Jason's POV
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Sent: 4:38 a.m.
"Hey, we just landed so you can stop worrying now :') The flight was long, security was annoying, and I had to sit behind a crying baby the whole time... but im still alive ♥"
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Jason clicked the sleek phone off, shoving it back into his pocket. He'd been told how this entire thing was: joining on a hunt for God-knew-what, kidnapping a growing number of people, doing who-knew-what to them - and not a single solid lead to go on. Yeah, he'd heard that more than once for sure, but to put crudely; he didn't really care. It was still a good chance to get away from the school, for a good week - at the least, and if he could get some piece of action, then that would make it all worth wild. What was life without a little danger, right?
But still, he figured the least he could do was keep some thoughts reassured and send some texts back home, even if he'd already nearly forgotten to do so while they were there. It wasn't his fault, really, this place was bustling and distracting all on it's own - even at such an early hour.
Glancing around the terminal of the airport, where people were rushing about or mostly minding their own. He couldn't help but admire the vast pieces of artwork that hung, well, everywhere; on the ceiling, on the walls, in the carpet beneath their feet. It seemed extravagant, and strange to him at the same time.
Ethan and the douche that was Preston seemed to be together, arguing low-key about something not far off from where he stood. The Winter was waving a few files around in his hands, and the other Autumn was trying to wave them back away from him, seemingly caring very little about it at all.
Brailynn - the self-proclaimed traveling expert - was at the luggage wheel, waiting for their things. Even from where he stood some ways back, it was all too easy see the impatient tapping of her foot, and the flick of her head as she kept checking the screens above them. Alicia was beside her, far more calm and serene looking, her gaze traveling all around instead in pure fascination. He hadn't considered it until then, but she hadn't stopped smiling since the pilot had announced that they had touched the ground.
The blonde shrugged, unable to share the Summer's excitement and letting out a long yawn. Jeez, how long had they been on the move? He clicked on his phone for a moment, checking the time for the fifth that early morning.
If he had gotten his timing right: It had been an hour ride to the train station, four more on the train to the nearest city with an airport, along with another six hours in flying in total... He hadn't gotten a wink of sleep that entire time.
He couldn't help it. He let out a deep yawn, rubbing his eyes and trying to blink the sleep away. It'd only be a bit longer now, right? They could finally settle down now and get their shit together. If he was lucky, they wouldn't have shit to do the rest of the day and he could sleep the whole thing through. Just the thought of the soft, welcoming bed made him yawn again.
Refusing to drift off where he stood, Jace shook his head and shifted around on his heels. Looking for something to occupy his mind, he glanced outside the vast windows behind them, where cars, buses, and highways stacked row after row in heavy traffic just outside. In the distance beyond that, he could see dimly lit hills reaching out into the horizon: from cars, streetlights, and every other form of late nightlife. The city was beyond huge, that much was obvious. How long would it take to get to that hotel of theirs from the airport? Getting lagged in traffic even longer definitely wouldn't go well with him, for any of them really.
Jason turned again to look at his group. The two students bickering seemed to have just broken away from each other.
"Well, maybe you'll listen to reason...?" Ethan seemed to have given up in Preston, leaving him behind and hobbling on up to Jace himself instead. He sighed.
"It seems that most of the missing persons, the majority anyways - four to be exact, are in the western district..." He held up a printed map, pointing down into their mission file.
"But our room is several blocks down." Ethan looked for any sign of reaction from Jace, going on when he was given none.
"... Obviously now, we can't set up proper surveillance if we're away from the area where incidents are most likely to occur; so it'd be illogical to not do anything other than -""Four eyes wants us ditch our nice, warm hotel rooms and camp out on the cold street like some common trash." Pres stepped up again, a bland look on his face.
"As fucking if.""Well, how else do you propose we look for whatever it is?" Ethan shut the folder and straightened his glasses, brows slightly furrowed.
Pres sniffed, shrugging and glancing the other way.
"You're certain that would that work?" Jason sighed, crossing his arms. The thought was entirely unpleasant, trudging through freezing urban neighborhoods aimlessly. He'd rather not spend his nights in windy, chilly temperatures, but if that was what it took... He couldn't really complain, could he?
"It's a pretty big area, and there's no guarantee that they'll be there... And mostly likely many policemen will be out in the area, which could possibly be trouble." Ethan admitted grudgingly.
Preston scoffed.
"But what else do we have to go on? The disappearances only happen at night and we can't afford any technical surveillance, nor would we be able to move anywhere quickly enough to catch the things responsible if we stayed in our rooms. This is the most logical solution."Jason crossed his arms and glanced the other way. There was really nothing else left for him to say. It wasn't as if he could think of any better ideas, and knew better at this point that there was no use in trying to argue with a Winter. He could only stand there and think about how much this was probably going to fucking suck.
"Actually, uhm..." Alicia stepped forward to the small group shortly after the silence and darting her eyes away from their gazes.
"That's why I'm here...""How do you mean?" Ethan turned to face her, curious.
The Summer glanced behind her for a moment in Brailynn's direction, almost nervously.
"Well..."
