"International"

"International"
Maya's POV

I kicked the first attacker in the chest, sending him flying backward into the hospital wall.
"Elena, get behind me!" I shouted.
The hospital room was dark, but I could see the forms of three people trying to grab Elena from her bed.
The second offender came at me with something that looked like a needle. I grabbed his wrist and twisted until he dropped it.
"Maya, they're trying to inject me with something!" Elena called out.
I spun around and saw the third attacker holding a syringe near Elena's arm.
"Don't touch her!" I yelled, jumping across the bed to grab him.
But then the lights came back on, and I saw something that confused me.
The three perpetrators were gone. Instead, there were three guys in fancy suits standing in the doorway.
"Ms. Cross," one of them said politely, "we're from the International Foundation for Gender Equality. We're here to escort you to the top."
I kept my fighting stance. "Elena doesn't want to go anywhere."
"Actually," Elena said quietly, "Maya, I think I do want to go."
I looked at her. "What? Elena, this is obviously a trap!"
"I know it's dangerous," Elena said. "But Maya, if Vincent's partners really have those children on an island somewhere, then this summit might be our only chance to find them."
"Elena, you could get killed."
"Those children will definitely get killed if we don't try to save them."
I looked at the three people in suits. They seemed normal, but something felt wrong about them.
"If Elena goes to this summit, I'm going with her," I stated.
"Of course," one of the suit guys said. "Ms. Cross will need a bodyguard."
"When do we leave?" Elena asked.
"Right now. We have a private jet waiting at the airport."
Something about this felt too easy, but Elena was right. We might not get another chance to find those lost children.
"Fine," I said. "But I'm bringing my own weapons."
"That won't be necessary," the suit guy said. "The summit location is completely secure."
Two hours later, we were on a private jet going to Paris. Elena was excited about giving her speech, but I couldn't shake the thought that we were flying into danger.
"Maya, look at this," Elena said, showing me a folder of information about the other guests at the summit.
I read through the list. There were activists from twelve different countries, all women who worked for justice and human rights.
"Elena, this looks legitimate," I admitted.
"See? Maybe we were being too suspicious."
But then I noticed something weird about the list. Every single speaker had recently escaped some kind of dangerous situation. One had fled kidnappers in Brazil. Another had escaped a bombing in Syria. A third had been poisoned in Russia but recovered.
"Elena," I said slowly, "don't you think it's strange that every speaker at this summit has recently been attacked?"
Elena looked at the list again. "Maybe that's why they were picked. They all have powerful stories about surviving murder."
"Or maybe," I said, "someone has been targeting activists around the world and gathering them all in one place."
Elena's face went pale. "Maya, you think this whole summit is fake?"
"I think we need to be very careful."
When we landed in Paris, I quickly noticed we were being watched.
"Elena, don't look around, but there are at least six people following us through the airport," I whispered.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm taught to notice these things. Guy in the blue jacket at three o'clock. Woman with red hair by the coffee shop. Man with sunglasses reading a newspaper."
Elena tried to act normal, but I could see she was scared.
"Maya, what should we do?"
"Stay close to me and act like we don't notice them."
We grabbed our luggage and headed toward the exit. But instead of going to a regular taxi, we were led to a black van with tinted windows.
"Ms. Cross," the driver said, "I'll take you to your hotel."
I didn't like this. The van looked more like something used to kidnap people than move summit speakers.
"Actually, we'd prefer to take a regular taxi," I said.
"I'm sorry, but the foundation insists on using their own transportation for security reasons."
I looked around. The six people who had been following us were now surrounding the van. We didn't have a choice.
"Elena, get in," I said. "But stay ready to run."
As we drove through Paris, I noticed we weren't heading toward the city center where hotels normally are. Instead, we were driving toward the airport.
"Excuse me," I said to the driver, "where exactly is our hotel?"
"There's been a change of plans," the driver said. "The summit location has been moved for security reasons."
"Moved where?"
"To a private island in the Mediterranean Sea. Much more secure for such important guests."
Elena grabbed my arm. "Maya, the Island. This is it."
I felt sick. We had walked right into Vincent's trap.
"Driver, stop the car. We want to get out."
"I'm afraid that's not possible," the driver said.
I looked out the windows. The six people who had been following us were now in cars driving alongside our van.
"Elena, we're being kidnapped," I said quietly.
"What do we do?"
I was about to answer when I noticed something scary. The driver was putting something into his neck with a small needle.
"Driver, what are you doing?" I asked.
The driver turned around to look at us, and his eyes were glowing just like Vincent's had in the caves.
"Hello, Maya," the driver said in a voice that sounded exactly like the original Sarah Kane's ghost. "Welcome to Phase Two."
"The ghost," Elena whispered. "She's controlling the driver."
"That's right," the ghost said through the driver. "And soon, I'll be controlling both of you."
The van stopped at a small airport where a big airplane was waiting.
"Elena Cross and Maya Chen," the ghost continued, "you're invited to give speeches at the International Summit for Missing Children."
"Missing children?" I asked.
"All the children from Vincent's tests are on the Island. And now, you're going to join them."
The van doors opened, and more people with bright eyes surrounded us.
"Maya," Elena said, "how many people can this ghost control?"
That's when I realized something horrible. This wasn't just about Elena and the meeting.
"Elena, I think the ghost has been controlling people all over the world. Every activist who got called to this summit, every person who's been following us - they're all being controlled."
"How is that possible?"
"The same way Vincent controlled us in the caves. But now the ghost is using technology to control people from far away."
As we were forced onto the flight, I saw something that made my blood freeze.
The plane was full of women organizers from around the world. All of them had bright eyes.
And sitting in the front row was someone I recognized.
"Sarah?" I called out.
Sarah turned around, but her eyes were glowing too.
"Hello, Maya," Sarah said in the ghost's voice. "I've been waiting for you to join our family reunion."
"Sarah, fight the ghost's control!"
"There is no Sarah anymore," the ghost said through Sarah's mouth. "There is only me. And now, there's only us."
That's when I realized the full horror of what was happening.
The ghost wasn't just collecting the Martinez family.
She was collecting every woman in the world who fought for justice.
And we were going to an island where she would have an army of controlled activists to do whatever she wanted.
As the plane took off, I heard the ghost's voice over the flight speakers: "Welcome to the International Summit for the End of Free Will."