PROLOGUE

^^^^^

I stood there and watched her as she took down three men like they were children. She was born to be a killer, the perfect weapon and I was born to protect her, to secretly make sure she never gets herself killed, even if it kills me in the process.

She stood tall and proud over the unconscious body as she snapped the last man and watched his corpse fall to the ground. Her face held no remorse, no guilt and no fear; just like a true killer should but she didn’t know, hell, I doubted if she knew what she was capable of herself but that was not up to me. Part of me admired her, her flawless moves and her swift unpredictable moves but most of all, I pitied her because, like me, she’ll never get the chance to live a normal life because she’ll always have a bounty on her head. She’ll always be on the run.

 

^^^^^

I screamed; as loud as I could and tried to take control of myself but nothing was happening, no sound came from my mouth and I temporarily wondered if I was crazy or if I was deaf. Everything I just did was not me. I couldn’t do that because I was only fourteen.

“Good job Dusk, now carry out a full assessment of the body code 193114E.” A man stepped in front of me whom I’ve never seen in my entire fourteen years.

“Affirmative, assessment code 193114 is complete. No serious or permanent body injuries to the primary host. Sir, will you inject the host with the Memory antidote 615187520 as usual?” my mouth moved against my will and I found myself wanting to ask what that was but today just wasn’t my day. I just want to go home.

“Not yet Dusk, I want to run some things with Mr and Mrs. Howard and I need you to be present.” He stated in a calm voice. The Howards were among the long list of my foster parent which I somehow doubted would end soon. I couldn’t wait to turn eighteen so I could move out and start my own life.

“Yes, sir.” My body replied. I realized that my voice was so unlike me, cold and robotic, it’s like I had turned into one. My internal eyes widened at the thought and I mentally asked if I had been a robot all along and this was my regular check up to see if I was still in good condition. I mentally smirked; this would be so cool, now all those kids who call me boring would want to be like me. They will be so jealous once they hear this awesome discovery. Wait a minute, if I had come here before then how come I don’t remember? I’ll be sure to ask this man who looks like he’s so fond of Dusk, who names a person like that anyway because I would have gone for a name like Amanda or Cassandra but Dusk is not, it sounds so blunt.

 I snapped out of my internal name discussion when I felt myself move and I realized that I had arrived at our house and I was on my way into the living room. The man who was so fond of Dusk walked in front of me and stopped abruptly when he saw my foster parents standing next to three armed men.

 “Dusk, activate defense mode now.” His voice was deathly low and I internally gulped.

 “Activation confirmed, “I replied with the same cold voice.

 “What is the meaning of this Blake?” the man asked in a low and dangerous voice and I watched as foster dad gulped, fear evident in his eyes.

“We’re sorry Elroy but she’s her daughter and Ilana just wants her child back. We can’t deprive her or that.” Foster mum tried to sound confident but the man’s angry glare made her fidget.

 “We’re taking the girl and not even her defense mode can stop us.” One of the armed men sneered in a triumphant voice. My only wish is that they won’t hurt my foster parents.

 “Besides, at least it would make our work easier now that she’ll go back to her mother and stop being a baggage to everyone,” Blake stated in an obvious tone and I resisted the urge to cry, I never knew he saw me as that. But it would explain the treatment I always got from him.

“Dusk, take care of those men and make it fast and clean. We need to leave before more of them come.” He stated as he moved further into the room and my body nodded once before I found myself take off towards the door. I could hear the heavy footsteps of the men behind me and knew it was the armed men.

 I stepped out and waited for the first man who came charging out like an angry bull and waited until he was close enough when I banged the door to his face. He hit it pretty hard due to his speed and fell. I took this chance to snap his neck before his friend showed up.

 When he saw his friend lying on the ground, he became angry and charged towards me. Internally; I was dying of fear but I guess I didn’t feel it externally because I didn’t move an inch. When he got close my body moved so fast that I internally couldn’t keep up, it’s like I was watching Flash take out his enemy.

I didn’t know if he was dead or if he was unconscious but I didn’t wait to find out and I leisurely walked back in to find the man waiting for me. Once he saw me, he motioned for me to follow him and walked out of the house. We got into a black SUV and he turned to me.

“Dusk, activate code 192015185. Chloe, I trust you to always remember that all power lies in the brain, your brain. You’ll always be in grave danger but I want you to know you can trust and rely on Dusk because she is your one-man army.” He said in an assertive tone. Why is he talking like I’m going to die?

 He was silent for a few minutes before he said in a tired voice “Activate inactive code 1851920E.” he said and I felt all control on over my body loosen before the world begun to spin and I collapsed into someone’s arms, “I’m so sorry Chloe.” A faint voice whispered before everything went dark.

I fluttered my eyes open and soaked in the sight of lilac walls. My body relaxed on the comfortable bed before I realized that this was not my bed. I quickly sat up but regretted it the moment my head spun and I had to contain the gasp that tore through me from the pain I felt. Warm hands held me down and I turned my head to face a young woman who sent me a small smile and tried to make me lie on the bed.

 “Get some rest honey, you’ll be okay.” She said in the softest voice and I found myself relaxing into it.

 “Who are you? Where am I? What happened?” I blurted out and expected her to be angry with me but she didn’t look mad. She lifted her hand and I instinctively flinched and closed my eyes waiting for the pain to come but it never did. I opened my eyes and saw her face was covered with a hurt expression but she quickly covered it up.

 “You got into an accident and we’re keeping you here for a few weeks to see if you’ll get better here because it’s more comfortable. I really hope you like it here.” She said in a kind tone.

 “My name is Shelly and this is our home. As for your foster parents, I don’t think you’ll see them again but if you like it here then we’ll adopt you. I always wanted a baby girl.” She sounded excited that I found myself smiling at her.

CHAPTER ONE

^^^^^

You ever get that eerie feeling that you’re being watched by someone or something? Is it only me because I swear almost every time I turn around I always see a pair or green eyes staring back at me, whether at school or at home, day or night; they’re always watching but maybe everyone has felt it at some point. Nah, I don’t think any normal teenager ever felt that but then again, I never felt normal or like the other teenagers.

When I was born, my parents gave me up for adoption and since then I lived my life from one foster home to another. No one ever had a good reason why they gave me back. Finally when I was fourteen, a young couple, well not so young, took me in since they couldn’t have their own. They were nice to me and gave me everything I wanted since to them, I apparently didn’t have that ‘I don’t care, you’re not my parents’ attitude. I moved here four years ago and enrolled into Hollow High where four years down the line and I’m still here. Lucky me.

 

Food…that was the first thing on my mind when I checked the time to find that it was 12:45 in the afternoon. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a time freak that everything has to be done at the right time but I’ve been hungry for quite a long time. A wide smile crossed my face when I turned to Alec, my boyfriend.

“Lunch time!!! Finally, I’m starving” I exclaimed as I headed towards our massive kitchen. My foster parents were freaking rich but they’re never home especially on a fine Saturday like today so most of the time it’s just me and Alec, which is rare on a Saturday or Emma or any of my friends. Emma bailed on me when she heard Alec was here but said she’d come over at four. Am not that social so I only have like three friends…okay, four including Alec.

I was so busy trying to figure out what to have for lunch when something grabbed my shoulder and alarm bells instantly went off in my head. I turned around so fast that I swear I would have fallen if the adrenaline level wasn’t so high. This only made Alec chuckle.

“Relax Chloe, it’s not the green eyed thing you keep talking about.” He shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal.

“You scared me half to death but you think it’s nothing big,” I frowned at him making him laugh all the more. I resumed what I was doing only to realize that I didn’t know what I wanted to have for lunch.

“What would you like for lunch?”  I turned to him but he simply shrugged before his eyes lit up. Uh oh.

“How about those rolls you make out of beef”.

I simply smiled at him before I got to work. We sat at the kitchen counter with our plates and he immediately took the first bite, sighing with content.

“These things are amazing, wherever did you learn to make these?” he asked casually. I smiled fondly at the memory, it was always a good one.

“I learned from my other foster parents before I came here. She taught me how….” I was cut off by him before I could finish.

“Yeah, I’ll stop you there before you start crying on me” he smirked at me. I must admit, it was a rude attempt but I went along with it anyway

“You arrogant jerk, I would rather choke on my tears before you get to see them” I said half-jokingly.

To be honest, I made a promise to never cry in front of anyone, am not that weak. I glance up at Alec and find him busy thinking about something. Before I can ask what’s on his mind, a loud crash that sounded like metals colliding outside our front door takes the very breath out of me.

For a minute, I was scared to think of what could have caused that horrible sound but when I saw Alec rushing towards the door, adrenaline kicked in and I rushed behind him to see for myself. What I saw made my whole body and mind stop for a while.

 I couldn’t move or think as I watched my as dad hold my mom and blood spilled from her head. He was covered in blood but looked okay.

“Dad! Mom! Oh my God!” I cried as I rushed towards them. Dad looked up for a brief second before he turned his attention to my mom who looked like she was in deep pain.

“Elroy, tell her the truth before it’s too late” mom whispered. Dad pulled her close and I resisted the urge to cry.

“Not yet Shelly, we have to do it together like we promised,” dad said in a low, soft voice. He looked up at me with sad eyes, “Am sorry Chloe but I have no other option now.” Before I could understand or question what he was trying to say, he spoke again but in a calmer tone, whoa, talk about mood change.

“Dusk, activate protection code 19165E.” his voice was devoid of any emotion and I would have been scared if he was not my dad.

“Command accepted, activating protection code 19165E.,” a voice said. Realized it was my own voice but it sounded so cold and detached, nothing like how I sound.

Again, before I could ask what was happening, my body turned right, away from my parents and towards a car that was approaching at a high speed. It came to a halt a few meters away from me and three huge men stepped out looked at me. I wanted to turn and run or at least ask what I was doing or what I was supposed to do but my body could not move. It was like I was a puppet being controlled by an evil master. The men came closer as I watched their sizes increase with each step they took.

They looked like freaking hulk minus the green. I was freaking out really bad now and I was scared my body would turn to a puddle of sweat, one of them took a step towards me and I felt my arms lifting.

“Halt, you are not allowed past this point or I will be forced to use force against you.” There was that annoying voice from my mouth again. I really wish I could shut it up. I watched as the man’s face morph from curiosity to confusion before settling on humor.

“Listen, kid, I don’t want you to use ‘force’ as you so put it but I have to get through so how about you be a good little girl and let us through. It’ll be real quick, I promise” he tried to reason with me.

Yes! Yes! Yes! Say yes you stupid mouth. I tried to open my mouth but it was useless. “I am sorry but you are not allowed past this point” the annoying voice spoke again, still cold and detached. The man pressed his lips into a thin line.

“If you want to do this the hard way fine by me. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He said as he took a step towards me.

This is it, goodbye cruel world! I thought as I watched the man twist his fingers in the most inhuman way possible, producing horrible cracking sound, I internally cringed at the sound but felt my head tilt to the side as if to mock him. It seemed to work because he threw the first punch. I was terrified and contemplated on screaming but even I knew it was no use.

Okay puppet master, this is your chance to show me what you got, I thought to myself as I watched his arms stretch with a lot of force. I don’t know how or when I became that flexible but I dodged it with the fastest reflex ever seen.

I was still reeling from the pride of dodging that I didn’t feel my arm swing and land on his face. The shock on that guy’s face would have made me laugh if I wasn’t so terrified.

I landed two heavy blows to his chest area before he could recover from the punch and heard a grunt as he stumbled back. Wow, I am so on the roll today, I thought as I felt my body move towards him and landed a swift and clean right hook.

I watched him fall and wondered just how I was able to take down such a huge guy. I mean, I was as athletic as a vegetarian lion. I couldn’t even run to save my life and here I am, kicking someone’s ass like a trained ninja. I didn’t know I had the potential to be this good.

His friends rushed over and before I could think of the next step, a sharp pain filtered through my face from my left jaw. That hurt like hell and I was so sure it would bruise. I felt my body being lifted and a punch landed on the left side of my stomach and I fell to the ground. It felt like my bones were all broken.

Okay puppet master, I’m dying here and I don’t think that was part of the plan. I was able to see the three of them surrounding me. The first one shot out his leg and I felt a sharp pain shoot out from my stomach. Before the second hit could come, I felt my arm shoot out to someone’s knee and heard a hiss of pain come from one of the guys.

One of the guys lifted me up by my hair, which was really painful by the way. My mind could only think of the pain but lucky me, my body moved swiftly, landing a strong kick to one of the guys’ stomach making him stumble back a few steps. I moved again and this time it was faster than I have ever gone in my life landing a swift roundhouse kick to one of the other guys and another perfectly strong kick to the chest. He fell with a thud, dead, I hoped.

I Turned around and was greeted by another painful blow to the face but before he could retract his arm completely, I held it and twisted it making him drop to one knee and I stood behind him. I didn’t think twice as I twisted his neck and produced a loud cracking voice. At least the puppet master didn’t feel any remorse but I was really freaking out, how could I not, I just killed a guy, maybe two, I mean, I didn’t do it but my body did while I just watched. I heard tires screeching and I turned around to find the third guy was already bolting out of here. The other two just lay there lifeless.

On one side, I was proud of myself that I was able to beat up three guys, with the help of the puppet master of course but on the other side I was really freaking out, I just killed two guys.

My body turned away from the two bodies and from my point of view, I saw a pair of green eyes. This seemed like the best time to approach…whatever it was but they disappeared as quickly as they had appeared.

I turned and walked to where I left mom and dad and found they weren’t there. I was about to go looking for them when a voice, soft and unsure penetrated my left ear.

“Chloe?” I turned to find Alec looking as frightened as I had never seen before. “What have you done?” he questioned, fear evident in his eyes. I couldn’t think of a good explanation, it’s not like I can just say ‘hey, the puppet master took over my body and killed these two hulks in a matter of minutes’ without making him think I was crazy.

I searched my head for the more believable reason but for the life of me, I couldn’t come up with one. Before I could attempt to explain what happened, I felt my body go limp and darkness took over. The last thought on my mind, however, was ‘oh freckles, I’m going to jail when I wake up’.

CHAPTER TWO

^^^^^

“you still haven’t told her yet, have you? You ass!! You said you would call it quits last week!” Jared, my best friend, all but yelled at me.

I’ve been looking for a reason good enough to break up with Chloe for the past week with no luck. I’m not heartless but I just don’t see her like that anymore and I just realized that I like someone else. I scowled at him.

“Dude, you don’t have to yell, I can hear really well. I’m going to do that but I just don’t know how it’s not like I can just go to her and say ‘I don’t like you anymore’ without being the bad guy.” I tried to reason with him. I must admit, Chloe is an amazing girl; she’s sweet, great and definitely one of a kind but it doesn’t feel right. Every time I hang out with her, it feels like I’m hanging out with one of my friends. It’s just not as cool as it used to be.

“If you want, I can do it for you.” Jared’s voice broke me from my thoughts. If it was anyone else, I would’ve jumped at the opportunity but it's Chloe we’re talking about so that’s a no.

“Naah, I don’t want to hurt her feelings any more than necessary. She’s been through a lot and I can’t add more to that”. I grabbed my car keys and I was about to walk out when Jared held me back.

“Where are you going?”

“To Chloe’s.” was my simple reply. He furrowed his brows in confusion.

“But we usually hang out at the joint today. Saturday’s always a ‘guy-day’ and Clayton and Reece wanted us to try out a secret menu.” He argued out. “Or did Chloe have another breakdown and you’re rushing to her rescue,” he said, his features darkening with every word.

By now I’m sure you guessed that Jared doesn’t like Chloe that much. He thinks she’s whiny and seeks attention through her pitiful adoption story.

“I’m going to tell her that it’s over you, dumb idiot.” I counter irritably making him put his hands up in mock surrender.

“I’m heading over to the joint, how about you hitch a ride with me then I’ll come pick you up in an hour or when you’re done or when she starts acting like the deranged bitch she is” he murmured the last part even though I heard it. I sighed and reluctantly nodded, following him to his car where I got on the passenger side.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved Jared like a brother but he was always so judgemental of Chloe in a way that none one really understood. I mean, Reece and Clayton were okay with her and never really judged her. Jared was like a brother to me and the fact that he never liked Chloe was something strange to me especially since he liked everyone else, even her friends; Emma, Sapphire and even that weird Ashton who was always around Chloe, he never left her side and I’ll admit, at first I was jealous of him because grudgingly, he is a good looking guy who constantly hangs around my girl. That definitely didn’t sit well with me but then I learned that he has the hots for Emma that made me relax a bit.

Anyway, I was really trying to find an acceptable reason to break up with Chloe but I came up with nothing.

“Hey man, we’re here” Jared, again, brought me back from my thoughts. I sighed before opening the door and stepping out of the car. He gave me a reassuring grin but I could only grimace before turning to knock on her door.

“This is it.” I murmur to myself.

A few minutes later, the day swung open and Chloe appeared.

“Took you long—” she trailed off looking confused.

“Hi, did I interrupt something?” I asked curiously and watched as she tried to sound normal.

“No, sorry, I thought it was Emma at the door. I’m having brunch, come join me.” She said pulling me into the house.

I quietly followed her into the dining room where the smell of pancakes wafted through my nose. I looked at the table where at least ten pancakes were stacked on a plate. I looked at her with a raised brow, how were all these for one person?

“It was meant for me and the girls” she smiled sheepishly at me making me chuckle. I took a seat opposite her and watched silently as she devoured four pancakes in record time. I wondered how she wasn’t fat with all that she manages to put down. I only took two since I had eaten before I left home. I tried to listen as she talked but my mind was still stuck at how I could call it off without hurting her. I played different versions of how to say it and how she would react.

“Stop that!” her voice cuts through my thoughts.

“What?”

“Stop disappearing off into your mind. What’s going on in there?” she asks casually.

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.” I tried to smile at her reassuringly though I doubt if she believed me.

“Okay, but you know you can tell me anything, right,” she asked and I nodded. We sat in silence again and I tried to focus on the TV that I didn’t even know was on. Failing, I turned and watched as her face went through various expressions as she focused on the film. I thought I should just wing it, tell her that I like her but I like someone more…that’s it! That’s exactly what I would tell her, now all I need is the right moment.

“Really Alec?” her voice sounded a bit bored.

“What?”

“What’s with you and the staring, you’re kind off freaking me out. Is something wrong?” she asked, trying to sound nonchalant but I could tell she was nervous.

“It’s nothing, I’ll tell you after lunch” I tried to convince her and myself. She looked at the clock and her expression turned giddy, this is not going to be good, I thought to myself as she turned to me with a wide smile.

“Lunch time!! Finally, I’m starving” she said as she stood up and walked to the kitchen. This made me laugh.

“You just ate like one hour ago” I murmured to myself, hoping she didn’t hear me.

I gathered the last courage I had and followed her to the kitchen where she stood, possibly thinking of what she’ll eat. I placed a hand on her shoulder, gently but her reaction was comical and I would have laughed if I wasn’t so tensed.

“Relax Chloe, it’s not the green eyed thing you keep talking about.” I shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal.

“You scared me half to death but you think it’s nothing big,” she frowned at him making me laugh all the more. She resumed what she was doing before she turned to me, “what would you like to eat?” the excitement on her face was cute. It couldn’t hurt to enjoy the last meal with her, kind of the last lunch then I remembered the rolls she makes out of beef and that’s what I told her.

I watched her move about in the kitchen before finally setting two plates on the kitchen counter with the food. I quickly took a bite and sighed in appreciation, these things were amazing.

“These things are amazing, where did you learn how to make these?” I tried to sound casual. She smiled fondly at the memory.

“I learned from my other foster parents before I came here. She taught me how….” I cut her off before she could finish. The guilt was too much.

“Yeah, I’ll stop you there before you start crying on me” I smirked at her. I must admit, it was a rude and I saw her smile drop but it was back before I could blink, making me think I might have imagined it.

“You arrogant jerk, I would rather choke on my tears before you get to see them,” she said in what I assumed and hoped was a joking tone. Before I could continue teasing her, a loud crash was heard outside and her face paled.

“What on earth was that” I muttered as I walked towards the door. However, Chloe beat me to it and I heard her gasp, rushing to her parents’ side while I stood fixed on the spot.

“Am sorry Chloe but I have no other option.” Chloe’s dad said in a sad voice, what was he talking about? Chloe looked at him questioningly but she couldn’t say anything then he spoke again but in a calmer tone.

“Dusk, activate protection code 19165E.” his voice was devoid of any emotion and I would have sworn Chloe looked scared for a moment before her face calmed and became devoid of any emotion.

“Command accepted, activating protection code 19165E.,” a voice said and I realized it was Chloe who spoke and she sounded so cold and detached, nothing like how she is normally.

Again, before I could ask what was happening, she turned and walked away from her parents and towards a car that I hadn’t seen before which was approaching at a high speed. It came to a halt a few meters away from her and three huge men stepped out. I was terrified, to say the least, but I rushed to Chloe’s dad, trying to make him save her.

“Stop her before she hurts herself!” I shout at him but he looks unfazed.

“Chloe will be fine. We need to get her into the house so I can stop the bleeding.” He said lifting up his wife and walking towards the house. I opened the door wider for him to carry her inside. I followed him in and opened the first door which I assumed was their room.

“I need warm water, a piece of cloth, first aid kit that’s in the bottom drawer of my dressing cabinet” he ordered in a voice which I would like to believe was the inner doctor talking. I got him everything he needed and watched him get to work.

 He used the cloth to dry the dried blood on her face and took off her shirt. It would have been very uncomfortable if she was awake but I couldn’t move when he opened the kit and took out a needle and a syringe. He took out a blue liquid and put it into the syringe before injecting it into her. Before I could question him he turned to me,

“Go and get Chloe, I’m sure she’s exhausted enough by now”. He said it in a monotone voice and I could only nod.

Oh my God!! Chloe!! I completely forgot about her!

 I shot out of the house but I froze in shock when I saw her, more so, what she was doing. One guy was on the ground and she was holding one guy’s neck before she snapped it without a second thought. I watched as the other guy ran and got into the car before driving off. She just killed a person without a flicker of emotion. What is she?

“Chloe?” I found myself almost whispering. Her head snapped towards me, her face emotionless.

“W-what have you done?” I asked.

 I hate to admit it but I’ve never been more scared of anything in my whole life. Before she could say anything. I saw her eyes close and she fell to the ground. I rushed to her and carried her into her dad’s room.

I found her parents quietly sat, her mom had a worried look on her face but she looked fine like she wasn’t in an accident a few minutes ago. I lay her on the bed and watched as her dad flipped her over and stuck a big needle at the base of her neck. Miraculously, Chloe sat up straight and looked straight ahead. She looked like a robot.

“Dusk, activate assessment code 193114S,” Chloe’s mom said in a monotone voice. What is wrong with them, this is Chloe, not Dusk or whatever.

 “Affirmative, assessment code 193114 is complete. No serious or permanent body injuries to the primary host. However, a dose of pain relief will be essential to the host when conscious along with ice to reduce swelling on the bruises on the stomach.” Chloe spoke in a monotone and emotionless voice.

“Thank you Dusk, you may resume inactive code 1851920E.” Chloe’s dad said in a detached voice.

In a minute Chloe collapsed into her mom’s arms which were ready to hold her. This was not real, it couldn’t be happening. Maybe it’s just a dream that I was going to wake up and laugh at myself.

“Son, I need you to not say any of this to anyone.” Chloe’s dad told me. I looked at him and saw determination in his eyes, determination to do what, silence me, Oh my God!!! I could only manage to nod since my body felt weak. A shrill sound interrupted the silence and it took me a moment before I recognized it as my ringing tone.

