The Forgotten Zodiac

((I swear I replied to this. I really did. Oh well. Yes, it will be great. Kidnapping Gifted on the Kill List, cutting them, writing the notes, then sending Quinn their pictures.))

James sighed and pulled up his sleeve, where there were several knife scars. "Lotis did something to heal me fast so I could help him hunt Gifted, but these were Werr. I just did what I had to to stay alive, just as you did." He looked at Quinn curiously, wondering why she had stopped. "Shall we continue?" His voice made it quite clear that she was his captive. He was being nice, but it wasn't time to stop.

Michael rolled his eyes. It was a kidnapping, and he didn't feel seatbelts were necessary ever, but Malya would probably kill herself if he died while she was driving, so, for her sake, he would allow it. "Where are we going? Because, if it was James, which it was, they'll be on foot."

((So creepy. 8'D))

Quinn stared at the scars for several long moments. Werr had...lied to them? Quinn nodded shakily, but brought up the guts to ask, "Can I walk forwards, please...?" She bit her lip, knowing that James would probably say no and keep marching her backwards.

No, it was just the fact that Malya wouldn't move the car until all the seatbelts were buckled and secure. "Yes, which way?" She asked.

"In all likelyhood, back towards the Institute." Werr said, thinking quickly. "Get to the interstate, and quickly!" He didn't have to add the last part.

The reason that Malya never drove unless everyone was buckled in was because of the fact that she drove very, very quickly. The car jerked backwards, out of the parking lot, and spun around to face the road that would lead the right way the fastest. The car then leapt forward, racing down the road at surprising speeds.

((This will be amazing. I thouroughly approve of my idea.))

James paused, then quickly spun Quinn around and grabbed her other arm. "And now, we continue walking." He marched forward, done waiting for the girl to decide to continue moving. If Quinn didn't move along with him, he was prepared to continue dragging her, though she would probably find that extremely uncomfortable.

Michael, in the end, was grateful for Werr's strapping him in, not that he would admit it. The way Malya drove, simply being in the car would have killed him. "But he's not going to go up hills or anything unduly difficult to walk on. He's a lazy piece of scum like that." How he knew all this of James, he didn't intend to explain. Werr and Malya clearly had their secrets; he had his secrets, and, as far as he was concerned, both groups could keep them.

((I second that notion. xD))

Quinn moved with him, though, somewhat surprised yet grateful to be allowed to walk normally. She still didn't like this freak, but she was too worried about whether or not Werr had been telling the truth to think about that. If Werr wasn't telling the truth, what else was he lying about? He could be spying on them for the institute or something...

"What is Werr doing with us, if he really did attack you?" She asked, wiping her eyes on her sleeve.

"What, would he just walk on the interstate?" Werr frowned as they pulled onto the very thing. Malya only sped up after that, but at least there weren't as many turns.

James raced through his mind for a second, taking time to formulate a proper lie, one that was believable and would keep Quinn doubting Werr even to the man's face. "I managed to injure him while I was defending myself and he needed medical help. The agency doesn't provide it, we're just replacable to them, so he went to you, knowing that once he convinced you he was on your side, you would take good care of him." In an effort not to look to merciful, ever a danger to him, he walked faster than normal in an effort to at least disgruntle her.

Michael shook his head. "He has time, or he'll think he does. He'll be heading straight out, avoiding the city and major roads." He paused for a second to properly consider James' psychology and what he would do. "He'll be walking her straight to headquarters, though. He won't try and pass her off to someone more experienced earlier, in fact, he wants us to follow him. This isn't about her, it's about me."

Quinn was quiet, but mostly because she had dragged her big toe against a sharp rock, and she was afraid that if she opened her mouth, she'd start crying again. She just walked in silence, doing her best to keep up. Werr was a liar...That was all she could think about. He was a liar who had used them, maybe gotten her kidnapped, which landed her right here. How ridiculous...

James laughed for a second, finding Quinn's silence hilaroius. It would have been ever better if she'd cried, for both him and her. He would have found it hilarious, and, therefore, wouldn't have hurt her as much. Probably. "What? You don't believe me?"

"N-no...I think I b-believe you..." Quinn said quietly. "Is Werr still working for the institute?" She choked out, still managing not to cry.

James paused to think about her question, then nodded. "Probably. I mean, he's made no effort to remove the tracker he's carrying, which is how I found you." Another blatant lie, but she couldn't prove he was lying until she got back to Werr, and if he was lucky, that would be never.

