Painless

Chapter Fifteen

By the time I hung up with my parents, my head was spinning so fast with all the new information, that I had to sit down for a minute just to steady myself.

Dead?

Was I dealing with a ghost? No way. Though I wasn’t convinced they didn’t exist, I was pretty sure the dead didn’t leave DNA and prints behind. Unless the kid was a zombie. And if that was the case, then we were all in bigger trouble.

I laughed out loud at thought. I needed to pull myself together and focus on the facts. According to what my dad told me, someone incredibly smart and privy to government info had stolen his Smart Suit formula and then successfully duplicated it. And somehow, this not-so-dead dead kid, Christopher Kind, had gotten his hands on the outfit and was currently walking around in it with a missing sleeve and button.

And speaking of said dead kid, who was Christopher Kind and what was his story anyway? Since the outfit was his, it was a pretty good bet that he was like Benji and me, but how did he grow up under the radar all these years? Even if he hadn’t gone to CC, we still would’ve heard about him. We’re a dying breed (literally) and tended to keep our sights on each other. So, how did I not know about Ghost Boy? And why was he suddenly everywhere I turned?

I looked at the destruction around me and sighed. I needed to check into all the stuff my dad had just told me, but I also had to finish up at the hotel before the sun came up and people started milling around. And I couldn’t lose my chance to gather evidence.

Getting up and brushing my blackened hands off onto my already dirty outfit, I straightened my shoulders and set off toward the hotel office. There was no telling whether anyone there would have useful information for me, but it was worth a try.

Large double doors opened as I neared the building, making a whooshing sound and announcing my entrance. A wave of air conditioning blew on me as my feet hit the lobby floor, my hair flying around my face like I was in a wind tunnel. It must have looked very dramatic, because the nerdy teenager sitting behind the counter sucked in a huge breath and jumped up out of his seat when he saw me. He bordered on assaulting me with his eyes, taking in my outfit from my high-heeled boots all the way up to my torn top that was spotted with blood. When his eyes finally settled on my face, I watched as they grew wide with surprise. I could always tell when people noticed my scars for the first time.

A quick glance at his “I did it all for the Wookie” t-shirt and wide-rimmed Where’s Waldo glasses told me that getting what I wanted from him was going to be easy. In fact, he was looking at me like I was one of the girls from the comic book he’d just been reading before I’d breezed in.

Not a problem. I can play the part of a bad-ass superhero.

“Can I help you?” he asked. His voice squeaked as he talked and I almost broke into a smile when he immediately cleared his throat. His cheeks were already flushed and he was barely able to make eye contact with me. Boys were so cute sometimes.

And so easy to manipulate.

“I hope so…” I scanned his shirt for a nametag. “…Eli.”

He was breathing heavier now and I began to worry he might hyperventilate before I got the information I needed from him. Better speed things up.

“So, uh, Eli…I have a little problem and I’m really hoping you can help me out,” I said, my face serious. I looked around like I was making sure no one would hear what I was about to say. To my delight, Eli took the bait and leaned over the counter so our conversation would be kept private. “The only problem is, it’s top-secret and I need to know that you’re going to keep this just between the two of us.”