"You knew what, exactly?" Via asked Alex as she dabbed her nose with the cloth of the mask. Via bit back a groan. The other girl had gotten her bad. Maybe if Via was a bit more focused like she was supposed to be and not imagining dead people...

"That there was something more to you," he replied, still looking at her as if she might grow wings at any moment. "I didn't know it was because you were a ninja but I figured it was something cool."

How did he figure that out? She was supposed to hide her secrets. If he could figure out that something was off then what about a professional? Via wanted to ask how he deducted that but instead she said, "Good to know."

"I'm so confused right now," Jason mumbled.

"Why?" Will asked. "Why help me? Why get involved? Why come here?"

"Well..." Via started as she thought back to earlier in the evening.

Via leaned back in her chair and rubbed her temples. She had been sorting through the files on the flash drive for an hour and the three tests that she had earlier weren't helping her brain.

The past couple days, the only thing she had been focusing on was the files. Jane had really done a lot in her writing career. Via couldn't believe that she had done all of this in only a few years. But maybe that was her problem. She had came across some very powerful people and was virtually unprepared for their wrath. Of course they wouldn't want an ambitious new player entering their game, so they blasted her off the board. Climb fast, fall faster.

Jane was right. She had missed quite a few important clues from other cases. That much was evident. Today, Via was sorting through the files on the local drug operations. Jane seemed to have been trying to track it down but she published the Saudi Arabian Factory article first and never got to publish this one. There different maps connecting plenty of different people, explaining in detail how the operation had been working for the past ten years. From what Via could tell, they hadn't changed their system up since then. It was the same one that Will seemed to be wrapped up in.

Via looked through the files and then paused. A familiar face popped up on the screen. She didn't need to read the name below to know who it was: Arthur Rossi.

Via clicked on his name hoping that it was linked to more files on him. It was. In front of her was a birth certificate. As she scrolled down she saw police records, adoption papers, case files, and bank transfer statements. As she scrolled through all of them, she noticed something was off. His parents had died at a very young age and he was put into an orphanage. The orphanage seemed familiar. Maybe it was a famous one? Anyways, in the files it said that he was adopted by an age of 16 to the Walters family and then sent back at 17 where he became an adult and left. But in another case file it said that he was arrested for larceny halfway across the country when he was 15. No other files indicated that he had a reason to be in Colorado when the orphanage was in Massachusetts. So what was he doing? How did he get there?

Via kept looking through the files carefully, looking for any hidden clues. They said that he briefly went to a community college before dropping out within the first year and seemingly going off the grid. He popped back up again a few years later as an employee of a small local tech shop. The company then turned into a multi-million dollar nationwide tech company and Rossi got promoted and pulled in higher salaries which lead to his current wealth. Via knew all of that was just a cover.

She didn't know how he did it. The company records all prove that he was working there. Perhaps he blackmailed the owner or gave drugs in exchange for false numbers, but either way, he had evidence for where he was getting all of his money from. It was enough to keep the police off his back for years.

There was still something bothering her. What had he done after he dropped out of college. There wasn't anything indicating that he had worked some low-paying jobs or the fact that he even had a phone. It was like he didn't exist. There were only a few people in the world that she knew could do that and she would rather avoid them for the moment.

Then there was the whole orphanage deal. What had happened at the orphanage? Why was he gone when nothing indicated that he was? How long was he gone for? Was he even gone in the first place? Was the orphanage responsible for sending him half-way across the country and then trying to cover it up?

Something struck Via as she scrolled back up to the orphanage files. She got to one of their files and zoomed in on the corner. The reason that the orphanage was familiar was because she had seen the logo before. Or at least part of it. Via tilted her head to the side to see the inside design better.

Via's heart stopped as she stared at the screen in front of her. It was surrounded by a circle and a net of designs, but it was there. The logo that she had seen her whole life, the one that had become a symbol of torture was staring her back in the face.

Via shut the laptop closed and steadied her breathing. This was what she was trying to find. So why was she panicking now?

Will.

The answer came to her before she even understood what was happening. Will was chasing Rossi who was connected to the very people she had learned to fear. She wasn't close to Will, but she couldn't let him get involved with these people.

She needed to tell him as soon as possible... then she looked up and her heart sank. In front of her was a board with a mind map on everything she had been working to investigate the past couple years. Via was filled with despair as her eyes zeroed in on a single yellow sticky note. On it was the time and date of the next drug shipment in Rossi's operation. It was today.

Via jumped out of her chair and shoved on the jacket that Jane had forced her to buy and pocketed a mask. She needed to stop him from getting more involved than he already was. Not to mention, tonight was supposed to be a big one. If anything escalated with his situation, it would be tonight.

Via pocketed a few knives and opened her window, looking around quickly for people, before jumping out onto the roof below her.

Via slung across the metal bars, doing her best to reduce the clanging that came from her boots connecting with the metal. The alarms around her seemed to help drown out the noise. Unfortunately, they also seemed keen on damaging her ear.

