Thomas looked over his shoulder, frowning. This time, he was sure he heard a rustling, but when he peered into the woods, all he could see was an inky darkness.
“Stop it. You’re making me nervous,” Emma hissed. “That’s the fifth time you’ve looked behind us.”
Thomas shook his head, turning back to the woods ahead of them. Emma was right for once. He was being paranoid. Who would be stalking them in the woods at this time of night? His hyped-up mind was probably playing tricks on him.
A light appeared up ahead, and Thomas headed towards it, leading the small group. Abruptly, the woods ended, and he stepped out into a small walkway between the woods and a high wooden fence.
“Here it is,” Nico said, taking the lead. “There’s a gate over on the side. Jane left me a key since I come here so often.” His voice radiated the same excitement he always had when he mentioned the homeless people, or “his family” as he called them.
Thomas followed him to an old iron gate with a huge padlock on the handle. Nico produced a key and inserted it. With a click, the lock fell open. He was about to follow Nico through when a branch snapped behind him. He spun to see Emma looking toward the woods, tense.
“Go!” She hissed, turning and hurrying through the gate.
He was right behind her, hand hovering over his tactical defense pen. He suddenly wished he had a bigger weapon.
“Come on,” Nico said far too loudly.
Thomas didn’t dare take his eyes off the gate or respond. His heart pounded as he waited for whoever was out there to attack. When he didn’t hear or see anything, he slowly relaxed his hand. Perhaps it had just been a possum or raccoon. “Come on,” he whispered to Emma, who was crouched next to him, ready to spring. “We’ll be safer inside anyway.”
“What are you two doing?” Nico asked, an edge in his voice.
Without saying anything, Thomas made a bee-line for the door, Emma’s footsteps close behind him. “I thought I heard something,” he said to Nico, glancing behind him one last time.
“Probably just an animal. There are plenty of beavers out here.” Nico opened the door, which let out a low creak, and Thomas surveyed the room beyond. He had been expecting a messy, rundown building, seeing as it was inhabited by homeless people, but the concrete floor was swept clean, and the washer and dryer on the wall were white and spotless. The outdoor toys lay neatly tucked into shelves or lined up on the walls, and the smell of freshly washed clothes drifted through the air.
Hesitantly, Thomas stepped inside, feeling like he was intruding in someone’s house.
Nico, however, walked right to the opposite door and shoved it open. Warm light and hushed talking spilled into their room.
Thomas couldn’t help the fluttering in his chest as he started for the door. After all this time, he still felt apprehensive about new places. Shouldn’t he have grown out of it after he had left his home? As he followed Nico into the unfamiliar room filled with strangers, his mind flashed back to his first day arriving at the academy, with nothing but his suitcase of clothes. He pushed the memory away and took a deep breath as he focused on where he was.
The room he had walked into looked like a large kitchen area, with a vast tiled floor, polished countertops, and old-looking wooden cabinets. Nico was already heading through the large opening of the kitchen and into a sitting room where the strangers sat, talking with each other. Some of them looked out of place in their old, tattered, and mismatched clothing, but most of them were dressed normally, with neat hair and normal clothes.
Nico said something to the rag-tag group, and one by one every head turned to look at Thomas.
He suddenly felt extremely hot and dizzy, and he looked behind him for Emma. She was standing behind him, obviously hiding from the strangers, and he couldn’t help but grin as he turned back to the people. Pushing down the anxiety, he headed into the sitting room, and Emma shuffled in after him.
“So this is the famous Thomas Wolfe,” a lady with graying hair said, smiling. “How are you?”
Thomas swallowed, peering around the room. People had heard about him even here? How famous was he, exactly? And famous how? Hopefully not in the way he was “famous” at the academy.
When he didn’t respond, Nico took over. “We’re great, thanks. Actually, we were wondering if you’ve seen Hank around. We have a project we need help with.”