“Hello?” but my voice came out breathless.

“You okay, should I come to pick you up?” Jared asked from the other side. I had to clear my throat first to make it sound normal.

“Yeah, you can come pick me up now.”

“Cool, I’ll be there in ten.” He said before the line went dead. I turned to find Chloe’s parents looking at me with a mixture of worry and concern.

“I promise I won’t say anything but how will I explain the mess outside to my friends when they come?” I asked, trying to sound casual though I was very, extremely nervous.

“Don’t worry, it’s all been cleared by now.” Chloe’s dad said casually and I resisted the urge to frown. Who are these people???

We sat in silence before my phone buzzed, alerting me that Jared had arrived. I stood up and bid them a quiet farewell before walking out. I couldn’t believe it because it wasn’t like anything happened, the place looked normal. I turned one last time to look at the house and all I could think was ‘I will never come back here’.

I got into the care and Jared started the engine. “What’s wrong with you? You’re too quiet. How did she take it?” I sighed, I forgot about that but at least I could manage to tell a little white lie.

“Not like I expected.” Jared didn’t question further as the car sped out of the neighborhood. 

CHAPTER THREE

^^^^^

I could hear the buzz, at first, I tried to ignore it but it grew louder, like it as coming closer until it suddenly disappeared. I was about to slip back into my dream when an image of mom popped into my head. She was bleeding and dad was holding her closer. It looked like an accident. Tears sprung from my eyes making my vision blurry as I thought my mom was injured.

“Mom!” I rushed to her but before I could get to them, my body started to shake vigorously and mom’s voice rang through my head, snapping me awake.

“Open your eyes, darling, it’s just a dream.” She soothed me, making me open my eyes. I was in my bed, sun rays penetrated through my window. I didn’t hesitate to throw my arms around her.

“It was terrible; you were hurt and lying there in dad’s arms. Your eyes were closed and dad looked so sad.” I sobbed.

“It was just a dream darling, look am still here and I’m okay see” she stood up so that she can show me she was okay. At least she was okay. Dad poked his head into the door.

“You girls okay?” he and mom shared a look but it disappeared before I could decipher it.

“Yeah, I was just waking Chloe up, she had a bad dream.”

“Oh, sorry baby girl. Breakfast is ready, get moving or you’ll be late for school.” Dad said before he disappeared and closed the door.

School?? Isn’t today supposed to be Sunday? I turned to mom and it’s like she read my mind.

“Today is Monday darling, you and Alec went to a party on Saturday and came back late. Yesterday you were sick and you took medicine, you slept the whole day, don’t you remember?” she looked concerned and I didn’t want to worry her.

“Oh yeah, silly me, I kind of forgot,” I said trying to ease her worry and saw her visibly relax.

“Well, I better let you get ready for school. Emma will be here at seven thirty.” Mom said, stepping out of the room. I glanced at the clock on my bedside table. Shit! It was seven already.

I got out of bed and had to stop first because I felt a massive headache sweeping in but it went away after a few minutes. I jumped into the shower and within twenty minutes I was ready and made my way downstairs to get some breakfast while I waited for Emma. I was almost done with breakfast when a car honk from outside alerted me of Emma’s arrival. I ran out knowing very well that Mrs. Angus, our next door neighbor was waiting to shout at me and Emma for waking her up with the loud hooting which was weird because it’s not like we can reduce the volume of the car horn.

“Sorry Mrs. Angus!” I shouted as I ran towards Emma’s black Audi. It wasn’t anything fancy but at least she had a car. My parents didn’t think it was safe to get me my own car for reasons I couldn’t understand yet.

“Come on, we’re late,” Emma said as I entered the car.

“Morning to you too Em, what did I do or not do this time?” I asked amusedly. The thing with Em is that everyone could read her pretty well.

“You totally blew me off on Saturday. You didn’t even reply my gazillion texts that I sent you. Then at night I got one text, ‘sorry, was with Alec’. What kind of a friend does that?” she huffed. I would have laughed if I knew what she was talking about but I didn’t. I don’t drink so I can’t say that I was drunk. This was harder to explain.

“I’m so sorry Em, I’ll buy you lunch to make it up to you.” I tried to bribe her and I knew it worked when she tried to hide the smile.

“Okay, but I still am mad at you.” She said. The rest of the ride was short and quiet.

We managed to get there before the bell and we found Ashton and Sapphire waiting for us at the entrance.

“Where were you all weekend?” Ashton asked first. I wanted to say that I don’t know but I refrained.

“Aww, I missed you too Ash.” I tried and managed to smile even though it was a fake one. The only person who could solve this mystery was Alec.

“Have you guys seen Alec?”

No, by the way, why didn’t you guys ride together like usual?” Sapph inquired.

“Um, I don’t know, I just really need to talk to him,” I said, looking around for him. I caught sight of him heading towards the lockers and I followed him.

“Alec! Alec wait!” I called out, running towards him. He stopped abruptly and I mentally thanked him.

“What’s wrong? Are you avoiding me? What happened on Saturday?” I blurted out without even thinking. I watched as his eyes searched mine for something which I didn’t have. He looked confused at first then his face hardened and his jaw clenched.

“I don’t know Chloe; I was hoping you could explain to me what happened on Saturday. What I saw you do. On second thought, just stay away from me, we are done.” He said in a cold tone.

I must have done a really bad thing to see him like that. I raised my hand to touch him when a flash of fear crossed his eyes but it was gone before anyone could see. What the hell was that? I was about to ask what was that but a sweet and calm voice interrupted us.

“Hey babe, you ready for class?” I knew that voice. I turned my head so fast that it was a miracle I didn’t get a whiplash; I came face to face with Angeline, the queen of Hollow High.

She walked up to him and pulled his head to her and kissed him. I wanted to scream but my voice got stuck in my throat, I could only watch and pray that I could hold it together until the end of the day. She pulled away and turned to me, a smile in place but I’m sure everyone could tell it was fake.

“Chloe, right?”

I could only nod.

“I know you two dated but you have to accept that he broke up with you. Stay away from my boyfriend and don’t try to ‘win him back’, trust me sweetheart, that something you can never do. Okay? Good, now run along, I know how much you like to be on time.” She said in that cool tone.

I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t cry. I took one last look at the guy who ruthlessly broke my heart then turned away and walked towards my first class, math. I love math but not today. My head hurt, my heart was in pieces and me, for once hadn’t seen that coming. I entered the class to find that everyone was already in, including the teacher.

“Sorry,” I mumbled, not really sure if Mr. Johnson, the math teacher heard me.

“Chloe you know the time class starts. It’s not usual for.., Chloe, are you alright?” Mr. Johnson suddenly appeared in front of me. Wow, when did he get up from his desk? I tried to smile but I’m sure it came out as more of a grimace.

“Yes sir, I’m just not feeling so well.”

“Would you like to go and see the nurse?”

“No, I’ll be fine.”

“Okay, take your seat but don’t be late next time.” I nodded and sat at my usual spot. Class continued but I didn’t hear a word he said. Whether he noticed or not, he didn’t call me out which I’m really grateful for. Classes went on and I really tried to concentrate on them but my mind didn’t listen. I just wanted them to be over so I can go home.

When lunch rolled on, I couldn’t face them, they had been flaunting their relationship all through school and it was sickening. I had to escape all of this so I went to the one place where everything was quiet and no one ever looked; behind the library.

 I sat down on the green grass and continued to read the novel from the wattpad app on my iPad. It was the only way to escape this cruel world. An apple appeared in front of me and I looked up to find Ash staring down at me with concern.

“No thanks, I already ate.” I lied.

“Eat it or I will start screaming your secrets especially last year.” Ash threatened. I would have held my ground if I thought he was bluffing but in reality, he wasn’t. If there was one honest person, it was Ashton Kyle Jacobs. He can give you an honest opinion, sometimes without coating it with sweet words. I took the apple from his hand and he sat next to me.

“I saw Alec and Angeline together. When did that happen?” he asked without looking at me.

“I honestly don’t know, but she said that he broke up with me. To be honest I don’t even remember what happened this weekend but I feel like there’s something missing. I know it sounds stupid but I can’t shake the feeling that something happened that I should be aware.” I said it all in one breath.

Ash looked confused.

“What makes you think that?”

I sighed; this will sound more insane than the theory of flying pigs.

“Alec asked me to explain what he saw me do on Saturday. The last thing I remember doing is making lunch for both him and me then Em was supposed to come in the afternoon, everything else is blank. I don’t even remember what I did yesterday.” I tried to reason out. I turned to look at him for any advice or any theory on what might have happened but he looked back at me with a blank face.

I studied his face for a while. He had black hair that wasn’t too long but wasn’t too short either, his face belonged to the cover page of a fashion magazine with those beautiful green eyes that had speckles of brown, a smooth and well-tanned skin coupled with a strong jaw and one of those smiles that made girls swoon. It made me wonder why he spends almost all his time with me when he could spend it with any girl he chose.

“Maybe it’s for the best that you don’t remember. If he replaced you that fast then maybe he didn’t love you as much as he claimed. At least that is what I think.” He said with a shrug. He seemed sure of his words that it made me suspicious.

“Is there something you’re not telling me because you sound awfully sure of yourself?” I looked up at him again; ready to call out his lie. He dropped his gaze and focused at the green grass bellow us. Bingo.

 “Look, I should have told you but I didn’t want to sound like I was meddling in your business but word has been going around for the past week that Alec and Angeline have been dating. I didn’t believe it until I saw them snogging at the school gate. I am sorry I didn’t say it earlier.” He trailed off. I was dumbstruck. He knew all along but he never said a word.

“Ashton! You could have saved me all this drama from the start if you just told me.” I said, exasperated. He threw me a sarcastic look.

“Seriously? You were so into the guy that you wouldn’t believe me. Plus I’ll admit that my constant reminder of my dislike for the guys might have contributed a lot to your lack of trust when it came to Alec” he said with a sheepish look. He was right. I would never have believed it unless I saw it with my bare eyes, I never thought that he would do this to me but I guess I had put him on a very high pedestal. I sighed, trying to accept the fact.

“You are right, I’m sorry about that.” I tried to sound positive; think positive thoughts but it never really worked well. All I could think of was ways to remember what happened on Saturday, my life depended on it.

“Hey, are you coming, the bell just rang,” Ash brought me out of my thinking. I nodded and quickly fell into step with him, thinking of ways to get my memory back.

The classes went by in a haze and before I knew it, I was heading towards my final class of the day; literature. I regretted it the moment I stepped in and all curious eyes snapped up to my direction. The first problem, I always sat next to Alec, who was already seated at his usual spot. I looked around for any empty seat but to my luck, there was none.

I lowered my gaze and walked towards the empty seat and slowly sank into my chair. The tension in that room was visible like a thick fog. Alec didn’t look my way and I tried to focus on the students who seemed oblivious to everything. I don’t think I have ever been happier to see the teacher walk in than I was then.

“Today I want us to read a script from this book I found somewhere then we’ll discuss it together but before that, Alec, you are needed in the Principal’s office.” He said in a cheery voice. A number of people groaned, some shot Alec inquisitive looks but I was relieved. He quickly walked out before the teacher droned on.

“Settle down people, it’s a short script, just a page long. However, we have to share since they are few, so your partner will be the person sitting next to you. No switching seats.” He said in a reprimanding tone.

Alec returned after a short while which, to me was too short, scowling, and a special glare towards me. What the hell did I do to this guy??

“Can I switch my seat, I can’t stand talking to some people, let alone discussing with them,” Alec complained in an angry tone.

The teacher sighed like he was expecting it.

“Sorry son but you have to bear it, and this will count in your finals unless you want to fail, I suggest you give it your best shot.” He said in a dismissive tone.

I took the script from him and looked at it, a smile forming on my face,

“Read it, I already know the book and the chapter. I can also write the report if you don’t want to.” I shrugged, not wanting the hurt to sip from my voice.

I didn’t think it was possible but he scowled even more, “I can do it too you know, am not that dumb.” He said though clenched teeth.

Then a smug smile fell on his lips, “Unless you want Dusk to do it on our behalf, or does she only kick ass?” I looked at him, ready to ask who Dusk is when pictures started flooding my head. They were too much making my head and body hurt. I felt like I was burning and let out a whimper before everything went dark.

CHAPTER FOUR

I could hear the voices in my head. They sounded like loud whispers. I tried to hear what they were saying but the only thing I could make out was that they were arguing. The voices came closer then started to drift further away until they disappeared.

A bright light appeared out of nowhere and it grew big until I found myself opening my eyes. I was at home, in my parents’ room. I sat up, trying to remember how I ended up here. I was almost giving up when everything came crashing back; the break-up with Alec, confrontation with Angeline and the final piece where Alec talked about Dusk and I remembered things before I passed out. I guessed that my parent came for me. I was about to go downstairs when I remembered something; Dusk.

I finally remembered about Saturday and I killed two guys! Oh, My Goodness!! I killed two people, what if they had families or even wives and children, wait, will I go to prison and how come people didn’t notice they were missing? I was so busy asking myself questions that I couldn’t answer that I didn’t even notice mom walking in.

“Honey, are you alright? How are you feeling?” she asked as she sat next to me on the bed. That sight was very familiar.

“I killed two people on Saturday, did you know that?” I tried to sound casual but I failed. She was quiet for some time confirming my already blooming suspicion.

“What’s going on mom, who is Dusk?” She looked shocked at the mention of Dusk before she faced the door, a sign of her silence.

“Your father will explain everything when he gets home from work.” She finally responded in a firm tone, leaving no room for discussion, she turned to me, an apologetic look on her face before straightening herself and walking out, leaving me to my thoughts.

I walked down the stairs to look for something to eat when I found mom arguing with dad and I bet it was something serious. Dad was about to say something when I caught his eye and he looked panicked. Mom turned and when she saw me she opened her mouth to say something then shut it. They shared a look before mom turned to me. Something was up.

“Would you like something to eat? It’s going to be a long talk,” she said. Dad shot her a look but she shrugged it off like it was nothing.

“She needs to know the truth Elroy, better now than never.” She added before walking off into the kitchen.

Dad walked to the living room where he sat on his favorite chair, motioning for me to take the one opposite him. Mom returned a few minutes later and placed a bowl of pasta which I assume was made while I was still sleeping. She sat next to dad who looked a bit uncomfortable.

“I’ll just start from the beginning, it’s easier that way.” He paused, waiting for my approval. I nodded, anxious to know what this was all about. Dad lowered his head, took a deep breath and exhaled slowly before he looked up at me. His eyes conveying all the emotions he felt however much he tried to mask them.

“Chloe, I want to tell you a lot of things and to be completely honest I’m really scared of how you will take all these information but I want you to know that everything your mother and I did was to protect you and to ensure you survive.” I stared blankly at them, not sure of what to expect. I silently prayed that it wasn’t something bad.

“How old are you Chloe?” Dad asked, taking me by complete surprise. I blinked for a few minutes; waiting for him to say something like ‘I’m just joking’ or to even start laughing but nothing came.

“I’m turning eighteen next Saturday,” I said in a shaky voice, afraid that they will say I’m younger but he just sighed.

“It’s time you learned the truth.”

I sat there, no one was moving, no one blinked and no one said a word. The tension and anxiety rolled off me in waves. I was scared, what if I learned something I couldn’t change, something like a ninja. I smiled at the thought. A ninja would be cool.

“When I graduated university with an honorary degree in robotics engineering, I thought life couldn’t be better. I got a job at an esteemed company where I met my first love. Her name was Ilana and I thought I was the luckiest man in the world. We started dating after a while and everything was great. She was a scientist at the Centre for Disease Control, popularly known as CDC. We got paired to do a project which involved finding a cure for a deadly virus called Bazi Plague in a unique way using Nano-chips to control the spread of the cells. Long story short, we got engaged and would have gotten married if I didn’t find her cheating on me with a colleague of hers and I broke everything off.” He paused gauging my reaction

It was weird hearing him talk about someone else other than my mom but I still nodded, encouraging him to continue.

“She went crazy and tried to invent a cure for the disease which she tested on herself by injecting the disease and the cure. We discovered that the ‘cure’ she made only accelerated the infection and would have died in less than 48hours if my colleagues, Shelly and I were not able to finish the first Nanochip and used it on her.” He paused again. It must be hard for him to talk about that time but with the small smile he had, I guessed things would have gotten better.

“The chip was successful and it saved her life but her skin was too damaged to recover so we created nano-bots that helped to camouflage her skin so that she can look normal to everyone else. The nano-bots provided a temporary solution and had to be replaced every month. A month later, we discovered that she was pregnant but due to her condition, there was a slim chance that the baby would survive since the disease was hereditary.

Seven months later, we had to separate the baby from her, but the little girl was almost dead, the disease ate its way through her skin and exposure to air would cause death. We had created a chip that would protect the internal organ by acting as a skin, camouflage and also help the brain to function. It was a unique chip, the first prototype and it worked well.

The chip was equipped with every form of knowledge that the human race was aware of; defense mechanism, creativity, and the medical knowledge you name it but these things have to be activated separately so the chip was given a code name that was separate from the child.

The girl was called Chloe and the chip was called Dusk because you were born at dusk. Ilana tried to kill the child so that she can have the chip but we put you in foster care where one of us always adopted you and tried to keep you safe. When your safety was compromised, we would put you back so that we could throw them off-trail. Many people died to protect you.

We know your real mother found you and sent those men on Saturday. I don’t know when she’ll attack again. I’m sorry Chloe but there are so many organizations that would give anything to control you or to get that chip, be careful with who you trust.” Dad finally stopped talking and tried to gage my reaction again.

“So you mean I will be hunted down all my life?” I asked the only thing on my mind at the time making dad smile.

“No, when you turn eighteen, only you will have access and control over Dusk, though it will be like having a weird voice in your head. Which brings me to the next thing; no one can know about Dusk, not even your friends until you are sure you can trust them.” He said in a firm voice. For the first time in forever, dad looked tired, like he had aged a hundred years. This was too much to bear; it was too tense in here.

“So I won’t turn into a robot slave or a cy-zombie in the future, am I? I mean, if there was to be a possibility of cyber invasion in the future it would be great if I didn’t turn into a cy-zombie so that I can…you know…” I trailed off, realizing what my mouth had just said. I really need a filter.

Dad threw his head back and laughed and mom smiled at me. He looked relieved.

“No Chloe, there’s no chance of that.” Mom assured me, an amused smile on her lips.

“Are you guys sure because if there’s any chance of that then I will blame it on you.” I tried to sound serious but my voice was high and squeaky making me laugh at myself. I could say my life was really fucked up but to be honest, it really wasn’t. It just turns out my life is like a movie, one of those cool James Bond movies, except am not a man, am not old and I don’t say “name’s Bond, James Bond”.

I was so busy thinking about myself that I didn’t even hear my phone ringing.

“Honey, are you going to answer your phone, it’s been ringing for quite some time now.” Mom interrupted my mind-rumbling. I flipped the cover open to find Emma’s name flashing.

“Hello?”

“Open the bloody door Chloe; we’ve been here for five minutes already.” She answered without even a greeting and hang up without even waiting for my response. I took that as a sign that she was pissed off and a pissed off Emma was never a good sign.

“What the hell is wrong with you, why didn’t you tell me that you were sick in the morning?!” Em yelled at me while still standing at the door. Sapph and Ash were standing quietly behind, everyone was afraid of a pissed of Emma.

“Hi to you too, I’m doing great thanks and please come in, there’s plenty of room inside.” I retorted sarcastically and rolled my eyes at her. I turned and walked in as they followed.  We all sat down in the living room; Ash and Sapph sat together on a sofa opposite the one which I was sitting on and Em sat on the palm-shaped chair, the air around us was seriously tense but I guess it was because we were waiting for Em to finally explode.

“So, what happened at school today, you seemed fine at lunch?” Ash chose to break the silence. The girls’ eyes turned to me curiously. This was harder than I thought. I was about to create a stupid story when mom chose to come in at that precise moment carrying a tray of freshly cooked food.

“Make sure you eat this time, we don’t want a repeat of what happened at school, do we?” she placed the tray on the table and turned to the guys.

“She won’t eat alone so I made food for everyone, make sure you all eat.”

“Sure, thanks, mom,” I tried to sound okay but Ash gave me the ‘cut the crap’ look as usual. I swear that guy was a natural lie detector and could sniff a lie from a mile away. After mom left, he turned back to me.

“Chloe, tell us what’s going on, you know we won’t tell anyone.” I was about to open my mouth again when a thought occurred to me, and might I add, it was the best idea ever.

“I will when you tell us why you choose to focus all attention on us when you could have any girl in the world but you never pay any attention to them?” I asked. I wasn’t really sure about the answer but I was just stalling.

Em came and sat next to me so that she could look Ash in the face. He shuffled slightly and ran his hand through his hair, a sign that he was either nervous or frustrated but I chose to go with the former.

CHAPTER FIVE

^^^^^

It was an hour after Chloe was taken into the nurse’s office and I was told to go back to class but I just couldn’t leave, I couldn’t walk away without knowing what happened to her. She just fainted after I mentioned Dusk and does she even know what happened to her on that Saturday? She killed people, not just one but two people who were too huge for her, how can she just act like she doesn’t know what happened unless she really is clueless.

“Young man, you will wear out your shoes if you keep pacing like that.” A voice startled me out of my thoughts. I almost jumped but I didn’t luckily, that would have been a weakness on my part. I turned my head, ready to yell at whoever that was but I came face to face with principle Jacobs.

Now don’t get me wrong, he is one of the best principles ever only if you don’t get on his wrong side.

“What’s on your mind son,” he asked, concern lacing his thoughts.

“My girlfriend, I mean a friend of mine was just brought here, by me, but the nurse asked me to go to class an hour ago. She still hasn’t come out and am just concerned what is taking her so long,” I blurted out. Girlfriend? Seriously what is wrong with me? I broke up with her.

“Well, let me see if I can talk to the nurse so that she can at least tell you how she is, what’s her name?” He smiled reassuringly at me. See, he’s the coolest principle ever. I felt myself smile.

“Her name is Chloe sir, Chloe Jade.” I sounded too hopeful. His smile faltered for a bit and I would have missed it if I blinked. He nodded then went in, closing the door behind him. He didn’t even last a minute before he came out, a tight smile on his lips.

“She went home; the nurse had called her parents to take her to the hospital since she wasn’t able to make out what was wrong with her. Try to relax then after school you can talk to her parents and maybe go see her.” He said as he tried to reassure me. After the talk I just had with her mom in the principal’s office, I doubt she would want to see me again. I sighed in defeat and nodded, it wasn’t worth it.

I walked to the gym, trying to think of a way I could know how she was doing. The coach was mad at me for being an hour late to practice and made me ran laps around the field and placed me on water duty for the next two weeks of practice, so much for being caring. After practice I was walking towards my car when a thought occurred to me, maybe I should talk to her friends since obviously they knew where she was and how she was doing. I switched direction and walked towards their side of the parking lot but I was too late, I saw Emma and Ashton drive off and I would have almost left if I hadn’t seen Sapphire.

I quickly walked towards her, “Hey Sapph, where’s Chloe, is she alright?” the questions flew out of my mouth before I could filter them.

She raised a questioning brow at me; “Why do you care so much and yet she isn’t your girlfriend?” she challenged me. I was speechless; I didn’t have an answer to that.

“I honestly don’t know but I just care, so tell me, is she alright?” I just decided to wing it, hoping that my tone would convince her.