Via had gotten into the warehouse just as an alarm rung throughout the building. It was no doubt Will doing his best work to get in. This gave her some comfort as it meant that he couldn't have been there for long. Maybe he hadn't been caught yet. Maybe she could still drag him out of the situation.

All of her hopes died out as soon as the alarms stopped. Via had been to enough of these to figure out that they would kill the alarm only when the had found the culprit. They must've found Will.

Via had finished searching one side of the warehouse with no results. If he was already caught then he needed a distraction. Maybe it would allow him to get away. If not, at least it would thin out the numbers, enough for her to take down any of the remaining men and lead him out of there. Via could only hope that it wasn't too late.

Via snuck up on a loan guard and quickly pickpocketed one of the grenades from his belt before running around the corner. If he had realized what Via had just done, he didn't show it.

She stood up on a catwalk overlooking one of the many clearings that were extended throughout the warehouse. Via looked around one last time for people. She didn't need to accidentally hurt one of the slaves. No one. Via took a deep breath before taking out the pin and throwing the grenade into the clearing below her before tearing off down the hallway. The explosion behind her almost knocked her off her feet as she climbed into an attic type floor above her. The alarms wailed again and red emergency lights flashed back on.

So there she was, trying to find Will as more and more soldiers ran in the other direction. As she snuck around, Via couldn't help but think about the genius behind the entire operation. It was bad, that's for sure. But there was also some intelligence to it that Via had came to respect. Their system had evaded the police for years, even though the police knew where the operations took place. They would come and search the area, but found nothing. The local precinct even sent people to stake around the area for a month straight. Nothing happened. At least according to them. In reality, they had a small shipment come in on one of the days, but no one realized anything. Perhaps they had secret tunnels. If they did, Via had no idea where they were and she doubted the police did either. Not to mention, the location was perfect. The warehouse itself was much bigger than it had looked on the outside, with thousands of hidden halls and clearings. It had very few vantage points to look in. There were only a few high windows that pointed to the main section of the warehouse. However, they were usually covered with grime which made it hard to look through and on shipment day they would add even more just in case.

How Rossi found this place, Via didn't know. In fact, she didn't understand half of what he did to make the entire thing work. He was a genius, and it made Via sad. Maybe he could've actually joined that tech company and made millions in the light of day. Hell, maybe he would've made his own company and gave Jeff Bezos a run for his money. Via couldn't doubt that he would be able to do it. And yet he wasted all of his brain power and potential on drugs that ruin other people's lives. Why? What could've made him turn to desperate means?

A muffled shout snapped Via out of her thoughts. It was calling a name. Will. The voice shouted tried to shout his name before halting mid-word. Via recognized the voice almost immediately.

Alex? What the hell?

Via ran to the corner of the hallway and peeked around the corner. There was a group of people and pure chaos. Will was in the middle, staggering to his feet. He looked dazed, like he had hit his head. Next to him were two boys she never expected to see here: Alex Haynes and Jason Kane.

What the hell were they doing here? But Via didn't have time to think as some of the guards around them raised their guns and pointed it at Alex and Will. Another two were holding Jason back.

Via took the set of knives into her hands and raised her arms, before letting the knives leave her hands. They soared through the air and hit their point in the hands of the guards that were about to shoot. They shouted and she launched two more into their backs, hoping it didn't cause too much damage then cursed herself. These people were monsters who were willing to kill teenagers directly and indirectly. Why should she show them any mercy?

The other two guards that were holding Jason turned and she launched two more which embedded themselves in their stomach.

Via was about to approach Will when she heard footsteps to her right. She turned and grasped another knife expecting to see more guards. Instead, she saw a single person, a girl. She couldn't have been older than Via, although Via couldn't tell for sure in the dark. Her face was also covered with a face mask and she was dressed in all black as well. The girl had been running but stopped when she saw Via. Their eyes met and Via, for the second time that day, struggled to breath.

The eyes looked so familiar, Via thought it was her. But that was impossible. She was dead.

The girl ran down the hall and Via chased after her, the boys suddenly being pushed out of her mind. The girl disappeared around a corner and down the hall and around more corners. Via wasn't watching where she was going and doubted she could find her way back, even with her directional skills.

The girl disappeared around another corner and Via followed only to be faced with an open clearing. Another hallway lead off on the other side, railings and catwalks crisscrossing along the walls and above her head. Fluorescent lights hung from the ceiling and it took Via a moment to adjust her eyes to the brightness. She looked around the vast area to find it barren.

"She's not here," Via thought. That's when a foot connected with her stomach and sent her sprawling on the ground. Via rolled to her feet and turned to find the girl getting ready to give another kick. The girl was hiding against the wall next to the hallway. Via must've walked right past her.

Via dodged the other kick and got into a fighting stance. Who was this girl? Was she helping Rossi?

