Chapter 4

[Sweet Tooth Candy Factory]

We were walking down a road to an old factory while Quinn was on the lookout holding out a 9-millimeter gun. Wade pulled the large door open and we walked in. The room was bright as day when he pushed it close

"This place looks ancient" I said

"How would you know that?" Wade asked, rude.

"Well, it could use some repainting and that statue of a candy bar with legs has lost an eye" I said drily. I didn't like him. Quinn walked gently as though he would trip at any moment, his eyes darted around

I watched him pull down a lever and the lights above came on. They exchanged looks again

"It was dark" Quinn said

"I don't think so" I scoffed

"Moving on"

Wade looked behind him and then his hands went to work on the wall then stepped back, an elevator dinged opened. It looked rusty in there.

From the corner of my eye, I glanced at Wade, who stared at the door, hands together in front of him. There was something off about him, not because we had no proper introduction, perhaps Quinn already told him about me.

The elevator came to a rocky stop that caused me to collide with Quinn. Wade got out first, taken aback, the room before me was nothing like that old factory, it was full of people in black uniforms, lab coats going about their business, it was HiTech and spacious, drones delivered parts to a woman who masterfully put them together.

A black owl emblem on the wall

just like the one on Wade's uniform and a print of LOU

"Lou?" I asked.

"Stands for the League of Umbra, a secret organization dedicated to keeping the unnatural in the shadows" Quinn said

"I get it" I grinned

"Stop" A lady said abruptly and pulled out a tablet, rays emitted from the camera lens scanning me.

"The essence is already merging with her DNA, symbiotic in nature so you're going to be experiencing some glitches"

"Glitches?" I paled "You mean side effects"

"Yes, nausea, indigestion generally, dizziness, you're going to experience fainting and worse...explosive diarrhea"

Wade moved away from me, she laughed

"Just kidding but the rest are true"

"I already experienced that and I feel fine"

"Good" she took the grocery bag and led me to a bench where a man in a lab coat gave me a shot, I hissed when he didn't give a warning

"Have you noticed anything... out of the ordinary about yourself?" She whispered.

"Not really"

"I thought so" she flashed a light in my eyes with her hand on my chin.

"By the way, I'm Dr. Singh, head of the scientific department here. But you can call me Sith" she gave me a quick smile and resumed inspecting me.

"Dear God, you must've been through quite a struggle" she pointed out what I had been too traumatized to notice. Bruises on my arms and legs, we were behind a curtain.

Shrugging on my shirt, a little embarrassed that I had to undress in front of her.

"You need sleep, if you notice anything...new, you come to me first okay?"

I didn't know who to trust but if I had to understand what was going on with me, I would leave it to the professional.

Days gone by I strolled through section 34, [the lounge area] where everything was... normal. A group of girls splashed in the pool and boys competed on who could reach the other side first.

Sitting on a lounge chair in my new uniform, a more enhanced HiTech version of my regular clothes, a light hoodie, and pants with black baseball boots with the owl emblem.

A girl swam up to me, she had short blonde hair_ bob and was wearing a turquoise swimsuit. "Hey noob"

"Noob?" I scoffed.

"Nice outfit" she complimented, here we go with the "I want us to be amigos part"

"Thanks"

"Do you mind hanging on to these?" She held out two opalescent owl earrings "I don't wanna lose them in the water, I hope you'll be staying long enough"

Awkward "No" I answered.

"Thanks" she smiled quickly and swam back to her friends who were dawdling with a beachball.

Staring down at the earrings and how beautiful they were, jealous already, I figured they could be real opals.

I still hadn't figured this place out and I was worried for Jacqueline, I could barely sleep. When I finally got some shut eyes, I only dreamt of being chased by that man again and that I got swallowed by a giant shadow figure.

I laid back down and closed my eyes for a moment, making sure that the earrings were secured in my pocket first. I felt a presence hovering over me, the figure startled me, it was very vivid.

My eyes flashed open, pulse racing, to find Quinn standing behind me wearing a black shirt and shorts, he looked like he had just had a swim, his grey streak now out of place.

Still in shock.

"You look like you've seen a ghost"

I sat up "Well good morning to you" I muttered, he planted a hand over his face starring up at clouds where the sun was partially covered.

"It's too hot for the morning" He grinned, settling down beside me, I yanked out a Snickers bar out of my pocket and tore it open

"I should probably return the items you bought"

"It's fine, those are for you"

"Oh... thanks" I still couldn't believe I was talking to the person I hated in 5th grade, deep down I was still mad.

He raked his hair back in place

"Can I get my cellphone back?"

He sighed "No"

I have to call Jacqui"

"Darcy, there's a reason why this league is under a factory, it's secret"

"Fine, I won't tell, I just wanna go home" I kept back from shedding a tear.

"Sincere or not, you can't leave"

"What about them?" I glanced at the people having a good time at the pool.

"They're here for a reason, because they want to be here"

"

And what about the others who end up discovering this place?"

He chuckled "No one's been here for years, except you of course."

It would've been a lot easier if we both went our separate ways but the essence had been in my system long enough to do its work.

I looked down at my hands, this wasn't the life I wanted.

"I'm guessing you know what this means. I'm sorry Darcy_"

"Hey" The girl who gave the earrings to me swam over and emerged, she had an amazing figure and was exceptionally tall. Wrapping a robe around herself.

"Grey?" She scanned him from head to toe with a sweet smile

"Phantasma" He nodded.

They had codenames. She extended her smile over to me stretched out her hand with the grace of a ballerina.

"Oh" I fidgeted through my pockets for it and came out with nothing.

"Where is it?"