A wrinkled lady with white hair smiled at him. “He’d love that. Hank’s been looking for another project after he finished the basement. I think I saw him head into his room, though. It might be better if you check back tomorrow.”
“Nah. He never sleeps anyway. I’m sure he’ll be glad for something to do,” Nico waved a hand.
“Alright.” She shrugged. “But don’t come crying to me when he threatens to call the police.”
Thomas glanced from the lady to Nico, his concern growing. Calls the police? What were they getting themselves into? It sounded like he was the one who needed help.
Nico just grinned, then headed through the living room and through a doorway that seemed to lead upstairs.
Cautiously, Thomas followed him, Emma right behind him. He reached the top, where a carpeted hallway stretched out with doors every few feet like a hotel.
Nico stopped at a door that looked identical to the others and gave it a hard knock. They waited in silence.
Somewhere nearby, a baby cried softly. Thomas hadn’t thought about children living here, but it made sense. He was about to knock himself, when the door flew open and a tiny man appeared, glowering at them. He looked for all the world like a dwarf, with his shaggy beard, old beaten clothes, and face like a potato, and Thomas found it hard to keep a straight face.
“Whatdayawant? Or do ya think wakin’ us folk up is funny or something?” He glared at Nico, then he turned to look at something behind Thomas. Thomas stepped out of the way, turning to see Emma glaring at the man.
“Now here’s someone who sees eye to eye!” The dwarf suddenly let out a bellowing laugh that seemed to come from deep inside him. “So, are you gonna talk, or what?”
“We have a project—” Nico started, but Emma cut him off.
“We have a problem. There’s this house that got burned down, and the widow living there was kicked out because it was deemed unsafe.”
He grunted. “Oh, you mean Martha’s house? Yeah, sad story. So, what? Ya think I can rebuild it or somethin’? In case ya don’t know, I don’t have a permit no more.”
“We would be doing the building,” Nico said quickly. “You would just have to tell us what to do.”
“Have ta? What makes ya think I would do it? I’m not goin’ around the law again. That’s how I ended up here in the first place. Sorry, not interested.” He went to shut the door.
He didn’t know why he did it, but Thomas found himself blurting, “You aren’t scared, are you?” He instantly wished he hadn’t spoken.
The man’s face turned red, and he stepped out into the hall again, shutting his door. “Listen, if ya think I’m scared, ya got somethin’ else comin’. This ‘coward’ fought on the front lines in Iraq,”
“Oh boy,” Nico mumbled.
Hank continued as if he hadn’t heard. “I carried a man ten times my weight through enemy territory just to watch him die in our camp. And what did the government do in return? Nothin’! They left me on the streets with a promise of money that never came. I took up a job, and they took that away from me! Ya think I’m chicken?! They can’t take nothin’ away from me now but my freedom, and they wouldn’t dare do that after I shed blood sweat and tears to give it to those thieving bureaucrats. I’m in!”
Thomas blinked. This guy was even crazier than Emma. What was it with short people and fiery tempers? “Okay… I guess we start now, then.”
“Woah there! Ya can’t just go out and fix a house. We need gear, tools, lumber, blueprints, and a plan.”
“We have the blueprints, gear, and tools with us,” Nico replied promptly. “There’s spare lumber near the railroad, and the plan is to be done before they tear the place down.”
The old man nodded slowly. “You’ve been planning this for a while, haven’t ya?”
Thomas decided now wasn’t the time to tell him they had only figured it out last night.
“Alrighty then!” The dwarf, Hank rubbed his hands together. “Let’s get to work.”
Half an hour later, they were standing in an overgrown yard, staring at the mess of charred wood that was supposed to be a house.
“I think uninhabitable seems fit,” Emma said, picking her way up the porch. Thomas followed her warily, testing each blackened step to make sure it would hold him.
“It’s gonna take at least, ehh, ten hours just to get this porch back in shape,” Hank commented, poking a charred beam. “And who knows what the house needs. It could take as much as fifty hours for the whole project. Plus, the city inspector may still say she can’t live there, since a licensed contractor won’t be the one who repaired it.”
