by Jaci Wheeler
“Cam is proud of you, you know. You’ve made him really proud, Ari.” Then he shuts the door and leaves me totally baffled.
I find a place in the shade next to a large rock I can lean against and I sit down, close my eyes, and just inhale the fresh air and nature! I’ve missed this; I’ve missed my freedom and it wasn’t even in real jeopardy.
My heart goes out to those captured. I can’t even imagine how they do it. I only did a few weeks and some live years in captivity. I can’t think these dark thoughts now.
I open my eyes, grab the backpack left for me, and spread out the contents. I find a map and compass first. Score, this is going to be even easier than I thought. Next, I pull out a Mylar thermal blanket which will be handy for sure. What’s left in the bag is a knife, water canteen, some rope, and a flint striker to start a fire.
Perfect, I’m set. I look at the map to find where I am. Once I’m pretty sure I know where I’m at, I take a little dirt and draw a circle around it. Then I find where I think home is and do the same. Now that I have a destination, I load everything back up and take off to go find my water source that I was easily able to identify on the map.
I’ve been hiking for about two hours when I finally find a fresh water creek. Nothing has tasted this good; I’m so thirsty. I wash my hands and face with the fresh cool water and decide to take off my boots and soak my feet for a bit.
I take out my map and figure that if I power through hard, I can make it to my midpoint and set up camp for the night. I could power through and make it home before dark falls, but really I don’t feel like using all the energy I have left, and it would take everything I have in me without a doubt.
After resting for about twenty minutes, I drink some more water and I fill my canteen. As I’m filling it up, I see some berry bushes sticking out on the side of the creek. Score!
I open my blanket and take it out, using it to carry the berries back. This will make a wonderful dessert tonight and breakfast in the morning. I try a few and the flavor of the juice bursts on my tongue. I eat a few handfuls to help keep my energy up, then I pack the rest away wrapped up in my bag for later.
I hike for another two hours when I find a good spot to call it a night. There is a rock wall for protection from the wind and elements and there are some really good trees nearby. I use the soft branches to make a mat on the ground and lay my blanket on top. I take the rope out of my bag and walk further into the forest to set a trap.
Once the trap is all set, I take out my knife and start cutting some wood for a fire. It takes me a few tries to get the flint to spark, but once I blow on it a bit, I am able to get some dry wood to catch. Yay! I can’t help but feel proud. Me woman. Me make fire.
It’s starting to get dark now so I go check my traps to see if I was able to land anything. If not, the berries will work for dinner. I look and see that I did catch something, one small squirrel. It breaks my heart to have to eat it, but in a life or death situation, you need to do whatever it takes. Besides, if something happens tonight or tomorrow, this could be my only chance at a food source.
I cut and skin it and then grab a stick and sharpen it to a point with my knife. I spear the squirrel meat and roast it over the fire. It could use some seasoning, but overall it's not bad. I squeeze a few berries on it just to see and that totally helps with the taste.
After eating my meal, I’m exhausted so I tuck myself in and pray I don’t encounter any snakes during the night. Spiders and bugs I don’t really mind, but I don’t do snakes!
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Cameron
Bang, bang, bang.
“Dude, bro, wake up. Let’s go. Up and at ‘em.”
Bang, bang, bang.
“Rise and shine, cupcake!”
I’m going to kill him. Brother or not, he is dead. I haven’t really slept in a month and the first time I finally fall asleep, he is banging on my door at the butt crack of dawn. I roll over and hope he goes away.
“Cam, Cammy. Time to wakey, wakey eggs and bakey.”
Bang, bang, bang, bang…bang, bang.
I jump out of bed, throw the door open, grab Hayden by the collar of his shirt, drag him inside, and slam the door behind me.
“What?!” I shout at him.
He brushes me off and fixes his shirt.
“Has anyone ever told you that you aren’t a morning person? Because seriously, dude, that wasn’t kosher.”