“She’s alright and at home, her mom said that it was just an effect of the flue she suffered this weekend and she missed her meal, the medicine she’s on is too strong.” She sighed. I wanted to ask if they knew anything about dusk but I held back, Chloe wasn’t sick on Saturday but I wasn’t going to tell her that so I just nodded, mumbled small thanks and walked towards my car where an impatient Angeline was waiting for me.

“What the hell Alec, why were you talking to that nobody’s friend?” she screeched; sometimes I wonder what I saw in her.

“I wanted to make sure Chloe was alright, she fainted earlier in class and went to the hospital, but she’s okay now so we’re good to go.” I tried to sound casual and I guess it worked. I opened her door and walked over to the driver’s side and got in.

“Where am I dropping you off my lady?” I tried to lighten the mood but she shot down my joke with a glare, this can’t be good.

“Do you know what today is?” I just gave her a blank look, “It's shopping day, so you have to take me shopping at the mall and help carry my bags.” She said slowly like she was talking to a child. I resisted the urge to face-palm myself. Times like this I just wish I was with Chloe instead; she never made me do things like this. I put on a fake smile and turned the engine on before turning away from her.

“Of course babe, how could I forget?” I put an emphasis on the ‘could’ and ‘forget’ hoping that she gets my sarcasm but she just smiled smugly at me. Without another word, I headed towards the mall and found a parking spot despite her constant complaints that we should have parked the car close to the mall so that she didn’t have to walk far.

Two hours later and almost twenty shopping bags later, we walked out of the mall with Angeline still complaining that she didn’t get exactly get what she wanted. I almost asked what was in these bags but I could only hum my answers. I just wanted to go home, take a warm shower and sleep but before that, I had to drop her home and help her to put her things in her room which was on the furthest corner of the right side of the hallway. As soon as I placed the bags on her floor, I was pushed down the bed and she crept over me. Well.

 “How about you sleep over tonight so I can help you relax?” Angeline purred seductively as she trailed kisses across my jawline and down my neck. My body shivered in delight and she took that as a yes. She sat up and took off her top, throwing it on the floor beside the bed. Instinctively my hands skimmed all over her skin, I am a hormonal teenager after all so it’s bound to happen.

I claimed her mouth in a hungry kiss which she willingly reciprocated and was reaching up to unclasp her bra when the shrill sound of my ringtone went off. I groaned and was about to reach for it when Angeline held my wrist; “Don’t, it will go off after a while.” She murmured seductively, her blue eyes had turned a shade darker than her normal color, before I could decide, the room went silent again and she captured my mouth for a heated kiss.

In less than a minute, my phone went off and I broke away from her to see who was calling. I pulled my phone from my pocket and checked the caller ID.

“What do you want Jared?” I almost barked at him making him laugh.

“I assume I interrupted something between you and your girl, anyway, I just wanted to ask if you could come over at mine’s tonight, I have something.” He said the last part seriously.

“I’ll try, but if not, maybe I’ll come tomorrow..?” I tried to sound casual but my voice was really betraying me.

“Fine, I’ll send over more info.” He said before the line went dead. I turned to look at Angeline who looked a bit confused but tried to shrug it off.

“So, where were we?” I smirked at her as I walked towards the bed. I was about to kiss her when her phone went off this time. She looked apologetically at me as she scurried off to pick her call. I sighed as I collected my shirt from the floor and headed towards the door. This was definitely not my night so all I needed was a freaking cold shower tonight.

I walked out the room and found her in the hallway whispering angrily at her phone and kissed her forehead and walked out the front door. I got into my car and headed home. I couldn’t think straight and my car almost got smashed by a trailer twice.

All I could think of was those few moments I spent with Angeline; her kisses which were hot as hell, her smooth skin not to mention that pair of lacy---- damn I had to get my thoughts in order. I switched on the radio and to my dismay, all stations had a love song going on.

“Hey you with the red dress on, I need to find a way to take it off…” I switched it off when it reminded me of that red top Angeline was wearing with that short skirt that dangled above the knees and those tall tanned legs. I just want to pull--- there goes my sanity again. I ran a hand over my face and tried to get myself together but nothing was working. I took out my phone and dialed a number.

“Well, that was fast, you done yet?” Jared teased, making it clear that he was mocking me. I sighed in defeat.

“I need you to pick me up man, I can’t get it together.” I mumbled making him laugh.

“I’ll get a cab since you have a car.” He said before I heard shuffling then the line went dead. I sat on the passenger side of the car and let my thoughts take over since I couldn’t, for the life of me, get her out of my head. I was almost doing it in my head when someone knocked on my window. I groaned furiously and sat up to find an amused Jared.

“Dude, don’t tell me you were fantasizing about her,” he laughed at me, I could only grumble at him. How is it that today everyone is being a cock-block even to my dreams? The more I thought about it, the more I became frustrated and I noticed Jared kept sneaking curious glances at me.

“What? C’mon say it” I hissed irritably but he only laughed at me making me even more irritated.

“You look like a constipated person with a raging boner.” He laughed even more. Deep breaths, I wouldn’t want my car to be stained with his blood.  I tried to reason with myself until I managed to finally calm down. I didn’t notice then Jared parked the car until when he knocked on my window again.

“Come on, you need a cold shower before you see what I got.” He said as he walked away.

An hour later I stepped into his ‘bat-cave’ as he liked to call it, all clean, fresh and focused and walked over to his computer.

“I found the footage.” He said in a monotonous tone.

My head scrunched up in confusion, “what footage?” I tried to understand what he was saying but he only turned the screen towards me and I watched as Chloe/Dusk snapped a guy’s neck. I stared at him in shock, it couldn’t be.

“Is this what I think it is?” he nodded once and uttered a single word that made me shiver in fear.

“Saturday.” From the look he gave me, I thought he knew and he watched me expectantly but must have noticed my change in mood since he softened his stance and sighed.

“Look, you don’t have to tell me now but I really don’t understand how your ex-girlfriend is able to do that to a huge guy, did you know anything about it?” Jared blurted on, a sign that he was confused and didn’t know which honestly was a good thing, I was still safe. I put on the best poker face that I could manage and looked him in the eye.

“I’m sorry man, but I can’t tell you anything, it’s for your own safety and you don’t want to mess with these guys. Just let it go.” He looked at me for any traces of lies but he must have seen none because he nodded and deleted the footage. He was about to say something when his phone interrupted him, he glanced at the screen then he walked out the room without another word, his face held no traces of emotion, weird.

I peered through the small gap hoping to hear something; hell anything to give something away would be very useful right about now. The only thing I heard was ‘done’ and ‘yes sir’ before he hang up and took a deep breath. He started walking towards this room and I briskly moved away so that he wouldn’t know I heard something.

“Who was it?” I asked, feigning curiosity.

“It was this guy who wants me to start working as soon as tomorrow.” He said in a depressed tone.

“But you hate working and your dad is loaded, why work?” I asked because to me it made no sense.

“My dad wants me to start earning my use since he wants me to take over the company soon so it’s either I work or he cuts me off from his life.” He sighed but I could tell something was off about him, something just didn’t add up. It was my phone’s turn to interrupt us and the caller ID showed someone who I couldn’t ignore even if I wanted to.

“She called me back, looks like I will get some action after all.” I faked a smile as I walked towards the door. His laughter was the last thing I heard as I closed the door and answered my phone.

“What took you so long to answer?”

“Sorry ma’am but Jared saw the footage; I think we might have a problem.” I said as I walked towards m car. It’s going to be one hell of a long night.

CHAPTER SIX

^^^^^

In all my years, I was bound to pick up some skills and especially when it came to Alec.

I’ve known the guy since I was five and we had just moved into the neighbourhood. He was the first boy who approached me and offered me to play with him and his toy truck. Since then we were practically inseparable and we became closer than brothers.

Alec was always the golden boy; every parent wanted a child like him while back then I was the rich loner new kid whose parents were never home and always hung around him until the twins came around and they joined our little family.

Part of my training was that I had no familial attachments but I was being paid to blend in so that I can protect the subject without arousing suspicion. I always had the cover of a billionaire dad and absentee parents but no one else apart from the HQ knew that.

Alec never kept any secrets from until four years ago when he told us that there was a new girl who was moving to our school. I asked how he knew and he said that he had run into her on his way here which I later found out was a lie.

Now, normally we didn’t care what happened at school or about who was at school but Chloe was a different case; Alec always kept a watch over her, at first I thought it was because he liked her but it got creepy, he always wanted to know where she was and what she did and before we knew it he was her boyfriend. I found it weird that he wanted a girlfriend because however much he was a golden boy, he however, was not the kind of guy to get committed to one girl and he proved me right as he cheated on her many times with so many different girls that I even lost count.

I was suspicious and I even told him to break up with her once and for all but he always said it was never the right time, to me that sounded like he was waiting for something. That Saturday morning I got a call from HQ that someone had been researching information about my supposed family and that’s when I knew he had gotten suspicious of me so I went to his place to hang out and that’s when he abruptly decided to go to Chloe’s house on that same day saying that he wanted to break up with her, I knew that it wasn’t the whole truth but I chose to run with it until I got a call few hours later that the main house was under attack but the threat was cleared but there was one witness.

This was the hardest news I had to bear but I had to carry out the assignment that I had been given that morning. When I picked up Alec from Chloe’s place he seemed confused and even dazed at first then a bright smile broke from him like he had just achieved the greatest thing in life. I tried asking but he said he had finally broken up with her and that he was happy he was finally free but I suspected it was a complete lie. He didn’t even hang out with us that day because he had to go to a girl’s house to get some ‘celebratory gift’; another lie. That was the last time had talked to him.

At school he hung out with the new girlfriend’ more than he did with the guys and he avoided me like the plague. I admit it hurt that he was blowing me off for a girl but then it was weird even for the twins. I tried to get him to talk to them and I even followed him one day to try and corner him until I heard him talking to a girl, a very familiar one at that.

“No, if you move in now my cover will be blown but we should stay put until they lower their guards down and it will be easier to take her. Look, I can even pretend that I want to apologize for treating her badly and ask to take her out then you can take her and I will say she was pushed into a moving van.” He said to the girl in a convincing tone. I didn’t want to believe it but it was him all along. That’s why he wanted to keep tabs on her every waking minute; it was all part of the plan.

“That might actually work; I will alert the others so that they can be ready.” The girl said in a cool sultry voice. I couldn’t figure out who it was exactly but I was lucky I had recorded the conversation.

I quickly walked away and headed to class since I was already late and I immediately went home after school since I had to put the plan into action. I knew he was distracted today but it wouldn’t last long. I sent the video to HQ and told them to try and find out who the girl was and I set everything up. After I confirmed everything was in place I called him up and told him I found something he should see and he agreed to meet me at my place.

He called again and asked me to pick him up and I did. When he came into my room, I had my best poker face on and showed him part of the video. His reaction told me everything I needed to know.

“Look, you don’t have to tell me now but I really don’t understand how your ex-girlfriend is able to do that to a huge guy, did you know anything about it?” I tried to sound confused and it must have worked since he said that he couldn’t tell me anything and that I shouldn’t mess with those guys; a sign that he knew everything. I complied and actually deleted the footage.

I was about to ask more when HQ called and I had to take it so I walked out the room.

“Is he an informant?”

“Yes sir, he knows a lot.”

“Good, then alert the others and make sure not to say anything else, we have reasons to assume they are onto you. Delete the footage and don’t ask more.”

“Done sir,”

“Be careful, you still are my son.”

“Yes sir” I tried to sound nonchalant but to him I was as much a son as he was a good father and that says a lot.

I walked out and before I could say anything, his phone rang, his reaction told me who it was but I didn’t show.

“She called me back, looks like I will get some action after all.” He tried to sound cheerful but I silently called out his bluff. He walked out and he didn’t know that I had heard his every word while he was still in this building, including his last words.

I sent a message to HQ that there was a high chance my cover was blown and I was assured of back-up from the others so I sat and waited.

CHAPTER SEVEN

^^^^^

 A tint of pink covered Ash’s face as we all stared silently at him and waited for answers. This was the most uncomfortable I had ever seen him as he stared back at us, thinking through the words he was about to say.

“Say it once and for all and get it off your chest! I’m tired of waiting for an answer.” Em finally spoke our words.

“It’s okay Ash, whatever it is, we’ll understand.” Sapph tried to sooth him but it only made the pink tint deepen. I was slowly starting to put two and two together.

“Holly crackers!! You like Sapph!!” I blurted out making Sapph’s face turn pink. A look of relief flashed across his face but it was gone as soon as it came and he just nodded. Em squealed with delight and Sapph’s face reddened. From the look of it I guess she liked him too. This was a perfect time to play a trick on them.

“If you want me to believe it, kiss her. “ I challenged him, his face widened in panic then he turned to Sapph who nodded lightly before he claimed her mouth in one passionate kiss. This one of my greatest achievement, I must admit but it wasn’t complete yet. Their special moment was interpreted when there was a knock on the door. We looked at each other silently asking if any of us was expecting company but blank looks showed no one was.

I walked up to the door with Ash behind me and opened it to find Alec holding flowers and a sheepish smile on his face. For a brief moment I was glad to see him then I remembered what Ash told me and a surge of anger filled me and I was about to speak when Ash beat me to it.

“What do you want Jones? You’re not welcome here.” He said in the coldest voice I have ever heard but Alec just ignored him.

“Can I talk to you alone, please,” he pleaded but I wasn’t going to fall for it.

“Whatever you want to say Ash can hear it too.” I countered, crossing my arms and putting on a stern face.

“Please, I just want you to hear me out and give me a chance to explain everything. “He said in a low and deflated tone that made me almost feel sorry for him; Almost.

“Okay, you have two minutes but Ash and the others have to hear it too.” I caved in a bit. A grunt came from Ash but I chose to ignore it. However, I couldn’t help the fear that trickled in my spine when I saw his cold face with eyes full of hatred. It was then that I knew he was family, no matter what happened to us.

Alec led the way to the living room where after few minutes of silence I heard Em’s angry voice “What the hell are you doing here!?? You’re not welcomed here!” she yelled in frustration. This attracted everyone’s attention including my parents who came rushing into the room while I watched everything unfold in silence. My dad turned towards me with inquisitive eyes and I gave a slight nod. He turned to Alec and spoke in a stern voice.

“You have two minutes son, make it quick.” He mirrored my statement earlier. Everyone fell silent and waited for him to speak.

“I just wanted to apologize to Chloe for the way I have been treating her this week. I understand she had no idea what happened on Saturday and it is okay. I just wanted to invite her to dinner or lunch this weekend that is; if she will accept so that I can make everything right.” He said in a calm yet determined voice.

“What about Angeline?” I found myself asking. Everyone’s eyes turned to me and I would have shrunk back at Ash’s stern look if not for the burst of confidence I felt now. Alec’s voice faltered when he spoke the next few words; he was lying.

“Angeline has nothing to do with this. It will be just you and me, after that, I will never bother you again.” He said in a somewhat sad voice. The room fell silent again and my thoughts were jumbled up, I couldn’t think straight.

“No Chloe, you shouldn’t even be thinking about it after everything he has done to you. He played with your feelings and embarrassed you in front of the whole school. Don’t even think about it, for the sake of your dignity.” Em tried to convince me. She had a point though, after everything he put me through, he couldn’t possibly expect me to agree to this.

“Who knows, maybe he just wants to embarrass you more.” Sapph piped up for the first time. Everyone turned to look at her but her eyes were locked on to Alec and the hate I saw in them was moving.

“Go, Alec, I need to think about it first. I’ll give you my answer tomorrow.” I kept my tone empty of all emotions. I already knew the answer but I didn’t want them to know that. Alec hesitated for a while before he sighed and walked out. All five pairs of eyes met mine in a curious glance.

“Can I?” I asked my parent for the permission.

“Are you sure you’re ready for that?” mom asked me and I nodded. They turned to each other in a silent conversation before they turned to me and dad nodded.

“I’ll make dinner since it will be a long night.” Mom said as she walked towards the kitchen with dad trailing behind her as I ushered everyone to sit and relax.

Three pairs stared at me; two looked shocked while one had a sense of knowing. Em was the first one to snap out of the trance she was in but she started laughing like a maniac.

“That was one of the best stories I have ever heard. How did you come up with that one?” she asked after calming down from her laughter. I stared blankly at her before deciding to do something that was so unreal to them. I called dad and when she came I looked at him in the most serious face ever.

“They don’t believe me. Prove it to them.”

“I’m sorry Chloe but I can’t activate Dusk because you want to prove it to them, it’s too risky.” He tried to talk me out of it.

“Please dad, just for two minutes.” I pleaded. A smile crept on my face as I watched him nod. He turned to me,

“Dusk, activate search for weapon in immediate surrounding code 19511838E.” he said in a cold tone. I suddenly felt my legs stand and I knew Dusk was at work. I had to admit; knowing I could do something like this was so cool. My vision was like night glasses and I could see every metal in the house, even in upstairs.

“Search complete, there are a total of 20 knives, three guns upstairs and three in this living room. There are three armed people in this house, two men and one lady. There is one pocket knife in the blue purse and one pepper spray in the pink clutch.” My voice sounded robotic, so different and weird.

“Thank you Dusk; you may resume inactive code 1851920E.” Dad’s detached voice rang through and suddenly I could move my hands again. He silently walked out of the room. Em only stared at me in shock.

“Why didn’t you tell us before, don’t you trust us?” she asked in a small voice.

“It’s not like that, I only found out today, I would never keep something this big from you guys, you are my family.” I tried to assure her. I turned to Ash and he looked torn between two things but I let it go since mostly it did not concern me. He stood up and walked to the kitchen and left me with two overly excited girls. It didn’t take long for Ash to walk back into the room and he didn’t look that well. His posture was stiff and his face had morphed into a mix of anger and guilt. He was definitely not okay. He sat down next to Sapph and turned to me.

“So, did you decide if you are going with Alec?” he tried to sound casual but there was an edge to his voice.

“I’m going…” before I could finish my sentence, everyone in the room started complaining and talking at once.

“Wait, hear me out first. I need to get closure on everything especially this relationship because I can’t keep asking myself what I did wrong to make him just choose another girl.  Have to get some answers from him.” I tried to justify myself which worked because Ashton’s eyes softened.

“We are your best friends Chloe and we get that but you also have to understand that we are trying to protect you. You want the truth, the honest truth which everyone in school knows then ask me, I am a guy and I know everything because he flaunts them in the locker rooms after gym. Hell, I even know why Jared doesn’t like you that much. You want to know everything, ask me Chloe.” He exploded leaving us to gape at him in shock, he’s never been this protective or angry before but he says he knows everything so I decided to put it to the test.

“Tell me then Ash, why did everything happen, why does Jared hate me so much?” I challenged hoping to get something that will shed some light on everything. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

“Before you came here four years ago, Alec was a playboy; he never committed to any girl and always preferred wham bam thank you ma’am. He never hung out with anyone but the twins and Jared and everyone knew that.

When you guys started dating everyone thought he would change; that you would change him because you’re a real sweetheart but then after six months of dating he started sleeping around with everything that wore a skirt and had breasts.

People thought that maybe you two had problems or something like that but you were always oblivious to everything so people thought you were a bitch behind their backs.

Alec used that card as his pity card; he would tell other girls how you were sleeping around behind his back and how you never pay attention to him so everyone started hating you. Jared and the twins found out the truth and Jared told me everything to warn you, I never thought it was real until that day when I heard him say it with his own words.

Jared doesn’t like us because he thinks that we decided to ignore him. You don’t believe me, listen to this recording.” He drew in a deep breath and handed me his phone. It was too much to hear, all this time I thought we were okay and people were just jealous but it was never that, they were being fed something different.

“We trust you Ash but she needs to hear this; it’s the closure she surely needed.” Em spoke for me, voicing my thoughts exactly as I had. I knew there was a reason she was my best friend, a darn good one too. Ash nodded and I pressed play with shaking hands.

“It gets so hard when you know your girl is cheating on you and I can’t break up with her without being seen as the bad guy so I just do what I can to survive until this senior year is done then I can blame it on the long distance or shit like that.” That voice was definitely Alec’s but I didn’t recognize the other girlish sound that awed in sadness.

“But what if you get caught? Won’t you be the bad guy?” the girl asked in a sultry voice.

“I can always pretend that I want to apologize for doing that to her and ask to take her out. She can never say no to me. No one can.” Alec’s voice rang out loud and clear. So it had been true all along, he was just using me to get laid which was a cheap and stupid move because he was Alec Jones. He could get anyone he wanted. I stared at the phone screen, lost in my own thoughts until something caught my eye.

“You put Sapph as your screen saver? When? How did it even happen?” I kind of blurted out without thinking. Em snatched the phone from me and looked at it before squealing gleefully.

“You guys, I totally ship Sapphash or is it phireash…I really have to figure out a ship name” Em rambled on making us laugh. Just like that, Alec was forgotten for the rest of the night. Hopefully, it would be forever too.

CHAPTER EIGHT

One of my worst enemies is waking up in the morning. I am not a morning person so when the alarm clock decided to mess up my amazing dream with its annoying sound I decided to throw it away where it crashed and finally the room fell silent.

“Wake up Chloe, its ten o’clock; you will miss the new episode of Castle season eight.” A robotic voice rang through my head and I would have discarded it as part of my dream if I didn’t remember I have a robot named Dusk in my head. This made me jump from my sleep and almost fall.

Not a second later, my bedroom door burst open and everyone I knew came flooding in.

“Damn, I wanted to jump on her bed and scare her like last time. Oh well, I’ll just jump on your bed. Happy birthday Chloe!! Welcome to the grown-up side.” Ashton yelled as he threw himself on my bed and almost crushed my legs. Everyone in the room laughed and muttered their birthday wishes. My parents came in holding my favourite cupcake with a lit candle.

“Happy birthday honey, make a wish.” Mom said in a loving tone. I blew the candle after making a small wish (that I won’t tell you) and greedily ate the cake.

“Wow, you still eat like a pig.” Em exclaimed with a serious face making everyone laugh.

“Hardy har har, very funny Em.” I retorted sarcastically making everyone laugh even more.

“Let’s all go and have some breakfast, I made the traditional birthday waffles and the last one down is not getting any.” Mom chimed as she walked down the hall with dad. We stared at each other for a minute before everyone scrambled out of the room.

Usually, I would be the last person because I can’t run to save my life but today I found myself moving with ease and I even beat Ashton who stopped and gaped at me. He opened his mouth to say something but closed it, thrice. He looked like a fish out of water.

“How…how…” he tried to form a sentence but his mind was not processing it quickly enough.

“How did she do that? Easy, it was all thanks to Dusk and her super speed. We all know Chloe can’t run to save her life.” Em, so sassily reminded them.

“Times like this I wonder why you are my best friend Em.” I tatted in a sophisticated manner making them laugh.

“You know you love us.” She retorted and stuck out her tongue at me; very mature.

Everyone sat round the table and we did the normal birthday ritual; told stories of interesting encounters with Ashton going on about his ‘secret missions’ since he is a ‘spy’ on a mission to protect ‘the princess’ from the most vile creatures on earth.

We all know it’s a load of bull crap but we always let him humour us because his stories are surprisingly very interesting and he’s the only one who can come up with such stories not to mention how he can have all of us, including my parents hung up on his every word. It’s pathetic really but it’s what makes us great friends; we listen to each other.

“So I got the message from HQ that there was a traitor among us but they had no clue who it was so it was up to me to identify him and keep the princess safe.” Ash told his story about how he was able to foil an attempted kidnap on a certain princess. We all waited for him to resume his story after pausing dramatically for almost five whole seconds; a new record for him.

