On the Lam--chapt. 1

(updated 9/23/12 much better than the first three versions lol i might change some stuff but it's a rough draft)  (OH YEAH PLEASE COMMENT AND RATE I LOOOOVE FEED BACK GOOD AND BAD)

Chapter 1

The Race Begins


         Sonya watched out the window as her parents pulled out of the driveway and drove away toward the airport. Holding her little sister Coral firmly she whispered, more to herself than the toddler in her arms, "One weekend, how hard could it be?" She looked down at Coal wondering if she could really take care of the infant all alone, she was a handful after all. Noticing Coral was staring at something intently outside; Sonya followed her line of vision and saw a man jogging slowly by. The jogger noticed their staring and waved as he continued on his way. Surprised by how far out into the country he’d made it she waved back then carried Coral back to the living room and turned on the cartoons for her.
Instantly Coral was enthralled by the talking, bilingual animals, as she eagerly yelled gibberish when it asked for a response. Sonya was fairly impressed at her ability to know when she was supposed to say something. Though Coral only knew a few words, one of them being a messy version of Sonya’s name (which she loved dearly), the toddler seem to understand a lot of what was going on around her. Their mother was convinced Coral was going to grow up and be a genius like her prodigy-computer-designing parents. Sonya wondered if after she graduated and moved away to school if her parents would pressure Coral as she was growing up to be just like them. She really hoped they wouldn't, even if it would be a good career choice for someone so smart. She’d already fussed with her mother a few times on not forcing the ideas onto little Coral so early, she was barely two she only needed to be worrying about how to walk and talk right now.
Sonya watched the T.V. with Coral for one of the cartoons yelling out the words in Spanish while Coral continued with gibberish. Coral got even more excited as Sonya said the answers with her, which just served to encourage Sonya to laugh and continue to say the words with enthusiasm. By the end of the program both girls were giggling and enjoying the start to their weekend just the two of them.
After a few more cartoons Sonya decided it was time to pack up Coral and head to the store. If they were going to take on the weekend they were definitely going to need some food, and maybe a movie or two. Sonya dressed her up in her favorite light blue jumper that made her bright red curls shine. She looked so adorable Sonya couldn’t help, but scoop her up and spin her around, causing the little girl to squeal in excitement. Not bothering to take much time on herself, Sonya threw on the first cropped jacket she picked up to cover her back. Last thing she wanted was to draw attention to that. Sonya looked at herself in the mirror, for the most part she looked pretty normal so long as her scars and tattoo were covered up, and that was easily done with pants and a jacket. Still she missed being able to wear whatever she wanted from time to time, but those days were long gone. Pulling her blue-black hair up into a ponytail Sonya turned around to look for Coral so they could get going, and she found her at the window again looking out.
“What are you looking for sweetie? Mom and dad will be home Monday morning it won’t be that long.” Sonya said going over to pick up her sister. Coral was rather clingy, she didn’t like being left in a room alone, and daycare was totally out of the question she refused to be without one of them at all times. Sonya, on multiple occasions, complained to her mom for coddling Coral saying that if she kept indulging Coral like this she’d grow up spoiled rotten. Her mother of course made an excuse and blew the whole thing off. For whatever reason both her parents insisted indulging this whim consistently.
Coral patted her leg starting to tear up, “Soya! Soya! Semps tree! No mama! Mama!” Sonya picked up Coral and rocked her slowly as she looked outside wondering if something had spooked her. She thought she saw something move in the woods next to the house, but it was probably nothing more than a squirrel.
“It’s alright Coral, I’m here. I’ll keep you safe, I promise.” Sonya cooed as she walked with her away from the window and headed for the garage. Coral calmed down some, but held on tightly to Sonya, reluctantly letting go once Sonya strapped her into her car seat.  As they pulled out of the garage Sonya saw Coral pull her blanket over her head until they’d driven several miles down the road, she couldn’t help but laugh a little at how cute it was. “What are you doing back there silly girl? Who are you hiding from?” Coral just stared at her in the rearview mirror pouting. Apparently she didn’t think it was funny at all, and she tried to explain so in her baby gibberish.
