Tina Chan - imperfect

“Head for the trees,” Chelsa instructed.

She popped up from the ground and ran for the surrounding woods. Jaiden and Kristi raced after her. Branches whipped at Kristi’s face and tore at her hair. The ground was covered in dead leaves, making it hard for her to know where there were roots; she nearly tripped over one jutting out from the ground.

The cloudy night sky meant the moon wasn’t able to provide a lot of light, which Kristi supposed was a double-edged sword; it made it harder for the guards on their tail to find them in the dark, but at the same time meant sticking close to Jaiden and Chelsa was even more important. Ghost reappeared sometime and ran beside his owner.

“Can you lead us to your place?” Kristi asked Chelsa. She drew in an extra deep breath to recover from asking her question.

“What else do you think I’m doing?”

“You can’t hide from us, you runaways!” a guard hollered. “You’ll never escape us.”

“Let’s see about that,” Chelsa said.

Kristi ran with renewed effort, splashing through as many streams and puddles as possible to throw off their scents. The freezing water soaked into her jeans, plastering them against her legs. The wet garment hindered Kristi’s speed, making her fall behind Jaiden and Chelsa.

Ghost slowed down to match Kristi’s pace, nipping at her heels whenever he felt her start to slow down.

“You okay?” Jaiden asked. He spared a second to look over his shoulder, making sure she was still in sight.

“Yeah.”

Ghost snipped at her ankles in encouragement.

“I lost the trail,” a guard called.

“Hold on a second,” another guard replied. “Let my droid-dog find the trail.”

Their voices faded away.

At long last, they broke through the tree lines and the guards appeared to be nowhere in sight. Kristi recognized where they were; somehow, using her uncanny sense of location, Chelsa had managed to lead them to a street that branched off to the alley where Chelsa’s home was.

They hustled to the brick wall and Kristi ran her hands over the sensor. The bricks rotated away, exposing the room inside and Jaiden let out a whistle of admiration of the craftiness. The gap closed up once more the moment everyone was inside.

Chelsa swiftly unlocked the door to the main room and turned on the lights.

“Sweet hideout,” Jaiden said.

Chelsa nodded to show she heard and put the kettle on. “I need some tea. It calms my nerves. Want some?”

“Yes, please,” Jaiden and Kristi said in unison.

Jaiden spun to face Kristi; she did not like the expression he had on his face. He looked positively furious.

“What were you trying to do, Kristi? You could’ve been killed. I was fine; they weren’t going to do anything with me. The judges were going to deem me innocent and I would be let out within a day. Do you know what they would do to you? The government will be more than happy to use this break-in as an excuse to lock you up for the rest of your life. You’re my only remaining family member and I couldn’t stand it if you were captured.”

“What about Maria and Don? They’re part of our family too,” Kristi said. “And anyways, I’m fine and you’re fine. Nobody got hurt.”

“They’re traitors,” Jaiden growled. “They’re not my parents any more. They betrayed me and never told me who they were. Ha! They brought me up to follow the laws while they were breaking the laws themselves. They’re back-stabbing liars.”

Jaiden grabbed Kristi by the shoulders and shook her with each word to emphasize the point. “ Our. Parents. Were. Spies .” Then he seemed to realize what he was doing and hastily dropped his hands. “Sorry.” He apologetically met her gaze.

Kristi rubbed her sore shoulders—Jaiden’s grip was strong—and said, “Apology accepted. I don’t think you’ve been properly introduced to Chelsa yet.”

Chelsa took the kettle off the stove and poured everyone a mug of green tea.

Kristi rapidly downed her cup of tea and withdrew to take a shower, leaving Chelsa and Jaiden to get to know each other better.

“What do you think the note means?” Kristi asked Jaiden and Chelsa the next day. She took out the crumpled piece of paper and flattened it on the wooden desk. They stooped around the table, trying to decipher the message.

Find Jaiden and locate the others.

Jaiden read the note and assumed a thoughtful look. When he spoke, he chose his words carefully, “Who are the others ?”

“No clue,” Chelsa replied, snacking on a cracker. “Kristi and I have been trying to interpret it for a while now. We were hoping you would know.”

Jaiden frowned then said, “Maybe others could be implying that there are other people with no genetic alterations.”

“Do you mean Accidents?” Chelsa asked.

“I hate that term.”

Kristi supposed it was possible that other Accidents like her and Chelsa existed.

“Or Maria and Don may be referring to other spies,” Jaiden said. He accepted the saltines Chelsa offered him. “But honestly, is there any valid reason for you to follow the orders on the note?” He directed the question towards Kristi.

Jaiden had a point. Her seemingly mundane parents were actually spies. As a result, Jaiden had gotten thrown into jail and she was a wanted fugitive. Did she really want to follow instructions left by them?

“I personally just want to forget about the note and move on in life,” said Jaiden. “But I’ll support whatever choice you make.”

“If you decide not to go searching for the others ,” said Chelsa, “you’re welcome to stay with me.”

“That’s very nice of you,” Kristi said. She tried not to shudder imagining living the rest of her life in the three rooms that made up Chelsa’s residence. Being trapped indoors, relying on Chelsa to bring her news of the world outside; just thinking about it made her cringe.

“I want to carry out Maria and Don’s wishes.”

Jaiden and Chelsa looked up from the electro-slate, both listening to Kristi.

“I don’t know what else to do.” She dropped onto the rickety bed beside Chelsa.

“You could always stay here, as Chelsa has offered,” Jaiden said.

“I think following the directives may clear some of the confusion that happened over the past two days.”

“Very well, I will do whatever I can to assist you.” Jaiden looked neither pleased nor upset by her choice.

“So will I,” Chelsa added, catching Kristi off guard. “Oh, don’t look so surprised at my offer. You’re my first friend in a long time. You didn’t think that I was going to allow you to slip away so easily, did you?”

Kristi gave them both a hug. “Thanks guys. I really appreciate it.”

Chelsa made a face. “Don’t get all mushy on me.” All the same, she returned Kristi’s hug, then said, “I’ll go see if I can find some sleeping bags for you two.” She brushed cracker crumbs off her sweatshirt. “And don’t you even think about leaving—it’s too risky for you to show your face in public.”

“There’s no way Maria and Don could’ve known about Chelsa,” Jaiden said. He twirled the pen masterfully through his fingers. In. Out. In. Out.

“Who knows what they knew?” Kristi glanced at the clock; Chelsa had been gone for over an hour.

“So you think the others are other Accidents?” He grimaced at the word.

“I don’t know anything. Others could be other Accidents, it could be other spies, and it could be a secret family of dwarves, for all I know.” Not for the first time, Kristi wished her parents’ message could’ve been a little less vague.