“So, what you’re saying is that it’s hopeless.” Nico was obviously disappointed.
“No, I’m saying that all the work may be for nothing.” He shrugged. “Gives me something to do, though. I may even be able to get a few friends to work on it and hire a private inspector.” He nodded, a smile starting to tug up his beard. “Yeah, I think it’s crazy enough that it might just work.”
It felt like a weight had been lifted off of Thomas’ shoulders. Despite how the man had first appeared, he had a fire in him that might just make this whole thing possible.
“So, what are we going to do, then?” Emma asked, crossing her arms.
“Oh,” Hank looked a bit surprised. “Well, I suppose you can help clean up the place. Before we begin work, we’ll need to clear the old beams and walls.”
Thomas suddenly felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
Someone was watching them.
Trying to act casual, he glanced around, his senses on high alert. A few lights were on in the house across the street, but he couldn’t see anyone looking out at them. Shaking the feeling off, he turned back to the others. “Shouldn’t we, you know, get some sort of license and make it look official? What if someone calls the police?” He hated the way his voice sounded timid.
Everyone stared at him, and he found himself shrinking back. Now that he had said it out loud, it sounded dumb. He was a lone wolf. What was he doing trying to work with these people?
“He’s right,” Nico surprised him by saying. “Someone’s bound to notice if a bunch of random guys—and girls,” he added quickly, eyeing Emma, “start working on the house.”
“In case ya haven’t noticed, we don’t have either of those,” Hank said, a frown returning to his face.
“I can get you a license, and I’m sure a store here sells caution tape and worker gear. The problem is how to not draw attention and look official.”
Thomas shrugged. “Just do it at night. Not many people will notice.”
“Not much we can do tonight,” Nico said, disappointment clear in his voice.
Thomas tuned out the rest. Something had definitely moved in the bushes near the house’s overgrown fence. No, not something. It had been too big to be a raccoon, but too small to be a bear, and it moved purposefully.
Someone. Feeling for his tactical defense pen, he readied himself. If he approached, the person might attack, but if he didn’t do anything, he would never know who it was. He decided to play it safe.
“Look, whoever you are, you’d better show yourself,” he yelled as forcefully as he could. There was a flash of red, and someone shot through the grass, heading away from the house. Instantly, Thomas shot after the stranger, vaulting the railing in one leap.
The stranger threw himself over the fence, and Thomas followed, leaping up and swinging himself over the fence in one fluid motion. Hitting the ground, he took off, following the trail of waving grass heading for the woods. In the dim light, he could just make out a mop of brown hair.
Right before the stranger would have hit the woods, he turned right, and Thomas skidded to a stop, changing his course to bolt after him. The runner’s style seemed familiar somehow, but he barely had time to think this before the figure leaped the fence in one graceful vault. Whoever this guy was, he was good.
Using his own momentum, Thomas did a wall run, then swung his legs over the fence, landing in a parkour roll. Rolling to his feet, he scanned the yard. Nothing. He spun, willing the world to stop spinning. When it finally did, however, he still hadn’t seen any sign of movement. The stranger had vanished.
Wood clattered behind him, and he spun to see Emma land gracefully on the ground, then spring to her feet, glaring at him.
“Do you always run off at top speed randomly?” She threw at him.
“I was following a guy, probably the same one who’s been following us this whole time. Lost him, though.” Even in the dim light, he could see her face pale.
“I think we’ve done enough for one night,” she said quickly, and Thomas could hear the Lucy in Emma leaking out.
“There are people after you, aren’t there?” Thomas narrowed his eyes.
Emma turned away, all trace of Lucy gone. “I don’t want to talk about it. Come on.” She leaped back onto the fence, balanced there, then dropped out of view.
Thomas took one last look around the yard before heading after her. Yet he still couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching him. He picked up his pace.
Something weird was going on, and he was going to get to the bottom of it.
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