Destinee Deschiree

Destinee Dechiree

Gushes of wind blew as four hooded figures in the night stood atop a low hill. A quiet voice spoke up from the left, a young woman's, "We should go now...." Taking one step forward a hand shot out from the person on her left to stop the young women. "Not yet, there is still time. We must wait for the signal," she whispered. A low hum was turning on and off in the background. A tall figure from the group stepped forward. They spoke with a deep voice of a man, "I'm not waiting for any signal." Starting forward, the man walked away from the group slowly, the young women who spoke up before followed behind in haste. The other two looked at each other for a moment, soon following them side by side.
Two shining pupils stared out of a hood, a sighing breath escaped. Stopping, the tall, dark, figure spoke, "Please wait here Indigo, we don't need you to follow us on this one." The young woman began to respond to him with a snotty attitude, "What? I’m just as good as the rest of you, what’s so important that I mustn't see?" He watched her finish and gave the girl a sigh. His posture was perfect, standing straight up, professional. She looked up at him, her young voice stood out, giving an intimidating strong vibe.
"Oh c'mon, Max! I know I'm not quite grown up like the rest of the group, but I’m damned well strong." Crossing her arms, Max gave her one final sigh while turning his head, mouth visible while the upper half was still hidden.
"I suggest you stay back for now, you'll understand some other day," replied Max, Not looking upon Indigos face, he instead stared out into the darkness, well past their circle of light from the streetlamp.
Quickly and quietly approaching, the other two figures stopped five feet behind Indigo.
"Hmph," a womanly figure stepped into the dim light, she spoke with a motherly tone, "Max is right, it is best that you stay behind on this one." The other person spoke up, it was a young, mans voice, "Don't push your luck." Max nodded in agreement, Indigo looked at them all, finally bowing her head in silence and backed into the shadows of the wall, only the bottom of her black cloak shown.
"Lace, show me the positions please," Max demanded, he looked straight at the women in front of him. She nodded and pulled out a small handheld, handing it to him. Her wrist shown in the light revealing a bracelet full of magical charms, some of which broken, they sparkled in the light and jingled when she moved her arm. Quickly she pulled her hand back in.
Max scanned the handheld and quickly turned around, beginning to continue down the pathway. Lace followed closely behind, the last man stopped and turned his head towards Indigo in the darkness, "When we are done I'll come get you, stay put until then ok?" Indigo stared at him, she stuttered a reply, "Okay, Steve."
As the three approached a large open warehouse, Max reached up and pulled downward on the garage door, it budged and didn't move. "Rusted open," He brought his fingers to eye level, the rust crunched between the pads of his fingers. Glancing at lace, she moved forward with her arms bent and palms face up. A bright ball of glimmering light emitted from both of Lace's hands, it grew brighter, lighting a path for Max and Steve. Faintly you could see the whole warehouse, nothing was stored away, seems no one has used it in many years. Lace sighed after a few glances of her surroundings, quietly, she turned around.
"There's no one here," Lace whispered, she stared at Max. Steve glided past Lace, he looked back, Max nodded at him in approval and followed with caution. "Lets split up," Max stood between the two as they waited for orders. The light from Lace's hands became weaker and stronger as she inhaled and exhaled.
Max pointed to his left, Lace immediately turned her head towards his hand, "Look over there Lace, make sure the light is bright enough from us." As Max finished the light became brighter like he commanded, she went to work immediately after.
Steve watched him point to his right. Next, Max drew his next orders, “Check where you're at please." Steve breathed slowly as he walked towards his designated wall, Max relaxed and went slowly towards to the pane glass windows behind him.
Looking at the stained walls, Steve watched the shadows created by the light of each person, it was dim, but enough to work with. Taking the index and pointer finger, Steve ran them across the dusty cold walls. He froze immediately, fingers stopped in mid motion, dust gathering quickly where they trailed. Steve was sensing something, his mind raced as he stood ghostly white in his tracks, heart slowing to a calm beat, he finally spoke up slowly, "Max," opening his eyes he turned around, his hood almost falling off, "She was here."
Both Max and Lace stared at Steve with surprised faces. The light from Lace grew dim and blue. "Who, specifically, was here?" Max walked over to Steve, the broken glass crunched underneath his steps. "How can you be sure?" Max asked with a confused chuckle, "She's been gone for three years!" Lace walked behind Max, her light was glowing brighter and dimmer even fast than before. Her heart was beating faster. "Her image flashed through my head so many times, there’s no doubt in my mind that she was here. I bet she’s involved with this particular room," Steve murmured as he waved his hand in the air. Streetlamps buzzed in the silence, Max twitched as he heard each one. "I can't hear anyone nearby, they must've moved on," Lace watched as he talked, he spoke with confidence but then slouched in disappointment. The whole group came for someone. A former member of theirs, Staying in one place was useless to them. "I'll go get Indigo..." Steve past the two, he exited quietly around the corner.