Quinn shivered. So, Werr was working for the institute after all. Quinn looked down, starting to cry. She felt like throwing up again, honestly, but she hadn't eaten a thing since yesterday, so her stomach was empty. "I-I thought he was our friend...he seemed so nice...a little weird, but still nice..."

"Is that them?" Werr pointed ahead to two people who were walking. Indeed, that was them, and they were approaching fast.

James nodded. "You can't ever trust agents. Of course, knowing that it surprises me you trust Michael, what with his background." He grabbed her arm and pulled her off the road into the forest, moving faster than they had been before. "But then, maybe you're more forgiving then most people are."

Michael looked, then nodded. "That's them. Oh, crud, they're going into the forest." He looked around, deciding on the best course of action, then looked up to Malya. "You need to let me out, I'll go after them on foot. That ensures that you'll get Quinn, no matter what. After all, it's really me he's after."

"Wh-what? What about his background? I never asked..." Quinn wiped her eyes, looking at where they were going. "What did he do?"

Malya slammed on the breaks, the car spinning around once before sliding to a stop on the side of the road. "I don't think so, kid. I'm sure Werr's told you already," She reached over and opened the glove compartment, pulling out a pistol. She opened the door and climbed out, not even hesitating before firing off a shot at the back of James' knee. Werr climbed out of the car as well, frowning.

Michael shot himself out of the door and was running after James, heat glowing around him in a shield. "And now he knows we're there." He muttered to himself. In his mind, his methods were much, much better than hers.

James looked around, and pulled a light shield up just in time to block the bullet. "He was an agent." With that, he began dragging Quinn forward, moving as fast as he could, though if she held back, he would probably either get caught or have to let her go. A light shield came up behind them, making any bullets fired at them after that useless.

"Quinn! Don't worry, we'll get out away from him!" Werr called., running forward with Michael.

Quinn, however, only saw Michael and Werr. With what she had been told moments before about those two, she didn't trust them. At all. She let James pull her away, fear welling up inside her. She didn't know who to trust anymore, might as well just give up...

Malya, realizing that James must have talents similar to Werr, if he could block the bullet. She fired two shots off at James' head next, furious.

The bullets bounced off of the light harmlessly and James kept running, quite surprised that she was letting him drag her like this. "C'mon, Quinn! Either you're running or you aren't!" He stumbled and nearly fell, but caught himself and ran on his way. He swung his free hand back and a beam of light shot backward toward Malya.

Quinn ignored the pain in her feet and ran with James, not knowing what else to do. "Q-Quinn, what are you doing? Fight against him, something!" Werr called after her, running faster to try and keep up.

Malya ducked behind the car, avoiding the attack. She stood up again a moment later and took aim again, but she didn't have a clear shot anymore.

((Should they get away? That might be awesome.))

James pushed the lightwall around them out, reaching to where Michael and Werr were, then left it there as they kept running. "Oh. That makes it easy then." He ran harder, not really sure what the plan should be at this point, because he was pretty sure Werr would hunt them down no matter where they went.

Werr kicked the wall in frustration. "Darn it...What is Quinn thinking?! He must have brainwashed her or something, or she's just gone plain insane!"

Quinn started pulling against James at this point. Her feet were bleeding and she was really feeling it now. She didn't want to go with him, either. She didn't want to go with any of them; she would much rather just run and try to stick it out on her own, or something...

Oh, how she wished Sylas were here or something. The friendly Iyoui seemed to never lie, and probably would have protected her, but...

James jerked her up and quickly formed a light harness around Quinn and pulled her around, the harness making it much easier to drag her. This was probably going to kill him later, but he didn't have a choice right now.

Michael didn't answer, but shoved his hands against the wall, slowly shoving his way through. After about thirty seconds, the wall broke and he nearly collapsed, but caught his balance and started running. "She's just crazy, Werr. We already knew that."

Werr scoffed, running after Michael. Quinn wasn't crazy, she was a sweet and innocent girl by Werr's standards, but why was she following James so willingly now?

Quinn started crying again, now really having no choice but to follow. "Stop it, let me go!" She wailed, trying to brace her heels against the ground so she couldn't be pulled.

((Let them get away, but Quinn's not going to go freely, haha. Knock her out. xDD))