When they finally made it to the store Coral was still grumpy for being teased, but her attitude quickly changed when she saw that she’d get to ride in the colorful kids shopping cart with the little car on the front. It was all Sonya could do to keep the squirming child in her arms long enough to cross the parking lot and pick out a shopping cart to Coral’s liking. After an hour of meandering around the store searching for the few foods Coral would eat, they were finally ready to leave with their weekend’s worth of snacks and meals. Strolling across the nearly empty parking lot, with the sun quickly setting, Sonya couldn’t shake the feeling that they were being watched. Searching around there were only a few cars, most being trucks and minivans plus one odd looking commercial truck van, and a couple of women standing at the doors of the grocer. It didn’t seem like anything was going to just jump out and hurt them, but still feeling uneasy, she quickly packed up the food and Coral driving quickly home.
By the time they got home it was totally dark and as they were pulling up the driveway Coral picked up her blanket again throwing it over her head whining. Again Sonya thought she saw something move in the woods. This time feeling she felt a little creeped out she parked in the garage and as soon as she was back inside the house she set the alarm. She wasn’t sure if it was her own instincts that were telling her something was off, or if it was the fact that Coral was so uneasy, either way Sonya would sleep easier with some reassurance within reach.
Putting the food away and giving Coral her carrot snacks Sonya went to her father’s office and opened the large hollowed out novel War and Peace. Sitting there safety on, but loaded was a hand gun. It’d been over a year since she’d last held a gun, but the weight felt all too familiar. It was cold and looked almost brand new, she felt confident her father most likely didn’t even know how to properly shoot a gun, but had it just in case the house’s security system ever failed. Sliding the gun behind her, tucking it between her belt and pants so that her tank-top covered it from view, she instantly felt more confident, but off at the same time. Feeling the cold butt of the gun against the small of her back made her feel almost sick as small memories of her old life flittered around in her head. Just because I’ve got a gun for protection against something that’s probably not even there doesn’t mean you stupid memories are allowed to come back! So go away! Sonya thought, chastising her mind for its digression.
Walking back into the living room Sonya found Coral trying to turn the TV on, but failing adorably with the cutest frown and her lower lip protruding out. Sonya had to bite her lip from laughing at how cute she looked; she crouched down and reached over to hit the bright red power button. Satisfied that her cartoons were on again Coral patted Sonya’s arm trying to say thank you, then toddled-ran over to the couch and climbed up. Seeing that Coral was happier now watching her cartoons Sonya stepped into the kitchen to fix dinner for the two of them.
Water boiling for the spaghetti, Sonya leaned against the counter looking out the window into the backyard. She couldn’t see much past the glow the porch light cast onto the deck. Something about how thick the darkness of the woods made her stomach squeeze with uneasiness. She went over and closed the blinds never taking her eyes off the woods as if it were the only way it’d keep the darkness from closing in. Staring at the blinds, she still didn’t feel any better it almost felt like the darkness had just moved closer.



Silas sat there, crouched next to a tree, staring at the window with the blinds closed. Something about how the girl looked directly at him never breaking eye contact unnerved him. Vaguely he heard his commander tell him over the headset to switch locations to maintain visual, but he couldn’t seem to look away from the window. It wasn’t until his partner George tapped him on the shoulder motioning for him to follow that he actually left. As he was walking to the next location he wasn’t able to shake off the eerie feeling he had making eye contact with the girl.
“Did the girl see you? You seem really shaken?” George whispered as they settled down behind some bushes so now they could see the living room. Silas looked into the house seeing their target blissfully sitting on the couch watching the television eating snacks. Apparently no longer aware they were still watching.