She placed her hands atop the crates, pulling herself to sit. The bottom of her cape blew in from the wind whipping around the corner. Indigo shivered from the cold, despite how hidden she was. Steve turned around the corner, the street lamp casting a shadow encasing him in darkness. "How's it going?" Steve kept his head low, feeling uneasy. He never really had a real heart to heart conversation with someone before. Indigo sighed softly, "Disappointed, I really wanted to follow." Steve stared at her, "Sorry, Max gives all the orders, plus all newcomers stay behind once in a while." He nudged her side a little, hoping to get a giggle out of her. Indigo smiled but it wasn't visible, "You all finished huh?" she leaned forward as if she was going to jump off. Steve looked up at her from the ground, he replied with surprise, "yah, we finished." Steve helped her jump off the crates, her feet made a clap against the concrete walkway. Indigo was only an inch shorter than Steve, his hair made him look taller than he really was. "How long have you been with the group?" Indigo hesitated at his response. This was her first time talking to him alone. "...four years next month." Steve turned his head forward, crunching on asphalt each time they stepped in beat. A silence was heard between them, Steve gulped, "How old are you?" She bit her lip at the question, "sixteen," Indigo scrunched her eyes. "Nice," he responded, "I'm seventeen, quite a coincidence eh." Steve glanced at her, she opened her eyes and asked, "Why is that?" curious. He chuckled. The crunching of asphalt wore away as they stepped upon broken concrete. "Since our last member, the rest of us agreed to cut off membership to anyone younger than me," He lifted his hand to fix his cape's clip, Indigo smiled at him but yet again he could not see.
Max shifted his attention to the garage door, the two teens walked in side by side stopping once they escaped the lamppost light. Lace jingled her wrist, a dim light grew in her palm of her free hand, "Should we head to base Max?" he kept quiet, his tall physic stood out from them all, "We have no other choice," His voice shook Indigo. Steve nodded and turned to walk away, Indigo followed him, her cape waved behind her. Lace gently walked forward to stop to look at Max. "I'll catch up, watch those two for me," Lace nodded to his request, she continued forward after the two teenagers. Max scanned the dark room, his eyes were horrible but his ears could catch even the smallest noise. He stood atop the broken glass, crunching beneath him while he kept his balance. They haven't gotten far, Max thought to himself. He turned and walked out of the garage, not taking another look behind him he began to walk towards the group.

"Where's our next place?" A tall dark skinned man bent over the shoulder of a young woman with brown hair and fair green eyes. The women looked up at him and then directed her attention back to the screen. Biting her lip she responded, "Nothing yet, been lost for an hour now," disappointed, the man tapped his fingers. Standing up he spoke, "Okay, Lace let it run for now, turn on the tracer. Come have a break," he turned around and walked to a small couch that sat in the middle of a large circular computer room with a dip in the center. Two step stairs ran along the center, chairs sat aside the ledges, a larger ledge sat across the entrance doors that was tall enough to be an island table. Lace stood up from the panel, her slim body fitted with a purple kimono stopping at the top of her knees. She sat down with the young man, "Max, what if we never find her?" Max chuckled, he gave Lace a confused look, "Oh come on, we'll find her. We are getting closer," Lace gasped, she stared at him and replied with a disgusted tone. "Remember, she left by her own free will you cannot deny that. If its true then this might be a hoax, some trick of sorts." Max rubbed his hands together, not exactly knowing what to say. "I believe," he paused, "maybe she wants to come back, I have the feeling she wants to come home." Staring at his friend, he slightly smiled sadly, "No matter what, don’t be disappointed if she doesn’t come back, she has her reasons for leaving." Lace shook her head at Max after preaching to him, turning her gaze upon the opposite couch. She rested her elbow on the couch arm and conjured up flames in her hand, harmlessly she started flipping them in her fingers. Max watched her, smiling as he commented, ""You know, if you play with fire you will get burned," he chuckled. Lace tilted her head at him and smirked. She immediately splashed the flames out with water and played with them instead. "Uh oh, now I may get wet," teasing Max, she stared at her magic. Indigo walked into the lounge from the sleeping quarters. Her platinum blonde hair shined from the lights and her blue eyes showed a deep ocean blue. Her outfit was made up of only a bikini top and a simple mini-jean skirt. Smiling, she headed down and into the lounge pit and sat across the two adults. Crossing her legs, she looked at Lace and Max, "So, have we figured out anything?" Lace scanned Indigo, resting her head in her right palm. She replied, “It seams that our 'fugitive' is using a stealth mechanism again." Indigo nodded pretending to understand, she looked over at Max, "If it’s okay to ask, who are we exactly looking for?" She now was leaning forward, left hand holding her head up upon her knee. Max stared at the floor, his newly shaved head gleamed from the lights. He decided to respond after a few moments, "One of our former members," he continuously stared at the floor. Lace looked at him and decided to finish his thought, "Collette Swanson, she's been gone for a year." Indigo nodded slightly, leaned back and laid both arms on the couch's back. A squeak from the side door in the kitchen was heard along with some grunting a boy entered the room with a large bag of food. "Damn, Chinese take out is the slowest around here I swear," the boy placed the bag on the island adjacent to them. “Okay," he flipped his red/black hair out of his eyes and ripped the bag open. "We got lo mien, rice, sweet and sour, dumplings take your pick!" Steve took his own box and quickly jumped onto the couch Indigo was sitting on, she giggled at him as he smiled back chewing. Indigo got up and grabbed herself rice and quickly jumped back into her seat before Steve claimed it. Max and Lace took their food but did not speak to each other, the silence was awkward.
