My Heart Belongs To A Football Player (boyxboy)

We want answers

The car ride to Starbucks was silent. Corey had gone home, and so it was just Quent and Gabe in the vehicle. They hadn't told him to leave, and in fact there was a part of Gabe that wanted him to stay, but it was as if Corey had sensed this was something he couldn't be a part of, that they needed to do together.

Gabe didn't realise they were at their destination until the annoying voice of the Satnav told them. He wasn't sure why Quent had switched it on; it wasn't like they didn't know where it was. Maybe he just didn't want to think for a while. Heavily, they trooped into the cafe and reached the back where the Shadow sat, sipping a cup of black coffee and waiting for them to arrive.

This time there were no fake smiles as they sat in the two pulled put seats opposite hers, and she stared at them with a cool, calculating gaze that they had never seen before. Instead of looking as if she'd keep on smiling even if held at gunpoint, she looked like the person that would be holding the gun.

"So you're here. Finally." She stated in a low voice. Now they could hear her real voice, that overexcited high pitched tone was obviously put on. In fact, now they saw her true colours it occurred to Gabe that they should probably have realised there was something odd about her much, much sooner.

The reason that a vulture can eat rotten meat that would be dangerous for any other animal is that they have an extremely acidic stomach. This woman looked poisonous enough to do exactly the same thing. Even the way she was dressed was like a vulture, in a starched black shirt and tattered black coat. All of the softness was gone, now she was all harsh angles and sharp corners.

"We're here." Quent replied coldly. "What do you want from us?"

She laughed, the sound of it echoing round the enclosed area they were sitting in. It was a harsh, grating noise, a laugh with no warmth. Gabe winced slightly at the sound of it.

"What do I want? You seem to have got something mixed up here. I'm only here because you are. The real question is what do you want from me."

Quent paused. They didn't really know what they wanted. They had been so focused on finding her, they didn't really know what they wanted to get out of it once they did. Now she was in front of them, they had no idea what to do.

"Answers. We want answers. Why did you steal those things? Why are you here now? Are you just messing with our heads?" Gabe shouted, his volume increasing as he went on.

"Calm down. This was never about you. And the answer for your other questions is very simple. Fun. I just love to watch peoples reactions to things. Their faces when they realised that those incredibly valuable things were gone were just priceless! I've always liked to watch reactions, ever since I first learned about my powers. I can...see things. Things that have happened, things that will happen. I saw you two in the future, and that's how I knew about you. Robbing places like museums is a piece of cake for me. I see where the guards will be, where the cameras will be looking, where they've installed the security systems.

But I can't see myself, because that would cause all sorts of problems, and I only see when I look. But that's enough! I can watch someone's face when I tell them they'll die of a brain tumour in a year. I can feel their spirits shatter when I tell them all the lies their family have told them. I can see them crumble when I spill all of the wrong things they've done in the past to the people they love. It's all about reactions. And I'm sure at the end of this you'll give some perfect ones."

"You're insane. Now just tell us where you his the things you stole." Quent spat.

"And why would I do that? Besides, how do you know I haven't sold them yet? They could be on their way to China already for all you know."

"Why would you do that? You said it yourself, it's not about the money for you. Besides, why would you come here if you'd already sold them? For someone like you it would be far better for us to have them in our grasp, but fail in the end. And you said it isn't over." Quent growled at her.

She laughed suddenly, and clapped her hands together.

"Well, aren't you a sharp one. Fine, I'll tell you where I hid them. But really, you might as well quit. There's no way the two of you could do it on your own. You'd need at least ten guys to pull it off, and even then it's practically impossible. But you don't have have that. With the government right behind you, and all of your friends gone you are nothing. The items will stay in that place for two days, and after that I will move them. We will meet here after the two days, and I wouldn't like to think what will happen to you if you don't show."

She leaned over and wrote something down on a piece of paper. Then stood up to leave. As she made her exit, she gave them a small arched smile, then left in a swirling of black coat and apprehension.

Quent and Gabe sat for a while digesting the information. Across the café a woman talked into her cell phone, while an overweight man picked his nose alone at another table. Around them everything seemed normal, but at their little table the coffee cups might as well have been flying around the ceiling.

"I guess that's...good?" Gabe muttered, swirling stray grains of sugar around on the table with one finger.

"Yeah. We got what we came for at least. And we definitely know they are near here. All we need to do is open that piece of paper.

They both sat and stared at the little scrap of paper. Then they stared some more.

"Well one of us has to open it!" Quent said in a frustrated voice.

"Well I don't want to do it! It's too important." Gabe replied.

"Okay, we'll do it together." Quent decided.

They both leaned over and quickly opened it, but their fingers fumbled and the paper ripped.

"Aaargh, we ripped it!" Gabe exclaimed. They looked down at the paper to see that it was torn down the middle in a perfectly straight line.

"Wait, why has it done that?" Quent asked, looking at the paper. "Why has it ripped perfectly, surely it would be all jagged and messy, not a straight rip?"

They studied the paper for a while. It was odd, since the paper hadn't even been torn along the fold. It was about half an inch away from the fold, to the right. Quent picked up the paper, and tested it in different places. It seemed normal until in a space near the edge it gave more easily. Quent started to rip it, and it tore easily, again coming away in a perfectly a straight line. After some more tugging they discovered three more places where the paper ripped, and in the end they were left with separate pieces.

The piece of paper had previously had a random design on the back before they ripped it apart. But now that they lined up the eight pieces a different way, they could see that the lines made a distinct shape. It was a sort of star with an X through it, surrounded by a circle. Gabe and Quent looked at it in wonder.

"Of course her just giving is an address would be too simple. We should have known she'd have some kind of trick up her sleeve." Quent said indignantly.

"But what is that symbol? I think I sort of recognise it from somewhere, but I'm not sure." Said Gabe.

"Hang on, let me Google it," Quent replied, getting out his phone.

"I've got it!" He cheered after a tense minute of silence. "It's the symbol of an old company that went bust a few years ago. Apparently their main office used to be right here, in this town."

"Ah, I remember walking past their building before. But if the things are there, then it's practically impossible. I've seen the place, and it's practically impenetrable. How are we supposed to get inside? There's no way it can work, not with just us." Gabe sighed in defeat.

"But it won't be just us." Quent stated. "I have a plan."