“No, I don’t think so. I almost feel like she could sense I was there though, she was looking directly at me, like if it’d been broad day light she would’ve made eye contact with me.” Silas said watching for the target’s guardian to enter the living room again.
“Should I tell the commander we need to take her out? If she’s this perceptive now it might be easier for us later.” George said coldly. Silas thought about it for a moment. George had a point, if she had this level intuition she could be problematic later, but at the same time she was only a kid, not even out of high school, it’d be a shame to end a life so short.
“No, let’s wait and see what she does. If she shows signs of having noticed us then we’ll have no choice, but it seems unfair to get her involved in this when she can’t help her circumstance with the Penne couple.” Silas said hoping his reason would convince George, his partner wasn’t so quick to value any life that wasn’t his own or his teammates’. The reason appeared to be enough since he relax a bit. Silas sat down beside his mentor it would be several hours before she put the baby to bed and go to sleep herself.
“Speaking of the traitors, why did they adopt this chick? What could having her around possibly do?” George said sounding disapprovingly curious. They all felt that way though. The Pennes’ had been on the run for nearly two years now, and during the year and a half when they lost track of them the couple adopted a teenager. There was no history on the girl other than she’d been in the hospital when she was taken in by child services.
“I don’t know, but apparently she’s more like live-in baby sitter from the looks of things.” Silas said then continued, “Although it doesn’t make sense for them to waste time adopting a girl like that.” They sat there in silence watching the two girls interact, playing games, eating dinner, then finally getting ready for bed. Silas thought it was odd the older girl didn’t change into pajamas herself when she was putting the infant down for bed, but it didn’t matter she looked exhausted it wouldn’t be much longer and she’d be down for the count as well. Or so he thought, after she returned to the living room she turned on a work out boxing video then proceeded to punch and kick the air vigorous. She was surprisingly pretty, cheeks flushed and fists flying it somehow made her seem older with such a dark look on her delicate face.
As Silas watched her continue on her work out, a possible realization began to click in his head as to why the Pennes’ adopted her. Maybe she wasn’t a live-in babysitter…maybe she was meant to be a body guard. Even though she was so young she was impressively competent with her fighting form, and had scary good instincts from what he’d experienced. During the time they’d been following her Sonya knew exactly where they were, and when she and the baby were potentially in danger. She couldn’t be a professional body guard though; otherwise she’d already have run off with the baby at the first inkling of danger and she hadn’t.
Something about the whole situation wasn’t adding up. Who was this girl? The intelligence department had been searching all day for her, but they kept reaching a dead end. It was like she hadn’t existed before she entered into child protective services three years prior. There was no birth certificate, no driver’s license, and no social security number, only a note on her record stating she refused to give her last name or any other information even when faced with police action. It was suspicious, the police thought so too since there were records of them being called several times while she was hopping from foster home to foster home. She was never violent, just unruly to the point where the parents couldn’t take it anymore. Yet in her entire time with the Pennes’ she’d apparently been a model for all children, good grades, never in trouble, after school sports. So what changed her so suddenly? Why did they trust her with the kid they’d risked their lives to steal?
Silas was so caught up in his thoughts he barely noticed when the rest of his team moved to the back of the house to surround the target’s nursery. They were going to wait until the girl was asleep, but it was decided that with the racket she was making would be best to cover the noise they’d make breaking in. He and George were left to keep an eye on the girl. A normally boring task for any other mission, but he was so fascinated by the girl he didn’t seem to mind as much.
Silas saw the girl stop abruptly in the middle of her workout and pull off her jacket and something caught his eye on her back. He swiftly moved a little closer to the window trying to get a better look. With her hair up now he could see what looked like dark pink scars along her shoulders and up to the base of her neck. His curiosity about her doubled, along with his suspicion.
“Silas look at her lower back; it looks like she has a gun!” George whispered urgently, more shocked than Silas was at this news. He, by now, was more than wary of what she was capable of, her having a gun made sense somehow.
