Chapter 19
The underground is silent when we return, the blinding lights hurting my eyes after returning from the darkness outside. Wolvrin stops at the elevator like normal where the Overseer leads me to Madam’s office, and orders Bella to return to the assigned bunk rooms.
The office is quiet today. Madam is sitting at her desk without the Major.
She doesn’t even look up at me as we enter the room.
Two guards are on either side of the walls, and immediately alarm bells go off in my mind.
I know this isn’t a normal mission report.
If they wanted a mission report, they wouldn’t have asked Bella to leave.
They wouldn’t want me alone.
“Not many, sir. Cayden, the target, was more focused on being a host than supplying information tonight. I did not manage to get any details on an accomplice, nor did I see anything. Though, the target has begun to experiment with his feelings for me, sir.”
I decide to tell them about the kiss. If they know Cayden kissed me, then they will keep sending me.
And if they see my obedience, I’ll buy myself some more time.
It’s a dangerous game, if I show even a hint of liking what Cayden did, they will cut me off, likely kill me.
But if I show disdain, or nothing at all, they will think I’m still just watching a target.
“Experiment with his feelings? Explain, PX-3.”
“He kissed me, sir. Before the dinner.” I keep my voice flat, reining in every emotion and shoving it down into a deep dark hole inside of my mind. I will not lose the very little that I have, Cayden included. I will not lose my hope.
“A single kiss?”
“Yes, sir.”
I don’t mention Marcus was there the whole time with Bella, or the fact Cayden has a sister, or the fact The Academy doctor left my neck untreated and it was Cayden who took care of me, wrapping up my throat and cleaning the wound.
I don’t mention he kissed the bandage once he was done, nor that it made me feel things I never have before.
I don’t tell them anything beyond what’s needed to keep me alive.
“Very well, back to your bunk.” I don’t hesitate as I walk out of the door, leaving the Overseer and the Madam behind, until I get to my assigned bunk room where Bella is already waiting, sat up in bed.
“Oh good, you are still alive.”
“Careful, Bella, almost sounds like you would miss me. And that is strictly forbidden.” I do my best Madam impression, which makes both of us laugh as we get into our pyjamas and into bed.
Bella looks at me like she wants to ask me about Cayden, but I shake my head. It’s not safe here, and she knows it.
When sleep finally takes me, I welcome the distraction from the chaos going on around in my mind. A welcome peace to the never-ending stream of questions that Cayden refuses to answer, yet tells me he has a sister.
That’s one realisation I can’t shake: he has a sister.
I wonder what her name is, if she’s the same age as me or younger. She seems like she might be younger. But then again, I didn’t grow up normally. Maybe star gazing is something all girls do, and I’ve just never been allowed.
The lights turn on at 6:30 the next morning like they do every morning, interrupting sleep with their blinding lights. They should really be able to change the colour or dim them, but then I suppose fewer girls would get out of bed, so part of me understands. Or at least I used to.
I’m not sure where my head is at anymore.
“Welcome back to the land of the living.” Bella laughs, already in her training uniform and lacing up her boots.
“Hypothetically, what would happen if I just refused to leave the bed and wallow in my own demise?” I groan, burying my head into my pillow.
This time it’s Bella doing an Overseer impression giggling. “The chair, three days.”
I sigh deeply, dramatically, knowing she’s right and sit up in bed, stripping off the pyjamas and changing into my training uniform, showing my reluctance in the comfort of the bunk room. I lace up my boots and put on my mask of indifference the second the bunk room door opens.
We walk in silence to the crowd gathered in the dining sector, grabbing our breakfast trays and sitting at the back of the tables. It’s so quiet without Lauren and Kylie, and I hate it. I hate that they aren’t here to complain about something stupid.
I hate that I didn’t appreciate it.
I thought if I picked up the slack for Lauren, she would be safe. Now look where that got her. Bella seems to be lost in the same thought as she sighs. “We need new friends,” she whispers, careful not to be caught.
