CHAPTER 24

Suiting up had taken the girls around an hour. They had needed changes of clothes, backpacks, and of course, everything Oppenheimer had listed. Jasmine’s footsteps felt heavy as she stepped toward the elevator, not because of stress—

Well, she couldn’t lie to herself, it was stress. This was the first time she had such huge responsibilities. The girl almost wanted to ask the Director to send someone else instead, but she couldn’t If Jasmine didn’t prove herself now, her entire plan for revenge went up in flames. This was merely a stepping stone to her final goal, or at least that’s what she told herself not to panic.

The roof was windy. The girl’s hair blinded her until she immobilized it with her hand. Plus, it didn’t help that there was a helicopter waiting for them. The whirling of the blades practically deafened her.

“You’re up! We’ll be watching, metahumans!” Oppenheimer screamed, but his voice almost was drowned out by the noise. He pointed toward the helicopter’s entrance with his thumb.

Jasmine nodded and entered the chopper, and took a seat. The pilot— a man with a thick helmet and sunglasses, motioned to something to her side. She turned her head and noticed headphones which she promptly put on. The machine’s deafening noise blended into the background.

“Alright girls, seatbelts on!” He yelled out. “There’s a magazine about safety protocols on the front seats if you need it, we’ll be flying for two hours.”

“Have you driven— flown this thing before?!” Agnes asked into the microphone with a shaky voice.”

The man gestured to Oppenheimer with a thumbs up, and the Director started leaving the roof. “Obviously they wouldn’t have stuck you with me if I didn’t. Relax and enjoy the sights!”

The helicopter’s whirling blades intensified, and the group slowly started to fly. Jasmine craned her neck to look over the capital. Even if heights scared her, she couldn’t stop herself. The view was almost hypnotizing— skyscrapers felt small, and people looked like ants. In the distance, she saw Azeris’ extensive grasslands and farms, along with intertwining roads and the highway. Jasmine knew that the south of the country was flat when compared to northern regions, but there was a difference between knowing and seeing it from up there. She turned her eyes away from the stunning view and toward her friend. The girl had her eyes closed, and her breathing was quick. Jasmine clasped her hand and squeezed it, reminiscing on the spat they had earlier. Agnes opened one eye slightly, then both of them. Jasmine looked at her and smiled.

She’d have to apologize once they were there.

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Eventually, the southern plains turned into rugged hills and forests, and that turned into mountains. Mount Rosharia was the largest mountain in Azeris, but it was not the tallest. The sheer size of the range meant that the weather here was drastically different from the south and that the peak was nowhere in sight. Autumn was already in full swing here, and it was hard not to notice. The thousands of trees that littered the ground were all golden-brown.

As it turned out, though, it was hard to land a helicopter in these conditions. Originally, Oppenheimer had planned for the pilot to land them near Halselt, but apparently, he’d never been up here.

“I see a flat area across the ridge— to the right of the road.” He said, clearly frustrated. They’d been looking for at least twenty minutes now.

“That’s a viewing platform! Can it support the helicopter?” Jasmine cautioned.

“My baby can park there no problem, just watch.” He asserted as he gripped the stick tighter, moving it down.

The chopper reduced its altitude, slowly landing on the wooden platform. It had probably been a bustling tourist attraction back in the eighteen forties, but now? It was a ghost town, along with the abandoned buildings surrounding it. Restaurants and shops stood there, empty.

Jasmine and Agnes stepped out of the helicopter with their bags and the pilot promptly left after reminding them that they had one week. After that, he’d pick them up here at midnight and fly them back to Adelinde.

“So… that was terrifying, wasn’t it?” Agnes said as she stretched. “I’d rank it up here in my top ten things I’d never do again if I had the choice.”

“I didn’t know you were scared of heights.” Jasmine replied.

“I’m not scared of heights, I’m scared of dying in a helicopter crash. Not the same thing.” She said, pouting her lips. “The town’s this way, right? You have the map?”

“You have one too, but yes, we just follow the road, and we should reach it in around thirty minutes.” Jasmine said, pointing in the correct direction. “And Agnes?”