“I knew I shouldn’t let word get out so I went to my partner; the only person I trusted and I was like ‘hey dude, there’s a mole here who’s working for the vile ones’ but Leo thought I was just fooling around so I went on detective mode to find who he was. You won’t believe who it was,” he paused again making Em groan in frustration.

“Get it over with, I want to know what happened.” She complained making everyone chuckle except my dad who was glaring daggers at Ash who didn’t seem to even notice.

“So I did my digging around until I came across a voice recorder. Guess whose voice was there; the boyfriend’s I took it to HQ and he was arrested, the kidnapping never happened and I saved the day. My partner was so jealous mostly because the princess kissed me. It was my best mission yet.” He sat back on his chair, satisfied with his story. Everyone’s face had matching smiles on them except dad who was still glaring at Ash.

“What’s wrong dad? You look mad.” I commented; drawing everyone’s attention to him. He managed a brief smile before muttering nothing.

“Ashton, can I have a word with you?” he said as he stood up. Ash shrugged as he stood up and followed dad into the kitchen. He looked mad, very mad. We all turned to mom who only shook her head that she didn’t know anyone. I wished I could hear what they were saying.

“Would you like me to access their intercom to overhear their conversation?” Dusk asked inside my head. It was weird having her there but it was cool.

‘Yes please’ I mentally agreed but absentmindedly nodded my head.

“What are you doing?” mom furrowed her head in confusion. I couldn’t tell her what Dusk was doing so I decided to create a diversion.

“Dusk just reminded me that the new episode of Castle is almost starting. It’s the episode where Kate and Castle are supposed to get married.” I gushed, temporarily distracted from my mental quest.

“Oh, then I guess I better let you girls get to it.” She mumbled before walking out in the opposite direction from where dad and Ash went.

“Would you like me to play it now?” Dusk sounded off in my head. I wondered when I would get used to hearing someone in my head and I just mentally mumbled yes making sure not to nod my head.

“Are you serious now, you just let it slip!? You know you are not supposed to mention other agents’ names unless necessary but today it just ‘slips out’. What if she realizes that they are not mere stories but actual happenings, what then?” dad’s angry voice echoed in my head. I have never heard him this angry before.

“Sorry sir, it will not happen again.” Ashton said in a firm tone and I heard dad sigh.

“Look, I know it’s hard keeping your real life from them because you want to keep their trust but this is a matter of international security so I’m afraid these ‘stories’ of yours have to come to an end. I’m sure they will understand.” Dad said in a lower tone but Ashton only replied with a yes sir before they started walking back.

“What’s wrong?” Ashton’s voice rang through my head making me focus on him.

“What?” that was the only thing that I could think of; I know you must be thinking how dumb I am but just put yourself in my position, I bet you would have done much worse than me.

“Why are your eyebrows furrowed and you’re looking at me like I’m the puzzle that can solve world hunger.” He tried to sound cheery but I could tell, he was feeling the exact opposite.

“Nothing, I was actually trying to learn how to talk to Dusk in my head, it gets creepy when you nod your head to no one in particular.” I tried to think of a better excuse but that was the best I could come up with. I mentally hi-fived myself when a genuine smile broke off from him. He came towards me and sat next to me before whispering into my ear.

“What do you want to know?” I looked at him, trying to hide my confusion but he just laughed at me.

“I know you’re a smart but curious girl who has everything encompassed into one chip, I know you were listening in but I swear I won’t tell” he tried to coax me.

“I wasn’t listening, I don’t know what you are talking about.” I feigned innocence but I know he didn’t buy it.

“It’s okay, you’ll tell me when you’re ready and I will tell you when the time is right.” He smiled at me as he walked away to where the girls were. A second later he popped his head into the dining room.

“Em says your episode is half way through and she didn’t record it so if you want to watch then you better hurry up.” He relayed the message which really got to me because if I missed it then I would have had wasted a whole Saturday morning. I quickly jumped to my feet and rushed to see my all-time favourite series. However, fate had other plans for me, as soon as I had sat comfortably ready to watch the TV was switched off, only to annoy me.

“It’s your eighteenth birthday today so you don’t get to spend time lazing around like any other Saturday. It’s time for the best friends’ birthday bonding time.” Em announced, sounding so proud of her announcement. I groaned and buried my face in my hands; this was not going to be a good idea and I knew because I have always been the casualty.

“That’s a great idea Em, what did you have in mind; shopping, or maybe some spa…”Sapph trailed off after I shot her a glare. They all knew I didn’t like shopping or spa treatments.

“Actually, I was thinking of dividing time between us so that each best friend gets time alone with Chloe.” Em suggested sounding unsure of her decision but the smile that broke off from my face was unmistakeable.

“I think that’s the best idea we’ve ever heard from you Em.” I teased her.

“At least I’m thinking, when was the last time you used your grey matter?” she countered back making Ash and Sapph share an amused smile. Naturally, comments like that had automatic comebacks but today I just decided to let it slide.

“Okay, so what did you have in mind?” I tried to change the topic which was successful since her eyes lit up at my question.

“I was thinking that since Ash has to go to work at three and we won’t see him until later, maybe he should have the first few hours with you so that he won’t miss out. You can do whatever you guys want until two and she shouldn’t be later than two thirty.” Em gave out the orders. It was clear to see that she was the mother hen of this group.

I turned to Ash who was wearing a stupid grin on his face and when he realized that he had caught my attention, he mouthed ‘arcade’ which made me smile. After the briefing, I walked to my room, showered and changed into a pair of black skinny jeans and a blue flowery top which I matched with my wedged biker boots before stuffing my phone, earphones and a twenty dollar bill into my pockets. I went down the stairs and found Ash waiting for me by the door. He looked excited but not more than I was since it was a rare occurrence to spend time alone with Ash unless I was asking for an honest answer.

“I’m having a hard time trying to decide between the amusement park and the arcade. What do you think?” he asked as I got into the passenger side of the car. I thought it over before answering;

“Amusement parks are more of a couple sort of thing or a group thing so I would prefer the arcade.” I reasoned out with him.

“You’re the birthday girl so you get anything you want.” He reminded me as we headed over to the arcade. I loved the arcade because it was our secret hideout and no one else knew where it was but they knew it existed. It was housed in a run-down building that not even Em could give a second look but inside it had all the classical arcade games of all time.

We stood outside my house at three fifteen; yeah we were seriously late and the girls were fuming at us inside. I could feel it all the way outside.

“I could say I’m sorry we’re late but we both know it’s not true” Ash tried to light the mood and it worked since we both laughed at that.

“So I hope we’ll do this again soon, maybe this week when am not at work.” He asked, and I nodded enthusiastically because who could say no to arcade games, surely not me. His phone rang and he walked towards his car, got in and waved before he drove off. I was about to walk inside when I saw Sapph glare at me from my window. What did I do this time?

“Damn girl, he asked you out and you said yes!! How dare you!!??” Em roared at my face while Sapph continued to glare daggers at me.

“Hell, who said he asked me out on a date? We went to the arcade. That’s definitely not a place for a date, at least not for me.” I countered though I knew it was a lie, I would totally go for an arcade date but they didn’t know that. Sapph seemed to relax after I said that but Em didn’t look like she believed me. She is my best friend after all so she’s bound to know when I’m lying. An idea just popped into my head and I grinned internally.

“I can’t believe you guys thought that about me and yet we’re best friends. I need to be alone.” I feigned anger and sadness as I walked past them and headed to my room. I hoped it worked because even if I wasn’t mad anymore, I had lost any psych to do anything else and I just wanted to sit and read my book. I banged my door shut hoping that they got the point and I was glad when no one knocked at my door for a whole five minutes then Em’s voice ruined my victory,

“I’m sorry we thought that you were going on a date with Ash, it’s just that you guys are always so close and you talk to him more than us so when he said you guys should do it again this week we thought it was a date. Plus, I know you have an obsession with green-eyed men so….” She trailed off. I know she was sorry and I understood her because even I would have thought the same if I saw them together but I really didn’t want to go shopping with anyone.

“He said that he likes Sapph so how can he ask me out after that and how could I say yes to a date when I know that she likes him too. I’m not a bitch to my friends Em.” I countered in a sad and hurt voice.

“I know Chloe but Sapph had been very insecure since you two left and she kept saying that he likes you more than her but he’s afraid you’ll reject him. I was so confused then when I saw you out there smiling and laughing, I started thinking that maybe Sapph was right.” She said in a low voice. I have to admit though, Ash was not himself, he was a bit arrogant and he held my hand a lot and his smile was so warm and his eyes were darker than usual but I won’t tell anyone that.

He reminded me of the pair of green eyes I always see hiding from the bushes but that’s can’t be because they’re not real. I took a deep breath and looked at Em who looked sad.

“Trust me, Em, he likes Sapph and I can’t stand in their way and I won’t be a distraction. Is it okay if we just stay here, I don’t want to go anywhere.” I said in a small voice making her join me on my bed,

“How about we go to the spa then have a movie marathon with ice cream. We had already paid for the spa and I can’t let the money go to waste.” She begged which was a good bargain so I just nodded and allowed her to drag me from the bed and out of my room where Sapph was waiting for us. This was going to be a very long day.

CHAPTER NINE

Well, it’s official; birthdays are the most tiresome days ever, no pun intended. After a whole afternoon in the spa with the girls being pampered and it wasn’t as nice as people thought since I hate it when people pull my hair but the massage was nice. Then we came back home at around five in the evening for movie marathon and I wanted to watch Mission Impossible because who doesn’t think Tom Cruise is hot but the girls wanted to watch romantic movies which they won 2: 1 and we ended up watching a movie called Me before you and since Sapph couldn’t stop gushing about it. I must admit though it was good because the actors had British accent and that’s one of my favourite accents.

All this time, Sapph never talked to me and it was getting pretty annoying when she ignored me or only addressed Em but I decided to play along with her.

“What’s taking you so long in there, do you need help?” Em asked from outside the bedroom door and I told her to chill am almost done. I stared at myself from the bedroom mirror and I didn’t really like the dress.

It was almost eight at night and I was currently trying to find the perfect dress because Em said there was a surprise I still had to unravel and we had to leave by eight. I took a deep breath and walked out of my room to meet Emma whose disappointment was written all over her face when she saw me in that dress.

“I look like a potato.” I frowned at her and she nodded solemnly.

“You look horrible but luckily we have three more dresses for you to try.” She tried to sound cheery but even I could see that she was running out of patience. Out of all those clothes, a blue dress caught my eye and I pulled it out of her grasp.

It was a beautiful royal blue lace strapless dress that had beautiful flower patterns on the left side breast and waist. It was perfect. Em’s look matched mine when I walked out of my room.

“Great, now let’s go, you’re late” she said as she shoved me out of the house. I was lucky she didn’t notice I was still wearing my combat boots or else she would have flipped.

“I call shotgun.” I shouted as I ran towards the passenger side of the car but Sapph got there before me.

“No way, you stole my boyfriend and now you want shotgun, not on my watch.” She spat at me and Emma’s eyes widened in shock, I think my jaw was on the floor by now.

“What on earth are you on about, she didn’t take your boyfriend.” Em tried to defend me making Sapph laugh bitterly.

“Really, then explain this, explain why he’s looking at her like that, not even I get the same look.” She spat as she shoved a photo in Emma’s face. I simply had to see this because I didn’t think it was true.

“Can you explain this?” Em asked as she showed me the photo which I guess was taken today of me and Ash standing outside my house; were smiling but Ash had a weird look on his face.

“Where were you that he even had to change clothes?” Sapph asked; her voice was like poison.

“I swear that was how he was dressed when we left. We only went to the arcade and nowhere else. I swear.” I tried to defend myself.

“I hate to say this but they were all right, you’re a slut Chloe and you always use your miserable story as a pity party. Stay away from Ashton, he’s mine.” She warned before she walked away in the opposite direction. I could only stare at her. That was the second time I heard that.

“What the fuck just happened?” Emma asked behind me.

“I have no idea. Let’s go before I change my mind” I mumbled and tried to cheer myself up though it really wasn’t working.

“Forget about her, we’re going hunting for a surprise!”  Emma cheered making me chuckle. The drive was quiet and that’s what I needed at the moment.

“Chloe, are you alright, I can trace some sadness in your thoughts” Dusk’s voice sounded in my head.

‘Everything is fine Dusk, sapphire said some hurtful words but I’m fine.” I mentally told her.

“Wow, Sapph really got to you huh,” Emma questioned without looking at me. I didn’t know what to say so I just nodded.

“You didn’t even ask where we’re going?” she complained making me smile.

“What’s the point when you’re only going to tell me it’s a surprise.”

“Smart ass.” She scoffed but I could hear the smile in her voice. Few minutes later we pulled up at an empty building. And I bit my tongue before I could start my usual rounds of complain.

“You do know how to get out and walk into the building, right?” Em asked as she stood outside and waited for me to join her. I hurriedly got out and followed her so that this day would end quickly. We walked in together and found something we really did not expect; it was empty, complete darkness covered the gigantic room. Using the torch from my phone, I located the switch and turned on the lights which confirmed my earlier discovery.

“It’s empty, is this the surprise?” I turned to Em who looked more confused than I was. She took her phone and showed me the address she was texted by Sapph two hours ago.

“I’m on the right address, maybe we’re early. Let’s wait for a few minutes then we’ll call Ash.” She assured me but I couldn’t shake off this sick feeling from my stomach and my gut twisted into knots.

Ten minutes later we decided to call Ash but the surprising thing is that there was no service. I was about to start complaining when the door burst open and I relaxed momentarily before I saw two faces and one was unfamiliar.

“Thank you ladies for waiting for us, sorry we had to take a little detour.” The older lady said in a high pitched voice.

“Who are you?” I blurted without hesitation.

“You really don’t remember me do you? How could you when last I saw you was when you were born.” She explained but Emma and I just stared blankly at her, not sure what or who she was talking about.

“I’m your mother; Ilana, I don’t suppose you have heard of me.” At the mention of that name, my body went stiff. Sapph smirked at me.

“I am sure she knows you very well” she commented in an unusually cold voice making Ilana grin and me to tremble.

“Now, that aside, I believe you have something that I need. You see, it wasn’t fair for Elroy to give only you the best chip, I need one to and imagine what I could do with it.” She said it like it was a good thing.

‘Dusk, send an SOS to dad and Ash and give them the address to this place.’ I ordered mentally and heard Dusk’s Affirmative before I turned my attention to my ‘mother’.

“What makes you think I will give it to you?” I sneered at her making her frown at me.

“Looks like you’re adequately lacking in manners. Is that how you speak to your elders, not to mention your mother?” she scolded. A bitter laugh sounded across the room and everyone turned to me. It took a minute to realize the sound came from me.

“You are not my mother, you don’t even deserve the title Ilana and don’t dare tell me what I do and do not have. As for Dusk, you’ll never have her.” I seethed at her. Her face darkened in anger before she let out a dark smirk.

“Fine, I’ll let the boys take care of this. Martin, please be a darling and get me that darned chip from her. Take as many men as you need and do not underestimate her. Sapphire and I have other issues to take care of.” She motioned to a guy who looked like a giant who turned and called other two guys. This was not a good idea. I heard Emma’s soft whimper which reminded me that she was still here. As the guys advanced, I pulled her behind me and took a fighting stance.

“Dusk; switch to Defence mode. Make sure Emma is safe.” I said in a soft and panicked voice.

“Affirmative; defence mode activated.” Dusk’s voice rang clear in my mind.

Martin (the giant) was the first guy to throw a punch but I blocked it automatically like it was the natural thing to do. Before anything else, another punch landed to my right side from one of the other guys which made me stumble back two steps. I didn’t get enough time to recover before another punch was thrown but I blocked and retaliated with a right kick which got one guy straight in the face making him grunt in pain.

I felt my body lift up and my left hand stretched to deliver an awfully strong superman punch that knocked out the same guy and probably broke his nose beyond repair. The others paused and looked at their friend on the floor before they turned their eyes to me and I could note the anger that radiated from them in waves. They stepped forward and got ready to attack while I took one step back and almost collided with a frightened Emma.

“Run Emma, hide somewhere till I come for you.” I turned to look at her so she could see the seriousness in my voice. She didn’t answer but she took off running to the dark corner of the warehouse. The guys took this sign of distraction as a chance to attack and before I knew it, I was held captive and received blows from every corner. I tried to wiggle free but I was held tightly, my resolve weakened and I almost gave up before I felt my hands suddenly come free and Martin was laying there unconscious.

“What the hell—” the other guy started before I threw a punch straight at his face making him grunt in pain. I turned to check out who had rescued me but I couldn’t see anyone there. I turned and run towards where I last saw Emma heading.

“Emma, are you out here?” I asked trying to keep a neutral voice. What if she was kidnapped? What if they got to her? All these questions were answered when I heard her soft but panicked voice call out my name and I found her being held at gun-point by the guy I had knocked out first.

“Well look who decided to join us; I sure am glad you finally showed your face Chloe Jade.” He sneered at me; his voice cold and harsh.

“Please don’t hurt her, what do you want?” I tried to sound courageous but I was really failing.

“I want a trade, you for her. You come with us and she’ll go scot free and unharmed.” He bargained and I immediately accepted.

“No Chloe, you’re too important, don’t do it.” Emma cried but I just gave her a sad smile and shook my head.

“It’s okay Em, I’ll give you a head-start then I’ll catch up. I walked towards the guy with raised arms and he reluctantly let her go and she took off running. I stood perfectly still as he held a gun to my head.

Before I could exclaim what happened, my elbow connected with his stomach and he grunted, loosening the grip on the gun but his hold tightened as I reached for it. I tried to take control but the sound of gunshot rung through the dark warehouse, his hold didn’t loosen and I wasn’t going to bulge. It wasn’t until the second shot rang through that he let go and fell to the ground. That was my queue to get out of there.

“Dusk, give me directions to where Ashton and my dad are. Locate the GPS on their phones.” I called out to Dusk as I got out of the warehouse.

“According to their GPS, they both are at Hollow Amusement park, five blocks from here.” Dusk’s robotic voice answered and I did not hesitate as I sprinted towards the place. It wasn’t far but I felt drained as I walked in the park to find everyone staring at me.

“Chloe, What the hell happened, why are you guys so late, it’s been five hours,” Ashton ran towards me followed by my parents.

“Emma, where’s Emma?” I panicked; she was supposed to come here.

“I haven’t seen her, what happened Chloe?” Ash asked his voice serious and very dangerous, he was mad.

“Sapph, she set us up, Ilana attacked us but we got free, I lost Emma, we need to find her.” I cried, I attempted to move forward but I stumbled into Ash’s arms.

“Oh my God!! You are bleeding!!” Ash cried out holding up his wrist that was full of blood, well, no wonder I felt drained. It was at this point that my body finally gave up on me and I collapsed with everything going dark.

CHAPTER TEN

^^^^^

We were all getting impatient with those three. They were supposed to be here an hour ago so that we could surprise Chloe but once again they failed to show. I didn’t know I was glaring at the entrance until Mr Elroy; Chloe’s dad placed his hand on my back.

“Relax son, they’re just running late; after all they are girls and we know girls are never on time.” He tried to console and I nodded but deep down I knew something was amiss. I tried to contact either of them but both of their phones were out of reach. That was weird since Emma never switched off her phone. I was getting pretty restless when an idea popped into my head.

“I’m going to get them,” I said confidently as I walked towards the entrance but I was pulled back by a very strong arm.

“You can’t leave or they will start suspecting you.” A young man, maybe a newbie mattered in a low tone. I didn’t want to accept but I knew it was true so I walked back with slumped shoulders and a lowered head. I almost gave up hope when new idea popped into my head. I took out my phone and dialled a number I knew would never be switched off.

“What? I’m off duty today.” A voice growled from the other end. The anger made me chuckle since I instantly knew I had interrupted something.

“Speak Kyle or I’ll end this call” the voice growled again bringing me back from my thoughts.

“I think something’s wrong, triangulate the last place Chloe and Emma were then check on her.” I ordered formerly, all jokes aside.

“Get Jared to do it, I’m busy at the moment.” He tried to sound formal but I could still hear the irritation in his voice.

“Jared can’t help; he is out of town at the moment.” I replied and waited for a snarky comeback but all I heard next was a sigh and a small ‘fine’ before the line went dead. I stared at it before I finally decided to put the phone away and await the results of my genius idea.

Three hours later and I was almost tearing out my skin. I had gotten no reply from him and Chloe’s parents had worried faces but were trying as hard as they could to put on smiles. The shrill sound of my ringtone blared out and I answered immediately.

“It was a set up, they were betrayed by one of their friends. She’ll be there in ten minutes max, brace yourself, she looks horrible.” He muttered before ending the call. I stared at it, unable to comprehend what he had said. As if something had snapped me out of my horrible thoughts, I looked at the time before rushing off to the entrance of the park. I knew it looked bad but I wanted to be the first person to see how bad it was.

After a few minutes, Chloe appeared running towards me, he blue dress had black patches and she looked like she would pass out any minute. I panicked.

“Chloe, What the hell happened, why are you guys so late, it’s been five hours,” I wanted to scold her not aware that her parents had seen her.

“Emma, where’s Emma?” she cried out. She looked so scared

“I haven’t seen her, what happened Chloe?” I tried to keep my voice low and neutral but from the look she gave me, I was failing miserably. I was seeing red, who would dare do this to her?

“Sapph, she set us up, Ilana attacked us but we got free, I lost Emma, we need to find her.” She cried frantically and tried to move forward but stumbled and would have fallen but I was quick this time and I caught her. Her dress was wet around her right side of the stomach. I took out my hand to examine what caused the wetness and my face paled, blood; Chloe was bleeding and that is what I exclaimed and moved my hand to show her. Realization seemed to sink in and her body finally caved in making her collapse onto me.

I’ve never been more scared in my life and it took all my will not to cry but I was losing that battle. Everything else went bleak after that and I didn’t notice as her dad took her from my arms and people started rushing about, where to, I really didn’t care at the moment.

“Ashton Kyle Jacobs, get your head together and snap out of that shitty dream. My daughter is injured and I do not want to lose her, not today and certainly not on our watch!” her dad almost screamed at me bringing me out of whatever trance I was in. he was right, we were not going to lose her.

“We’re taking her to HQ and I want you to join me and her mother there in the next hour with new information that could shed some light on this shenanigan.” He said more calmly as he looked at me and didn’t even wait for my response before he ran off and entered the black SUV that was carrying her. I took out my trusted phone and dialled a number.

“What now?” the other voiced almost whined at me.

“She was shot. They want answers now.” I remained as nonchalant as I could and waited for a reply which came after a short pause.

“Fuck! I’m on my way, meet me at the rendezvous point in ten.” He said before the line went dead. What is it with these people and hanging up on me, was my voice that bad or did I sound like an answering machine? I snapped out of my stupid thoughts as I headed off towards where we were supposed to meet with him and hoped that by the end of today I would have some strong sense of direction.

Three and a half hours later I walked into HQ where all eyes were focused on me for a brief second before everyone resumed their business. I walked up to Sammy, the nice lady at the front desk.

“Hey Sammy, how’s it going?” I tried to sound casual but my voice betrayed me. She looked at me with sad eyes and I saw something I always hated; pity.

“Hello darling, I guess you’re here to see her? Room 416 in B1” she said in a comforting tone. I smiled at her and walked briskly towards her room, I wanted to see how she was doing.

“Finally, you’re here. Did you find anything?” her dad asked and I almost freaked out at the tone he used. It was pure danger.

“I found a footage that points to us that Sapphire betrayed them and Emma was kidnapped. It was taken by the CCTV camera across the street. Nobody knows where Emma was taken and from the looks of it, it was planned from the beginning.” I tried to sound casual but fear was seeping in slowly.

