortal life. That, and I had years of practise.

  I didn’t even glance back as I turned on my heels and charged at the guy Oliver had been fighting. Within ten seconds, he was dead, too.

  Oliver was out of breath and put his hands on his knees. “Thanks.”

  “No worries.” I’d barely broke a sweat. I put my finger on the invisible button after double-checking that we were safe and stashed the hilt behind my belt. “Are you okay?”

  He nodded. “That was intense.”

  I gave him a levelled look. Three Infected. Two with a brain but no strength, one with serious strength skills but no brain. It was nothing compared to that time I’d gone to Brazil and ended up fighting against sixteen of them – after I’d been drugged. “You hang in there, baby boy”, I patted him on the shoulder and helped him up. “Come on, let’s call it a night. I think we’ve seen enough of Rovaniemi and its people for today.”