Hey,the chapter's here! Hope you enjoy!
***
My eyes opened at the beaming sunlight filtered through my window into my room. My sleep had been taken with the mission I was given ;Hades.

Who was he? Where were he? What were his crimes? What had he done? So many questions but only invalid answers.

His last crime was looting the Bank of America by manipulating the staff and stealing the confidential information. But this occurred a few months back, the time police was highly alerted, awareness was spread across the country and a rational fear along with greater rewards created chaotic drama across the country.

The police was successful in getting their hand upon the thrives although, Hades himself remained unidentified and wanted.

But what about now? That was his somewhat latest crime with not enough details. The report I was emailed constituted of the details about his crime partners. Their backgrounds, their photos of last scenes, stories, their alliance with Hades, their possession of weapons , the investigation details, the cctv footage I went through a few times—but despite it all, it was not enough. It had never been enough.

I decided to give a tinniest of break to my sleepy eyes after sending a report I prepared about the mission to Leo along with the cctv footage. I stretched my body and turned off the switch of my phone's charger. The screen lit up and a orange strip slid across my phone's screen with letters written on it.

I swiped the bar and read the message.

Unknown:

I switched off the phone considering the sender of the text to make a mistake and the timing could be a coincidence. A beep abruptly halted me from refreshing myself. I annoyingly looked down.

Unknown:

I furrowed feeling annoyed and naked. Taking it lightly and ignoring the text was something I didn't have any control on. He was right. I had worn my ugly old pyjamas I had been thinking of throwing away since a few days—but again, the approximation and the coincidence had given me a unsettling feeling. So I walked towards the window and peeked down to find my Intruder.

No one.

I pondered over it. Was the person just pranking with me? Or was it not only a prank but something else? And if it is not a prank, should I inform someone. But I was not sure if the prank was merely a prank or meant to be harmful so I decided to not let it bother me much. If things'll get worse, whoever that person was, would surely pay.

I stepped out of the bathroom rubbing my damp hair from a morning shower after my exercise . I hung the towel at the back of the chair and picked up my phone from the bed. No other text. I was sure, those messages were only pranks.

I entered the kitchen to find a Leo humming to himself as he cooked the breakfast. I was still angry with him—the way he treated me yesterday was unforgettable. If it wouldn't be twins, I wouldn't have been able to smile at all.

The agency was a terrible experience I wanted to get rid of as soon as I could. The fact that my mom who was supposed to be dead seven years ago was the boss of this agency had perturbed me a few more times. Despite my rising urge to escape from this agency, I felt myself being pushed back to here. Something would nudge me inside to go back, something different—something good.

I seized an apple adorned on the fruit basket and chewed on it. Leo turned around with the sound and surprisingly, smiled.

'Hey.' He said.

'Hi.' I found myself saying however the smile was no where to be worn.

'Breakfast?' He asked rather embarrassingly. I tilted my head. Was he been guilty of last night? Or was it just his mood? Just as questions popped in my mind, my memories automatically drew back to the last night. It was not first time I know. We had fought so often but the last fight somehow crumbled my expectations but again, what were my expectations? Was I expecting him to be the kind of person I had always dreamed of —kind, caring? No, I was certain of it. Relationships were bonds I could not manage not due to my inexperience, but the commitments I would be forced to make.

'Sure.' I shrugged the numbing feeling away. Perhaps, he could be a gentleman too or I would be just fine.

He turned around and worked with his egg while I sat on the bar stool and chewed on my apple.

Silence gathered us, the one that didn't need to be filled.

'I reviewed the report.' Leo spoke after a long time as he toppled the eggs in plates and served me and to himself. 'I guess it was wholly summarised.'