George wasn’t as dismissive of the fact he quickly radioed the news to the commander, “Sir we have a possible problem. The girl has a gun, I think we should wait until she has gone to sleep to move in on the target, or even take her out if you think that’d be better.”
Silas could hear through his own headset the harsh, gravely response, “No, we’ll take the target now as planned. If the girl makes a move to come back to the nursery then open fire.” George and Silas confirmed the order, but even through the cold, emotionless mask he always wore if he knew there was a chanced he’d have to kill. It didn’t look as if his conscious was on bored with that persona since it kept nagging him about how wrong it was to kill the girl. He of course ignored it though, orders were orders after all, and he couldn’t disobey without it ending his own life for insubordination.
George and Silas watched the girl closely as the commander soundlessly snuck into the nursery. Everything appeared to be going well, the target hadn’t woken up, the girl hadn’t noticed, things were going perfectly to plan…until the alarm went off. Suddenly ear piercing sirens started going off startling everyone. George was the first to notice Sonya make a run for the back of the house where the child was. He whipped up his gun taking aim then right as he was pulling the trigger Silas hit his arm making him miss. Sonya only paused for a moment, eyes going wide as she took notice of the two men in the bushes outside the window. Their eyes locked briefly; this time sure she could see him, which looked to frighten her more as she took off running. Silas followed her from the outside of the house, meeting up with the rest of the team.
George caught him by the shoulder and turned him around. “What the hell did you do that for? Our orders were to shoot if she left the front room.” George whispered to him fiercely, knowing if the others knew what he’d done he’d be severely punished.
“I…I don’t know I wasn’t thinking. It’s just she’s a kid, and killing her…seemed wrong.” Silas whispered back trying to turn around to see what was happening. Right as he was turning he saw this blur fly out the window and tumble to the ground. At first he couldn’t figure out what it was until the figure stood up and turned around. It was the girl and she was holding the kid in her arms. She took a quick sweeping look then dashed off into the woods like a frightened doe.
“Don’t stand there staring after them!” The commander yelled over the alarms while jumping down on to the ground from the window. Immediately the team took off into the woods Silas taking the lead following the path Sonya had created, she hadn’t been very careful, breaking through all the brush. At this pace it wouldn’t take him long to catch up with her.
         




Breathing heavily, scared out of her mind Sonya pushed through another bush blocking Coral the best she could. She had felt like something was off all day, it was a familiar feeling of being followed, except more sinister. Who were these people and why were they trying to take her sister? They definitely weren’t thugs, too professional looking, the gear they’d been wearing give the impression of a soldier maybe it was a group of assassins, but if they were she should’ve been killed by now. She was thankful she’d grabbed the gun from her father’s office, whoever these people might be it was clear she was going to need it to keep herself and her sister alive.
         Sonya stopped for a moment leaning against a tree trying to catch her breath. Running on a track was a lot different from running on rugged terrain like this. She’d be lucky if she didn’t snap her ankle tripping in a hole or on a branch. Hearing the loud rustle of her pursuers nearby Sonya took off running again ignoring the burning in her legs and she climb up hills, still trying to protect Coral from stray branches. She wished there was some way she could calm Coral down so she’d stop crying so loudly giving away their position.
Sonya stumbled catching herself before she fell on top of Coral. As she lifted herself up she could hear the sound of one of the men really close by, it would be seconds before he was right on them. Their only chance was to hide. Sonya scrambled under a dead log, covering Coral’s mouth trying to convey to her she had to be quiet. By some miracle the toddler understood and tried to keep from crying and sniffling. Sonya held her breath hearing the man walk slowly looking for where they’d run to. He hopped down his feet only inches away from her face, Sonya could feel both hers and Coral’s hearts beating a million miles a minute. If he’d just go on they’d be able to escape and go a different direction, or maybe even back to the house to get the car.