“What are you trying to say Ashton?” her mother cried out and I couldn’t contain the guilt I felt.

“I think Sapphire was planted into Chloe’s life for this reason. She was never really her friend. I had a suspicion but I never persuaded it until recently.” I answered in a low tone. Realization finally sank in and the guilt overwhelmed me.

“I’m so sorry I failed to protect her, if only I had acted on my suspicion then maybe this would never have happened. I’m so sorry.” I lowered my head in shame the guilt gnawed at me like pebble in a shoe.

“No sweetheart, we were all too trusting and didn’t do background checks on them. We’re all at fault here.” Her mother spoke in a soft yet tired voice.

“I think you should get some rest honey, it’s been a long night.” Her dad told her mom in a soft and loving voice. She was about to resist then he shushed her

“Ashton and I will watch over her then you can come in the morning.” She agreed after he pleaded. I admired their relationship and turned away when he escorted her out. All my concentration turned to Chloe who although was pale, still looked beautiful and peaceful. I couldn’t believe her friend had betrayed her.

How could I have not seen it coming, the looks, the snarky comments hidden under the bubbly and cheery voice, her soft smile, how could I not see it coming.

“It looks like you were hurt by her betrayal.” I turned to look at Chloe’s dad with a horrified face.

“I said that aloud didn’t I?” I mumbled embarrassed by my actions but he only chuckled.

“We’re only human Ashton and we’re all bound to make mistakes at some point in our lives. Sapphire made a fool out of all of us even Chloe but we’ll make sure that never happens again.” He tried to comfort me and for once in a very, very, very long time, I felt some fatherly admiration towards Mr Elroy.

“Thank you sir, it means a lot to hear that.” I mumbled in a low voice and we both fell silent as we watched Chloe and sent silent prayers that she wakes up soon.

“It was a nine millimetre calibre to the abdomen. Thank God no organs were seriously damaged. That’s all the doctor could tell us but right now I wish I had access to Dusk so that we would know more.” He said in a low tone but I heard it.

“Thank you.” He said in a low tone. I looked at him; shocked, but he continued;

“If you hadn’t told Leo to go there then it would have been worse. You have great set of skills there.” He had a faint smile which made me smile more.

“I was just doing my job sir, especially since I hadn’t seen her since breakfast. I love your daughter sir, she’s a really great girl.” I confessed. He looked at me, and nodded

“That she is my boy.” Silence befell us again but it was cut short by a voice I really didn’t want to hear.

“You had one job to do, just one but you failed at it. How is that possible?” we both turned to face the man I hated the most, anger filled my blood and I fisted my hands which were at my side.

“It’s not his fault Jacobs, we all never saw it coming.” Chloe’s dad replied in a calm tone.

“How could you be so foolish to let her out of your sight, haven’t you failed her enough but I forgot I was talking to a fucking idiot! You are a disappointment to the organization and it would do everyone a great deal if you weren’t part of it anymore.” The man seethed; his voice full of anger. I was about to make a snarky and rude comment but Mr Elroy beat me to it.

“You know very well that if it wasn’t for Ashton here, Chloe would be dead. I would advise you; Mr Jacobs, show your respect to my right hand man, if you disrespect him then you have disrespected me and you know I don’t tolerate that very well.” His voice was firm and very authoritative.

“But—but he is a failure, you need someone who has very sharp skills. Ashton is full of disappointment.” The man tried to counter but this time I had an answer for him.

“At least we both know where I got it from; Dad!” I sneered, both pairs of eyes turned to me, one full of amusement and the other full of anger. I guess you can tell which belong to whom. “Show your respect boy! I am still higher in command than you.” He roared but I only sent him a smug smirk.

“Mr Jacobs, I would appreciate it if you left this room. My daughter is injured and we do not need your brooding attitude at the moment.” Mr Elroy’s firm voice countered and I almost cheered when he bowed his head and left. It was a brief moment of triumph for me.

“He’s got issues; I think it would be best if you both moved in with me.” He said in a warm tone, completely different from what he sounded like five minutes ago. I only sent him a grateful smile.

“Leo moved out, so I guess it’s just me; if you’ll have me.” I said in a small voice.

“It would be an honour son.” He said as he pat my shoulder. For once I had hope for the future; all I needed was for Chloe to wake up.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

^^^^^

It was too quiet for me; the darkness I was floating in made me almost feel comforted. It was a short chance I had since I found out the truth about myself.

To be honest, this has been the longest and most tiresome week I’ve had in my entire life and I was just glad that today I could sleep in and I wouldn’t have to worry about school or Emma being mad that I was late—wait, Emma was missing and the last image I remember is Ash holding up a bloodied hand; Oh my God!! He was hurt!! And here I was thinking that today was trouble-free and I didn’t think about my friends.

I willed myself to open my eyes and I immediately groaned when I was met by blinding lights and had to momentarily close my eyes again. I felt my bed dip a bit and I pried my eyes open to see who dared to sit on my bed. My sight trailed towards the white walls and I realized that I wasn’t in my bed and it definitely wasn’t my room. My eyes landed on a relieved Dad with a joyous looking mom and a guilt-filled Ashton. Talk about mixed emotions in the same room.

“What—“I tried but my voice was too hoarse and my throat burned. Dad handed me a glass of water and I sent him a grateful smile before taking a big gulp before I attempted to sit up. Hands shot up and stopped me from sitting up and I looked up at dad; confused

“What happened, where’s Emma; did you find her?” I asked curiosity combined with fear threatening to eat me up.

“You were shot darling so don’t try to move or it will hurt like hell.” Mom tried to explain and my eyes widened in shock; how did that happen? I turned to Ash and silently asked him to explain hoping he would get the memo which obviously he did.

“Sapph set you and Emma up but you escaped. Emma is missing but we’ll find her, I promise.” He tried to assure me and I believed him.

I sat quietly trying to remember what really happened but all I could remember were brief flashes of me telling her to run and sneering a woman whom I suppose was Ilana and fighting three guys before I remembered something.

“Mom, dad, could you guys give me a minute with Ash, there’s something we need to talk about.” I tried to sound nonchalant but given the situation, my voice was really croaky. Dad looked from me to Ash then he sighed and ushered mom out of the room. I looked at the boy and let out a sigh.

“Look, you are a great guy and any girl would be lucky to have you but I’m not yet ready to get out there again. I’m sorry but we can only be friends. Maybe in future after everything has blown over but not now.” I tried to put it across in the nicest way possible but he only furrowed his brows in confusion.

“What are you talking about Chloe?” he laid out his confusion for both of us to see. This was harder than I thought.

“Have you seen my phone?” I asked in a low tone hoping that he knew where it was.

“Yeah, you left it in my hand before you collapsed.” He said handing it to me. I almost let out a smile when I saw that it had a full battery. I quickly unlocked the screen and searched for something before showing the screen to him. His face paled and his eyes widened in panic.

“Where did you get this?” he asked in a low tone.

“Sapph showed it to me, it was taken on my birthday after we came back from the arcade. She thinks you’re in love with me.” I mumbled. This was really getting awkward.

“I do love you Chloe,” he mumbled before lifting his eyes from the screen, they were a warm shade of green that looked lovely. His words broke my heart and I was about to talk when he cut me off; “but only as a sister. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you and I would never want to complicate what we have. I had my eyes set on someone but not anymore.” He said the last part in a low tone but I heard it.

“She broke your heart didn’t she?” I asked in a low tone.

“No, I hadn’t got there yet but she did hurt me” he said but tried to smile, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Am I allowed to have some ice cream? We need to have a movie marathon—if you want, I can’t force you to because you are a grown up and maybe you have something better to do…”I rambled but I was cut off by his soft chuckle and I turned to see an amused Ashton with humour dancing in his eyes.

“Of course I want a movie marathon, as long as we watch an action movie” he smirked at me but his eyes had that warmth that always made me feel comforted. I found myself nodding to what he was requesting because I would watch action over romance any day. He left to get the ice cream and as soon as he did, mom and dad walked in.

“Well, you look happy, everything okay?” dad asked and I just smiled at them.

“Yeah, Ash went to get ice cream, we’re having a movie marathon” I almost cheered but the pain in my throat reminded me that I couldn’t do that quite yet.

“Are you sure that’s good for your throat, it will only make it swell and you won’t be able to talk for another week.” Mom frowned at me making me realize my mistake. If moving about wasn’t so painful; I would have face-palmed myself for being such an idiot.

“I knew it was too good to be true!” I scolded myself before I heard dad’s amused chuckle.

“Mom and I are going home so that we won’t interrupt your movie marathon. No funny business while we’re not here.” Dad said and emphasized so much on the last sentence. The door was opened and Ash walked in holding a bag but his body stilled as he turned to an equally still dad.

“Sorry Ash, I can’t eat cold things so ice cream is a no.” disappointment laced my voice making it sound like a dying whale.

“Yeah, being the best friend I am, I figured that part out and opted to get you warm chocolate, not too sweet; just the way you like it.” He said moving away from my parents to hand me that great piece of chocolate goodness.

“Take good care of her Ashton, we’re going home.” Dad said as he linked his arm with mom’s and escorted her out of the room.

“So, what do you want to watch?” he asked as he pulled a chair next to my bed.

“I want a good action movie, preferably if it had Tom Cruise.” I tried to sound cool but today my voice was full of disappointment but he didn’t comment about it.

“I think you’ll love this movie. It’s the latest Tom Cruise movie; Jack Reacher: never go back” he said as he moved to put it on the laptop he had brought. I would have squealed but I just settled for hugging him when he came back. He stilled for a moment before he chucked nervously and patted my back in an awkward way.

The movie was something I had been waiting to watch for a very long time. I waited anxiously for the movie to start and I almost cried happy tears when an amused chuckle sounded from him making me turn and face him.

“What?” I asked in confusion but he just sent me an amused smile

“You look like you’ve been given the keys to heaven.” He said and my cheeks instantly flamed in embarrassment. We settled back into watching the movie and when it got so heated, I felt his hand intertwine with mine and I froze.

“Relax, your hands are shaking.” He shrugged. I tried to ignore but somehow my mind couldn’t move from the sight of his hand entwined with mine. It felt oddly nice and his hands were a bit rough but still soft and warm and for the first time it didn’t feel awkward but I felt a bit comfortable.

“Stop creating a storm out of it and watch the movie.” He scoffed at me and my cheeks reddened because he had caught me thinking about it, that sounded really creepy but it was true.

I turned and looked at him; noting how crinkles formed on his forehead when he didn’t understand what happened, how his eyes lit up when he saw something cool, how his lips would curve to the right to form a perfect smirk and his eyes turned a shade darker when he looked at me, how—wait, what? I blinked and found him smirking at me, I was caught staring and for once I was mortified but I wondered how he made his eyebrows look so perfect and how he looked so good, was that even legal?

“You should take a picture, it lasts longer.” I could actually hear the smug in his voice.

“There’s something wrong with my chocolate, this never happened before.” I mumbled to myself trying to find a good explanation to it because noticing that about my best friend is never a good sign.

“Maybe it’s the drugs?” he offered and I turned to him. Yeah maybe it is—wait, how did he---

“You spoke out loud” he answered my mental question. Ooh, I did?

“Yup.” He answered popping the ‘p’. I should really stop talking out look, I know by now I look like I’m crazy.

“You definitely are munchkins” he said; his voice full of humour and amusement. I looked at him, my mouth probably on the floor.

“That’s the worst nickname ever” I muttered, still shocked that he knew such a word.

“Okay, then how about Princess, it suits you. That or Sweetheart.” He shrugged, thinking that it was a good choice but I only scoffed at him; none of those names were good enough but I prefer princess over sweetheart.

“Good, princess it is.” He exclaimed like a person who just discovered the cure for cancer. He looked comical and I found myself chuckling at the sight. I felt tired and really wanted to sleep. I felt the covers being raised to cover my whole body before the laptop was taken from my laps. The last thing I saw before I succumbed to sleep were a pair of bright green eyes that held a certain emotion I couldn’t comprehend. They looked a lot like the green eyes I often saw and for a minute I wondered if it was possible before I decided against it, I couldn’t possibly be Ash.

“Goodnight princess, soon all this will be over and we’ll finally let our true selves show.” He whispered in my ear in a soft velvety voice before sleep finally won me over. My mind was reeling all this information and I hoped to ask him what he meant when I saw him in the morning.

CHAPTER TWELVE

“You have to start training as soon as you’re out of here. We can’t let you rely solely on Dusk because you won’t even rely on your instincts. Dusk was created when you were born, there are some things she’s not aware of but you need to know everything if you want to survive.” Dad roared at me; his anger was evident and that fuelled my defiance even more. I’ve never had this urge to defy my parents’ wishes especially dad but hell, it felt great.

 “Are you trying to punish me? You know, heck everyone who knows me knows I can’t even run to save my life. I was and I still am not fit to do anything on my own. My answer still stands, I won’t train; not now, not ever.” I huffed.

 My dad stared at me; damn, if he was a cartoon character his face would be boiling red right now and steam would have been coming from his ears. That would have been a comical sight to see.

 “Ashton, talk to her and try to make her see our view. I’ve never seen her this way before but I don’t like it.” He muttered the last part under his breath but I heard. He huffed and angrily walked out of the room. Silence followed; everyone afraid to address the elephant in the room.

“I’ll just go talk to him and make sure he’s okay. See you kids tomorrow. I’ll be here by ten to pick you up Chloe.” Mom spoke up before she hurriedly left, not waiting for a response.

It’s been three weeks since I was brought to this place; I’m not sure if it’s a hospital since the nurses don’t wear uniform and I have never felt a stronger urge to go home than I had been feeling since I made a fool of myself last week.

You didn’t hear what happened? Well, too bad because I’m not telling. I looked at Ash but he was looking at everything but me, it felt like the plain pale-blue walls were more interesting than me which made me sigh in defeat,

 “You don’t have to be here too, you can go, I’m sure you have better things to do than stay here.” I murmured. Things between us had been awkward lately and I just didn’t want to deal with awkward right now. I honestly thought he was going to walk out but he walked round and sat at the chair next to my bed.

 “Look, I’m sorry about last week, I didn’t mean it in the wrong way when I said you were high on something. The doctor confirmed that the medication could trigger hallucinations or alter with your version of dreams and reality.” He tried to comfort me but the red tint on his ears was a tell-tale that he was supper uncomfortable talking about it, and so was I.

“Let’s just pretend it never happened because it is really weird for me.” I mumbled; ducking my head under my hands in embarrassment. In a very long time, probably a week now.

 I heard his low chuckle; “Agreed, let’s never talk about this again.” The relief in his voice was very noticeable but I couldn’t ask anything about it. “Sorry to rain on your parade but you still have to deal with this training issue with your dad. He has a point you know” he said all traces gone; damn, trust Ashton to be a real buzz kill.

 “I know, but I really hate doing anything physically, you know that.” I sighed “especially an old man who will only keep yelling at me.” I grumbled. The thought of someone yelling at me to run faster or punch harder made me cringe but Ash was only amused by this.

 “Anyone can be your instructor, even me but that’s if you want to...” he trailed of when he noticed my bright smile which I’m sure looked creepy as hell.

“I’d pick you over a grumpy and shouting man anytime” I exclaimed happily, that was the second greatest news I’ve heard the whole day.

“What’s the first?” ash asked, amusement dancing in his eyes and his tone.

“What?” I asked, startled by his question.

“You said me being your instructor is the second best thing, I want to know the first.” He answered curiously.

Crap, I said that aloud again,

“and you’re doing it again.” He added, trying to smother a smile.

“Sorry, I tend to do that sometimes.” I tried to chuckle but I was sure it came out more like a croak. “By the way, how is school?” I tried to change the subject and it worked when he looked at me like I was demented. “What?” I was getting scared and confused, what if I had been here longer than three weeks?

Ashton’s sudden laughter brought me from my thoughts and I looked at him like he was crazy; “What’s so funny?” I asked again but he could only show me his phone where there was a photo of the four of us.

My face heat up in embarrassment when I saw the photo of me, Ash, Sapph and Emma with our graduating gowns on and goofy smiles, well I  was the only one with a goofy smile, Ash and Sapph were staring at each other while Em was looking at something behind us, a small frown was visible on her face. So we were done with high school? How could I not remember?

“I think being punched, a concussion and being shot are very good reasons to forget.” Ashton answered for me. I looked at him quizzically. Is he psychic?

“Spoke out loud…” he trailed off as if he was explaining to a small child. I could only groan before I found new interest in Ash’s photos, there were so many pictures of us, when we were all together; at my house, at school and some at the park. We were always smiling and no one could tell that one of us was a back-stabbing bitch, the other would go missing, the other ending up in hospital and the final one would be heartbroken; we all looked like we were enjoying each other’s company.

 “Any news on Emma?” I suddenly asked throwing him off-guard before his face fell and I knew the answer was no even before he spoke it. I really missed her, but I wouldn’t rest until found her.

“Finally! I am home!” I cried out in happiness when mom opened the door and ushered us in. I had missed my home and it was the best form of comfort for me especially now that Emma wasn’t here with me. Thinking of Emma dampened my mood and I found myself sulking.

“Would you like me to search for any possible sightings of Emma?” A robotic voice echoed in my voice and I would have jumped if it wasn’t for the fact that I knew it was Dusk.

‘Where have you been?’ I mentally inquired knowing that I hadn’t heard from it since my birthday.

“I was inactive since you were recuperating. I am only active if you are conscious.” She answered immediately.

‘Can you locate her?’ I asked curiously; hope was starting to build in me and maybe for once I could save the day.

“Searching any possible last location for Emma Brentwood.” Dusk announced and I let her do her work. I turned to find everyone staring at me.

“What?” I asked, confused as to why everyone was staring.

“Your father said that your training starts tomorrow. What do you think?” Ashton spoke up trying to break the silence. So my torture was to start tomorrow, I wonder how it will work out because I’m completely hopeless when it comes to physical fitness.

“No you’re not, plus, you have Dusk’s enhanced strength and speed.” Mom countered as if she red my mind.

“You spoke out loud.” Ash clarified it to me and I lowered my reddened face to look at the floor. This was so embarrassing.

“Are you okay with tomorrow or do you need some time?” Dad asked, speaking up for the first time since we arrived.

“Tomorrow’s fine, I might as well get it over with.” I muttered, thinking of the dark times in form of training sessions that lay ahead.

“Great, Ashton will be here to pick you up at ten, be ready.” He said before walking off in the direction of his office. Yeah my dad had an office at home that was not in his bedroom and was always locked, whether or not he was in it.

“I’ll go and make something to eat, you guys can go ahead to your room, I’m sure you have a lot to catch up on.” Mom commented before she walked off to the kitchen.

“Let’s go, there’s something I need to tell you.” Ash whispered in my ear before he walked of and started ascending the stairs. I followed but not too fast because it still hurts a bit when I walk or run which makes me wonder how I will survive training for the rest of tomorrow. I walked into my room and found it sparkling clean and not like the way we left it on that day. Ash was sat on my spin chair and was twirling round waiting for me.

“So, tell me.” I almost cheered. He pointed behind me and I turned to find nothing there but the door. I turned back to him; my eyes silently asking my question and he motioned for me to close the door and take a seat on my bed. “I’m getting impatient here, what is it?” I complained.

He looked hesitant at first then opened his mouth. I waited anxiously but nothing came out. I was about to say something stupid as usual but he beat me to it; “This is hard to say especially for me but I have to. We believe that Sapph was put here as a mission to get close to you and when the time was right, to deliver you to them. We figured that she was…..she was never our friend to begin with and she gave them inside information” he said the last part in a low tone that was full of so much hurt I would have cried; too bad am not that much of a sentimental person. The news was shocking but it somehow wasn’t surprising.

“Sorry but in a way I’m not surprised; I figured it couldn’t have been the photo that made her to sell us out and even if it was, then how did she contact them? I feel bad that we all trusted the wrong person.” I said in a low tone. Despite the snarky comments she sometimes threw at me, I still loved her bubbly and cheery attitude.

Ash suddenly laughed and I looked at him with furrowed brows, “I just remembered how Le—he almost chew my head off because I let my guard down. He likes you—to keep everything perfect. He hates surprises.” He was stiff, and he looked tensed by the time he finished fumbling with his sentence. It was almost comical despite the fact that he was keeping something from me.

“You can relax; I know you’re talking about Leo. Tell me about him.” I let a reassuring smile slide from my lips and he relaxed for a minute before he went rigid again.

“How do you know him?” he looked at me and I could almost taste his curiosity but hesitation in his voice.

“You spoke about him on my birthday and the name just stuck.” I explained and watched as he relaxed and his lips curved into a lazy smile.

“He’s great, probably the greatest person I know, though he’s really moody and arrogant but he’s the only person I can ever rely on—apart from you of course.” He rectified, making me laugh.

We spent the rest of the morning talking about his adventures with Leo and how Leo would mess up sometimes and he had to save him.

It was fun until Dusk’s voice interrupted our moment “Chloe, I have failed to locate Emma’s last location, the GPS bounces off different locations and is in constant loop. It will take a lot of time to decipher the correct address.” All the laughter died in my throat when I heard that and I lost almost all the hope I had built. This was not looking good but I couldn’t give up, not when I at least had a lead on something. However long it was going to take, I couldn’t give up; I just had to be patient and wait. 

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

 

Four months. Four very long, tiring and excruciatingly painful months have gone by without any news about Emma, it’s like she vanished from the earth. I was almost done with training and yet everyone still treated me like a child.

Well, everyone apart from Ashton.

I hated being in the house without anything to do and usually Ash would sneak out with me to go to the arcade or the cinema but today he was busy and I was left on my own to die of boredom. My dad was afraid that we would be attacked any time especially if I was out on my own but I always tried to tell him it wouldn’t happen and besides, I was able to take care of myself but it was I was talking to a programed robot and he never took my advice. Today he would have to ground me further because there’s no way I was going to stay in this big empty house on my own.

I quickly put on my signature combat jeans, a black top and a black hoodie to match perfectly with my combat boots. Watch out night life, Chloe’s on a roll today; I smirked to myself as I walked out of the room.

It was a bit chilly since it was the beginning of fall but I didn’t care that much. I pulled the hood over my head and walked over towards the road. I figured I could just walk to the movie centre, check out cool movies, buy some then come back home to watch them. I walked quickly, head low and I avoided any eye contact with strangers since it could be risky.

I was lucky enough to reach my destination and I headed straight to the back corner where they stored the supernatural fantasy and action movies. My eyes landed on a new movie that I had not quite seen before. I reached out and as I picked it up, another hand also picked up the same movie.

 “Sorry,” we said simultaneously and then both of us let go of it at the same time making it clutter to the floor.

“My fault,” we both called out simultaneously and I felt my cheeks heat up as the guy chuckled. Wow, I really was on a roll to embarrass myself.

“It’s cool.” He said in a casual tone but I had not yet recovered from staring at his beautiful hair and hazel eyes. “Take a picture sweetheart” he commented, his voice full of amusement.

My eyes widened in horror as I realized I had been caught staring. Oh my goodness!

“I know you don’t remember me but I’m Reece, we went to school together, you’re Chloe right?” he tried to start a conversation and all I could do was nod. What was wrong with me?

“Well, for once someone is speechless after meeting me. Am I that ugly?” he tried to make a joke again and this time I smiled at him.

 “Quite the opposite actually, but I don’t to feed your ego now do we?” I countered sassily making him laugh.

I was about to say something when my phone vibrated and I excused myself. I checked my phone to find a text from an unknown number

 Meet me at the corner one block from the movie centre, we need to talk. E.