The girl threw a punch and Via sidestepped, grabbed the girls arm and punched her in the gut. The girl hunched over a little and Via brought her knee up to the girl's face. The girl blocked the knee and grabbed her leg and tugged, sending Via to the floor. She landed on her arm and bit back a curse. Via managed to kick her leg out from the girl's grasp and rolled away just in time to avoid getting her face stomped on.

Now that she was closer and in the light, Via could see that her eyes weren't as familiar as she thought. The girl's hazel eyes were a darker shade that looked closer to brown than the bluish-green-gray shade that Via was accustomed to. The shape was also different, more narrowed and defined. This girl probably wasn't who she thought it was.

"Stupid, Via," she told herself. "If you didn't imagine seeing ghosts then you would be leading the boys out like you planned instead of getting your ass kicked. Stupid, stupid, stupid."

And once again, she had gotten distracted. The girl had managed to kick Via in the face and she staggered backward, losing her balance and falling. Via tried to get back up again but her feet felt like jello as her head throbbed from the kick. Something liquid oozed its way down her face mask. Blood. Via winced.

She looked back up to see the other girl looming above her, about to deliver another kick when a shape hurtled itself at her from the side. The two of them crashed to the ground a few feet away. Via turned to see the girl kick Will off her before inspecting the scene. It wasn't until then that Via had realized the three boys ran after her. She was in such a hurry chasing and fighting the other girl that she had completely forgotten about her surroundings.

"Good job, Via." the pesky voice in her head said. "You've managed to forget about everything and everyone around you in the middle of a drug operation because you were imagining ghosts. Very good job."

"Shut up," Via told the voice and watched as the girl got to her feet and darted down the other hall in lightning speed. That's when it occurred to Via that maybe the girl was trying to make Via follow her. But why? Why did she want to beat Via? Via made it a point to stay out of the gang's hair. At least until a couple days ago when Will decided to valiantly jump straight into his death. Is that why she was trying to lead Via away? To get rid of a potential threat? It would make sense. But who was she? When they had just fought Via decided that maybe the girl was younger than Via. Then why was she helping drug dealers? Could she have been one the slaves they captured?

Will interrupted her thoughts.

"You're the one in the alley that night, weren't you?" Will asked. "You're the one who saved my life both times."

Via nodded her head.

"Who are you?"

Via sighed. She needed to tell Will to stay away from Rossi and just how dangerous it was. She needed to explain to him how it goes farther than just some drug operation to make one guy rich. She also wanted to figure out what happened with Alex and Jason. Why were they here? She needed to warn them away too. Unfortunately, she doubted any of those things would happen if she still wore a mask. Besides it was getting annoying. The mask made it very hard to breath.

Via slid the mask off her face.

"Well..." Via's sentence was interrupted by pounding footsteps all around them.

She vaguely heard Jason mutter a very profane word that sounded something like "brother ducking lit". Via got to her feet and winced as her feet swam beneath her. The girl must've given her a concussion. Still, Via managed to stand straight and take out her last knife. Will stood beside her with an identical knife in his hands. Did he steal one of her's?

Out of the corner of her eye Via noticed Jason and Alex slowly make their way towards her as they looked at the scene around them. All around the clearing dozens of men came out of the halls and shadows with raised guns. More spilled out in the floors and catwalks above them. They were surrounded.

Via didn't see Rossi or anyone commanding them but she didn't doubt that he was shouting orders through earpieces.

After all that she has been through Via was about to die in a stinky warehouse with rat issues. That was not okay.

Via raised her last knife, willing to put up a fight, when shots rang out all around them.

The four of them ducked at the same time, almost on instinct and Via closed her eyes as a very high pitched scream shattered her ear drums. Via couldn't tell which boy that was.

Gunshots echoed throughout the warehouse, making it very hard to think. It definitely didn't help with her current state of mind. The shots stopped and there was an eerie silence besides the ringing in her ears. It took Via a moment to realize that she wasn't the one who was shot at. It was the guards.

All around them the guards lied on the floor, the blood seeping across the empty space, their guns fallen by their sides. The four of them shakily stood up, looking at the mess around them.

Then more people ran out of the shadows. These men were carrying guns and wore armor, much like the fallen guards. However, there were visible differences. Their armor looked much lighter and cleaner, more refined. The guns didn't seem to put as much of a strain on the men's arms as they didn't have as much of a bend at their shoulders. In all, they looked more trained and coordinated. Via gripped her knife harder and she could feel her knuckles turning white.

Best case scenario, they were caught up in the middle of a drug gang war. Worst case scenario...

A man stepped out in front of them. He was dressed differently. From the bulk of the man's shirt he was wearing a bulletproof vest underneath and a handgun hung loosely from his belt, but other than that, he looked like a normal thirty year old man. He wore a polo shirt and one of those slightly more official pants that men often wore to work. Brown was neatly matted down. The only other thing that was unnerving was his grey eyes. It bore into the four of them as if he were looking through them.

When he spoke his voice rang out, clear and strong, like he was commanding an army.

"Jason Kane, Alexander Haynes, William Wright, and Olivia Prince," he called. "We've been looking for you."