Chapter Three

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We drove in silence for hours, the occasional rumble of a passing car speeding on the two-lane road the only thing keeping me sane in the silence. Kara, Jeremy, and Tom glanced at me every once in a while with suspicion and distrust in their eyes. Fed up with it, I eventually put my sunglasses on even though it was pitch dark just to hide just how hurt I was by their looks. It was my fault, though. I should be used to it by now. But it had been nice for a brief moment, almost starting to feel as if I was part of a functional team again.

When dawn finally arrived, I got off the highway to locate food and gas. After ordering food at a drive through and filling up on gas, I continued on until I found an empty parking lot, where, after we all scarfed our breakfasts down, I reluctantly turned to face the group.

Tom was reclining in his seat, probably being the only one out of all of us to actually get a decent amount of sleep. Jeremy was wiping his hands on a napkin and then folding it very precisely, and Kara was just staring out her window. I could hear the soft chirps of birds coming through my broken window.

Wincing, I cleared my throat. The abrupt sound caused them to finally all meet my gaze. "So..." Nervous, I began to tap my fingers on the wheel, surprising myself. It had been a long while since I had been this nervous. 

Tom was the first one to speak up. "You have wings?" He spoke softly, with confusion. Then his tone and volume changed. "How come I don't get wings-"

"Tom." Kara cut in. "There are more important things to worry about right now." Letting out a quiet sigh, I shot her a grateful look, to which she responded by turning to look back out her window. 

Jeremy then finally decided to get involved in the conversation. "What is our plan for this mission? We know what the objective is now, but we don't have a plan of action. If we want this mission to go properly, then we need a plan." He looked at me. "Agent 5, what are your thoughts on strategy?"

I took a deep breath, removing my real feelings from the situation and going back to the intended mission. "The warehouse where the gang's main operations are centered is on the East Coast, about a day and a half drive from here, depending on how fast we go." I took out a foldable map from the side door compartment. "We need to scan the area first, looking for possible ways to go in, and become familiar with the grounds. Since there are more of them than us, we are going to need to draw them out."

Tom spoke up. "We need to design a trap." He snapped his fingers as his brown eyes lit up with the prospect of an idea. "We can use fire. A lot of the members would have to come out to take care of it, and then we could go in while they're preoccupied and deal with the rest of them. It would be like a diversion!"

I nodded my head. "Good idea, Tom." He blushed slightly at the praise, which I noticed with a smirk. The boy needed to get out more. "We have orders, though, to harm, not kill, just enough to disable them, and let the police take care of the rest. We go in and out and leave no trace that we were ever there. Understood?" I looked around our small group, meeting the eyes of each and every one of my teammates. They all nodded in agreement. "Okay, then." I rubbed my forehead, then put my head in my hands and sighed again. Sighing never had been a habit of mine but driving for almost a day and a half straight can make a person very tired.

Jeremy took in my fatigued and haggard appearance with a cursory and calculated look of my weary form, and tapping me on the shoulder,  offered to drive. I hesitated with his offer, but eventually gave in, too tired to put up much of a protest. I only had enough time to show him the route on the map and switch seats before drifting off into sleep.

---

I woke up with a start. I was down here all by myself again. The completely white room with bright lights wasn't a dream after all. Attempting to push myself up, I groaned at the sudden, sharp pain in my back, and fell back down on the metal table. I was too weak, and the metal bands around my wrists were too strong to break out of. 

Sweat began to trickled down my forehead and back, glistening on my pale skin that was etched with old and new scars. It was only a matter of time before they returned, and the pain would start anew. As anxiety began to take control of my thoughts, I glanced wildly around the room, eyes resting on the steel door that would lead to my freedom. I was so close. Suddenly I heard the sounds of heavy footsteps strolling down the stairs, and my heart began racing. Closing my eyes, I started whispering their names to myself, the one thing that kept me sane after the three weeks that had been hell in this room.

Lydia.

Max.

Liam.

Taylor.

Jake.

Lydia.

Max.

Liam.

Tayl-

Suddenly cold hands touched my back, like burning fire.

And then the screaming began.

---

Hands touched my shoulder, jerking me awake and away.  Reaching a hand up, I noticed that my sunglasses had fallen off somewhere along the way. Tom held his hands out in front in a placating gesture, and dropped his jaw in shock as I slapped him across his face.

"Do not touch me. Ever. Are we clear?" Heart still racing, I narrowed my eyes at him, and Tom nodded his head, fear creeping up in his eyes. My hair lay messily down my shoulders and I gulped air down to slow my heart rate that was out of control. 

Kara and Jeremy, who had turned around at the sound of the slap, looked on with raised brows. I was too mad to be embarrassed of my actions, though. The last person who touched me like that... I shook my head to clear my thoughts.

"Why did you wake me up?" I spoke to Tom, annoyed and trying to deflect.

Tom pointed a hand at something outside the window. The pitch-black sky made it too dark to see anything, and it was only then that I had realized I had slept through an entire day. I turned back with a raised brow. "We..." He cleared his throat. "We're at a safe house."