'Thanks.' I murmured and sliced a piece of my egg. 'I think we should start from the very beginning.' I suggested. 'The thieves could give us a handful of information about Hades. One person—this Matthew Jonathan —was a big part of plan but proved his fault innocence and certainly was not imprisoned. I wanted to go and find him first but Marie just asked us to visit this NGO.' I took out my phone and showed him the location. 'For children and according to records, the NGO had earned itself a fair amount of fame . But I have no idea why Marie would recommend us this NGO?'.

'Maybe we could get a handful of information by investigating the staff.'

'Yeah, we could.' I was still uncertain of this recommendation.

'Don't you think this Mathew Jonathan seemed quite heard?' Leo asked. 'I mean like Mathew Jonathan seem so familiar.'

I shrugged. 'Never heard of him before.'

He simply nodded and we spent our rest of the breakfast in the silence as the after circumstances were already discussed.

Just as when the blanket of silence started getting heavier and a word needed to be said, the bell chimed. Leo and I , both stared at each other for it was odd. The bell would only be rung if some agency officials were to meet us. Our team would simply enter by entering the passcode nevertheless, I got up before Leo and ambled to the door. I twisted the knob and pushed the door backwards only to see a rose projected before me.

'A rose? Seriously?' I held the rose and widened the door to let Jake walk in.

He shrugged. 'I guess it's a rose for a rose.'

I chuckled. 'Oh God it's so cliche.'

'I know.' Jake walked towards the kitchen. 'I just picked it up on my way here and couldn't throw it so... yeah.'

'Thanks anyways.' He smiled.

I led him to the kitchen. 'Yo bro!' Jake moved forth Leo and fist bumped yet the enthusiasm on both of the figures was missing.

'Hey.' Leo greeted staring at Jake for longer than necessary. 'Els you ready?'

'Need to grab my gun just.' I answered.

'Cool. I'll be in garage.' Leo's mere greeting towards Jake and his subtly behaviour was nowhere to be understood. However, Jake barely seemed dissented.

'What's with him?' I asked.

'Dunno.' Jake settled onto the bar stool previously occupied by Leo. 'So you're off to mission eh?'

'Yeah.' I answered.

'Where to?'

'To a NGO for some investigation and shit. You know.'

'Yeah. Hey, you're free tonight? I reckoned if we could hang out.'

Just as I opened my mouth to answer, Leo's presence interrupted me. 'We need to go. Come on.' I gave Jake a small smile , apologising for my sudden departure and that unanswered questioned. He smiled back. Warm, handsome and just perfect assuring me that it's fine. I headed upstairs to grab my gun , my phone and a knife which had assigned a permanent hiding spot ; in my boots.

I climbed downstairs and Jake's disappearance for no apparent reason struck me. Perhaps a goodbye would've been fine. I thought but why, I had no answer.

Leo was already on his bike, patiently waiting for my arrival which conferred after a few of minutes. I put on my jacket and my leather gloves and hopped onto my bike. My butt pocket buzzed. A text from a anonymous person had irritated me to a whole new level.

Unknown: See ya soon!

I lifted my head up in search for the sender. I let my mind wander into the possibilities of him getting my phone number or his need to send me these text messages randomly. But who could it be? And why would he do such deed? Maybe I should throw it at the farthest corner of my mind, maybe I should ignore this but reminding myself to be an agent and maybe someone related to my new mission would be sending these, restrained me to feel free.

'You good?' I diverted my eyes to Leo whose bike was already turned on and his eyes searched for the answer.

I nodded whilst pondered whether I should inform him of the matter or not. 'Yeah. It's just...' I trailed off still battling with the decision.

'Just what?'

'Nothing. Just thinking about dinner.' I lied.

He narrowed his eyes as he caught my lie as easily as falling off log. His complete awareness of me being not a foodie girl pointed me to think before lying. To escape from the awkwardness, I turned on my bike and put on my helmet. The engine revved beneath me and I set off not daring to wait for Leo to ask any other question.

Precisely, it took us thirty minutes to reach our destination. The address matched and we both parked our bikes in the parking lot, wore on our coloured jackets to seem a bit less like agent and walked in.

