^You at the end of this chapter 😉

***

A V E R Y

Where on earth would they keep it?

Think, Avery, think.

Not the cabinets - no, that would be way too easy. Maybe hidden between books? I rifled through the ones closest to me, but nothing like what I was looking for turned up. Hell, I was clutching at short straws here, picking things up from movies and all the books I'd read. I walked forward and pulled open the oak drawers connected to the table. Inside were just meaningless pieces of paper and notebooks.

'Hang on a damn second,' I murmured, pushing away the sheets until a brown leather notebook could be seen. That was weird - and it definitely looked like something they would hide. I flicked through the pages, my eyes catching on handwriting that looked so damn familiar I had to convince myself I was being stupid, that my mind was splaying tricks on me.

Until I started reading.

PROGRESS REPORT

Entry 47

19.04.19

I saw the target at 1400 hours today. She thought we met by accident, but I planned the whole thing. I believe the target trusts me completely by now, except she seemed like her mind was somewhere else the whole time we were talking.

Strange. I thought she'd trust me right away, but she doesn't - especially not after the fiasco mentioned in Entry 50. Her need to be in control of every situation is slightly jarring, as she does not like to be told what to do from people she hasn't met or doesn't trust. This issue will have to be dealt with soon, though, if we wish to continue with our intended plan.

What the heck? I had no idea what the person was on about, but I did know two things - one, that they were working for the Damnation, and two, that they met a girl who didn't like to be manhandled. 

And what was even more infuriating was that the person writing it didn't mention one name, which really helped to narrow the list of potential suspects down.

Ugh. Staring at this book was going to get me nowhere.

I flicked to 'Entry 50' and began to read again, my eyes skimming quickly over the page in an attempt to read and be done with this as quickly as possible.

PROGRESS REPORT

Entry 50

23.04.19

A while ago, I mentioned the incident with the target and here it is - the target completely blew up when I showed concern for her, seemingly mad that I smothered her in some way. I don not know the extent of her anger, but I am positive that it will pass - it is just a phase, in my opinion. However, if the target is in love with someone else, or likes another man, this may create complications that we'll have to deal with. Though I don't want to have to eliminate the man in question, if he poses the threat to the plan, I will do so.

Further updates soon.

What the hell? This dude thought he could go and manhandle a girl and she wouldn't get mad? What the actual fuck was he thinking?

And all that crap about removing the threat of the boy she was in love with? That was just sick. To remove someone from someone else's life for your own personal gain, so that you could continue your mission? To remove a loved one, and leave the other person to drown in their grief?

I saw red.

And even though I had nothing to do with this, a voice inside my head whispered that I needed to know more, find out what exactly was going on, even if our greater threat was the exploitation of GRAVITY.

So I pulled out the little camera attached to my chest and clicked the button over and over ad I flicked through the pages and captured the words on the pages, feeling like a kid all over again when I found Sienna's diary and all her private thoughts about the boys she liked.

Yeah. Boys. Plural. But that was a story for another day; right now, I had more pressing issues to be getting on with.

Slamming the drawer shut as I placed the book back inside, I jumped up and scanned the room again, begging for anything in my brain to click and tell me where it was.

Please, please, please. Anything. One little hint and I'll do the rest myself.

Nothing. I had absolutely nothing. Gritting my teeth in agitation, I pulled the mic closer to me and murmured, 'Guys, how much time do I have?'

'A maximum of nine minutes is all I can give you, Avery, to delay the guys. Find the blueprints, and if you can't get out of there. We'll tell you as the time goes down.' Damien said, his voice slightly concerned now. I didn't blame him - though I looked calm on the outside, my heart was hammering away like a hummingbird in my chest.

'Come on,' I breathed, clenching my fists as I forced myself to breathe in and out. 'You can do this. Focus.'

I closed my eyes for a second and then opened them again, looking at the room with fresh eyes. It had to be here, or so help me God I would scream the whole place down.

'Guys, I'm struggling. This is impossible - I don't even know what the fuck I'm looking for. Any ideas?' I said.

'Hm. I actually have no clue. Any ideas Maddie?' Damien asked. This was so annoying - if Damien had no idea where the blueprints were with his level of intelligence, how was a nineteen year old supposed to do the same? Huh?

My point exactly.

'Okay,' Maddie began, a hint of thoughtfulness in her voice, 'Call me crazy, but in all of the films I've watched-' Cue the eye roll, '-there's always a hidden panel or some kind of latch that opens up a box of hidden shit or something. I don't know, it was just a thought.'