In one split instant that hope was gone when he turned around and reached down yanking both of them out from under the log by her barely visible foot. Sonya clutched her sister tightly kicking wildly at the man, landing one solid blow against his hip making him let go. Sonya scrambled to her feet trying to back up, but before she could turn around and run he whipped out a gun and pointed it directly at her head.
“Give me the kid now and I’ll let you go free.” He said coldly, his voice young, but deep, the seriousness of his tone making Sonya’s stomach feel icy. She shook her head no tightening her grip on her. “I’m not playing here girl! I don’t want to have to shoot, but I will if I have to!” Sonya saw the dim light of compassion in him that kept him from killing her. If she did it right she could exploit that hesitation and escape safely. She felt bad for a second taking advantage of his kindness, but with their lives on the line there was no room for guilt.
Sonya started to hand over Coral, and then faked him out quickly swinging her away from him, punching him directly in the jaw with all her strength. She could hear several tiny little pops and a stinging jagged pain shoot through her hand. Definitely broke a few fingers, this is going to make things a bit more difficult. Sonya let out a curse under her breath as she shook hand a little from the pain and took off running again. She didn’t stop to see if the guy was out cold or not, but since she couldn’t hear anything coming from behind her she assumed he’d be down for a few minutes at least.
Sprinting the last hundred yards Sonya finally broke through the tree line into their neighbor’s property. The all the lights were still off showing that the elderly couple who lived there still weren’t home from their cruise. Sonya looked around trying to find somewhere to hide or something to help her defend Coral. Unfortunately there was nowhere to hide in the acre of flat field in front and behind the house.  It was empty except for some flower beds and a fountain. The only thing around was their tiny two seat sports car in the driveway. As the idea popped into her head she realized there wasn’t much choice now, she was going to have to borrow the car, and maybe if she was lucky Mr. Carver wouldn’t hate her more than he already did.
Grabbing this one thread of hope, Sonya dashed over to the car setting Coral down next to her while she opened the unlocked door. It was a blessing for once that they lived so far out of town where you could leave your car unlocked with no worries. She didn’t have a whole lot of time before the guy she hit showed up. Luckily hotwiring a car is kind of like riding a bike, if you do it a few times you never forget how.  There was no one better than her when it came to this, although that didn’t mean she went out and stole cars, at least not in the past couple of years.
After a couple of minutes she got the car running, as she did she spun around at the sound of someone busting through the tree line. The man called out to her, but she couldn’t tell what he said because she was frantically climbing into the car with Coral. It was pretty obvious though when she heard a gunshot then the sound of the back window shattering next to her head. She finished buckling in Coral and was reaching back for her gun to fire back when she felt the man’s arm wrap around her waist, yanking her from the car.
Sonya flailed about until he slammed her back against the car and she came face to face with the barrel of his gun. She felt her heart stop for a moment waiting for him to pull the trigger, when he didn’t suddenly her heart seemed over compensate by speeding up to what felt like the pace of a humming birds wings. Next her senses seemed to kick back in again as well she could hear him talking lowly into what looked like a Bluetooth headset.
“Sir the girl and child are in my possession what are your orders?” He asked, vaguely she could hear a voice coming from the other end of the headset, whatever it said made the man frown. “But sir she hasn’t posed any kind of threat to us….sir in good conscious I just can’t…” At his attempt to defend her she realized it was the guy she’d punched in the woods that had her pinned. She could hear his boss yelling at him over the headset now. She didn’t need to be a genius to figure out his boss was telling him to kill her.
“Conscious? You are a SEMPI you have no conscious! Now kill her and bring the target back! Now Silas!” She stared at what would be the young man’s eyes if his night vision goggles weren’t there. She didn’t bother to conceal her fear; she knew all too well what an order could mean to a loyal man. There was a horribly thick silence between them that made Sonya’s heart rate pick up even more.