The NGO was however more fluorescent than expected. A spiral of colourful flowers started from the bottom of a metallic door and up the window of the first floor. An ancient wooden sign of 'The Children's house' hung at the door giving a cartoonish vibe. I smiled at the creativity.

We walked in and the whole scenario transformed. At that moment, whoever was the architecture, I felt a dire need to appreciate his artistry approach. A large hallway, green carpeted and settled on different swings for children aligned the with large number of toys, dolls and stuff animals. A group of little girls giggled as they sipped their fake teas from a tea set placed on the table with bears and dolls.

A couple of boys played with balls scattered across the whole floor. A boy fell off the swing and cried as he scratched his knee. A young girl, probably of my age kneed to him to look for the minor cut.

Leo and me nodded at each other and we both walked up to the young lady. 'Excuse me.' I said.

She looked up and plastered a smile on her face —not so real though. 'How can I help you?'

'I . . . er . . .' I hesitated, thinking for a believable lie.

'We found a girl across our street and were looking for her permanent accommodation.' Leo lied smoothly. 'We heard of your NGO giving the best facilities so we came here.'

'Oh,' The worker clapped her hands. 'Very well then. We could. Did you bring her with you?'

'Not now.' Leo answered. 'First we'd like to look around for surety.'

'Oh yes . . .' She trailed off for a moment as she pondered over. 'But I'm afraid I can't assist you, I should call my colleague.' She called a person named John and within a minutes , he appeared.

John was a tall , brawny man, the kind of man you think as a mountain rather than a person. He possessed a beard , residing hairline and a thick eyebrows. The girl told John about the assistance and just like the girl, John's hesitation intrigued me.

He gestured us to follow him and so we did. He led us to a hallway where a number of doors lined it. Each door had signs hung over them. 'The tv room', 'Ms, Lydia Williams', 'The toy store', 'The stories castle', 'The Bathrooms', 'Shower times' etc. Each one of them with a cute doodle etched on the corners.

'As you can see, we provide our kids with every facility.' John started and waved hand at each doors. 'From a good day routine to education and entertainment. Each kid occupies a special place here and their talents and abilities are presumably polished enhancing their self love . . . ' And on his list go but I shut my ears and opened my eyes that scanned each and every corner like a hungry beast. And then, my feet halted me in front of a door.

'What is this?' This was the only door I suspected was without any sign. John—lost in his explanation—had reached a few steps ahead of us. He turned back and the little flinch of his eyes raised my suspicions.

'It's private Ms.' He tried to answer frivolously.

'What kind of private?' Leo asked my question rather innocently.

'Some administration work and stuff.' He waved it off but what I saw was the red flag raised high up and not by anyone else but by John himself.

I turned to face Leo. 'Leo there's a dire need to use a lavatory.'

He smiled. He arched his eyebrow indicating me that he, like me, had seen the red flag too. 'Why again?'

'You can't cancel the call from Mother Nature.' I argued. Leo rolled his eyes and made an irritating sound somewhat in between sighs and cough.

'We don't have more time you know. I can't wait for you and we've stopped the survey too.' Leo grunted.

'You go ahead.' I urged. 'Besides it won't take much time but if you simply can't wait then just go.'

'Yeah whatever,' Leo said and turned to John. 'We'll resume if you have no problem.'

'Oh no no,' John waved his hand in front of him. 'I have not. The lavatories are that way Ms.' John pointed back from where I saw the 'The bathrooms' sign. I nodded and started walking towards the bathroom turning around only to steal a slight glimpse of Leo who was already looking at me.

I entered the bathroom and leant against the wall to wait for their distraction. The door opened and I instantly ruffled my hair to pretend that I was only checking my hair to the women who just entered. She didn't care but washed her hands , dried them and exited.

Simultaneously, a little boy entered and I used the same trick however he didn't seem satisfied. 'Who're you? I never saw you before.'