'No, no, that's a good thought. Let me look around a bit more.'

'Six minutes remaining.'

Breathe, Avery. You can do this.

As I looked around, my eyes landed on the table for a few seconds. Surely they wouldn't be as stupid to hide it under the table, right?

Time to find out.

I ducked down and slipped under the table, flicking my light on and using my hands to feel for any bumps or ridges. After a minute, I huffed and pulled myself back out.

No luck, and I was about to scream.

'Why the fuck do they have to make this so complicated?' I grumbled quietly, brushing my hair and trying to compose myself. 

I stumbled a little and my hand automatically flew out to brace against the wall. And the wall pushed in.

My eyes widened. The section of the wall I had pressed on pushed itself in and then to the side, revealing a black vault. I laughed and moved closer to inspect it.

'I went and found it.' I said, smiling, 'Now how the hell do we get it open?'

After a few minutes of following instructions from Damien on how to crack open the vault, I heaved it open and peered inside. There were stacks upon stacks of sheets and files in there, but someone had helpfully put labels on the side.

It was colour coordinated too.

Paperwork, Sales... Bills... Trade Deals...

Ah ha! There it was, labelled under 'DRIVE'. Way to be obvious.

'Avery, you have two and a half minutes to get out of there. Hurry the hell up!'

Oh God. I scrambled through the papers until I found something resembling a blueprint, then took photos of it, and anything else that seemed important, my heartbeat going crazy the whole time.

'One minute and fifteen seconds left.'

'Okay, I'm done,' I slammed the vault closed and watched anxiously as the panel slid back over it. 'Where's the nearest exit?'

'I'm going to lead you through it, okay? Leave the room, and exit the lab from the back door - not the one you just cam in from. There should be a door next to the glass windows.' 

'Yeah, I've found it. I'm leaving now.' I said, opening it and letting it shut softly behind me. 

'Okay, good. Now, you should see two doors and a set of stairs in front of you. You need to take the door on the left and get down that set of stairs as quickly as you can.' I was wrenching the door open with one hand and corrupting a camera with the other as Maddie spoke, letting the muscle memory do the work. 

Taking the stairs two at a time and shooting at yet another camera, it wasn't long until I got to the bottom, where a door automatically opened, the light going from red to green. When I stepped through, a long corridor opened up, the distance from my place at the door and the next door seeming like forever.

'You have forty five seconds to get through that hallway, Avery. If you don't get through in time, the lasers will hit you and sound the alarms-'

I was already running.

My feet pounded on the linoleum floor, and for once I didn't care how loud I was being, because I didn't think hey could hear me. Even if they could, they wouldn't be able to tell who I was, with the mask covering my face and the black suit I wore. Two more cameras came up, facing away from me, and I jerked my arm up to point the remote at them, the lights on them flickering as I ran past.

Nearly there. 

I pushed my body to breaking point and practically fell onto the floor as the lasers shot out behind me, moving and scanning the ceiling, the walls and the floor. I watched as a wasp flew through them - and then watched as a laser burnt it through, the wasp falling onto the floor and twitching as smoke rose from its body. A second later, it went limp.

Jesus. That could've been me.

'Get up! You don't have time to waste and we can't linger around for too long,' Damien snapped, 'Get out of there before they suspect something.'

'You got it, boss.'

I threw open the double doors and paused for a breath when I saw clear, blue sky above me, before standing and running again. My legs were jelly and my muscles were screaming for me to stop, but I couldn't. I had to keep going. 

That is, until I looked up, about forty metres from where the van was supposed to be, and crashed into a rock solid chest.

'Avery? What are you doing here?'

'What the hell am I doing here? What are you doing here?'

***

Hello, my little assassins!

Dun-dun-duuuun! Who do you think the person with the muscly chest is? It's not as obvious as you think...

You readers are absolute gems with the votes and reads, but I still want to know what you think of the book - comment anytime and let me know, even if it's criticism.

If you haven't done so already, and enjoy this book, please go over to the Earnest Writers' Awards 2019 and vote for this book on the 'Popularity Awards' chapter - only your votes will help us win, and it will also gain recognition for this book to get more readers. So get voting, people!

Dedication to @Ammi_B as an early birthday gift! Thank God I met you, because I'm not sure who else would have conversations late at night with me like you do - we may not have known each other for that long, but you are a really special gal. Love you loads! 😘

Love you all,

-M