THE BEAST ─ five hargreeves

[ 002 ] the butterfly in the anthill

II.

t h e   b u t t e r f l y   i n
t h e   a n t h i l l

—ZARA SHOULD'VE remembered to bring her jacket. This place—wherever they were—was rather cold and windy for her liking, though at least Kiki didn't seem to mind.

It was exhilarating to travel through time, Zara thought. Now that they had arrived, she couldn't shake that queasy feeling of euphoria.

"Okay," Zara nudged Hazel, shuffling from side to side in an effort to stay warm. "Where are we?"

"East coast," the bulky man replied, and Zara nodded in agreement.

"Should've known. That bird up there—" Zara pointed to a figure perched atop a lamppost, "—is a red-bellied sapsucker. Very limited habitat range."

Hazel grunted, following Cha-Cha across the dimly lit street to a shabby looking motel. The whole place looked kind of sketchy to Zara, and she was beginning to realize that she would be on her own for much of the mission and had no fighting experience whatsoever.

If one of those so called "superheroes" decided to fly up and strand her on the Empire State Building or some other comic book crap, she would be screwed.

Come to think of it, Zara didn't even have a gun. Not that it would've helped if she had one.

Kiki nuzzled her earlobe, muttering something vague about three blind mice.

It was nice to have someone else with her on the mission. Zara had a feeling things might get pretty tough.

Cha-Cha ushered Zara through the motel doors, the scowl never leaving her face. "Don't mess this up for us, you hear me? This should be a quick mission."

Zara only smiled innocently. "We're awfully close to Salem, don't you think? You'll need to be careful. You know what they do to witches up there, right?"

Cha-Cha threw her a murderous glare, and stepped up to the counter. "Reservation for Hazel, Cha-Cha, and this . . . maggot."

"Excuse me," Zara chirped, "a maggot is a life cycle stage, not a species. Botfly is far more appropriate. For you, I mean."

The man at the counter looked them up and down with lazy, dismal eyes. He finally stood up from his seat with a sigh, and slid a keycard across the marble tabletop. "Here you go. Room 225."

Cha-Cha examined the singular key card and frowned in disbelief. "What about the other room?"

"Uh," the man looked over his records, "Only one room was booked."

"Dammit," Hazel said, "I'm sick of all this cost-cutting bullshit."

"Watch your tongue, boy," said Kiki, cutting in with a rather pertinent phrase.

"Hey!" Hazel exclaimed in indignation, looked slightly offended. "I fed you sunflower seeds."

"Just tell me there's two beds and a sofa," said Cha-Cha, irritation evident in her voice.

"Yes, ma'am," the clerk assured her, "Real firm. Now, how long do you think you'll be staying with us?"

"Only one night. I believe there's a package waiting for us?"

The man thought for a second before stepping away and returning carrying a very large cardboard box with a zip-tie holding it closed. The two agents walked briskly up to the room.

"Weapons," breathed Zara, throwing Kiki a glance, "you think they have a ballista?"

Of course, Kiki didn't respond with anything aside from letting Zara know she ought to put the kettle on. The girl scrambled up the stairs and into Room 225.