The girl— who had already started to walk— turned.

“I’m sorry… for the way I blew up at you earlier. I shouldn’t have raised my voice like that.” She continued. “I don’t want to fight with my best friend.”

“What? It’s totally fine, dude. That wasn’t even a fight, trust me, we’re chill.” She said, smiling. “Now, let’s get going.”

The walk through the mountain road would have been tiring a few months ago, but now? Jasmine felt like she could have jogged the entire way. A few cars passed by them, but it truly felt like they were alone in the world. Soon, they saw the small town in the distance. It sat in a narrow valley right next to a river, and Halselt’s main street immediately caught Jasmine’s attention. She had to squint, but the girl noticed that it was bustling with activity, which wasn’t what she had expected.

“Should you transform now or?” Jasmine started.

“I don’t know, it’s your call. I’m fucking stressed though, it’s sinking in.”

“What is?”

“The fact that we’re alone in the middle of nowhere to spy on some countryside bums, and that I have to impersonate someone’s dead relative.” Agnes said, her voice getting progressively lower.

“Well, do you mind being a guy for a week?” Jasmine asked. They had stopped walking at the town’s entrance. A small rusty sign read ‘Welcome to Halselt’.

“Probably, I’ve never transformed that long, but I guess I could do it if I have to. Again, your call.”

Jasmine bit her lip. “Let’s just find the motel for now, I guess. I’m not great at the planning thing.”

“Better than me.”

The two metahumans walked into the town’s main street and immediately started looking for the motel that the TIA had told them about. After going along the entire avenue to no avail, they started asking the locals for directions.

“Hey, do you know where Mountainview motel is?” Jasmine asked a passerby.

The woman pulled on her dog’s leash, turned slowly toward them, and frowned, as if they were speaking a different language.

“Who’re you? I’ve never seen you two before.” She finally asked in a northern accent. Her dog started growling at them.

“Tourists. We’re here to see the sights, the city can get tiring after a while.” Jasmine said with a smile, trying to be as polite as possible.

“That is quite peculiar. I have to say, it is the first time in years I’ve seen anyone visit here, how long will you be staying?” The woman said, suddenly relaxing her tone.

Jasmine continued, happy to have found what made the woman click. “A week, and I have to say, my friend and I are quite charmed with your town already.”

“It’s cozy, isn’t it? Plus—” Her dog barked, interrupting her. “Allfather, Esmer, will you shut up? Do you want a tour? My name is Andrea, by the way.” She said, holding out her hand. Jasmine shook it.

“No, we’ll be fine! We like exploring on our own. If you could just tell us the direction of the motel, we’ll be on our way.”

After wrangling with the woman for a little more, she eventually gave up and told them the motel’s location, but not before giving them her address in case they ever wanted to stop by. Jasmine’s wide smile turned into a grimace as soon as she left.

“Didn’t know you could act that well. I guess you’ll be doing most of the talking.” Agnes said as they turned away from the main street.

“I don’t think that was acting, I just told her what she wanted to hear.”

“Yup, acting.”

The metahumans eventually made it to a slightly more desolate part of the city. Stores and buildings were empty or abandoned, and the streets were eerily silent, even if it was the middle of the day.

“I think this is it?” Jasmine said, pointing toward a midsize parking lot.

The building’s walls were made of wooden planks painted in light pink. Big white letters sat on the roof, spelling out ‘Mountainside Motel’, which was the establishment’s name. It had two floors and a dozen rooms, along with a long balcony that stretched through the entire edifice.

“Yeah, it says so right there.” Agnes pointed at the roof. “Where do we book a room? They all look the same.”

“Let’s just start knocking?” She suggested.

“Sounds good to me.”

They started knocking on each door, but nobody ever responded.

“Surely the owner wouldn’t be on the second floor, that would be odd.” Jasmine said, sighing.

“Well, if he was, it would explain why they’re out of business.” Agnes answered jokingly. Suddenly, her face lit up. “Wait, what if they’re like, sleeping or out, or something? I mean no one ever comes here, right?”