“Hayden, I’m not going to ask you again. What is it? Is Aria alright?” I ask, trying to hide my concern with my anger. Obviously I’m too tired to do a decent job of it because Hayden smirks at me.
“She’s fine, no worries. I came to get you to let you know she will be back soon.”
“How do you know?”
“The patrol dogs are going crazy.”
There are dogs that patrol the perimeter 24/7 for security, and they alert us to any intruder.
“I just assumed you’d want to be there to check her over yourself, but I’d be more than happy to give her a thorough once over,” the creep says with a smile and a wink. He’s lucky I love him. I shoot him a death glare and he throws his hands up.
“Joking, joking, calm down. Are you coming or what?”
“Yeah, I’m coming. Give me a second.”
I grab my jeans off the floor and go into the bathroom. I change, brush my teeth, and run a brush through my long hair, tie it back and then open the door.
“Let’s do this.”
We walk out to the perimeter just in time. The dogs are, in fact, going crazy and Edward is pacing back and forth in front of the clearing. I take this opportunity to approach him and make sure he isn’t hiding anymore tricks up his sleeve.
“Good morning, sir.”
He smiles wide. Oh yes, his has been a very good morning. His pet project is getting ready to fulfill his dreams. I’m not so sure when I became so cynical and suspicious of Edward’s motives, but there’s something there that just doesn’t sit well with me.
“Oh Cameron, my boy, it is a good morning indeed, isn’t it? Our girl has done it.”
“Well, she isn’t here yet, sir,” I add, just because I can. It doesn’t seem to faze him one bit, however.
“Oh she’ll be here and soon, you’ll see. She passed with flying colors; you did well, my boy.” Oh, so now I’m his boy again, am I?
“This is it right, sir? She has passed?” I ask, letting the skepticism slip into my voice.
“Of course, of course. She is going to be placed on the Elite Squad right away.”
“But she’s going to train with them first, right? You don’t mean you are making her an active member and sending her out right away, right?” I ask with an edge of panic.
“But of course I am. She’s the best agent we have and a lot of that is thanks to you and your training. There’s no sense in wasting her talents here.”
I can’t get over how callous and reckless he is being with his own daughter. Luckily Aria breaks through the clearing saving me from having to respond. This girl has been to hell and back and yet she looks fresh as a daisy.
She is just casually walking in like she is just out for a Sunday stroll. She isn’t even breathing hard or anything, just smiling ear to ear. She comes strolling right up to us and I expect her to approach her father and I’m completely thrown off guard when she walks straight up to me and throws herself into my arms.
“What the?”
I have to keep us from falling over and I awkwardly pat her back a few times, but the little vixen doesn’t let go.
“I did it, Cameron; I made it!”
Her voice broke at the end and I can’t help but hug her back.
“Yeah, little girl, you did; you did it.”
I let my guard slip for a second when I follow up with, “You did good, kid; I’m proud of you.”
She lets go and beams up at me like I just gave her the world.
“How long?”
“Almost three weeks.” We share matchin
g cringes. That’s three times longer than anyone else has ever lasted. But before I can say another word, she is swept up with congratulations from everyone, and even Wade comes over and gives her a hug to show that there are no hard feelings.
I see her father approaching with Spencer and I stiffen. Geez, can’t he even give her time to catch her breath? She literally just passed the final. It isn’t jealousy, but protection mode, that has me seething. She’s too young for Elite; they’ve never taken a newbie before.
“Ari, come here. I want you to meet someone. This is Spencer. He is in charge of the Elite team.”
Aria’s eyes light up.
“Oh, it’s so nice to meet you, Spencer.”
“Likewise. You did amazing out there. I’ve got to say, I’ve reviewed the footage of your missions and final and you are rather impressive.” As if her smile couldn’t get any bigger, she beams up at him.
“Thanks so much. Cameron did a great job of preparing me,” she says.
He throws a look my way and, just like that, he dismisses me. I’m apparently not elite enough for him. Well, good riddance.