“Y-you can’t have my sister.” Sonya said, briefly mad at herself for letting her voice shake, but she continued to stare hoping that he’d realize how serious she was about this. His frown seemed to deepen.
“Kid I WILL kill you if I have to. I have to take that thing back to my boss or my life is the forfeit for disobeying orders.” He answered, his tone lacking conviction towards the end giving Sonya a slim glimmer of hope. She went to move the gun away from her head and he seemed to tense up and she immediately dropped her hand.
“My sister is my world I’m not going to let you and your group take her away and do God only knows what to her. There is a way out for both of us though. They can’t kill you if they can’t find you, come with us.” Sonya said realizing how crazy the idea sounded when she said it.
“Are you insane? I’m holding a gun to your head, telling you I will kill you to achieve my goal, and you invite me to run away with you…you must be completely mental to think something so crazy.” He said astonished.
“That’s not a no.” Sonya pointed out and tried to push the gun away from her head again, this time remarkably he let her. He seemed to let her statement hang in the air before letting out a low groan.
“Alright fine, I mean I’m probably already dead as it is, so how much worse could it possibly get.” He said reluctantly as he put his gun away and walking to the other side of the car. Sonya wasn’t stupid. She knew there was no way he’d just up and abandon his team for her half-baked scheme. He was probably just playing along until a better situation to double cross her came along. She would beat him to it though. First chance she got she planned to ditch him and plan a new course for her and Coral to go and find their parents.
Not wasting any time Sonya jumped into the driver’s seat and quickly grabbed Coral from the seat freeing it up for her new “partner in crime.” As Silas got in the car Sonya didn’t even wait until his door was shut before she started to speed off down the drive way. As they made their way down the dark road with no immediate signs of being pursued by their attackers Sonya painstakingly tried to get her sister to sit with Silas so she could drive better. No matter how hard she tried though Coral was just too scared of him and refused to let go. Finally she gave up and just left her there, clinging to her side, and they flew along in silence.
Sonya was buzzing with questions for the man, whose name she heard was Silas, but she didn’t know where to start. She looked over at him out of the corner of her eye as he took the night vision goggles off. Even in the dark she could see his face fully now, well sculpted with a strong jaw, surprisingly he had the longest lashes she’d ever seen on a man. The lights off the dash casted harsh shadows on to his face making him look angry and scary, but she’d seen him exercise compassion multiple times now so surely this Silas fellow couldn’t be all that bad. At least that’s what she believed until he turned his gaze towards her and she could see it wasn’t just the shadows in the car he was actually angry.
“Where are we going?” Silas asked curtly. Sonya actually had to think for a moment, she hadn’t actually thought this far ahead in her plan. In this day and age there were more than several ways to track someone, and it wouldn’t be long now until Silas’ group caught back up with them.
“Well…how much time do you think we have until they’re close enough to see us?” She asked running through different places in her mind of secluded areas nearby where they could hide themselves and a car.
“Less than 15 minutes I would imagine… Kid, listen, save yourself just leave me with the little one and just keep driving until you run out of money.” He said with a great sigh, obviously losing what little faith in her he may have had.
“If you want to go then by all means get out, I’ll even slow the car down some so it won’t hurt as bad when you roll out.” She said casually when she spotted a pair of tail lights ahead of her. It was odd to see someone way out this far into the farm area this late at night. Sonya mashed the pedal down to catch up to them, maybe if she was lucky it would be the sheriff.
         Right as she was about to be able to make out the back of the car they suddenly turned off road. Then an idea clicked into place as she realized it wasn’t a cop. Silas was just about to make another attempt to convince her to give up when she cut him off. “But if you want a chance to live then you can come with us and hide. I know of a place they’ll never be able to find even with all their fancy surveillance gadgets. We can wait them out until they think we’ve left town and throw them off the trail.” Silas stayed silent and just looked at her confused. She couldn’t help but grin. “How do you feel about parties?”


~~~~~~~now go read chapter 2! :D ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~