Chapter 4

Quinn was getting nowhere with his investigation. Every turn he took, led him straight into a dead end. He felt like he had been going around in circles. But no matter which direction he took, it always led him back to the coffee shop Carlene ran. Quinn was starting to take a liking to the girl and was annoyed every time Thea entered the shop.

Quinn had bumped into Thea many times as he wandered around the University campus. They got to talking every time they ran into each other, but Quinn could feel something was definitely wrong about her. Thea's aura felt wrong, felt almost like it had been man made.

Quinn finished his late afternoon tea and quietly left the shop, bumping into Thea on the way out. Quinn watched the two almost argue from the other side of the street. Quinn lit up a cigarette and watched the pair clean and pack up the shop.

Once the front door was locked and the two started walking home, Quinn put out his fifth cigarette and started following the couple. He tried to keep his distance and when Carlene stopped, he thought he had been found out. He pushed his hat down and quickly crossed the street. Just as he was going to duck into a small shop, his eyes caught a glimpse of what Carlene was staring at.

The blue light lit up the side of the building, and it should have been noticed by everyone. It was a giant tear in the fabric of reality. This shouldn't be happening. When the blue light eventually faded, Quinn noticed that he had lost sight of Carlene and Thea.

"Shit."

Quinn opened his tracker and lit up another cigarette as he walked back to the car he had rented. There was no way in hell that Quinn was going to get on the subway. Humans evolved so much over the last couple of centuries, but they still use something as primitive as the train.

Quinn could never afford a car on his earth. It was so much cheaper to own a driver. Though he could never do that either. His parents were rich, filthy rich, socialites and god forbid he ever use their money for a driver. His father said that only commoners owned drivers. So, in rebellion, Quinn learned to drive instead.

Quinn followed the tracker and parked around the back of the apartment building the tracker has come to a full stop. He was going to have to wait until dark before he could start snooping. Quinn reclined his sear and shut his eyes. Somehow this car seat was far more comfortable that the hotel bed. 

Quinn woke with a startle, to the sound of knocking on the car window. Rubbing his eyes, he rolled down the window a little and stared up at the old hag glaring holes through the window. 

"Can I help you?"

"What are you doing here?"

The voice of the old hag certainly did not match her appearance. It almost sounded like an angry teenager. Quinn frowned at the familiarity of the voice, before stepping out of the car.

"I was sleeping before you rudely woke me up. What do you want?"

"For you to leave."

"Please take off your glamour Jeanie, so we can talk face to face."

"I thought you hated my real face?"

"I do, but I detest this one even more."

The hag rolled her eyes and with a flash of a purple light, there now stood a thirteen-year-old girl. Jeanie is Quinne's oldest sister, first of nine. She is an excellent mercenary and a favourite to the elders.

"Is this better for you?"

Quinn rolls his eyes and lights up a cigarette, momentarily forgetting that his sister was standing beside him. He thought that maybe if he ignored her for long enough, that she would disappear.

"Why are you here?"

"This apartment building's parking lot or this Earth?"

"Both."

"I'm on a mission from the elders Jeanie, I wasn't sent here to watch you or report on you. Truth be told, I had completely forgotten that you lived on this Earth. What has it been now? Thirty, fifty years since you've returned to your own Earth?"

"I'm on an important mission.

"Yes, yea. Now if you don't mind, I must get going. I have floors of units to get through."

Before Jeanie could get another word in, Quinn was already rushing towards the building. Quinn pushed the appearance of his sister to the back of his mind and followed the beep of the tracker. Quinn took the elevator to the closet level before he started taking the stairs. He walked up and down the halls of each floor until the beep of his tracker was certain of the right floor.

The door to the stairs opened and Quinn raised his eyebrows at his sister, who looked like she had been waiting for him. Jeanie had in fact been waiting for him. She had hoped he wouldn't make it to her level but here they are. 

"Who are you tracking?"

"A girl from the university library. The one she's always with, she intrigues me."

"Ah, Carlene and Thea, the married couple, my charges."

Quinn had been warned about this. Jeanie had a couple of charges that she had gotten attached to and wouldn't gather any new missions until her charges died and they always seemed to die. Jeanie had not been back to the 40th century Earth in over fifty years. Their mother was especially worried about the mental health of Jeanie. It was Jeanie's job to take over the family trust when their father dies. He's just over two hundred years old now and very weak. Quinn worried the most about his sister's. He is the last in the line and the only one who hadn't taken the anti-aging surgery. 

"Married huh. Why do you care why I'm trailing them?"

"They are my charges, Quinn; you shouldn't intervene on my missions."

"I'm not, I was sent here for a reason, and they have been snooping around in my business. It's my job to determine what their threat level is to the mission."

Quinn was just spouting nonsense now. He didn't want to continue having this conversation. It shocked him that Carlene and Thea were married; he did take a little liking to Carlene.

"You should be careful with Carlene. She's not what you expect her to be."

"What's that meant to mean?"

Jeanie switches back to her old hag glamour, shrugs her shoulders and slips back into the hallway. Quinn frowns and follows, keeping his eyes on his sister and the tracker. Jeanie slipped into an apartment just as the tracker started to pick up. Quinn stops just as the door to his left opens, revealing an angry Carlene.