by Emery Hale
When I met Harkness’ eyes again, I knew I’d just made the worst decision. I should have stood tall and proud like him, an unbreakable force against the elements. I should have presented a blank canvas, clay ready to be moulded. I shouldn’t have curled into myself like a child waiting to be rescued.
He looked away from me after that, handing his umbrella to Duke, the rain rapidly drenching him. I didn’t even register the shove until my feet stumbled back, my arms flailing as I tried to catch my balance.
‘Move!’ Harkness yelled, his voice scorching with a rage I had never heard before. ‘Fucking move! Get in the water!’
The maddened man’s fist crushed my wrist as he dragged me towards the icy water. I struggled against him, placing all my weight into my heels, which dragged through the sand like it was cement. Despite my attempts Harkness’ strength outweighed mine, and no matter how much I writhed and thrashed his efforts continued.
‘Let go of me!’ I cried.
Harkness seized both my wrists, hauling me into the shallows, my toes curling as bitter pins shot through my skin. My knees bent as I tried to run but the water chilled my body, every muscle spasming at once.
‘Winters!’ Harkness yelled through the storm’s frenzy, his eyes alight with a fury that could rival a god’s.
As he dragged me deeper and the water reached my hip, the students abandoned the bags over their heads and sprinted from their positions as if their lives depended on it. The only sign that they’d been there, a murky trail in the black water.
‘You are one thing and one thing only!’ He hauled me round to face him, his hands coiling around my wrists. ‘You are a soldier. You will take my orders and you will obey them!’
My palms opened and shut but before I knew it, I had lost all sensation.
‘Please don’t do this,’ I panted, trying to free my wrists.
I tried to wriggle my way out, tried to loosen Harkness’ grip but he only used the momentum to bring me closer, so close that the droplets on his face splashed onto mine. I could feel the heat of his breath, the power of his eyes stripping everything away.
Then, I looked over to the people I knew wouldn’t judge me, the four of them standing in a huddle watching us, watching him. As I locked gazes with them the wind relented, its merciless lashings reduced to tender brushes of the skin. As the black waves rolled, one after the other, each ripple and wake carried the crippling weight of an eternity, foam clinging to memories, only to be swept away by the tide.
Grace’s chest heaved, hair matted to the side of her face, her arms wrapped around Quinn. After the dismissal the other night, the look on her face told me she was waiting; waiting in anticipation.
Quinn’s arm was hooked around Grace’s back while she held Lily’s hand in the other, shaking all over as adrenaline left her body. Her eyes shot rapidly between Harkness and myself with a look mimicking Grace’s. Anticipation.
Lily stood tall since she was the fittest of the four of us – she had already done most of this training on her own time. Then wiped the mix of sweat and rain from her brow, as another boom of thunder cracked across the sky. There was a look on her face I recognised, as she cast her gaze to the sand. Acceptance.
The boy I thought I knew stood with his own team but his eyes were solely on mine, his dark ragged hair slicked back, his lips pressed into a thin line which then opened to yell, and only then did time speed up.
SMACK
A solid unyielding right hook battered my cheek, sending me crashing down into the choppy waters. As my head thumped off the sand and salt water blasted up my nose, my head and throat burned. Ignoring my body’s protests I shoved myself out of the water, coughing and sputtering.
BAM
Harkness’ unforgiving kick tossed me onto my back, icy black water obscuring my vision, disorientating me as salt stung my eyes. I heard different voices yell, some closer than others, but they were just that, voices.
His nostrils flared as he hauled me out of the water, his knuckles white.
I tried to stand but my mind was still spinning, everything growing dark as I struggled to tell the sky from the ocean.
Now all I saw was Harkness, his wicked eyes brimming with rage and iron fist clenching harder as he peered down at me, inching closer. I tried to move but he held my body, he pulled the strings.
‘You’re a pathetic little girl who doesn’t know when to shut her fucking mouth,’ he spat, the immaculate scowl steadfast. ‘You are flesh and bone, and I will break you, Winters. I will tear you and your world apart until you beg.’
Why did I deserve this? I didn’t understand. We were late back to school . . . this wasn’t a school.
‘Disobeying orders gets soldiers killed. We need soldiers. What part of that don’t you get?’
We needed an army or our vital assets died in a war that we’d begun to lose.
I didn’t dare answer as my breathing finally slowed, time now moving at a great speed. I could hear Grace’s shouts, Quinn’s screams and the pounding of footsteps splashing into the water.
The waves crashed into my legs as the sky above spiralled relentlessly.
‘I thought you were one of them.’
I didn’t even try to move when his fist reeled back. His knuckles cracked against my cheekbone, the pain jolting through me, but I never felt the crash of water as I drifted down through the waves.
* * *
Click. Click. Click.
‘No, I don’t . . . that doesn’t help us, Ashford . . . come down here yourself . . . even if she is I’m not letting her.’
The clacking of a keyboard and hushed motherly tones were what I woke up to. My eyes heavy and cheekbone searing hot, a dull throbbing hiding underneath.
‘Ask him about –’
‘I know, Quinn, just focus on writing that up - yes, I’m still here.’
