Renegades Stories

Chapter 11: Adrian

 Seven in the morning. That's the time Adrian walked into Renegades Headquarters that day. Nova and Danna followed behind him.

His dads, Hugh and Simon, were waiting for them by the front desk. Ruby and Oscar were standing with them, looking stressed.

"Let's go downstairs," Hugh said gravely. His gaze flickered to Nova, who flinched and looked down.

"We're going to question you all separately. Ms. Artino, you'll go first," said Simon as the group followed him down the stairs.

In the basement now, he opened the door to one of the rooms used for these sorts of things, ushering Nova in. He and Hugh followed.

Though he had questioned countless villains in past years, Adrian himself had never been on the opposite side.

He watched as Nova sat in the chair, her blue eyes watching Hugh and Simon carefully.

This reminded Adrian of another time, ten years ago. When she revealed her identity and past, which was linked to his as well.

"Ms. Artino, what is your account of what happened last night?" asked Simon.

"I was in the living room. Suddenly, the lights went out and class shattered, and then someone wrapped their arms around my neck and threatened me. They called me 'little nightmare'. I elbowed them, and they disappeared. Someone was crying, and went to go help, but I tripped and hit my head. That's all."

Adrian studied her hard. It seemed she was telling the truth. Plus, how would she have been able to steal Blake when she had been unconscious?

Simon and Hugh seemed to agree. They were both nodding slowly.

"We believe your story," Hugh said finally.

Nova visibly relaxed.

Adrian and the others gave their retelling of events, and it was decided that their team would be in charge of finding Blake. Nova was sent to the healing ward to get her head injury dealt with.

Adrian herded his team into an empty conference room. Once everyone was sitting down, he said, "We need to make a plan. We have two jobs in one. Find out who's haunting Nova, and find Blake."

"We have no clues, no evidence. Where do we start?" asked Danna.

Adrian twirled a pencil in his hands. "I think we need to start with a search of the city. A very thorough search. Maybe we'll pick up some clues along the way."

"Can you ask your dads if we can have additional teams help?" Oscar asked, his eyebrows scrunched.

"I can try, they might be able to spare a few who aren't on duty," Adrian responded. He made a note in his notebook. "We'll start tomorrow."

(hey! i'm back! sorry for the really really long wait and to those of you who waited i thank you so much. school has taken over my life and this chapter has been in progress for months. sorry it's short and not very good, but it's something! <3 mags)