'Oh I'm er . . . just a visitor.' I told him.

He narrowed his eyes. 'Visitor or are you here to prison another kid?'

'Prison?' I kneed down to his height. His confident tone outraged his short height. 'What do you mean?'

'This,' He waved his hand around the bathroom. 'Is just for the show. We are just for the show. For people like you.'

'Do they. . . 'I pondered over my words. 'Do they abuse you or something?'

He shrugged. 'They send you away.'

'Why and where?' I knew that I had been asking quite a lot question from a kid who barely seemed five years old but he sounded smart. A little too smart for his own good.

'We're intelligent.' He answered. 'They train us and send us away to use our brains. Simple.'

I must've looked horrified. 'Where? Can you by any chance tell me?'

He didn't answer rather stared at me. 'Listen, I'm not like them. I'm an agent and I'm here to save you Okay?' Please tell me.' I urged.

'The private room.' Was all he said and it was all I needed.

I sneaked out of the bathroom after the little secret a little boy enfolded with a little promise to keep it our little secret and snuck in the private room locking the door behind. Leo must've busied John with some complex conversations and I silently prayed for him to keep doing what he was busy in doing.

It was not like I expected.

Rather, it was big, massive than it seemed. Walls filled with computer screens , desks placed around , sacks of papers—files, photographs—laid on the table however not so in a presentable form. The room was empty, as I had expected wanted it to be. I didn't waste anymore time. I went to a computer and turned it on.

It was about a architectural project someone must've been working on. A three dimensional diagram rotated at 360 degree. It was about a building but in a strange way. It didn't seem like an office, neither a house, a school and anything near my knowledge. My eyes lifted up to where the person had written the building's location: M-4,D-5. I noted it down and just as I was about to pick up a file, my eyes went to a paper. A scientific research with formulas and brain diagrams sprawled onto the page. I fished out my phone and took out its picture along with some other too when the door clicked.

I shut off the computer, placed the papers back in their order when door clinched twice and then someone yelled. 'GET THE KEYS!' I looked around. I could hide or run away from the window but running required more timing than hiding and reluctantly, I hid in a cupboard.

The door burst opened and I heard footsteps, a lot of them. 'Who locked the door eh?' Someone asked.

'Dunno. It mostly gets struck.' Other answered.

Then footsteps could be heard , rumbling around and then they stopped. 'I don't think it was struck.' One said and my breath hitched. I recalled my mistake and maybe, I failed to put one of the papers back at their place. 'Search the place.'

And just when I thought I was going to be caught, a alarm—ear piercing shriek—wailed inside the building.

'Sir sir!' I heard another man in a panicky manner bursting into the room.

"What is it Elijah?'

'Sir, fire.' Was all he said and footsteps began removing out of the room. I waited a couple of minutes until I was sure.

Holding my breath, I as slowly and quietly as I could manage, stepped out of the cupboard. The door was closed and so I ran towards the window. I lifted it up and met the view of a disgustingly dirty parking lot.

I jumped out of the window onto the ground and instantly crouched behind a car as I saw people running out of the building.

I traced my exit and looked for any sign of Leo. Where could he be? Perhaps assisting them with the fire? No he can't. He knew we needed to escape.

Electric current shot up my to veins and I sucked up my breath as a hand contacted with my forearm. I jumped backwards and as quick as a flash, took my knife out mentally preparing myself to get rid of the beast from his filthy hands and arms and kill him right away to make the world a bit safer place from his absence. With this, I pointed the knife at . . . wait what?

'Leo?' I asked a horrified Leo who in his defence had twisted my hand making the knife fly off my hand. He nudged me against the wall placing his one knee in between my legs and besieged me. His hand onto my mouth halting me from a terrible shriek that might've woken up the already awake city. His other hand holding the one that was so prepared to kill the beast beside me. I felt his fanged breath, smelled him like I had always. Mint and apples. Fresh and delicious.