I stared at the E at the end and kept wondering if it was a trap or if it was really her

Prove it is really you. C.

Who else would know that you hate being home alone? E.

Creepy stalkers perhaps C.

In sophomore year, you had a crush on Ash then he said you’re like a sister and you cried all night while watching The Vow. I don’t have a lot of time so hurry. E

I stared at the last message and I knew for sure it was her because she was there and that was the only time I watched a romantic movie. I put my phone back and decided to meet her. I checked out my movie and walked towards where she was. I stepped into the dark corner and braced myself for any trap.

“I really didn’t think you would come.” A voice that I could never forget called back. I stilled for a moment to make sure it really was her.

“Where have you been? You just disappeared without a warning. I’ve been so worried.” I started to rant off and she just chuckled at me.

“It’s good to see you too, alive and well healed. I used to check up on you but no one ever saw me.” She shrugged like it was nothing. “We need to talk but not here, I’m not safe and I can’t be around you guys until everything I’m dealing with blows over. I’ll call you and tell you when to come.” She explained as she gave me a quick hug and slipped something into my hand. I was still absorbing all this information that seemed to be a lot for me.

“I really miss you bff and I’ll see you soon, I promise.” She smiled at me and felt myself smile in return.

“Don’t disappear like that again, I almost died of worry.” I scolded her like a little kid and she just giggled like it was nothing.

“Don’t tell anyone apart from Ash and make him promise that he won’t tell. I’ll call you” she said as she started walking away and she was almost out of sight when I remembered something very important.

“Em, could you uh—give me a lift back home. Mom’s almost home and I won’t make it on time if I walk back.” I explained making her smile at me.

“Sure, hop on and I’ll drive you back.” She replied and I didn’t wait to be told twice. All though the drive, I kept looking at her like it was a dream; like she wasn’t real and I would wake up any time and realize that I was just dreaming.

I wished I was like her; she was so badass and so cool and she had a car…

“You think I’m badass and cool?” Emma’s amused voice broke me from my thoughts and I frowned.

“I said it aloud didn’t I?” I asked, angry and embarrassed at myself but Em only laughed at me. I was about to think of a comeback when she stopped the car and turned to me

“I’m sorry I can’t park at your doorstep.” She said in an apologetic tone and I could hear her sincerity in her voice and I nodded before hugging her for the last time and stepped out of the car. I watched her reverse then drive off in the direction that we just came from before slowly making my way to our house.

The first sign that gave it away was the light that was turned on, I never left the lights on which only meant one thing, someone was home. I held my breath and prepared myself for the lecture I was going to get for leaving the house alone but when I walked in, the sight that I was met with was scary; the house was a mess and everything had been turned upside down. Someone was here and they were looking for something. I tried to make my way through the sea of people who were doing who-knows-what to find my parents.

“Chloe!!” I heard mom’s shrill voice which happens only if she had been crying and turned around in time to be enveloped in a tight hug.

“I’m so glad you are okay, I thought they took you. Where were you? Didn’t your father tell you not to leave the house?” she tried to scold me but I could hear the relief in her voice.

“I just stepped out for a few minutes to get a new movie.” I explained and waved the movie so that she could see I was telling the truth.

“Okay, I’ll just call your father and tell him you are here. Ash is in your room, I think you should go and see him.” She said in a weird tone and was gone before I could even ask what she was trying to say but I followed her advice and went to find him.

“Hey buddy, what’s up?” I asked in a casual tone but I was quickly enveloped in a hug

“God, you scared the hell out of me. I thought they took you and it would have been my fault.” Ash rambled on and I resisted the urge to laugh,

“Come on, you know I don’t go down that easily. Lighten up, I’m here now.” I assured him and he seemed to relax at that but hadn’t yet decided to release me from the hug making it feel really awkward but he didn’t need to know that now. I awkwardly pat his back and cleared my throat. His body tensed and he quickly let go of me; the tip of his ears turned a noticeable shade of pink and I refrained from laughing.

“Uh, sorry about that. I kind of got carried away there” he murmured and looked at everything but me.

“It’s okay, I think your mortification covers up for that.” I chuckled and pointed to his ears making him scowl and cover his ears which I suspected were even redder than before.

“So where were you?” he questioned as he plopped himself on my bed and motioned for me to follow him which I gladly did.

“I went to look for a new released movie and run into some cute guy that apparently went to our school with us but I can’t even remember.” I shrugged like it was normal for me to experience that. Ash looked at me and I could practically see the amusement and curiosity in his eyes so I continued with my exaggerated story and he occasionally laughed when I told him something stupid before he finally went quiet and looked thoughtful for a moment before he turned to me. Oh no, I knew that look.

“What was this guy’s name again?” he asked and I could decipher some humour in his eyes. It was like he had just realized something.

“He said his name was Reece,” I answered cautiously and I watched in complete confusion as he threw his head back and laughed at me “What?” I asked curiously, did he know the guy I was talking about or did he just go mental.

“And you’re saying he kissed you and that he professed his undying love for you after being an arrogant jerk?” he asked in between laughs and I started growing weary of him.

“Yes, now will you tell me what’s so funny about that?” I ranted, exasperated that he was laughing alone.

“Chloe, the only Reece that was in our year and fits your description perfectly is Reece Mathews and you do know that Reece was gay.” He explained and I looked at him in confusion, I was still not getting it.

“Remember in junior year there was a guy that kept following me and saying that he was gay, proud and seriously in love with me so we should ‘totally hook up’ and you guys always made fun of me” he paused and waited for me to remember. How could I forget that, we always made fun of him and he would avoid us for hours pretending that he was mad at us. I nodded and he smiled at me.

“That boy was Reece Mathews and I’m very sure he’s still gay.” He commented laughing at my horrified face. I can’t believe that my story was that easily undone. As we sat there quietly, I remembered something and which made me sit up abruptly and that attracted Ash’s attention to me.

“I forgot to tell you something. Promise you won’t tell anyone first.” I stated and waited for him to declare his promise before uttering the words that made all colour drain from his face “I talked to Emma.” 

 

^^^^^

I watched them on her window. I was late to the scene today and they almost ate me alive. Today was not my night; first I was late, then I let her out of my sight for two damn minutes to get coffee and she disappears and the house is tarnished and now I have to sit here in the cold and watch as the idiot laughs with her like she’s so funny.

I know she’s a pampered girl who gets anything she wants and is darn good at using her pity story to get what she wants, is stubborn and really loves attention. I could have been at home right now, keeping warm and perhaps with a girl or two in my arms but no, I have to sit here and watch the idiot stare at her with googly eyes.

I mean, even a blind man can see he’s in love with her especially after his reaction during her birthday, the way he was concerned that she wasn’t there on time but he lied and said he liked the bratty and shrieking siren that always had a fake happy face on that even I could see from a mile away. I wanted to see if she felt anything for him at the hospital but she was too difficult to read.

I hate this life and if I really could, I would trade it all for a normal life; no hiding behind stupid bushes, no more being called names that don’t fucking suit me and most of all, no more being second to him. Too bad I have to stay here and watch from outside this freaking window. Family business and legacy has to come first and as much as I hate it, I have no option.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

 

I stared at the phone on one hand and the crumpled paper on the other, thinking of what to do with both of them.

“Just make up your mind already, I’m getting really anxious right now.” Ashton complained and I sighed. I really didn’t know what to do and I was contemplating either calling her or unravelling what’s behind that stupid piece of paper. The paper was yanked from me and I looked to find Ash holding it in his hand.

“Let’s check the paper first then call her so that we’ll understand, for all we know it might be a clue or something.” He explained. Why didn’t I think of that first, I nodded and he undid the paper to find a message. His eyes quickly scanned the contents before he chuckled then handed it to me

Wait for a week before meeting me at the spot we first hang out. Your phone is bugged so don’t bother calling. Bring Ash along or I’m sure he’ll be in trouble if he lost you again. Be patient young one momma will see you soon ;)

That was all it said, no address no new number, no nothing. This was so CIA style I almost laughed at her. I looked at Ash who seemed to be thinking of something and I couldn’t help but admire in a platonic kind.

I’m sure his future girl will really be lucky to have a really good looking guy with strong and manly features not to mention his honesty, loyalty and sincerity.

He’s a really amazing guy.

 “I know I’m good looking and all but your stare is kind of creepy.” Ash voiced out and I immediately cringed.

I take that back, he’s definitely not an amazing guy.

That was not really why I was staring,

“Then why were you staring?” he asked, his voice full of amusement. I snapped my head up at him with wide eyes before a brilliant thought crossed my mind.

“There’s something on your face.” I lied smoothly, he looked puzzled for a moment before I pointed at his forehead,

“I think it’s a bug or something, it’s moving” I added making him smack his forehead without question. “That was a great face palm, maybe next time you’ll face plant?” I sniggered at him and he narrowed his eyes at me,

“Well played Jade, I’ll get you next time.” He countered in fake anger and I laughed at him. Next time will never happen; I would make sure of that.

I was really starting to hate my life; I felt pathetic and inferior and lonely; all the emotions I never told anyone, not even Ash. All my friends were people who answered to my father and they have a duty to make sure I was safe and the one I called my best friend was nowhere to be seen and I had to wait for a week so that we could meet up briefly.

I was sure that meeting would not be one to catch up from where we last left off because she was tangled up in stuff that could get her killed or something much worse. At this moment, I would give anything to just be a normal girl who was waiting to go to one of the good or at least a decent university and was probably working at a boutique or at a restaurant as a waitress, meet new guys who would either be jerks or future boyfriend material but instead, I’m stuck here hiding from psychopaths who want to open up my head and take a stupid chip which has kept me alive for eighteen years and I didn’t even know it existed.

I know I’m ranting, thank God it’s all in my head, literally or I wouldn’t hear the end of this. I just wish I could get out of this stupid talk and get some strawberry ripple ice cream or a big glass of cold vanilla milkshake because I was dying of heat.

I was still thinking about the sweetness of the milkshake when my name accompanied by snapping of fingers shook me from my sweet thoughts. “You haven’t heard a word we said have you?” Dad asked, his tone was firm and reprimanding.

“I’m sorry, I was really thirsty and it’s really hot in here.” I mumbled innocently, I felt like a child being scolded for doing wrong but it really wasn’t my fault, I just can’t help myself with all these thoughts these days.

“See, you’re doing it again.” Dad’s almost angry voice rang out and I immediately snapped back to reality. “I’m trying to go through the safety procedures with you but you’re not even listening. It’s your life we’re talking about here and I’m really tired of repeating the same thing.” He continued. My mom was about to talk but he wasn’t finished yet; “I want you to take responsibility of keeping you safe but you can’t even pay attention to the procedures. All I want from you is two darn hours so that you can know what to do when but you are not even interested. Why are you being like this, you were never this defiant nor were you this careless. I should have taken the other option because I’m sick of this childishness and if you don’t pull yourself together…” he didn’t finish but I heard what he meant and I wanted to finish his sentence for him.

“You’ll what, you’ll take the chip back or you’ll take me back? You haven’t put yourself in my situation for a minute and see what I’m going through. I don’t have friends except Ashton who still answers to you, I’m not allowed to go out of my own house, and I’m not even allowed to interact with people because it’s not safe. Everyone treats me like I’m either stupid or am too fragile. I’m sick of being told what to do with my life so I will be taking charge of it. Don’t worry dad, you don’t have to put up with me anymore.” I drawled out the word ‘dad’ and scoffed out the last part before standing up and walking to my room. I caught my mom and Ash’s shocked faces but I ignored it.

 I faintly heard my mom speak but I couldn’t make out the words. I was tired of how they treated me and I was going to go out to the world on my own. I locked the door to my room and walked over to my bed where I snuggled into the cold sheets and replayed my words.

I know I was a bit harsh to him but I was hurt, he only thought about his feelings and did not even consider how I was feeling.

“Chloe, can I come in?” Ash’s voice rang out and I considered ignoring him before I remembered that he was my only available best friend so I grudgingly opened the door for him. He looked sad but I didn’t let my eyes linger on his face for long before I dropped them.

“Are you okay?” he asked softly and I sighed, at least he cared enough to check up on me. I tried to smile but I’m sure I came out as a grimace.

“I’ll live, I’m just thinking of what I’ll do tomorrow.” He stared at me for a moment like he was studying me.

“He didn’t mean it you know, he’s been going through a lot lately and it looks like the stress was getting to him.” He tried to explain but I didn’t really want to hear it.

“He meant it, you don’t have to defend him and I get it. This is too much responsibility to a person that’s not really your child. I don’t want to be anyone’s responsibility except my own.” I explained myself and shook my head when he wanted to argue with me. I texted the number which Emma had called me with and asked her to get me a new passport and she told me she’d get me one. I didn’t tell anyone because I didn’t want anyone to know what I was planning.

“What are you planning?” he asked, his tone had a slight warning and I snapped my head up at him, wide-eyed. Of all the times I spoke out loud, now was not really a good time. “Chloe, don’t you dare lie to me because you’ll make me really mad.” He warned and I gave up searching the bundle of lies in my head for a perfect one.

“I’m leaving tomorrow after we meet with Emma, I want to move to a new country, get a new job and try to live a normal life. I’m sick of being cooped up in here with nothing to do. I need to get away Ash, I really do.” I mumbled out the last part and willed myself not to breakdown in front of him, not again.

He walked over to where I stood and gave me a tight, warm hug that I happily accepted, “I get it and I promise I won’t tell anyone, not even your parents but you have to promise me that you’ll keep in-touch and you’ll stay safe. I need you to promise me that.” He commanded lightly and I nodded my head eagerly. 

“Are you sure this is the place? Maybe we got it wrong?” ash commented for the millionth time and I felt my wrist curl into a fist but I resisted the urge to hit him.

“We met here for the first time four years ago in 9th grade when she was having trouble with her phone and asked to borrow mine so that she could meet up with her friend. We got talking and before we knew it we were best friends.” I explained through gritted teeth, he must have noticed my irritation because he just shrugged and took out his phone.

We stayed silent for a few more moments watching as the kids played at the park opposite our bench. It was a warm afternoon and we sat at a bench and waited for Emma to come. Chances of her coming were growing thinner by the minute and I even considered the option of going back home and forgetting it and I was about to voice out my thoughts when a grey Nisan GTR stopped in front of us and the passenger door opened to reveal Emma who looked irritated as hell.

“Get in, it’s not safe and we’re out of time.” She rushed out the words and we didn’t wait to be told twice with Ash in the passenger seat and I in the back seat.

“I knew you were my best friend for a reason, this is my dream car.” Ash remarked with a giddy smile and Em and I shared a smile. A black double cab truck appeared behind us and Em cursed out loud.

“Who are those guys?” I asked, dreading one name but still curious about it. Em was quiet for a moment but the look in her eyes told me that she was intimidated by these guys.

“They are called SEAL labs and they want the chip.” She sighed but I was confused,

“Why are they after you, I mean I have the chip.” and her face morphed into one of fear, wait, was she afraid of telling me?

“I just found out something and I’m not so sure how you’ll react.” She explained slowly, earning both my and Ash’s attention.

“Spit it out already, it can’t get worse than that.” Ash tried to encourage her and she nodded.

“I also have a chip.” She stated before meeting my eyes briefly through the mirror. “I’m your fraternal twin Chloe, we were separated at birth.” She explained. I’m pretty sure my jaw was on the floor now and Ashton looked just as shocked as I was. No one spoke for a few minutes as we let the information sink.

“Ho—how? I never knew that I had a sister.” I commented in a low tone.

“No one knew about me, and the lab where we were born kept me and never told your father. They created a replica of your chip but I didn’t get the control once I turned 18. That’s why they want me because they can control me and can use my chip to replicate others.” She concluded her story and waited for us to react.

“Well, I’m glad I have you as a sister, you were basically one but now it’s better that we’re related by blood.” I sent a smile her way wand I saw her visibly relax.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

^^^^^

“You girls need to find a way to get out of this vehicle before they start shooting.” I chose to break the silence that had enveloped us. No one had formed a reply before bullets started flying our direction and hit our car a few times.

“You just had to jinx it didn’t you.” Emma shot out almost immediately but I only sent her a smile. I had missed her snarky remarks. “Which road has the biggest rate of traffic jam right now?” Emma asked making Chloe turn to her briefly before answering.

“If we take the north lane we’re likely to get stuck in traffic but its fast enough that they can’t get out looking for us.” She explained to which Emma only nodded and stepped on the gas making the vehicle to fly. Sure enough, we got stuck in traffic and Emma smiled before turning to Chloe, no doubt she wanted to show off something.

“Feres, activate camouflage mode.” I almost laughed at Chloe’s dumbfounded look as the car changed from a cool Nisan to an ugly looking beetle.

“Camouflage mode activated.” We watched silently as the truck appeared behind us for a few seconds before it took a turn to one of the subways.

“Don’t forget to keep in touch, I need to know that you are okay and let me know when you’re in danger. That applies to both of you.” I found myself saying it again, probably for the hundredth time.

“Yes dad, we heard you the first three times you told us and it’s not like you don’t know where we’re going and you can visit any time, especially on weekends.” Emma explained and I felt a satisfied smile form on my face.

“I promise no one else will know and just keep in-touch.” I said. In reality, I was afraid I would lose them but I didn’t let anyone know that. They both took turns to hug me before they jumped in and drove away to their new life.

As I watched them drive away, my heart fell to my chest, I missed her already but there were other matters to take care of, far more important than what I was feeling. I placed the phone to my ear and listened as it rang,

“What?!”

I had to chuckle before responding “Always so rude, anyway, I wanted to tell you that they are on their way. Chloe and Emma are headed to the new location and I know it’s time you got your free life back.” I explained but he only let out a bitter chuckle.

“Free? How is it free when I’m still confined under your and her shadow?”

“You get to go to college like a normal person, get a temporary job and a life. It’s pointless telling you this but you know your orders, I was just informing you what I have to.” I said before the line went dead.

I wondered why he was always so grumpy, what was it that was eating him up and he couldn’t tell me. I finally walked up the stairs and let myself into the large McJaeger house where Mr Elroy was waiting for me patiently in the living room.

“They are gone, they took the passport and new identities and they headed off to the direction we wanted sir.” I explained calmly and watched as his face broke into a contented smile.

“At least we know they are safe. Did Chloe buy the story?” he asked a bit hopefully making me smile at the memory

 “Yes sir,”

“Good. Have Jared fly there too and enrol into their school too. Give him a believable cover story.” He carried on and I almost groaned, why not me? But I didn’t dare say it out loud.

“Sir, do you think it’s a good idea to let Jared go, after all, the girls were not in good terms with him.” I tried to shed some light on that situation but his eyes only hardened.

“Make sure you handle that, Chloe needs someone who’s well aware of the technology around like Jared, I know you prefer yourself to go instead of him but I need you to manage one of the most important missions ever. You’re the only one capable of that and you’re the only one who I trust enough.” He explained and as much as I wanted to argue, I couldn’t disobey the orders given. I nodded and walked out of the room.

I needed enough rest before going through the trouble of convincing Jared that he was going away too. I stopped by Chloe’s room on my way to mine and decided to venture in and see what she left. Maybe I would uncover secrets or something I can tease her about. I went through her drawers secretly wishing I could hear her mortified voice at the door screaming at me to get out of her room but too bad fate was really against me because I found nothing useful and she didn’t come to yell at me even though I know the latter was really impossible. However, as I was exiting her room, I came across something really useful to me, something that I can use to make fun of her; a single thing that made me feel like the most powerful tease she had ever met. Chloe Jade, prepare to meet your new embarrassment.

The next few weeks were probably the worst times because I never got a chance to relax; it was always ‘Ashton look at this’ or ‘Ashton take care of that’ or ‘Ashton these files need to be corrected’. I almost quit.., who was I kidding, I could never quit because there’s no out once you’re in. I never got a chance to hear if the girls settled in comfortably at their new home.

To be completely honest, despite being busy, I was extremely bored without three of the most important people in my life. I heard that they all joined university and had part time jobs even though the organization could sustain them and provide for their every need, it beat me why they wanted to earn on their own. As for me, all chances of normal flew out of the window once they were gone; there was no reason for me to go to school or to try to even fit in as a normal teenager, hell I was rarely out in the open and to most people it’s like I vanished completely from the face of the earth. I didn’t mind anyway because I hated school and I liked my work, as weird as it sounds.

I wanted to see the girls again or at least talk to them again but Mr Elroy said it wasn’t the time yet and it looked like Chloe was thinking the same because they never tried to contact me, not even once; that or they completely forgot I existed but I chose to believe the former was the right option.

“Look alive son, maybe you’ll get a new partner among the new recruits, or maybe even a girlfriend if you’re lucky enough.” Mr Elroy teased me but I only chuckled in response. Nothing could ever replace them in my life but they didn’t need to know that because they’ll never let me live it down.

With a deep sigh, I walked towards one of the trucks that the rookies were in and opened the back door. I was met with at least fifteen curious pairs of eyes, a couple of familiar faces but there’s one familiar smirk I will never forget but I’m relieved it was him.

“I knew you were some form of spy, at least you’re cool.” Reece murmured more to himself but I think everyone clearly heard him.

“Well, at least you took a step in the right direction. Welcome to the club man.” I extended my hand and he shook it in a firm grip. A throat was cleared and we both turned to the other expecting teenagers.

“Hello everyone, sorry about that; I was just too happy to see him here. I’m Ashton but you can call me Ash, I’ll be one of your trainers. One of you will be lucky enough to be my partner if the higher-ups deem you good enough but we have to prepare for the bigger cause here. So, how about we step out of the truck and get started.” I tried to minimize my words but from the corner of my eye I could see Reece snickering at me which could only mean that I made a very big fool of myself. I held my head up and walked out while I still had my ego intact and led them to the rendezvous point where all trainees were to meet.

I watched them from a corner as I leaned against a wall and observed how the chatter grew as they freely socialized. I remember when I first joined the mission, the first rule my asshole of a father taught me was to never speak unless spoken to. Well I had to break that rule when I was given the assignment on Chloe. Dad wasn’t too proud of that but looking back now, I’m better off than how he wanted and I couldn’t be more proud of Leo for everything we’ve been through but we still came out on top.

“I could ask you what you’re thinking about but I know you’ll talk about her.” A familiar voice rang out behind me. I briefly turned my head and caught a glimpse of Reece in all his gay glory. I snorted at him.

“I hope you’re not going to profess your undying love for me again. It’s flattering but I don’t swing that way.” I answered but he only chuckled at me,

“relax buddy, I have a boyfriend right now and I’m happily in-love, don’t get me wrong, you’re handsome and all but I moved on bro and I think you should too.” He commented in a light tone but I could sense an undertone of seriousness underneath.

“Aren’t you too young to be in-love, I mean, we just got out of school. Don’t you have plans like university or a job to plan for?” I asked. I am honestly happy for him but I think it’s too early for love. He snorted at me before his lips curled up in his famous smirk.

“Hello pot, meet kettle. I think you should look at your situation first, don’t you think?” he replied, partly in sarcasm and partly in amusement. I was about to answer him when Mr Elroy’s voice rang out clear,

“Can I have your attention please?” the room fell silent. “Thank you, I’m Mr Elroy and I’m happy you all have joined us. You all know why you’re here, and I won’t take up much of your time since it’s already late. Your trainers will show you to your rooms, I assume you have met your trainers, if not, please confirm with the lists that are at the entrance doors where you will rest for the night and we’ll begin tomorrow. Good night everyone.” He stepped away and disappeared among the excited teenagers.

