The Metropolis Series #2: Quinn Beyond Bounds
45. Opening Up

JULIO’S EYES DARTED to the sky. On one of the nearby rooftops, there was a girl standing tall, the wind blowing through her blond hair. A quiver hung over her shoulder as her left hand gripped her bow.

“Mackenzie?” Julio gasped.

Mackenzie leaped from the roof, morphed into a dove in mid-air, and landed gracefully on her two feet.

“Julio?” She furrowed her brow, inching toward us. “What are you doing here?”

“Listen.” Julio stepped forward. “You’ve got the wrong girl. This is not Cassandra.”

“That’s right,” I held up my head. “I’m Quinn, not Cassandra—”

“You stay out of this,” she hissed, pointing an arrow toward us—toward me. “You wrecked my control room. You injured my friends. You burned the Spanish House—”

“Enough!” Julio ordered, shielding me from the arrow.

“And you, you’re supposed to protect us, but instead, you’re protecting her. We’ve been under her wrath for too long, and I cannot stand a minute longer. If you’re doing nothing about it, I’ll end this bitch myself!”

I thought I would come full circle at that time. I would lie on the ground again, dazed from the intense pain acquired from some spontaneous attack. Thankfully, Julio was quick. Before Mackenzie could fire, he grabbed a nearby trash lid and whammed Mackenzie with it, knocking her off her feet and disarming her bow. However, she had a dagger stashed under her jacket, and she leaped toward me with her brand new weapon. Julio had unsheathed a knife as well and was quick to block her path.

The two were lost in a frenzy, swiftly dodging strikes from each other. Both were quick with their hands and nimble on their feet, their bodies caught in a storm. Unfortunately, they blocked the path to where Ms. Louise would be. Mackenzie probably knew what Julio’s plan was; she kept sidestepping when he made attempts to pin her down so I could escape.

“Quinn, run!” Julio then urged.

I just stood there like my feet had been glued to the floor. I concentrated, trying to ignore the commotion happening all around me. I remembered what Julio just said to me:

If things go wrong…

“HURRY!”

My train of thought collapsed.

The only place I could run to was away from where Ms. Louise would be—to where the party was.

Rewind time…

Nevertheless, I ran, stashing away the knife Julio had given me in my tote bag, which I hung around my shoulder. As I entered the pool area, my sprint turned into what I tried to look like a casual stroll. There, I tried to focus, walking in circles and blending into the crowd.

If things go wrong, rewind time. If things go wrong…

The music made it hard to concentrate, so I eventually gave up. If my powers wouldn’t act up, I needed a new plan. I wondered how long it would take for a bunch of partying teens to notice the commotion going on at the back of the house. I could hear things crashing, Julio and Mackenzie screaming, but even battle cries blended with the EDM tracks and synthesized voices, going about unheard.

I decided to not take my chances. Chaos could erupt at any moment, and I wasn’t going to have a bunch of Metropolitans around to witness it. I made my way back inside the house, replaceing the kitchen once more. Curtis and Rachael were still there, taking burger patties out of the pan. I took a deep breath and marched right in.

“Curtis, there you are,” I said, acting like I had just walked up on them.

Curtis smiled. “Oh, Quinn, hey! You’re just in time to try—”

“We need to talk. Alone.”

I was surprised by the sudden assertiveness in my voice. Even Curtis and Rachael looked stunned.

“I’ll be back,” Curtis finally said.

Rachael shrugged. “Yeah, okay.” She turned her attention back to the patties.

I will say, Rachael was in a better mood than usual, but I couldn’t dwell on the lack of disdainful glances. I led Curtis down the first empty hall I could replace, away from where anyone else could stare at us. I could still see Philip in the living room, though, playing video games with a few of his friends, but they looked too immersed to mind what we were doing; they didn’t even notice us pass by.

Once the noise of the party subdued, I lifted my head up, trying to look Curtis square in the eye.

“You need to stop the party,” I blurted out.

Curtis raised a brow. “What?”

I bounced on my heels. “Everyone needs to go home. Now.”

“But I am home.”

“St. John’s. We need to get back to St. John’s.”

“But my folks said I should guard the house.”

“Well, it’s not safe. I’m sure your parents wouldn’t want their son to be attacked by some crazed maniac with a knife!”

“Quinn, you’re not making any sense. What’s going on?”