“Aria, we would like to offer you a spot on our team if you are interested.” Her eyes about bug out of her head and I have to swallow back a chuckle.
“Seriously? You want me? To join Elite? Aren’t I too young?” Finally, someone who is using their head around here.
Spencer throws a look over at Edward and then looks back to Aria.
“We don’t have an age limit, but yes, you would be the youngest recruit. We don’t go based on age though, Aria; it’s all based on skill and performance, and you’ve already proven both.”
“Thank you very much, Spencer. This is such an honor.”
“Let’s see if you are saying that once you are in so deep you can’t-uh!”
Aria hits me in the stomach and hisses, “Later,” under her breath. I take that as my cue and head back to bed. Maybe I never should have gotten up this morning.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Aria
My entire life has been spent at the Academy. I’ve grown up as the student to beat, the one with the highest marks. It’s who I am…until today. Honestly, I just want to cry. I want to go home and drown my sorrows in a gallon of ice cream.
When Spencer, or “Spence” as everyone calls him, approached me about joining the Elite Squad, I was blown away. I felt so many emotions. Ecstatic, honored, surprised. But it never really clicked that I would be going directly into a combat situation with people who know each other like the backs of their hands.
It was horrible. I was horrible. They were all looking at me like I was some alien and that Spence needed his head examined for taking me. Maybe he does.
I’m almost to my dorm when my dad calls my name. I stop and take a deep breath to prepare myself for him. I don’t turn around, I just stop and wait for him to catch up.
“Aria, do you care to explain what went wrong out there today? I had more faith in you than that. Now I have Spencer on my case about starting you too soon. Aren’t you ready for this? Isn’t this what you trained for? I expected more from you.”
I’m livid. Can’t he see how upset I am at myself already? I don’t need that from him; I need encouragement and support, two things I have just realized I’ve never gotten from him before. Why start now, I guess. I square my shoulders and turn to face him.
I fix my most intimidating stare on him and say nothing for several moments while I size him up. I can see the surprise on his face. He tries not to flinch, but he still does.
“Then I guess that makes two of us who are disappointed, Edward, because I expected more from you too.”
I don’t wait for a reaction. I turn around and take off. I don’t want to go to my dorm in case daddy dearest isn’t done with me yet. Hope just wouldn’t understand either, so I do the unthinkable and show up at Cameron’s door.
I knock, but he doesn’t answer. I’ve come too far to turn back now, so I pray I don’t catch him in a compromising position as I use my lock pick to pop the lock and enter. It's surprisingly clean for a guy’s place.
Everything has a place, and minimal is the theme it seems. No pictures, no color. Just plain white walls, a closet with some clothes, a desk with a computer, and that’s about it. How so very boring. I head straight for the freezer and almost cry in relief when I see he has ice cream. It may be mint chocolate chip, but I’ll take it.
I can’t imagine what was going through his head when he walked in and saw me sitting on his bed, eating his ice cream right out of the carton with puffy red eyes and a wad of toilet paper sitting next to me, but in regular Cameron fashion, he says nothing at all.
He takes a second to take in the scene, keeping his face blank. Then just when I thought he was going to yell at me for breaking in and taking over his room he surprises me. He kicks off his shoes and sits next to me on the bed. Without saying a word, he takes the ice cream from my hands, eats a few bites, and hands it back. He lies down and closes his eyes.
I am looking down at him now wondering why he isn’t mad. Cameron breathes fire. Why isn’t he yelling at me?
“Aren’t you wondering how I got in here?” I finally ask.
Without opening his eyes, he says, “I assume you picked the lock and broke in.”
I swallow hard.
“Well, yes, I did. But aren’t you mad?”
He opens one eye at looks at me.
“Why would I be mad?”
“Um, because I invaded your privacy and ate all your ice cream.” I sound totally lame.
He sits up and takes the ice cream out of my hand again and takes a few more bites.