My lips parted as I tried to take in a deep breath of clean air but it caught in my throat; it felt raw, like I’d been screaming for hours. The breath escaped me as ragged coughs wracked through my body. I tried to roll onto my side but pain shot through me like a bullet.
‘Shit,’ Grace muttered.
I heard the clatter of the phone before warm hands rubbed my back – at first I could only make out a figure, but soon Grace came into focus. Worry written all over her face.
‘What happened?’ I asked, but the words were stolen.
‘Don’t try to talk, get your breath back,’ Grace instructed as she grabbed me, straightening my body out.
Oh here comes Dr Aspin everyone, here to save the day.
Every muscle in my body ached; I wanted nothing more than to curl into a ball, shut out the world and sleep for an eternity. It would be better than remembering what had just happened.
Why did I let him do that to me? Of course it happened – most punishments entailed some kind of physical altercation – but rarely in public. I thought he knew we all appreciated the fact that happened in private.
All the bruises, scars and burns stayed private – but now Harkness had made the message clear. He wasn’t going to take any more rebellion.
As my senses returned the coughing came to an end, and I realised we were the only students in the medical wing. You could tell from the absence of shuffling feet and laughter, something priceless in this place. I managed to spot Dr Williams typing away on the computer at the nurses’ station but he didn’t meet my gaze.
I returned to what was right in front of me. Quinn, who sat at the side of the hospital bed working away on her laptop. Her eyes flitted up to meet mine a couple of times but she didn’t say a word.
‘What are you doing?’ I asked as Grace did the usual check over, lifting my damp top to look at the new bruises I certainly felt. ‘Quinn?’
‘It doesn’t matter,’ Grace answered, her golden cross swinging freely from her blue top. ‘Just keep still, I don’t think you fractured anything.’
Shouldn’t she have said ‘I don’t think he fractured anything’?
Quinn finally closed her laptop, the slow hum and bright light snapping off. She gave me a look so full of emotion, I couldn’t figure out what she was about to say.
‘Homework,’ she said, but it was blatantly a lie. ‘How are you feeling? Grace said that Dr McKay doesn’t think there’s anything serious, just a few bruises –’
‘Why didn’t you stop him?’ I blurted.
There were two people in the water, which left twenty-nine students and one teacher on the beach – did none of them think to intervene? I thought at least my own team would try to stop him – I knew I deserved discipline, but what happened was on a completely different level. Harkness had held me like a puppet. I could have stood up but I let him grind me down until I was nothing but a small grain of sand.
I let him do it because we needed soldiers, ones that were willing to go through a little pain. Did that include this? Should I have let him? How could I? These thoughts belonged to a madwoman.
Both girls remained quiet. Quinn opened her mouth to speak but Grace shook her head and the girl curled back in the large leather chair. She suddenly looked so small in her pink jumper, her pleated white skirt exposing her legs as they anxiously rubbed together. Quinn was one of the most intelligent girls I’d ever met but she knew fuck-all when it came to lying.
The damp material of my shirt sent a small shiver through me as Grace pulled it back down, then lay a thin cotton blanket over my body. I stared at Quinn, wanting answers even if they’d make me pissed. I needed to know why no one even tried to stop him.
But after a few seconds I’d already answered my own question: it was the same answer I’d given when Harkness poured water down Lily’s throat. Fear.
‘Ashford was on the phone.’ Grace said, drawing my gaze back.
‘So?’
‘Whatever you two talked about last night, he told me to tell you he’ll take the case.’
I turned to Grace as she made her way around the wooden bedside table and lifted up my burner phone, showing me the message.
Ronan I went to her house. She doesn’t suspect a thing. I’ll keep Jade safe like you asked.
A sigh of relief ran through my body – well, at least she was taken care of.
Grace didn’t put the phone down, re-reading the message herself. I didn’t say anything since I knew she would catch on to who ‘Jade’ was any sec –
‘You’ve utterly lost it, did Harkness knock a few brains cells out? Never mind protocol or exposure because that never applies to you. This is illegal, it’s called stalking you know?’
‘It is not stalking.’ I retorted. ‘I wouldn’t send Ashford to stalk Naomi.’
‘I know we’re agents, but come on!’
Quinn hushed Grace, motioning to Dr Williams, who had perked up, interested by our conversation. Although the training doctor was anything but pleased as Grace jammed the phone into Quinn’s chest, who read the message over for herself.
‘You sent Kayson to her house?’
‘Yes, yes, OK fine.’ I pushed myself up in bed, my arms shaking a little.
The ward spun, but stopped after a couple seconds, so there was that problem solved – just don’t move anywhere too quickly. Grace’s arms shot out to grab mine but I pushed her away; there was no need for her to mollycoddle me. I’d gotten knocked out, not hit by a car.
Then she took her motherly stance, crossing her arms. ‘Naomi is eighteen, I’m sure she’s developed social skills. She’s a big girl and doesn’t need you watching over her. Honestly, you were meant to cut ties with her in first year and now you’ve sent Ashford of all people to . . . ’
Grace’s dulcet tones drifted off into the background as I focused on getting my head in order, it was no use scrambled.