“Come on, let’s round them all up then we’ll go to the rooms.” I pushed myself off the wall and walked towards Reece who was already waiting for me and we walked towards the crowd of trainees. It was going to be a very long night.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

^^^^^

It’s been three months since I last saw them; Ash and my parents. Em and I moved to a new state and enrolled into a new university; lucky for us we were able to graduate with good grades and could score a good scholarship and imagine my surprise when we ran into Jared and found out he attended the same school and lived a few blocks from our apartment but at least he was a familiar face who could help us get used to ordinary life. He was surprisingly nice to me and apologized for what he did while we were in school and we became good friends.

 We also got jobs but it wasn’t at the same place, even I have to admit no one is that lucky but the good thing is we weren’t far from each other and the jobs have semi-decent pay that helps pay the bills. I think it was also safe to say that we made some new friends and I finally got to experience a normal teenager’s life though I have to admit it is rather boring.

 I’ve never talked to Ash since we left because of two reasons; one is that he might have forgotten about me and that scares the hell out of me and the other reason is that I never felt like it was the right time. Maybe I was just postponing the inevitable but one of these fine days I would make sure I get over it.

I was currently sitting on my bed reading a book from one of my favourite authors when I heard the front door open followed by Em’s loud voice;

“honey! I’m home!” she shouted trying to make her voice sound more masculine.

“Coming darling!” I shouted back, dramatically high before I walked out of my room and headed downstairs. I froze at the entrance when I heard a masculine voice which commented something followed by Emma’s laughter. The voice was deep in just the right way and I felt my face flush immediately. I took deep breaths trying to compose myself before I walked in with a smile plastered on my face. Em turned immediately she heard me and shot me an amused smile.

“I thought we moved from ‘darling’. It’s so old.” She complained but I only let out a snort that was most definitely not lady-like.

“Like ‘honey I’m home’ is so original.” I countered sarcastically before I caught a new face at the corner of my eye. My body went rigid and my face instantly flushed before Em broke out into full laughter and the guy snickered.

“Chloe, meet Leo Havier, he’s our new neighbour and my newest friend.” Em introduced us briefly and her tone was so smug. I turned my attention to Havier and before I could control my blabber mouth I blurted the first thing that came to my mind.

“You don’t look like a Mexican,” I covered my mouth and my face reddened. Only I can find a way to embarrass myself during an introduction. Havier only smirked at me before he found the right words to answer me,

“Very observant Chloe; I was adopted by Spanish parents so they named me Havier. Does that make sense to you or do you have another question?” he finished off with a sarcastic remark which I was so ready to sass out but Em beat me to it. Lucky him, or maybe I was the lucky one.

“Okay, as much as I enjoy the drama, the tension is too much for me to actually breathe normally.” Her comment made us both turn to glare at her but she only chuckled “Aww, you guys are so cute together with those cute little glares but keep them on and I’ll throw you both out of my house.” She cooed but her last statement was so serious that we both stopped glaring and I huffed childishly while Havier smirked at me.

As hot as he is, he really is starting to piss me off. Whoa!! What the hell? He’s not cute or hot but he’s plain ugly, both inside and out especially with those bright green eyes and those sweet-looking lips and—w-what the hell! I unconsciously widened my eyes before reality hit me and I quietly walked out to get myself a glass of water. I didn’t miss the snicker on his face as I walked away.

One day I might just die from embarrassment and I have a feeling it’s all going to be his fault. After getting a much needed glass of water and composing myself I decided to go back to my room where my book was waiting for me to bury myself in making me smile at the thought. I was so engrossed in my thoughts that I didn’t see the object blocking my view and I run into a warm wall.

“Sorry,” I mumbled and tried to side step him before I embarrassed myself even more.

“Aren’t you just adorable, why are you leaving so soon or are you intimidated by my presence?” he mused out loud so I could hear him but I only scoffed at him.

“Yeah right, if only that was possible. What could be intimidating about you anyway? Surely it couldn’t be your cute eyes or that cute face…” I trailed off, realizing what I just said before burying my face in mortification. His loud laugh made me look up at him.

“You think I’m cute? That’s new.” He took a step towards me and I took one back but with every step I took back, he took two more until I was pressed against the kitchen sink.

“I am anything but cute, make sure to remember that next time.” He breathed in my ear making my spine run ice cold despite the warmth he emitted. I could only stare at his green eyes which had completely absorbed me with their mysteriousness and also with a hint of familiarity. Had I met him somewhere? His body went still and he took a big step back, his face held confusion.

“What?” his voice came out harsh and his face darkened in anger. “What did you just ask?” he repeated himself again before taking a step towards me again.

“I’m sorry, I guess I spoke out loud.” I mumbled before trying to side-step him but his hand shot out and grabbed my arm.

“Why did you ask that?” I didn’t have an answer for him. ”Are you deaf or did you suddenly turn mute? One piece of advice though, keep your thoughts to yourself.” He muttered darkly then walked out leaving me confused, was he bipolar or was I going crazy?

‘Dusk, could you please run a check on a person called Leo Havier?’ I called on to one I know would help.

“Certainly Chloe, shall I send the results to you or would you like to hear them?” her reply was instant and it gave me a brilliant idea,

‘how about you work it through me so that I can read it first hand?’ I asked which she instantly replied with an affirmative. I rushed to my room and took my laptop where Dusk got to work.

Twenty minutes later, I had all the information I wanted; Leo Havier, lived all his life in Mexico City and moved here last month to start his university studies. Nothing was out of the ordinary and there was no way we could have met before but something inside told me otherwise. I let it go because either way it didn’t concern me and returned to the comfort of my book.

Ever since that day, Leo avoided me like the plague but he would always manage to give me a glare or a stink eye. Em never noticed and even if she did, she never spoke about it. It was always weird to be in the same room with him but most of the times I used Dusk to keep me busy, the perks of having a computer in your head.

This was it, I picked up my phone and decided to do the one thing I was supposed to do six months ago. I held my breath as I waited for him to pick up, hoping against hope that he wasn’t mad at me or worse, forgotten about me.

“Chloe, is that you?” his voice held so much joy and relief and a hint of hurt. My breath hitched and my voice got stuck in my throat but I still pushed it out.

“Hi Ash,” my voice came out breathless and squeaky but he only laughed at that and that’s all it took me to calm down, “I’ve missed you so much.” I found myself blurting out the first thought that came to me.

“It’s been so damn long, what took you so long?” he questioned playfully but the guilt that settled in me was enough to sink the titanic.

“I’m sorry; I just never thought it was the right time. What’s your excuse?” I questioned and I could hear the joy in his chuckle.

“I wanted to but I kept thinking that maybe it wasn’t the right time. Great minds think alike eh?” he joked and we both laughed. We talked for a long time with me filling him up on what’s been happening on my end while he filled me in on his end. It felt good to talk to him again and I finally had someone to talk to whenever I felt like. Well—not really whenever but most nights at least I will. After what seemed like forever, we both said good night and hung up and for the first time in a very long time, I went to bed with a smile on my face.

I was sitting on a bench under a large tree and had all my focus on my book when someone cleared their throat making me look up.

“Hi, sorry but I just wanted to ask which book you were reading?” A guy with deep blue eyes and ash brown hair asked and I just stared at him.

“Sorry, you don’t look like the reading type but the book is called The Camel Club by D—“I was cut off by his excited voice,

“David Baldacci! Oh man, I love that author!” I took a moment to swallow my surprise before I looked at him. His eyes had lit up like a kid on Christmas and a genuine smile had replaced his earlier smirk making him look even better but I wouldn’t dare say it out loud.

“Wow, you actually know him.” He gave me an ‘are you serious’ look and was about to say something when I beat him to it

“Sorry, I’m not being stereotypic but you really don’t look like a book type but more like a football kind of guy.” I tried to sound as nice as possible but he still gave me a questioning brow before he straightened his face and a smirk made its way there.

“I noticed a small kind of compliment there but I’ll tell you now, I’m a book kind of guy, better yet, I’m studying English literature as my major.” He explained a smug smirk still intact and my jaw was almost at the ground.

“If you want, I can read you some of my most favourite books as we study the art of body fitting or better yet, role play of 50 shades.” He wiggled his brows and I just laughed; the nerve of this guy. I was about to give him shit when he cut me off again. Really?

”May I?” he gestured to the seat beside me and I would have said no or made up a stupid excuse if he gave me the chance to respond but he just took it that I would accept and sat down anyway, such a gentleman. Please note the high level of sarcasm.

“Name’s Lance by the way.” He introduced himself but thank God he didn’t offer me a hand shake (who knows what I would have done)

“I’m Chloe and I’m doing a major in Interior Design; just so you know.” I tried to mimic his accent but I failed miserably and he laughed at me.

Over the next few months, my friendship with Lance grew and I could tell that Em and Jared were starting to like him despite how cautious they were of him when they first met. Leo was another different case, he refused to acknowledge Lance and chose to ignore him completely. Poor guy, he often wondered what he did wrong but I just assured him that Leo was just being a douchebag.

For once; I had a normal life and it was great. I just prayed that it would always be like that but a tiny voice in my head assured me that my little bubble of happiness was going to be popped sooner than I hoped.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

 

If there is something I really despised in all my existence it would have to be someone knocking at the door at this ungodly hour. I mean, shouldn’t people be asleep in their own houses at seven in the morning especially on a Saturday; but no, whoever was at the door just couldn’t live with themselves when they thought of good old me sleeping peacefully this early and had made it their sole mission to disrupt my sweet dreams.

“Chloe! Get the damn door!” Em shouted from the bathroom and I let out a dejected sigh before getting out of bed and walking towards the door, ready to yell at the idiot who just ruined my morning.

“You know you should—” the words dried up when I came face to face with a pair of green eyes that I thought I won’t see for some time.

“Is that how you greet your best friend in the whole world, I’m hurt” he teased, amusement lacing his every word. I couldn’t talk and my mind had decided that it was probably the best time to shut down completely and for the life of me, I couldn’t form a coherent sentence.

“At least let me in, or are you currently busy, I could totally come back another time.” He commented which eventually set my mind into motion and my first instinct was to hug him. I missed him more than anything and with him here now my little normal life was complete.

“I have to admit, that hug was long overdue, not that I’m complaining or anything.” Ash murmured but made no attempt at letting go of me. My arms slid from his back as an indication that the hug was over now but he didn’t let go until I cleared my throat and his hands dropped faster than expected. Well, if that wasn’t awkward then I don’t know what it was.

“Em! Get down here now!” I called out in an unusually loud voice that made Ash flinch. Way to make an impression.

“What? Who was at the door and I really hope it wasn’t Leo because that boy should know better than to knock here at seven in the morning.” Em grumbled loud enough for us to hear but it wasn’t as amusing as the embarrassment on her face when she came down with a short skimpy towel around her wet body. The most hilarious part was when she saw Ashton’s amused face and her eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets and an embarrassed red tint covered her face and neck.

“Well, I—uh—I’ll be right back.” She murmured before rushing out of the room. I had only snickered when her voice rang out from the other room; “don’t you dare laugh Chloe, I hold your embarrassing moments in my hand and phone” that shut me up.

“I can see how much your communication skills have developed since I last saw both of you.” Ash teased him and I would have commented crudely if he gave me the chance. “Nice house, mind if I ask who Leo is?” he tried to sound stern, almost, but the humour in his eyes shone clearly.

“He’s name is Leo Havier and I think he has a crush on Em, though I’m not completely sure.” And since Em was not here at the moment I decided to take things up a notch. “I wish you’d see the googly eyes they keep sending each other and every time it looks like they want to rip each other’s clothes and devour each other.” I tried to sound disgusted but Ash’s comically wide eyes were too funny to pass up.

“That’s a bit of too much information that I didn’t have to know.” He groaned and furrowed his eyebrows like he was trying to delete a mental picture.

“Chloe Jade McJaeger! Didn’t your parents teach you not to lie to people?” Emma’s mortified voice rang through and I would have jumped at the sudden intrusion. “She’s lying, Leo’s just a friend who lives in the neighbourhood.” That was directed to Ash who simply nodded. So much for my epic story that was just discarded like I hadn’t said a thing but it was worth it while it lasted.

“Chloe, I sense a security breach—” Dusk had started speaking but was cut short when Leo burst into the house, his gaze directed straight to Ashton.

“We’ve got to go, they found us.” He stated before walking out of the house. Ash didn’t hesitate before he grabbed my arm and pulled me securely behind him as we stepped into the hallway and rushed towards the elevators.

“Shit, they’re coming up. We’ll use the staff stairs.” Leo commanded and started moving. I was still dazed and everything felt like it was right out of a Tom Cruise movie.

“Chloe, my weapon scan of the whole building shows that there are a total of eight men, two at every entry point including the kitchen, staff, front and back stairs entry points.” Dusk chose that moment to bring me out of my dazed situation.

“Wait!” we can’t go through there.” I stopped Ash who told Em and Leo to stop though Leo didn’t look too happy about it. I relayed Dusk’s information and Leo cursed loudly. It was very clear that he was beyond pissed off.

“What next?” Em finally spoke up.

“The laundry shaft. We can go out through the laundry shaft that leads to the basement which is not covered at the moment.” I just blurted out and everyone’s eyes were on me; cue the raised eyebrow.

“Come on, they’re almost here.” Leo muttered darkly and begun walking to the nearest laundry shaft.

I always thought it would be fun to slide down the laundry shaft but I never imagined it would be a drop instead of a slide and one that didn’t have a soft landing. Leo was the first one down and he landed into a trolley that was luckily almost full of dirty piles of sheets. Ashton followed then Em and finally I was last, I almost let out a scream when I thought I was going to land on the cold hard floor but thanks to Dusk, I landed with a big oomph, luckily, on my feet. From then on, I hated laundry shafts.

“Guys, I think I landed on something wet.” Em scrunched up her face and I did my best not to let the first thing that came to my mind out of my mouth. That proved easy enough when Leo sent a glare to both me and Em that effectively shut both of us up.

“My car is over there, now keep quiet and let’s get out of here.” Leo grumbled and walked stealthily towards the basement entrance where his car was. As I was about to enter into the car, I caught sight of a person I can never forget. The betrayal stung more than it should have at this point but I simply couldn’t believe I once trusted him.

“What do you mean you didn’t find them?” he shouted harshly to the other person on the other line.

“I don’t care! You idiots just let them get away; after all the planning I had done, all those nights I stayed up trailing him just went to waste. You had one freaking job but you still had to mess it up! She’ll seal with you for the disappointment.” He screamed at the other person before he threw the phone into the car and pulled his hair in frustration.

“Get in before they see us.” Leo whispered harshly and I ducked in just before Alec turned to look our side. The engine roared to life and we drove out of the basement and headed north, direction; I have no idea.

The ride was silent with me mostly staring out the window and watching as cars zoomed past ours and occasionally caught Em’s or Ashton’s curious gaze me but I didn’t care. I was really worried if there was any honest person out there who wouldn’t stab me in the back any chance they got. My trust level in friendships and humanity in general had dropped dangerously low after watching my Ex-boyfriend shout at people on the phone because they couldn’t capture me. It made me wonder if he ever cared about me at all.

“Chloe,” Ash’s voice called out to me and I half turned towards him, my mind was still distracted. “Are you okay, do you need anything?” he asked, cautiously checking to see if there was any impending outburst. Well, today was his lucky day.

“I’m fine, Ash” I calmly replied and attempted to send a small smile his way but we both knew it was fake, not to mention forced.

“We’re here, let’s go inside.” He called out softly and Em and I got out and followed him. Leo had already walked in. Leo walked in front of us at a really fast pace.

Though on the outside it looked like a deserted warehouse, it contained a cosy house inside which, according to Ash, it was our safe-house and had two bedrooms, one bathroom, a small living-room and kitchen and a gym at the basement. It was a perfect little house.

“Today you ere reckless ad you got everyone in danger.” Leo fired at Ash as soon as we all settled in the living room.

“How was them finding us my fault? I didn’t attract any attention, hell, I even rode on a us.” Ash shot back immediately in a condescending tone. The tension settled in the room like a thick fog but all I could think of was ‘what’s going on here?’

“Didn’t you hear the idiot, they’ve been trailing you all the way from England but you were too caught up in your fantasies that you didn’t check your surroundings. You’re the leader; it’s your job to be focused on the mission but you’re just stuck in a love bubble.” Leo’s voice was deadly calm and that was even scarier but I could still hear the disappointment in his voice. Suddenly, everything fell into place and I felt like the biggest fool.

Looking at the two of them standing there, ready to have a stand-off, I could clearly see the resemblance in almost everything; the same hair colour, the same eye colour though Leo’s was a shade brighter and almost the same height and build even though Leo’s skin was tanned compared to Ash.

They were brothers!

Every head turned towards me including the two brothers and I almost flinched when Leo’s cold, hard eyes met mine and he smirked; “We’re twins actually,” he shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal.

My world stopped for a moment and I almost chocked on air. I raised my eyes and met Ashton’s eyes which were heavy with guilt and remorse but for once, I didn’t care, I just wanted the truth and this looked like the best time to heart it.

“Tell me the truth, was it ever true or was it all planned? Does my father know that I’m here?” silence. “So I never had a normal life, everything here was just a lie, a plan that was so sneaky and well planned and here I was lying to myself that I was finally free. I guess the joke’s on poor ol’ me.” I let out a humourless laugh and my face held no emotion exactly the way I was feeling. Ashton’s wide eyes was confirmation enough that I was right. It was all a lie.

“Chloe, please, everything we did was to protect you. We didn’t mean to lie but there was no other option. Please understand. Em spoke for the first time and that’s all it took to spur my anger even more.

“How could you say that when they,” I paused and looked up to her guilty face. No. “You knew about this, were you in on it too or you just knew?” silence. “Wow, Em, you’re a real friend.” I spat out angrily. No words could match my fury or hurt at the moment.

Leo’s bitter laugh cut through the tense air; “princess sunshine finally got her happy bubble popped. How does it feel to step into the real world Chloe?” he bit out. His body was rigid, obviously trying to supress his anger but his eyes couldn’t hide that fact.

“What is wrong with you, I just—” I was cut off before I could finish.

“You don’t get it, do you? It’s always about you, what about everyone else; everyone who risks their lives every freaking day to protect you? What about me, and Ash and even Emma? Do you think we chose this; don’t you think we also like to have normal lives that don’t involve spending every waking moment watching some pompous princess who thinks everything revolves around her. I haven’t seen my parents since I was twelve because I have to watch you from the shadows and make sure you don’t get yourself killed or hurt physically but all you seem to think about is how everyone treats you. Grow up Chloe! This is the real world where shit happens on daily basis and people have a lot more to worry about than your silly little feelings!” he shouted. Wow.

“I’m—I’m sorry you all go through hell because of me b-but keep in mind I never asked for this and I never knew about it either.” I choked out before retreating gracefully to my room. I knew I was going to cry but I swore to myself that they’d never see my weakness.

 

^^^^^

“That was out of line.” Ash snapped as soon as Chloe disappeared and I knew it was but I was too proud to admit it. His eyes held fury but Emma seemed more disappointed than angry.

“She needed to know and I needed to get it out of my chest.” I shrugged, feigning nonchalance as I sat on the nearest couch. It was adorable how they protected the little princess but she needed to be told even though I went a bit overboard with it.

“Chloe never knew that we were her protectors, she had no idea Em was involved and you just blurted the whole thing and made her out to be the bad guy. You need to apologize to her.” Ash countered in an angry tone but that was none of my problem because we both knew I would never do anything like that. She just had to deal with it like a grown up.

^^^^^

I never left my room for the next few days except to go to the bathroom and they weren’t able to convince me otherwise. I’ll admit, Leo’s words hurt a lot but to some point, they were true; I was the sole reason why they had a life that they didn’t deserve and they could only have it when I’m not in the picture. It was time to change that and make sure that they finally got their chance at a normal life. Of course I wasn’t going to kill myself, but I will walk away, find a way to settle it once and for all.

I pinned a letter on the fridge before walking out the door. It was the best plan I had ever come up with; Em was still sleeping, Ash was in the shower and Leo had gone to the gym. I silently closed the door and fished out my phone; dialling a number I had been trying to forget.

“Chloe?” he picked up the phone on the second ring. His surprise rang clear in his voice.

“I want to talk to her, now,” I stated calmly and waited for him to regain his composure.

“What are you talking about, where are you? Do you need anything?” he sounded worried but I could tell he was just faking it. Time was ticking and I had less than a minute.

“Put Ilana on the phone or I’ll hang up and you’ll never hear from me again.” I snarled in a low tone and waited for a moment before she spoke.

“Well, this is a surprise dear daughter,” she spoke in a sultry but mocking voice.

“Cut the crap, we need to talk. Meet me at the Starbucks on 99th avenue at 2pm and come alone. I’ll be alone at the corner booth and if I see any of your puppets I’ll bail.” I explained in a rush and hung up before she could respond.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

 

^^^^^

“Em wake up!” I knocked continuously on her door and I was about to knock again when the door suddenly burst open and an angry Em stood at the door, her hair in all directions which to put it nicely looked horrible.

“What?!” she barked, yep, she was angry.”

“Chloe’s gone.” I blurted out and held out the piece of paper I found on the fridge. In an instant, all sleep had vanished from her face and confusion had taken over.

“Crap, have you talked to Leo?” she asked, trying to sound okay but I knew what she was feeling inside.

“He should be getting back now.” I muttered and as soon I said that, Leo appeared at the end of the hallway. “Emergency meeting in fifteen minutes,” I said it robotically to which he only shrugged and walked past like we didn’t exist. Sometimes I wish I could just strangle him or knock some sense into his thick head.

“I’ll take a shower now.” Em mumbled before closing the door. I sighed silently before walking to the living room and plopping down on the first couch before closing my eyes and trying to imagine how scared and stupid she must be now that she was on her own and against forces that she didn’t even know.

“If the meeting is about me apologizing to Chloe—”he started but I cut him off.

“Chloe is gone. She disappeared right after you left and I was in the shower. She left this:

 

I’ve gone to make things right, Leo was right, everyone deserves a normal life and I’m the only one keeping you from that. Don’t bother looking for me because you won’t find me and it’s probably for the best. Thank you for protecting me all this time Leo, Em and Ash; you are my best friends and I’ll always love you guys and Leo should go and visit his parents because he needs to be re-united with them.

 

Leo looked angry and the incoherent curses he muttered in a low tone were proof enough but I knew deep down he was feeling guilty because of Chloe’s letter.

“Stupid girl, she thinks it’s only her mother when there’s more enemies than she could imagine.” He cursed out loud and run his hand through his hair. Emma was silent through all this and she looked sad.

“What do we do?” she finally looked up and met my eyes.

“Leo, looks like you’re back to being behind the scenes, find her but don’t contact her, just keep an eye on her. Em and I will contact HQ and see if they can track her using the satellite.” I explained and Leo nodded once before he walked out with his hood over his head. I turned to Em who nodded and signalled to the phone. This was going to be hard.

“Ashton, this is a surprise, did you miss us already?” Mr Elroy’s voice rang through the phone and made me smile, despite how I was feeling.

“Sir, I’m afraid they found us.” I stated curtly and waited as we heard him mutter curses under his breath.

“Are the girls safe?” he asked, his voice was so full of worry that I internally cursed Chloe for this.

“Hi Mr E, we were safe” Em spoke, her voice cracking at the end.

“What happened to Chloe?” His voice came out without any emotion

“We had a bit of falling out and she knew the truth about this plan. She left and we don’t know where to. Jared tried to track her down but he couldn’t find her.”

“Okay, we’ll try to track Dusk using satellite transmission but I’m putting you on the first flight home which is in three hours. We need to re-strategize.” He said; his voice dripping with authority and we both had to answer with a faint ‘yes sir’ before he hung up.