"Ha! Pay up," Indigo demanded as she celebrated another victory in monopoly. "Damn Indi! That’s the third time, you're pretty good," She smiled at Steve. He chuckled as he gave Indigo her pretend money. Lace drank from her wine glass as she sat with both legs on the couch watching the two teenagers. Max leaned against the island, focusing his attention to the monitors beeps. Steve mumbled a joke to Indigo, she immediately broke out laughing. Lace took a sip from her glass, leaning forward she asked, "What’s so funny?" Indigo shook her head, still in laughing knots, "Oh, oh, oh Steve just said something really dirty." Indigo slapped Steve's arm playfully, he smiled and nudged her hard enough off the couch. She fell to the ground laughing uncontrollably, her arms holding her sides.
A loud blare from the monitor stopped everyone in their tracks, "Whoa!" Lace jumped up dropping her empty wine glass on the couch, Max quickly ran over to the monitors after her, standing over her shoulder. "We found her," Max mumbled with a smile. Yes we have, let’s go!" Lace stood up and quickly headed down a long corridor across the room, Indigo and Steve ran after her. Max kept smiling. He snapped his fingers as he hurried after the others.
All four entered the helicopter. The black exterior gave off an intimidating look. Indigo scanned the inside as she entered, it wasn't fancy nor roomy, each of them sat across from each other, Lace held onto Max's arm sympathetically, he stared out of the helicopter window as if he was waiting for someone. Everyone wore their assigned uniforms, dark cloaks with their usual black body suits. Steve poked and prodded at his suit, the latex formed perfectly around his structure, making every muscle stand out. Steve noticed Indigo. He immediately stopped worrying and gave her an embarrassing smile. Laces bracelet jingled as she rubbed Max's arm, this time she wasn't going to hide anything. Indigo bowed her head and closed her eyes as the helicopter began to lift off into the orange covered sky.
They landed softly on the outskirts of a deserted city, parched land laid sparingly around the heli-pad of an abandoned militia base. Each of them exited cautiously, the wind picking up attracting dust and sand everywhere. Sun was setting as they set out through the city street, or as much of a street it was, the dust and sand covered most of the asphalt that was left. Max began to instruct as they walked, "She should be here somewhere, once a signal is patched through we can break up," as they entered the congregation of buildings everyone noticed the emptiness. Each building was deserted, one after another looked as if everyone picked up and left one day. Chairs sat outside of small grocery stores, rocking with the wind, open and closed signed swayed as the group walked slowly down the dirt road. Lace lifted up her hand that held a GPS. She signed and held it out for Max. "We have a steady signal, but no go." Max grabbed the device and shook it, he gave it back, "Let’s keep going, I can’t hear anything still." Lace stared at the handheld. The steady beep of a red light was going in and out. Continuing deeper into the town, Max strained to hear any activity in the distance. The sun hadn't quite set yet as the group walked in perfect order next to each other. "Lace, is it changing?" Steve turned his head to her. She was straining herself watching it. "Same as before, Hun, nothing," She tapped the screen with her nail, nothing happened. Steve raised his hand to his head as she tapped, over and over again. He shook it off but it kept coming back as a high pitch ringing. Stop, please, Lace Steve thought to himself, he couldn’t speak as he placed his hands to his ears. He stopped as the group kept going. Indigo snapped out of her day-dreaming and looked over to where Steve should've been. She flipped around to notice something horrific.