“Nah, you saved me some.”
I can’t stop the stunned look that comes across my face.
“Who are you and what have you done with my handler?” I ask suspiciously.
This causes him to smirk just a bit.
“But you see, little one, I’m not your handler anymore. That horrible job is now on my brother, God help him,” he says with a chuckle. I swat him and take the ice cream back. Then it occurs to me.
“Hayden told you, didn’t he? Arg! I’m going to be ruined.”
Cameron laughs at me.
“Hayden didn’t tell me anything. Why are you always so dramatic? Geez, Ari.”
“I’m a girl,” I say as if that’s explanation enough.
Cameron rolls his eyes.
“Hayden might have said you had a rough first day, but that was it. He won’t break your trust like that. Plus, I don’t have to be tough on you anymore because you are no longer my responsibility.”
That caused my heart to ache a bit. Is he happy that I’m no longer his problem? Wait, does that mean he’s done with me? It’s not like we were ever friends. Oh crap, why did I come here? I quickly put the ice cream down and start to put on my shoes when Cam grabs my arms and pulls me back down to the bed.
“Hey, I didn’t mean it like that, Ari. Calm down. What I’m saying is, I was harsh on you because that’s what you needed. Right now, it looks like you need a friend.”
I narrow my eyes at him to wait for what he's going to follow that up with. But it never comes. Huh, is he actually being nice to me?
“You want to be my friend?”
“Why do you sound so suspicious?” he asks with a laugh.
I just raise my brows at him and give him a pointed look.
“Geez, my feelings are starting to get hurt here, hun.”
“First of all, you don’t have feelings. And don’t call me ‘hun;’ it’s creepy.”
He bursts out laughing and I’m surprised by how much it does for his face. Happiness looks good on him. As if reading my mind, his mask comes back into place and all traces of Happy Cam are gone.
“So do you want to talk about it or am I going to have to get more ice cream?”
“Oh, you have more?” I say with a little more cheer than I feel because I really don’t want to relive the embarrassment all over aga
in. But it would be nice to get his perspective.
“No, but Hayden probably does. Should I go raid his freezer?”
At the mention of Hayden, my stomach drops. Cameron’s brother has seen me in all my lowest points; he doesn’t need to be witness to my breakdown.
“No! I’m fine.”
“Hey, where’d you go? Why are you sad again?”
At his concern, my eyes well up again and overflow.
“You see, this is why I never cry because once I start, I don’t stop!”
“You never cry?” he asks, looking suspicious. “I thought all girls cried.”
“Why how sexist of you, Cameron. No, not all girls cry. The last time I cried was on my fifth birthday when I wanted a easy bake oven nand my dad bought me a Remington.”
I don’t think it’s funny, but Cameron burst out into laughter again, although this time he’s holding his stomach and doubled over.
“Oh, Aria, sorry, but that’s pretty awesome. Do you know how many boys would love a rifle for their fifth birthday? I mean really. But that’s seriously the last time you cried?”
“Well, in front of someone else anyway.” I think about how upset I was when Van was sent away and how much I cried in my pillow at night.
“Okay, so talk to me. What happened today?”
“I’ll tell you, but you have to promise not to scold me, or berate me, or tell me what a failure I am and how you expected more. Okay?”
He surprises me by saying “So you talked to your father, I see.”
I nod once.
“Go ahead. You have my word,” he says, and it looks like he actually means it by the concern on his face.
I take a deep breath.
“Okay, so Edward tells me to report to Elite headquarters for my first mission. I’m thinking there is going to be some training involved and at least a week or so of prep, right? Well, apparently, that isn’t how the Elite Squad does it. They are the squad called when you needed help yesterday and they go on very little prep. And do you know why?”
I’m not really asking a question and he doesn’t answer so I keep going. “It’s because they don’t need prep because they are all hardcore and read minds and breathe in building specs and spit out bullets.” He rolls his eyes at this.