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xp_logsSleep doesn’t fix all problems. In Amanda’s case, sleep might have made everything worse.
Amanda awoke.
She tried to sit up, see where she was, but her body wouldn't obey. Had Adam paralyzed her? Her eyes felt gummed together and with effort she forced them open, a small whimper escaping her. Sheets. A light blanket. Bandages over her arms and an IV. Hospital? But where? There was a call button by her hand and with effort she managed to push it. Even that small movement was exhausting and her hand dropped limply on the cover.
Light, hurried footsteps echoed across the tile floor as the door opened and a familiar redhead came into the room.
"Amanda? You're safe," Jean said, scribbling something down in a folder before tucking the pen in the pocket of her lab coat and setting what appeared to be a chart--Amanda's chart--on a table nearby.
"What's the last thing you remember?"
The mansion then. But how? She opened cracked lips and managed to croak out: "London. Contact." She frowned, pieces of memory coming back slowly through the haze of pain and painkillers. "Ambush."
Jean was silent a moment, then nodded. "Was it Adam Destine? Topaz had a theory..." she said. She pulled out a flashlight. "I need to check your vitals."
The name sent a jolt of adrenaline through Amanda, but it only made her feel tired. There'd been too much already and she was tapped. "Yeah," she managed. "He set me up. Did... things. Dunno how I got here."
Jean clenched her jaw at the description of what happened. It was vague, but enough to be disquieting.
"We think you teleported. Maya found you in the treehouse on the mansion grounds," she said. She gently reached up to smooth Amanda's hair back so she could shine the flashlight into her eyes, checking her pupil dilation. "I counted about 13 puncture wounds. You lost a lot of blood."
The light hurt, but Amanda held still until Jean had finished checking her pupils. "Human pincushion," she said with something like humour. "The others. 'S a curse. Adam's behind all of it."
Amanda's file floated over to Jean and Jean took down some notes. She didn't look entirely surprised.
Jean's eyebrows furrowed. And this is why I hate magic. She would rather have science any day.
She shook her head. "If we don't figure out a way to stop him...I don't know how much more the others can take. The magic group is still doing research to figure out a way to counter it."
If the walk from her rooms to the infirmary had been shorter, Marie-Ange would have been less chillingly composed. The brief trip in the elevator had given her time to leave voicemails for Doug and Domino to help with technology and to hiss vile profanity about everything she knew she was going to have to do. Telling Amanda that her student - that this particular student - was again missing was in her list of the worst things she had ever considered.
But she had been given that time to settle her thoughts and not rush into the infirmary tear-stained and wild hair and profanity and clawing worry for her friend and Topaz and murderous hot rage at Adam Destine.
She paused just outside Amanda's room to calm the thoughts of bloody revenge as a courtesy to Jean, and then knocked softly before cracking the door. "I have news, and I apologize, it is not at all good."
Jean rose from her stool.
"If you'd come with good news I would have been shocked," she said blithely, rubbing her forehead before, motioning for Marie-Ange to come in.
"What happened now?"
"Topaz." Amanda struggled to sit up, despite the fact it set the monitors beeping wildly and made her head spin. "He's got Topaz." She couldn't say how she knew, only that she was sure, down to her bones.
Marie-Ange swallowed at the lump in her throat, all at once dreading this more than she had in the elevator down to the infirmary. "Yes, we believe so. Topaz is not in the mansion or on the grounds. I checked the security logs personally to be sure." She pressed her knuckles into the palm of her other hand and shook her head before reaching into her pocket. "And there is no tracking of her phone. She left it, I found it on our table." The phone was now wrapped in a clear plastic bag, the kind you put sandwiches in. "Amanda, she left a note. I do not think she believes she will return."
Amanda's hand shook as she took the piece of paper from Marie-Ange and unfolded it. As she read it, she began biting her other hand's thumbnail, almost savagely, while her face paled even further. At last she finished, and half-crumpled the note in her hand, white to the lips. "That stupid noble bloody idiot," she choked out. "She's gone to Adam. Sacrificing herself. So the rest of us are safe." She buried her face in her hands, the note forgotten and crumpling further. "He'll slaughter her."
Jean stared at the crumpled note a moment before glancing up toward Amanda. "Not if we find her first," she said unwaveringly as she reached out to gently put her hand on the woman's shoulder.
Well, someone who wasn't the medical staff. They had their own problems to deal with.
"Marie-Ange, can you see where we're at on leads?"
"I already have Domino and Cypher on the way to collect the phone from me and pull everything they can from it." Marie-Ange answered briskly. "And whichever of them does not have the phone will be looking at tracking her Lyft driver." She took out her own phone, swiped her thumb across the screen and the screen-sharing app bloomed up onto the screen next to Amanda's hospital bed, showing the security footage of Topaz leaving the mansion and crossing the front drive. "Security cameras have her leaving a little before midnight, and she walked past their range. Nothing has come up on her charge card, so I presume she used cash to pay her driver. The emergency cash in our suite is missing, which also suggests cash transactions."