"Oh." Squinting, I could barely make out the outline of a nondescript two-story house. Confused, I racked my memory for any mission I had carried out in this area, but came up blank. For some strange reason though, the house looked vaguely familiar. I glanced at Kara. "Your agency's?" She nodded. "Okay, then." 

Getting out of the car, I moved to grab the first duffle bag but a slight touch on my arm startled me and I flinched as a masculine hand wrapped over my wrist. Whirling away in silence, I watched as Jeremy gave me a concerned glance with his eyes and took my momentary surprise as an opportunity to haul everyone's duffle bags out. I tracked his form with my eyes, watching as he slung my duffle bag up on his should before grabbing his own and heading into the house. The others followed him, not commenting on the fact that I was still frozen in place. I shook my head to get rid of the memories suddenly crowding my mind, reaching up to shut the trunk before making my way into the house. 

Inside, a modest kitchen and living room greeted us on our left and right, respectively. Directly in front was a staircase leading to the second floor where I knew the bedrooms were. Frowning, I watched as Jeremy hefted my suitcase  higher up on his shoulder and began his ascent. How did I know that? It didn't make any sense. Sighing in frustration, I climbed the stairs behind Kara, and sure enough three bedrooms were situated before my eyes.

The boys offered to share one, leaving Kara and I to have our own. Instinctively, I chose the one nearest to the staircase. The room, which had an adjoining bathroom, was a soft blue color, something I might have chosen for myself when painting a room. Placing my bag on the bed, a picture frame resting on the dresser caught my eye. A girl with ash blonde hair and dark green eyes, and a boy with light brown hair and brown, gold flecked eyes smiled out at me. Tilting my head, I took the picture down from the dresser and sat on the bed, looking at it. Strange, the couple looked exactly like the people I-

A knock on the door interrupted my puzzled train of thought, and I looked up to see Tom standing sheepishly before me. "We're all meeting downstairs to plan out tomorrow." I nodded my head and stood up, placing the picture on the bed behind me. Turning back to Tom, I noticed him rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "Look," he said, "I'm sorry about touching you earlier. I didn't know-" Waving a hand, I cut him off. 

"It's fine. It wasn't your fault." It was mine, again. I shrugged my shoulders. "There's no way you could have known."

Tom smiled gratefully at me. "Thanks." I nodded my head back at him, glad that the awkward conversation was over, and together we made our way downstairs into the cozy living room, where Jeremy and Kara were already sitting on the couch, leaving the two gold armchairs covered in dust to Tom and me.

Sitting down, I observed that there were more picture frames on the walls in here, with five or six people per group. Glancing at them, I turned to Kara. "Do you know  who they are?" I nodded my head to the most prominent picture frame on top of the stone fireplace.

Kara looked at them, then back at me. "People in our agency, I guess." She squinted at the picture. The group of six were smiling widely at the camera, their arms around each other. For some reason, I couldn't shake the feeling that I knew them. They looked awfully similar to my old team. But that couldn't be right. That wasn't possible. 

Jeremy broke the silence first. "So, tomorrow our plan is to make it to the gang's city, and stake out a place to stay, preferably near the warehouse grounds."

"I know of a safe house in that area that we could stay in. It's a friend's." I crossed my legs and hugged my arms to my body, sinking deeper into the armchair, as the trio considered my suggestion. I briefly wondered if they would ever bring up my wings. 

Jeremy nodded slowly in agreement. "Okay, then. It's settled." He stood up in one smooth motion and glanced around the group, his eyes lingering on me for the longest moment and I refused to look at him. "Good night." Kara and Tom also stood up and bid me goodnight, leaving me alone in the old house. 

Fifteen minutes later, the house had fallen silent. I remained seated in the chair, gazing out the bay window that was across me, seeing nothing but the occasional flickering red lights of an airplane up high above. Sighing, I stood up, brushing my suit off. I hadn't changed out of it yet but it felt like a second skin at this point.

Knowing I wouldn't be able to sleep even if I tried, I silently crossed the room and slipped out the front door into the dark woods beyond.

My feet found the path on their own accord, trailing along as if I'd walked it a hundred times before. Suddenly a glimmering lake appeared, shining in the moonlight. I stood in the shadow of the trees, enjoying the tranquility of it all before I heard a twig snap behind me.

I twisted behind a tree and drew my gun out of my side holster smoothly. Stabilizing my core, I peered into the darkness, as the sensation that someone was watching me tingled down my back. Acting on instinct I jumped out from around the tree and pointed my gun straight at the figure standing before me, white teeth glinting in a wide grin. 

At the sight, my eyes widened in shock and I stumbled back a step, catching myself on the tree behind me, the damp wood soaking through the fabric of my suit. The gun slid from my grasp to the ground beside me, and though my mouth moved, no words managed to come out. 

It couldn't be. 

"Hello, Ben."


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