“We can’t have friends,” I remind her. While Lauren, Kylie, Bella, and I all risked braving the chair for a conversation, unless something big happens, not many others are willing.
“This sucks,” Bella says, playing with the bowl of sludgy oats on her tray. I’m not sure if she’s talking about the food or the others, but either way, I agree.
?
We are assigned out to Cayden again that afternoon; apparently he is going away on a trip to another one of the Zones.
There are three Zones within the normal district.
Zone One is the lower class; this is for the citizens working the lower-level jobs.
While the government provides housing and food for everyone, they still need to work for it.
So this is usually reserved for the ‘dirty workers’ as they are called in town.
They are our plumbers, our miners, any job that requires any sort of hands-on dirty work.
They’re confined to Zone One and the buildings within it.
Then there’s Zone Two, which is for the middle class. This is for pretty much everyone else who’s not significant; the teachers, the bakers, the everyday workers. The people with no real importance to the new order, the average citizens.
And then there’s Zone Three. High class.
These aren’t the elites, not even close, but they have more luxuries than everyone else; no curfew, lower guard presence apart from at the borders, no restrictions on food allowances.
It’s almost impossible to earn your way here unless you’re in the government or an important force like the doctors and guards.
Anything beyond that is strictly for the elites, like Cayden.
The elites have unlimited access to everything, every zone, every luxury. They have mansions and cars, they have everything the normal citizens dream of. Most of them are our founders, the people who designed the new order’s system to keep us safe.
The elites either bought their way in, or were born into the status through family, or friends. The rich from before were allowed to keep their luxuries as long as they kept feeding the new order and their systems money.
It’s a win-win; they get freedoms, and the new order gets the funding it needs to keep safety protocols and systems in place to protect the citizens.
We were told to pack overnight. Our mission is to blend in, to observe who Cayden interacts with and report any conversations outside of the ordinary to The Academy immediately.
It’s not the first time I’ve been sent on an overnight mission; while they definitely aren’t the usual, they also aren’t completely unheard of.
They have given us a new outfit, one made to blend into the Zones.
For the first time, I get to wear a hoodie.
They have laid out a pullover hoodie with a pair of leggings and a pair of used sneakers. I must admit, I have missed sneakers. They were a part of the old training uniforms before they decided to keep our casual mission uniforms as the training uniforms.
I understand it, getting us confident in the clothes we would wear on missions. But I would love to have comfortable clothes like this available all the time. At least for the times we aren’t training or on missions. Something to keep us comfortable.
But The Academy doesn’t want comfortable, they want fear.
“Did you notice any more girls gone today? I didn’t see any,” I ask Bella, changing into the new clothes and putting my training uniforms in the bag they gave us along with my gun. But I do keep my knife in my hoodie pocket.
“One, Sophia. She was Alison’s partner.” Alison, another girl who was taken. I nod, storing the information away and zipping up the bag, throwing it over my shoulder.
“You ready to go?” I look at Bella who is doing the same. We walk out walking into Madam’s office where Wolvrin, Overseer, Madam, and Major are waiting.
“PX-3, PX-57, your mission is to eliminate any potential threats to The Academy, not including Cayden Ashford. Cayden is to remain unharmed and observed.”
My heart drops. I feel like I’m running out of muscle memory. Would I even want to kill someone anymore? That definitely should not be my first thought.
I am PX-3, I am a trained assassin.
“Yes, sir.”
“And PX-3, considering Cayden’s emotions surrounding you, we expect you to use this to get more information. You must return with some valuable information, or else it will be the chair for interrogation.”
Well hello to you, too, sir. My day is going swell, thank you for asking.
“Yes, sir.”
Wolvrin leads us as we exit the building and walk out to the SUV. Like always, Bella and I enter first while Wolvrin enters after us. The car takes off, and our wrists are checked for the tattoo at the gate before we drive off towards Cayden’s house again.
And while the Overseer’s threat looms in my mind, I can’t help but be excited at the fact I get to leave The Academy for the night and actually interact with someone else, someone I can trust, someone who kisses me.
Fuck. I’m so screwed.