As if on cue, shattering glass sounded off from inside the house. Philip and his friends screamed, dropping their controllers and scrambling toward the pool area. Julio and Mackenzie appeared into the scene, glass shards glistening on their clothes and skin as they jabbed their daggers at each other. They hopped over the sofas and coffee table, knocking down cute little figurines off their stands.

I crawled under a nearby table, donning its cloth over my body. I knew that Mackenzie was after me—well, technically, she was after Cassandra, our resemblance getting me in danger again.

Then, I heard Curtis’ voice shook from outside my haven. “Quinn?”

“Shh! Get down,” I hissed, reaching for his hand from behind the table cloth.

The next thing I knew, he crawled under the table with me. He folded his long legs as his head hit the bottom of the table, but in such awkward positions, we remained still, crammed together in a small, tight space.

“Who were those people?” Curtis muttered. “What are they doing in my house—”

“They’re after me,” I interjected, keeping my voice down. “Well, one of them is. The scary blond one. The other used to be some sort of enemy, but we’re on the same side now. We’re cool… I think.”

“What do you mean they’re after you? Why would they be?”

Chaos was everywhere that night. There was music, screaming, and footsteps all around the house. I could hear them playing all at once, orchestrating the horrible soundtrack of my life. But in that instance, I felt all of that die, my world shrinking to under that one, small table.

I met Curtis’ eyes. “Do you wanna know?” I whispered.

“Yeah,” Curtis said with conviction.

“Do you really wanna know?”

“Quinn, they’re wreaking havoc out there. Of course, I do.”

“Too bad. I can’t tell you.”

“Quinn—”

“If I were you, I would replace the rest of the Deus and run. Crazy knife lady won’t hurt you guys, anyway.”

“Quinn—”

I shoved his shoulder. “Now go. Go before things get worse.”

Curtis swatted my hand away. “But what about you? You can’t just stay here.”

I stayed determined. “Yes, I can.”

“Well, I can’t just leave you here.”

“You know, you’re sweet. I like you. But I need you to—”

“I know. You want me to go. But not until you tell me what’s going on.”

I suddenly missed those conversations in the nurse’s office, where topics would never go deeper than what was on Curtis’ playlist. I never thought the day would come for me to explain to him who Cassandra was; I thought I could always avoid it to never endure the consequence of him turning into a monster. However, here we were, trying to sit comfortably under a table while two teens fought in his living room. He crossed his arms and tucked in his knees; he wasn’t going anywhere.

I massaged my temple. Coming up with the right words to explain everything made my head sore.

“Fine,” I said. “But you have to promise me that you won’t freak out.”

“Trust me,” Curtis replied. “I’m freaking out right now.”

“Okay, then just listen. Don’t overthink. Can you do that for me?”

Curtis took a deep breath. “Okay. I’ll try.”

Now it was my turn to catch my breath. I first decided to address the issue at hand, why scary knife lady, Mackenzie, was after me.

“There’s this girl,” I began. “And she’s done some terrible, terrible things to those people in the living room. She attacked them, leaving many of them wounded. People searched for her since, but she was good at hiding—she was good at playing games. Trust me, I didn’t want to get involved in all of this, but I didn’t really have much of a choice. She looked just like me.

“That’s why I have all sorts of people after me. That’s why there’s this huge fight in your living room right now. I had always thought that this girl was just the sinister star of my bad dreams, but there was more to her than I bargained for. I’m not sure who she really is anymore. And her name, it’s—”

“Cassandra Diaz?” Curtis said.

I was surprised to hear that name come out of his mouth. “How did you—”

“Literature class. There’s no Cassandra Diaz in any of the readings assigned to us. I pay more attention than you think.”

“Oh…”

“Besides, you looked so troubled when you talked about her. I knew that she was more than some character in a book. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I…” I sighed. “I didn’t think you could handle it.”

“Handle it? Why?”

I hung my head low, trying to hide the worry in my eyes.

“Curtis,” I began. “Maybe it’s best not to ask any more questions.”

Curtis pursed his lips. “And why not?”

“Curtis, you said you’d listen to me.”

“But I need to know.”

“Curtis, stop—”

“No, Quinn, I’m—”

“STOP OR YOU’LL TURN INTO A MONSTER!”

The world had never looked so ominous, had never been so deafening. I slapped a hand on to my mouth, trying to suck the words back in, but they had already sounded off. I couldn’t catch them anymore.

The remorse seeped in like a current sweeping you off into dangerous waters—and shades of red on the eyes of a friendly face.