Another swipe of Marie-Ange's phone screen brought up several windows - a dossier of Adam Destine and his siblings, another of Taboo and a third of Topaz herself. "I do not have much else. Yet."
The business-like tone of Marie-Ange's voice - and the warmth of Jean's hand on her shoulder - seemed to bring Amanda back to herself a bit. She lowered her hands and took a shuddering breath, face blotched and eyes watery. "I'm tapped for magic," she said. "But the grasshoppers might be able to manage a location spell if you get really stuck. This ought to work as a personal object." She held the crumpled letter out to Marie-Ange. "Make sure Megan or Billy's supervising, tho', and someone with a fire extinguisher. Location spells tend to be a bit volatile." Her voice wobbled, but it was an attempt at her old tone. "Keep me updated? As much as the docs allow, any way?" She glanced at Jean.
Jean nodded. "Of course," she said. There was little to be done in times like those to keep things from a worried parental-type figure. She'd find out one way or another.
She looked back to Marie-Ange. "Sorry, I got ahead of myself. I didn't intend to step on your toes. I know you're doing all you can."
Marie-Ange nodded, a quick acknowledgement of the apology. "I have resources most would not have access to." At least two of the custom-written apps to track people's movements were outright illegal, and a violation of privacy besides. She would apologize to Topaz later. Perhaps. "I will make sure that your students do not blow up anything irreplaceable in their haste to be helpful." She frowned in thought for a moment. "And I will sweep her suite and ours for anything that may make tracking spells easier." She made a quick, almost embarrassed gesture towards the biohazard container in the corner.
Amanda wrinkled her nose. "Yeah, that's an option if they can't get a reading. Save it as the last resort, tho' - I'm pretty sure Topaz wouldn't appreciate Stephen handling her used tampon." Trust Amanda to say out loud what Marie-Ange was tactfully hinting at. She tried to rub at her forehead, wincing as the movement scraped cuts on her hands and her face. "Guess I'll just wait." It was said with a certain degree of bitterness.
"The sooner you rest, the quicker you'll heal so you can get back out there," Jean said. The lines of worry were etched on Amanda's face. Jean didn't fault her for it. She was worried about the girl too.
But they had the entire mansion behind them (with a few notable exceptions). They'd find her. She was sure of it.
Amanda awoke.
She tried to sit up, see where she was, but her body wouldn't obey. Had Adam paralyzed her? Her eyes felt gummed together and with effort she forced them open, a small whimper escaping her. Sheets. A light blanket. Bandages over her arms and an IV. Hospital? But where? There was a call button by her hand and with effort she managed to push it. Even that small movement was exhausting and her hand dropped limply on the cover.
Light, hurried footsteps echoed across the tile floor as the door opened and a familiar redhead came into the room.
"Amanda? You're safe," Jean said, scribbling something down in a folder before tucking the pen in the pocket of her lab coat and setting what appeared to be a chart--Amanda's chart--on a table nearby.
"What's the last thing you remember?"
The mansion then. But how? She opened cracked lips and managed to croak out: "London. Contact." She frowned, pieces of memory coming back slowly through the haze of pain and painkillers. "Ambush."
Jean was silent a moment, then nodded. "Was it Adam Destine? Topaz had a theory..." she said. She pulled out a flashlight. "I need to check your vitals."
The name sent a jolt of adrenaline through Amanda, but it only made her feel tired. There'd been too much already and she was tapped. "Yeah," she managed. "He set me up. Did... things. Dunno how I got here."
Jean clenched her jaw at the description of what happened. It was vague, but enough to be disquieting.
"We think you teleported. Maya found you in the treehouse on the mansion grounds," she said. She gently reached up to smooth Amanda's hair back so she could shine the flashlight into her eyes, checking her pupil dilation. "I counted about 13 puncture wounds. You lost a lot of blood."
The light hurt, but Amanda held still until Jean had finished checking her pupils. "Human pincushion," she said with something like humour. "The others. 'S a curse. Adam's behind all of it."
Amanda's file floated over to Jean and Jean took down some notes. She didn't look entirely surprised.
Jean's eyebrows furrowed. And this is why I hate magic. She would rather have science any day.
She shook her head. "If we don't figure out a way to stop him...I don't know how much more the others can take. The magic group is still doing research to figure out a way to counter it."
If the walk from her rooms to the infirmary had been shorter, Marie-Ange would have been less chillingly composed. The brief trip in the elevator had given her time to leave voicemails for Doug and Domino to help with technology and to hiss vile profanity about everything she knew she was going to have to do. Telling Amanda that her student - that this particular student - was again missing was in her list of the worst things she had ever considered.
