A New Recruit

It was a lengthy drive into the neighbouring state of Alabama before Ellie reached her new residence, a remote and spacious ranch owned by a trusted, elderly non-blood female relative of one of the Unclaimed. As she and Paige walked down the long, grassy path towards the main building, they unexpectedly heard someone call out to them from behind.

"Hey, Ellie! Wait a second, I need to talk to you"

Ellie turned to confirm she had been followed, which wasn't good. Though, mercifully, the voice was female. And it had a British accent. She and Paige were now facing a young woman who looked like she had dressed down as much as she possibly could in an attempt not to draw attention to her natural beauty.

"Who are you?" Paige asked defensively.

"I'm Jade"

"And why did you follow us?"

"Because I'm one of you. I was actually following Ellie" the young woman explained.

"Why?" Ellie asked in surprise and concern.

"Because I didn't know who else to go to. I'm from the UK. As soon as I heard about that fucking documentary I knew I had to leave my own country immediately. It's about the size of Michigan, so there was nowhere for me to hide there. I got on the first plane I could to North Carolina, since I knew I had relatives there, even if I had never met them. But by the time it landed you were the only one not listed as claimed. I was driving to your place when I saw you jump into your car and race away, and I've just sort of been following you ever since. I really am sorry. But I've got nobody else here"

At this point Jade began to look quite overwhelmed and started to tear up. Ellie's natural instinct was to hug her, but Paige was still looking cautious.

"What's your surname?"

"Jarrett"

"Chloe, look her up on the database" Paige ordered sternly.

"Chloe?" Jade asked in confusion.

"She's there" Ellie announced after a while, turning the tablet she was holding around to show Paige.

At that point, Paige rushed forward to embrace Jade.

"I'm so sorry. This situation sucks so much. I could kill that Brandon asshole. But you are safe with us now"

"Huh, so does that count as my first unclaim?" Ellie quipped.

"I guess you are a natural at this" Paige joked back ""Okay then, looks like one more for the ranch. I'll take you both to meet the others"