After the incident at the beach, it was entirely possible that from here on out the punishments would get worse. If I wasn’t careful I’d be spending a lot more time cooped up in here. Punishments were normal and I knew how to avoid them: by following orders to the letter.
They needed soldiers and I couldn’t be trained unless I stopped caving.
I no longer had to worry about Naomi – now she had Ashford to look after her, Katie wouldn’t get close. So I could focus on the performance next week. There was an information pass with vital data that the Government needed to take down Trojan, the relentless terrorist organisation that plagued our country.
I needed to stand tall, become a force to be reckoned with.
CHAPTER 6
Irascible
Having a hot temper; easily angered.
JESSICA-GRACE WINTERS
It had been nearly a week since the incident at the beach, and the aches and pains had subsided – though they were the least of my worries. Tonight were the crucial package drops – they were supposed to have happened yesterday, but got pushed back because of another attack. A Trojan terrorist attack.
Two days ago there was a small explosion at the Hatchet Bank in the city centre – thankfully it was contained but it took three lives, enough to catch the Academy’s attention. Ever since the destruction of the Twin Towers on September 11th, the Government knew they had to come up with something to combat any future attacks, and somehow they came up with us.
The news had covered the bombing as a one-off, nothing to worry about, some alcoholic who’d gotten hold of TNT. Terrorist attacks had become a common occurrence in the past decade: protocols and evacuation plans were sent out every week, and a bomb exploding wasn’t anything new.
Since the seniors of the school were shipped out to deal with any leads concerning Trojan, we were low on numbers. My team, along with one other, had been brought in to oversee the drops. I wouldn’t be controlling the situation from backstage this evening: for once I was the decoy.
THE HALLWELL THEATRE
PROUDLY PRESENTS
CHICAGO THE MUSICAL!
Even the theatre was under the Academy’s management: it was why the package drops were made here, so that the environment could be monitored by them. The whole reason they offered a musical scholarship was for this exact purpose. Everyone would be too busy watching the stage to see what was happening a couple of seats over.
‘Jess.’ Lily’s smoky voice drew me from my thoughts.
As I sat at my dressing table, make-up brush in hand, I realised I was the only performer left in here. Lily was dressed all in black, a gun holstered to her thigh, her hair pulled back from her face. Since we were down a Carrier after Willow’s death our roles had to shift slightly: tonight Grace would take over as a Runner and Lily would switch to the Carrier, collecting all three of the packages from their secondary pickup points.
‘You’re meant to be on stage in five.’
‘I heard the call, I’ll be ready,’ I told her, with another swipe of the brush across my lips.
I was already in my sheer black costume, microphone tucked into my hair and secured with tape. My role was in the ensemble so if I needed to slip away to help Lily during a number, it wouldn’t be too noticeable. The downside though, was constantly having to wear a comm unit – it was difficult to sing while everyone else was having a conversation in your ear.
‘What have you eaten today?’ she asked and I let out an annoyed groan, glancing down at my dressing table.
It was covered in various things: spare sheet music, pens, make-up, brushes, and a plate with food on it and a drink. Most of it was just for show in case a civilian came back here.
‘I’m eating it,’ I said, motioning to the half-eaten food in front of me.
‘That’s a sausage roll and a can of cider,’ Lily stated.
‘Uh huh.’
‘You’re drinking?’
‘Don’t start, Lily.’ I said tiredly, dropping the lip brush back into the pot. She was starting to sound like Grace. ‘It’s one can, it doesn’t do anything.’
‘Your nutrition is shit.’
‘Well so is your singing, high kicks and banter, but you don’t hear me complaining.’
>
I set out my powder and brush to the right, along with some lipstick, since I’d only have time to grab things. I didn’t hear any more from Lily so I’d assumed she’d left, but when I looked up she still stood there, arms crossed.
‘Even though I’m the Carrier, I’m still your Runner. Due to the complexity of the drop-offs I want to take you to the stage myself.’ Her voice was firm.
‘The complexity?’ I asked.
‘We have a separate agent dropping off each of the three packages. First one will be with the band, second one will be in the audience,’ she said, but then stopped, holding her breath for a moment. ‘The third agent we don’t know – whoever it was went quiet two days ago. We don’t know the drop-off point.’
That was when I spun around in the chair to face her.
‘You’re worried whoever the agent is got caught?’
‘Yeah, after the bank . . . so can I take you to the stage or are you going to make this more difficult?’
I stood up, taking my friend’s hand with a sigh. Lily cared about her job, but first and foremost she cared about this team.
‘Well, I guess having an escort would be nice.’ I smirked playfully, squeezing Lily’s hand and slyly moving it down my thigh. ‘Did you do this with the whole cast?’ In shock, Lily ripped her hand from mine, and I burst out laughing at her disgusted face.
‘Not that kind of escort!’
I feigned hurt, a hand over my heart.
‘Well you need to be more specific, don’t get my hopes up like that.’
‘Even though I find this little black number insanely attractive Jess, doesn’t mean –’