But she had been given that time to settle her thoughts and not rush into the infirmary tear-stained and wild hair and profanity and clawing worry for her friend and Topaz and murderous hot rage at Adam Destine.
She paused just outside Amanda's room to calm the thoughts of bloody revenge as a courtesy to Jean, and then knocked softly before cracking the door. "I have news, and I apologize, it is not at all good."
Jean rose from her stool.
"If you'd come with good news I would have been shocked," she said blithely, rubbing her forehead before, motioning for Marie-Ange to come in.
"What happened now?"
"Topaz." Amanda struggled to sit up, despite the fact it set the monitors beeping wildly and made her head spin. "He's got Topaz." She couldn't say how she knew, only that she was sure, down to her bones.
Marie-Ange swallowed at the lump in her throat, all at once dreading this more than she had in the elevator down to the infirmary. "Yes, we believe so. Topaz is not in the mansion or on the grounds. I checked the security logs personally to be sure." She pressed her knuckles into the palm of her other hand and shook her head before reaching into her pocket. "And there is no tracking of her phone. She left it, I found it on our table." The phone was now wrapped in a clear plastic bag, the kind you put sandwiches in. "Amanda, she left a note. I do not think she believes she will return."
Amanda's hand shook as she took the piece of paper from Marie-Ange and unfolded it. As she read it, she began biting her other hand's thumbnail, almost savagely, while her face paled even further. At last she finished, and half-crumpled the note in her hand, white to the lips. "That stupid noble bloody idiot," she choked out. "She's gone to Adam. Sacrificing herself. So the rest of us are safe." She buried her face in her hands, the note forgotten and crumpling further. "He'll slaughter her."
Jean stared at the crumpled note a moment before glancing up toward Amanda. "Not if we find her first," she said unwaveringly as she reached out to gently put her hand on the woman's shoulder.
Well, someone who wasn't the medical staff. They had their own problems to deal with.
"Marie-Ange, can you see where we're at on leads?"
"I already have Domino and Cypher on the way to collect the phone from me and pull everything they can from it." Marie-Ange answered briskly. "And whichever of them does not have the phone will be looking at tracking her Lyft driver." She took out her own phone, swiped her thumb across the screen and the screen-sharing app bloomed up onto the screen next to Amanda's hospital bed, showing the security footage of Topaz leaving the mansion and crossing the front drive. "Security cameras have her leaving a little before midnight, and she walked past their range. Nothing has come up on her charge card, so I presume she used cash to pay her driver. The emergency cash in our suite is missing, which also suggests cash transactions."
Another swipe of Marie-Ange's phone screen brought up several windows - a dossier of Adam Destine and his siblings, another of Taboo and a third of Topaz herself. "I do not have much else. Yet."
The business-like tone of Marie-Ange's voice - and the warmth of Jean's hand on her shoulder - seemed to bring Amanda back to herself a bit. She lowered her hands and took a shuddering breath, face blotched and eyes watery. "I'm tapped for magic," she said. "But the grasshoppers might be able to manage a location spell if you get really stuck. This ought to work as a personal object." She held the crumpled letter out to Marie-Ange. "Make sure Megan or Billy's supervising, tho', and someone with a fire extinguisher. Location spells tend to be a bit volatile." Her voice wobbled, but it was an attempt at her old tone. "Keep me updated? As much as the docs allow, any way?" She glanced at Jean.
Jean nodded. "Of course," she said. There was little to be done in times like those to keep things from a worried parental-type figure. She'd find out one way or another.
She looked back to Marie-Ange. "Sorry, I got ahead of myself. I didn't intend to step on your toes. I know you're doing all you can."
Marie-Ange nodded, a quick acknowledgement of the apology. "I have resources most would not have access to." At least two of the custom-written apps to track people's movements were outright illegal, and a violation of privacy besides. She would apologize to Topaz later. Perhaps. "I will make sure that your students do not blow up anything irreplaceable in their haste to be helpful." She frowned in thought for a moment. "And I will sweep her suite and ours for anything that may make tracking spells easier." She made a quick, almost embarrassed gesture towards the biohazard container in the corner.
Amanda wrinkled her nose. "Yeah, that's an option if they can't get a reading. Save it as the last resort, tho' - I'm pretty sure Topaz wouldn't appreciate Stephen handling her used tampon." Trust Amanda to say out loud what Marie-Ange was tactfully hinting at. She tried to rub at her forehead, wincing as the movement scraped cuts on her hands and her face. "Guess I'll just wait." It was said with a certain degree of bitterness.
"The sooner you rest, the quicker you'll heal so you can get back out there," Jean said. The lines of worry were etched on Amanda's face. Jean didn't fault her for it. She was worried about the girl too.
But they had the entire mansion behind them (with a few notable exceptions). They'd find her. She was sure of it.
