City Hunter

Chapter 19

10/8/70

"Wait!" Azure called out as Horizon and Onyx turned away, presumably to lead them to the rest of their group. "What about Christina?"

Violet couldn't believe that she hadn't thought of that yet. She turned around to see the black-haired woman still sitting down, staring at them with her beautiful gold eyes, not uttering a word.

Hawk walked over to her. "Christina?" she asked tentatively, prodding her with her still-bound hands. Christina didn't move, nor shifted her eyes."Christina? What's wrong with her? She's not reacting to me."

"She's still sedated," Onyx said softly. "We had to take... precautions."

Precautions? What's that supposed to mean?

"Precautions," echoed Azure. He frowned. "I don't see how that's necessary."

"Believe me, it is. You know what she can do, yes?"

Azure froze. "You know about the hypnotizing?"

"Of course," Horizon replied. "I did say that we researched all of you before bringing you here."

"'Bringing us here'," Tyrone muttered. "That's what you call knocking us unconscious and then bringing us to who knows where without our consent."

"This is true," Horizon admitted. "But it was necessary."

"How exactly was it-"

"You said that you researched all of us," Violet interrupted, wanting to ask the question that had been on the tip of her tongue the whole time. "You know everything about us. Is that why Elizabeth and Melissa aren't here?"

Horizon frowned. "Elizabeth?"

"Y-yeah," Violet stammered. "And Melissa."

"Your friend is recovering in another room," Onyx told her. "But we don't know about anyone named Elizabeth."

"Christina's wife?" Hawk cut in. "Short? Red hair? Green eyes?"

Horizon shook their head. "Sorry, but no. We thought that Christina was the only one with you."

"That's...odd," Azure murmured.

Awkward silence commenced, with none of them being brave enough to break it.

Horizon finally did, with a smile that seemed like it was an effort to make. "Well, I'm sure we'll figure it out. For now, you four need to come with me," - they pointed to the large door - "and we'll go see your friend." When Violet and her friends all looked skeptical, they laughed and said, "Come on, Onyx and I don't bite. Well, Onyx might."

Onyx angrily grumbled something under his breath. 

Horizon grinned.

"We may as well," Violet admitted. "It's not like we can do anything else anyway." None of the others seemed to disagree, though Tyrone looked less than pleased. Violet wasn't pleased, either. She was right - it was the only thing they could do - but it would mean leaving Christina behind. Violet hadn't known the golden-eyed woman for very long, but she had saved Melissa's life.

They followed Horizon and Onyx out of the room and into a long, wide hall. The walls and ceiling were all made out of sleek, silver metal, but the floor was made out the same smooth wood that had coated the floor in the room that they had come out of. Once again, Violet wondered who exactly Horizon and Onyx were. They were wealthy, surely, to have access to enough wood to cover their floors.

For a few minutes, all Violet could hear was the thudding of their footsteps as Horizon led them through the long hallway - longer than she had thought. This must be a massive building.

Suddenly, she heard something coming their way. Another pair of footsteps, light-footed and quick.

"Horizon?" somebody called. It was a husky voice, and female. "Is that you?"

"Yup, me and Onyx," Horizon replied. "We're bringing our guests to meet the whole group. Wanna get to know them one-on-one first?"

"Sure. They should probably get used to me first."

As she rounded the corner, Violet realized, with a gasp, why the woman had said that.

The person in front of them was wearing a slim black jacket with ripped seams on the side, as if it had been meant for a much younger her. Similar tears were in her dark crimson leggings, and her black combat boots looked well-used, as if she hadn't bothered to get any of her clothes replaced in a while. Her long, dark blond hair contrasted sharply with her ebony skin, dark as a moonless night. But none of that was what brought Violet's shock.

The woman... looked like she was half bird.

Tangled in her hair were shiny black feathers, which rose up to a crest and then ran down to the the nape of her neck and down her spine. Her tail - tail - was made of the same dusky feathers. But her most noticeable feature was the two massive wings that were folded on her sides; her jacket had been specially cut to provide for them. As Violet looked closer, she could see that her feathers weren't just black; they were also dark blue and green and purple with silver highlights, mixed in with the ebony feathers so subtly that is was almost impossible to tell them apart.

"I'm Verity," the woman told them.