“Dang it, you’re probably right! what do we do then?” She fumed, clasping her forehead. “Allfather, it’s just starting but we’re already screwing up.”

Agnes grabbed her arm. “Calm down, it’s not the end of the world. We weren’t even going to stay in the stupid room.”

Jasmine considered this, then felt her breathing slow. “You’re… right. Thanks, Agnes.”

“Hey, what are friends for, right? Now, let’s go investigate I suppose. You have the pictures?” She asked.

“Yes, but again, you also have them. We have the same things—”

“Blablabla, show ‘em to me.” She said, cutting her off.

Jasmine glowered for a few seconds but relented. She grabbed her backpack, opened it, and rummaged through it until she dragged out a file containing pictures.

Four pictures of Adam Kizinger’s family.

“So, an uncle, an aunt, a cousin, and two grandparents, who do we go for first?” Agnes asked as she loomed over the pictures.

“The grandparents would probably be easier.” Jasmine said, nodding her head. “Let’s ask around back in Main Street? Frick, you know what, we should have asked Andrea.”

“Andrea who?” Her friend said with a puzzled look on her face.

“Andrea, the woman we just spoke to earlier?” Jasmine deadpanned.

“Right, my bad, you know I’m bad with names. I wasn’t expecting her to actually matter.”

“She appeared to know people around here. Notice how she instantly knew that we weren’t from Halselt?”

“Yeah, that was creepy as fuck, to be honest.”

“Well, she’s our best bet. We can come back here later tonight, I suppose.” Jasmine groaned. “I really wish we had a car. Let’s get going.”

They made their way back toward Main Street and up toward the northern end of the city. People were out and about day drinking in bars and enjoying themselves, which was quite different from the work-oriented mentality in Adelind. Granted, it was the end of the week.

The girls reached a small, modest home plopped down right behind the end of Main Street. It was a cute house— blue walls with a few windows, along with a tiled roof. A small garden containing all kinds of plants sat in the front. Jasmine noticed tomatoes.

“Ew, tomatoes. This lady is officially on my bad side.” Agnes said, scrunching up her nose.

“Ha, ha.” Jasmine said ironically. “Let’s go, and be nice! This could be our first breakthrough.”

She knocked on the cyan door. A few seconds later, the woman opened it, and Jasmine had a better opportunity to look at her. Andrea was old— but not as old as some of the members of the National Intelligence Council. If Jasmine had to guess, she’d place her in her fifties. She had her brown hair tied in a bun, although it had apparent signs of graying. The woman was also wearing a horrible multicolored sweater.

“Oh my! You decided to come! Please, enter, make yourselves at home.” Andrea exclaimed with a bright smile.

“Thank you.” Jasmine answered with a smile of her own.

Andrea led them to her living room, which was relatively small, but big enough for one person. Jasmine and Agnes sat on the couch.

“Allfather, I am so excited to give you the full tour. Halselt is an amazing town when you give it a chance, but all the young people are leaving these days. That’s how you end up with only older folk being left.” She said with a hint of sadness. “Do you want to drink? Tea, orange juice? Beer?”

“I’ll have a beer!” Agnes immediately replied, much to Jasmine’s dismay. Did Andrea not know they were underage?

“Just water for me, thanks.”

Andrea opened her fridge. “I still haven’t caught your names, by the way. I consider it rather impolite, even though I gave you a pass at first because you were city girls.” She continued, handing them their drinks.

“Ah, we apologize. We simply got caught up and overwhelmed. I’m Jasmine, and this is my friend Agnes.”

“Nice to meet ya.” Agnes said, grabbing her beer bottle.

Jasmine sipped on her water quietly. She had two choices: either she brute-forced Andrea and asked her about Adam’s family members now, or she could attempt to befriend the woman first for the day and then ask her for information. After reflecting for a few moments, she came to a decision.

“So, Andrea, we actually came to meet someone too.” She said after clearing her throat.

They had no time to waste.