“Well, that wasn’t as bad as I thought.” I sighed in relief and Em just nodded. She looked worried and I could tell who she was worried about. “Don’t worry, they’ll be okay, all of us will.” I assured as I pulled her into a warm hug which she eagerly reciprocated.

Two hours later, we were pulling up at the airport with our luggage and headed straight into the departure lane where we were to board our planes and checked ourselves in. this was going to be a very long flight but at least we got first class which apparently was the first one for both of us.

“Home,” Em murmured once we stepped out of the car and headed towards the HQ doors that were waiting for us. I took a deep breath, trying to find the difference between the English and the Canadian air but sadly, I didn’t find any.

“Come on,” Em held my hand and squeezed it reassuringly before pulling me towards the door. As soon as we walked into the hallway, Em faltered and she looked hesitant.

“We failed everyone. They’re going to be so disappointed with me.” She stated and sounded so genuinely scared that I had to pulled her into a hug and planted a kiss on her forehead as I rubbed her back to sooth her. It was working until a figure caught my eye and I felt Em stiffen for a second before she let go of me and I came face to face with an angry-looking Reece, he didn’t say anything but passed by without sparing us a second glance.

“Let’s go,” Em pulled me towards the opposite direction but my heart wanted to go after Reece and demand to know why he was acting like that but against my heart, I followed Em towards the big doors that led to the communication room where Mr E was at the moment.

“Good, you’re both here, any news?” Mr E asked as soon as we walked in but we just hung our heads in a negative way.

“Yeah, we couldn’t find anything. She has cloaked her signal and there’s no way we can find either her or Dusk. The signals keep bouncing off eight locations in repeat. I think we’re stuck in a loop she’s created.” He sighed and we could tell he was running out of options.

The sudden ping of a phone indicated that Em had a message and I watched as she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion for a minute before she finally looked up. She looked very hopeful for someone who’d heard bad news in the last few minutes.

“May I see those locations? I think she’s sending us an encoded message.” She said before walking closer to the big screen.

“The locations are Virginia, Idaho, Dallas, Erie, Ohio, Atlanta, Detroit and finally the middle of Atlantic Ocean. They don’t mean anything.” Mr E replied and Em just wrote them down before fumbling with the words.

“What is unique about the middle of Atlantic ocean?” she asked out loud and the scientist typed something before turning to her.

“It’s known for its exotic fish and also because it has both longitude and latitude 0.” One scientist stated and Emma’s eyes lit up even more as she continued with her work.

“I think she’s going to send a video at 1400, I don’t know how but I think you do, Mr E.” Em stated, looking hesitantly at Mr Elroy who looked a bit confused.

“How did you know that?”

“When we first became friends, Chloe and I developed a code that uses the first letter of random words to create hidden information. Normally it’s easy to figure it out but if you convert numbers to their alphabetical position, it makes the whole thing a jumble of words that have no connection.” She explained and Mr Elroy’s face broke into a wide smile, a sure sign that he was proud of her.

“Sir, it’s two o’clock, should I try to tap into Dusk’s video?” one scientist asked and he got one curt nod.

The screen lit up and one person came into clear view. They looked like they were at a public place, Starbucks to be exact but that face that was staring directly at us through the screen was utterly horrifying.

“Hello mother” Chloe’s voice rang clearly and I heard Emma gasp. This was not good.

 

^^^^^

It was almost nine in the morning that gave me plenty of time to hang out before I met her at two. I didn’t have a way to get out but I had an idea on someone who could save me and he was just one call away.

“Chloe! Thank God you’re okay! Are you okay? Where are you, I’m at your apartment and it looks like hell. Are you okay?” he rambled on and I almost found it too funny to be adorable.

“I’m fine Lance, but I need a favour, could you pick me up?”

“Sure, just text me the address and I’ll be right there.”

I sent him an address and in in less than ten minutes I was getting into his car.

“What happened?” he furrowed his brows in a confused way.

“I just need to get out of here, I’m sorry for bothering you.”

“It’s okay. That’s what friends are for right?” he tried to sound cheery but even I could tell that he was worried. “I know a great spot where you can relax but it will come out as a surprise.” He stated and cast a brief glance at me to gauge my reactions but my face remained impassive.

“Sure, but there’s somewhere I have to be at one o’clock if that’s okay with you.” I tried to sound normal but the truth was, my mind was all jumbled up and my heart wanted to change my decision even though I sadly had no choice. This time it wasn’t going to be about me. I’ll prove to them that I’m not a selfish and spoilt brat like they think.

“Sure, I’ll drive you myself.” He offered and I could only nod.

The car ride was silent as I stared out the window. The car came to a halt and I noticed we were at an apartment’s parking lot. I quizzically turned to Lance and raised a brow.

“I hope you’re not bringing me to your apartment to try and sleep with me.” I tried to maintain my impassive face but his loud guffaw made me crack a smile at him.

“You wish! I knew you were secretly in-love with me.” He commented cheekily making me roll my eyes. “Come on, as much as you want to sleep with me; which, might I add will be difficult for you, I want to introduce you to some people.” He added vaguely which greatly piqued my interest and I just had to follow him.

“Before we enter, please don’t judge me before you hear my story” he commented out of nowhere and opened the door before I could ask what he meant.

“Daddy! You’re home!” two little girls came rushing towards us and hugged Lance’s legs.

“Hi you two. Have you been good girls?” he asked, unable to hide the happiness he radiated as he squatted to get to the girls’ level and give them both hugs. “I want you to meet someone.” He stated before he scooped each of them up and turned them towards me. “This is Chloe, she’s my friend from school.” The girls turned towards me and that’s when I saw their faces. They were beautifully identical.

“She’s vewy pwetty, can we keep her?” one of the girls asked in an adorable baby voice.

“Chloe, these are my girls; Hadley and Isla. I know they look alike but Hadley has ocean blue eyes while Isla has blue-grey and that’s their only difference.” He explained and I couldn’t help but admire the pride in his voice.

“They’re beautiful.” I blurted out and he chuckled. I could tell he was nervous and was anxiously waiting for my reaction.

“Do you wanna play with us Chloe, we can share my pwetty doll.” Isla asked. I wonder how lance can ever say no to these adorable babies.

“Of course I’ll play with you.” I sounded excited and from the corner of my eye I could see Lance relax.

“You talk funny,” Hadley commented as she dragged me up the stairs and Isla dragged Lance as well. Judging from the way Lance kept glancing at me, I could tell I just passed his little test.

“Thank you for not being mean to them.” Lance said and I could tell it meant a lot to him. We had just put the girls down for their nap and we were headed for lunch since it was already half past noon. Lance cooked for us and I had to admit the food was amazing but I wasn’t in the mood considering I was about to offer my life up for the sake of everyone.

“C’mon, let’s get going or you’ll miss your appointment especially if the twins wake up.” Lance tugged my arm gently as he led me to the door. I didn’t feel ready to leave just yet but I knew how true his words were so I followed him. My heart heavier than the statue of liberty.

“Thanks for everything Lance, I’ll see you soon, yeah?” I tried to act casually but I think my nervousness seeped through my words but thankfully, he didn’t notice.

 I sipped my hot cocoa and waited as Dusk kept me up to date with my ‘appointment’ as I waited for them to arrive. My back stilled and I sat up straighter as I watched the woman walk in alone. To any outsider, she looked beautiful with her long golden-brown hair cascading down to mid-back complimenting perfectly with her black body-con that was hidden under a brown trench-coat. She looked elegant yet warm and I would have envied her if her heart wasn’t non-existent.

“Hello mother” I tried but the venom couldn’t be contained.

“Chloe. Are you here to spend time with your dear mother?” her tone was sickly sweet but I caught the sneer underneath. Too bad it didn’t affect me.

“I want to make a deal with you.” I spoke up, watching as surprise flickered through her features but it disappeared just as fast.

“Hmm, you must be very desperate to turn to me” she tapped her chin in mock thought. “Okay, I’m listening.” She conceded after I shot her an unimpressed look. I wasn’t in the mood for her attitude.

“I want you to leave my family and friends alone.” She was about to object when I lifted my finger to silence her. “In exchange, I will turn myself over to you.” I stated calmly but I could see the conflict in her eyes before a smirk took over.

“What makes you so sure that I won’t ambush you here and now?” she asked ever so smugly. I couldn’t help it, I laughed at her.

“You think I was that stupid. Trust me, I know where all your men are at the moment and if you don’t accept the deal then I’ll walk out of here and you’ll never see me again. However, I can’t say the same for you and your little minions.” I said smugly and prayed that she wouldn’t see past my bluff.

“I like you, at least I know you’re as manipulative as I am. Give me a minute to think about this outside.” She mumbled, a frown clearly etched on her features.

“Haven’t I proved to you that I’m not that naïve, if you leave here then the deal is off. You are perfectly able to make your decision now or stop wasting my time.” I sent her a smug smile and watched as annoyance flashed through her features. She thought I would fall for that. “Time’s almost up Ilana and I think my time here is done, goodbye.” I said gingerly as I went to get off my seat.

“Wait! Okay fine, you have a deal.” She mumbled, clearly not impressed with having to be forced to make a decision that fast. I smiled smugly at her. This was going better than planned.      

CHAPTER NINETEEN

 

    As I walked with Ilana to her car, I felt accomplished and for once I knew I was doing the right thing. Right before I went into the car, I caught a glimpse of a pair of green eyes and I smiled at myself, at least I knew it would surely work.

Dusk kept me on tabs that my family was still trying to find me but I instructed her to send them another coded message since I was sure that Em was able to decode it from them.

“How am I sure that this isn’t a plan to track and capture me?” Ilana asked all of a sudden. I refrained from laughing at how stupid she could be to ask such a question now.

“Do you see anyone following us? Have you seen me talking to anyone when no one can even trace where I am. I ran away from home because it’s time I started making my own decisions.” I recited it like it was from a script and from the look on her face, I could tell she was satisfied with my answer.

We pulled up at a beautiful suburban house that looked great on the outside but thanks to dusk I could already see the whole floor full of hidden weapons and an underground base that stretched over the whole place and had underground tunnels that I assumed were hidden escape routes.

“Welcome to your new home. You should be thrilled to know that we also have a new recruit who was brought in specifically to ensure your safety” she dragged the last word to let me know that I was going to get a babysitter/watcher to make sure I wouldn’t run away. How welcoming.

Once inside, she led me to a room that was the third door on the left side of the first floor and overlooked a very big backyard that had high fences to keep people from getting in or out my mind reminded me. This is what I get to call home for the next who knows how long.

  

^^^^^

“And you let her do it despite knowing how dangerous it is for her?” he roared and I watched mildly amused despite his murderous look.

“Calm down Leo, going on a rampage right now won’t improve anything” Ash tried to act as the mature one even though we all knew it wasn’t working. “Jared, any reason why you let her go ahead with this absurd idea?” he turned to me and waited expectantly but I shrugged, feigning innocence just so this charade could go on for a bit longer because it was the most fun thing I’ve done apart from hacking things. Who know the next time I get to have this fun?

“As much as this is amusing to watch, I know there is a reason why you called us here and this isn’t it.” Em finally broke the fun-argument and turned to me, efficiently getting everyone’s attention.

“Right,” I led them to the J-room which is smaller than an average room but still big enough to fit everyone and was soundproof. “You guys are her closest friends and even though she won’t be happy, you need to know the truth and help out.” I state in the most serious tone I could muster. Wordlessly, I know I have their full attention and I explain it to them quickly and give everyone places where I know they’ll be most helpful. After they fully understand what they’re supposed to do, I sighed tiredly, knowing how hard this will be. Oh well.

 “Now for the hard part, you need your flu shots.” I teased but they stared at me like I was dumb. I thought I was funny.

“Why? Are we going to an infected place?” Em asked, all innocent and clueless making me sigh, looks like Chloe was the only one who got my jokes.

“No, I was trying to light up the place. Seriously, you all need this shot though.” I said.

“We got that point Einstein, the question is why?” Leo asked impatiently making me frown at him.

“It’s called Swill. It’s a technology that uses nano-induced molecules to change the facial design and DNA temporary to provide a perfect disguise for 170 hours.” I explained in the best non-scientific way I could but they still didn’t understand me. I think their kind should come with a user manual.

“In English please.” Em exclaimed and I almost laughed at her.

“This thing changes your look for a period of 7 days and 2hrs.” I said simply and watched as they took in this information before nodding. Everyone stepped forward and accepted the fast shot to the neck. Naturally, I would have mixed it with their drinks but there was no time.

“Your IDs are on the table but you must move now. You’re expected to be someplace in less than three hours.” I told them and they walked away with a single nod. Now everything was set in motion.

“Wait! I forgot something.” I ran after them and they stop. Whoa! They already look different. “No one should know about this. Even the HQ, if they ask, just tell them you’re still searching for her though it’s hard. I’ll give you more information after three days.” I stated in a serious tone.

“Isn’t that against the HQ laws?” ah, I thought he was over the boy-scout technique, maybe not.

“It’s not if it’ll keep her alive and safe.” I stated which earned me a low growl from Leo. Geez, for a guy who says they hate Chloe, he sure is giving off different vibes. I smirked at myself at the thought. “Calm down tiger, I’m sure she’ll be in able hands.” I wiggled my brows suggestively but he only growled further. I just hope everything goes according to plan.

 

^^^^^

  It’s been three days and surprisingly everyone has been nice to me. I haven’t seen Ilana but word is that she was expecting company. I also hadn’t met my babysitter yet and I was growing anxious at that. The servants here acted like I was a vampire and would drain their blood if they came close enough. Psh, they were idiots. I also kept tabs on Jared and even though I told him my plan, only because I needed his help, I didn’t think he would be loyal enough to keep his promise and not tell the HQ. Things home were calm, despite the search on me and everyone was safe.

“Darling! I want you to meet your new guard, who will also be your closest friend here, Alex. Isn’t he handsome?” Ilana burst into my room and almost scared me to death. She was beaming and that was never a good sign. “Come on honey, look at him.” She cooed and I only looked at him for a brief second because I knew I had to. “Alex, meet my daughter, Chloe. Isn’t she a beauty?” she cooed and I almost reminded her that I didn’t consider her as my mother but I held my tongue.

“It’s very nice to meet you Chloe.” He dragged on the two words which made me look back at him. He wasn’t someone familiar but his green eyes reminded me of Leo but too bad the idiot was hot headed.

“I knew I made the right choice. You should get to know each other better and I’ll see you both at dinner.” Ilana explained in a happy tune that only made me roll my eyes at her retreating figure. I swear that woman was crazy.

Alex brushed past me and walked directly towards the mirror on the wall. And here I was thinking that at least he would be friendly and for once I would have someone to talk to.

“I’m as delusional as she is.” I mumbled lowly but not low enough since he turned to face me. His eyes held controlled anger and another emotion that I couldn’t explain.

“What was that princes? I didn’t quite get that.” He almost sneered and I felt my anger rise. Oh no, not this time.

“What’s your problem? I get that you don’t want to work for Madam C but you shouldn’t take it out on me either.” I countered in a calm tone and watched as his eyes widened before he gained control.

“You know who I am?” he asked but I only shook my head no. how does he expect me to do that?

“I don’t but from the way you looked at her, I guessed you weren’t a fan of hers.” I explained and watched as he relaxed further.

“So, from what I know, you’re her lovely daughter that has to be protected from the big bad wolves out to get her.” He smirked at me and at the moment I wanted nothing more than to wipe it off his face.

“Ha ha, it’s quite the opposite actually, you’re not my guard; you’re here to keep me from running away or from ratting her location out or better yet, from killing her in her sleep.” His smirk dropped from his face and I smirked.

“Judging from your look, I know I’m right especially since she told you to inform her of everything I do and to never leave my side.” I observed my nails like they were made from gold and watch from the corner of my eye as his brows furrow like he didn’t know that. Aww, how cute.

“Wow, that’s a lot to take in on the first day.” He chuckled and I sent him a small triumphant smile.

“Your turn.” I nodded to him to tell me more about himself.

“I never knew my parents and I need this job. It’s that simple.” He sighed and I got the feeling that there was more he didn’t want to talk about it. It’s his life anyway and he doesn’t have to tell me everything. Just like that, our conversation was over as fast as it started and we lapsed into silence each to their mind.

“Dinner’s ready and the mistress wants you in the dining area this minute.” One girl addresses us with her head bowed like she’s talking to the royals.

“Lift you head, I’m not like her.” I told her softly and watched as her head snapped up and her turquoise eyes met my hazel ones and she sent me a gentle smile which I returned wholly. “I’m Chloe,” I introduced myself and waited for her to do the same which she didn’t disappoint.

“I’m Jess.” She introduced herself and I nodded. She peaked behind me and I turned to see what she was looking at but I only saw Alex.

“Oh, that’s Alex.” I introduced him on to which she only stared. I have to admit he was very good-looking but never would I ever tell him that.

“Is he your boyfriend?” she asked in an awed voice but I only snorted.

“Alex, no, I just met him. But you can have him if you want.” I answered her and winked her. It gave me a lot of pleasure to watch her face turn a shade of darker red. Two friends in a day. This is not so bad.

“So, I’ll talk to you later, I’ve got to go before Dragon lady comes for me.” She murmured before she scurried along. 

  I called Alex over and headed towards the dining area where Ilana was seated with a frown on her face which increased the moment she saw us.

“You took too long.” She almost sounded mad but I could care less. I was about to answer her when Alex beat me to it.

“It’s my fault; I was so caught up with Chloe’s story about fifth grade that we ended up being late.” He lied so smoothly that she actually bought it.

“I’m glad you’re getting along but next time, please follow my instructions.” She smiled but I think both of us could tell it was forced. Nonetheless, we both nodded and she started talking about something but I was too busy listening to Dusk’s daily report to pay attention.

“Chloe,” I turned distractedly to Ilana only to find that she was looking at me expectantly.

“Sorry?” I asked and feigned innocence.

“I was asking you if you are excited for tomorrow’s training but clearly you’re lost in your thoughts.” Her eyes held a warning but my mind was repeating one thing

“What training?” I asked trying to hide my surprise.

“Weren’t you listening to anything I was saying? Tomorrow you’ll be starting physical training as well as testing Dusk’s abilities.” She repeated but I only stared at her like an idiot. “Teenagers these days, what were you thinking about?” she asked trying to fix a fake laugh but it was all too mechanical to be genuine.” She stared at me and I realized I had to answer.

“You really don’t want to know.” I mumbled, praying that I sounded embarrassed enough to fool the idiot.

“C’mon, don’t be shy darling.” She egged me on and I was tempted to talk about my family but judging from her looks, I know it’s not possible so I go for the next best idea. Oh well.

“I was thinking about my kiss with Alex.” I blurted and watched as her face morphed into one of pure surprise. Alex chocked on his food and burst into a coughing fit making me pat his back while praying silently that the blush on my face looks genuine enough.

“Ah, young love. He is your first love, right?” she exclaimed like a love-sick puppy. Whoa, I didn’t see this coming

“Uh…n-no. I don’t want to talk about this” I mumble and I can’t believe that for once she left me speechless.

Dinner was awkward, to put it mildly, Alex and I avoided each other’s gazes and Ilana was smirking at her food like she had done something so good. Well, if only she knew.

“If you wanted my kisses you only had to say so.” Alex smirked as we entered my room and I was about to blow a fuse if he uttered one word about what happened at dinner.

“I was faking, you idiot. I couldn’t tell her what I was actually thinking about because she would’ve been pissed.” I explained in a harsh whisper but he didn’t look the least bit convinced.

“Uh huh, you don’t have to lie to me princess, it’s written all over your face.” He shrugged like he just told me about the weather. I did a double take and almost agreed with him especially because of that cute face and those very kissable lips, not forgetting those eyes…

Wait! What the hell was I thinking!

I turned away from him.

“You see, I’m always right” he said smugly and I made sure my face was expressionless when I looked back at him.

“Why would you think so?” I tried to sound nonchalant

“You were staring then you started blushing. My only reason is because you were fantasizing about my lips and how good they would feel on yours…” he trailed off and got that far away look, his eyes were hooded. I smirked; payback.

“Uh huh, that’s why you’re fantasizing about it yourself.” I stated and enjoyed watching as his ears turned a shade of pink which could only mean that my guess was spot on.

“No, what gave you that absurd idea?” he tried to lie but we both knew it was useless.

“Uh huh, you don’t have to lie to me because it’s written all over your face and besides if you wanted my kisses that bad, you only had to say so.” I smugly threw his words back at him and walked towards my room which shared an adjoining door with his. I guess it was her way of making sure I don’t escape.

 As I got into my bed, I could only pray that the ‘training’ she was talking about wasn’t her way of killing me and hiding my body.

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Hello everyone, sorry for the delay. school's been hecktick. forgive my errors in all the above chapters; I'll edit them later when school closes. Bear with me

CHAPTER TWENTY

 

 I was a mess.

The things they’d done, ‘exercises’ they called them but they were methods of torture. They tested Dusk’s capabilities and their results pushed them even further and they did even more tests.

It’s been a month now, four weeks of pure torture. The first week I said no but they promised the needle won’t be painful and it would’ve been an easy task but what I didn’t know is that it would break me.

The second week I became stubborn and I wouldn’t cooperate but the witch promised to kill everyone I know. I told her we made a deal but she reminded me that I promised to submit myself to her. She got me there.

The third week I had to beg not to go through it again but they only laughed at my face and carried on like I was some lab rat. Every night I cried myself to sleep but I also reminded myself that this was so that everyone else would be okay. This was my choice and I couldn’t complain about it like a child.

This week I’ve been passive. I tried to swallow the pain and ignored all their small talk. I was done being nice or civil to them and besides, my time here was almost done and I got ready to put my plan into action.

‘Dusk. Please locate all the cameras in this house and how to avoid them.’ I thought out the instructions.

“Right away Chloe.” Her robotic voice echoed in my head. Increasing the rate of my throbbing head.

“My darling, I have the best news in the world for you.” The witch burst into my room with a happy smile. Her eyes were bright and they gleamed of something I couldn’t tell but I knew it wouldn’t be good for me.

“Am I done being a lab rat?” I questioned her with fake enthusiasm and my words oozed sarcasm. I knew there was a slim chance of it being possible but I didn’t dwell on it.

“Well, no, but it’s something better. I found a willing buyer. They’re willing to take you off the market and use your chip for something more productive.” She explained like it was the best news I could ever hear. However, my mind was stuck at the word ‘buyer’.

“You’re selling me? Why? To who? Why?” I blurted out, furious that she would do something like that to her own daughter.

“Are you stupid, of course I’m selling you, why would I want something as filthy as you? And besides, I have to make money fast and it’s the best damn idea I’ve ever had.” She remarked and I almost laughed at her face.

Ouch.

“Hmm, I guess they were right when they said like mother like daughter. I’m a chip off the old block.” I murmured and tried to sound dandy.

“I never wanted you in the first place and your father—” she paused when she saw the reaction on my face. I was curious “Wait, he didn’t tell you?” she asked excitedly like a child on Christmas. “I bet you were told that I cheated on Elroy and got pregnant with Anthony’s child, right?” she asked and I wondered if it was a good idea to lie to her.

“Darling, I was pregnant when I met Anthony, so that means your real father is Elroy.” She said his name with a dark tone. It was almost sounded like poison on her tongue. “Anyway, better look pretty because we’ll be having guests at dinner, and make sure Alex is with you.” She chirped. It was like she had a mood switch that she could change whenever she pleased.

Speaking of Alex, I hadn’t seen him the whole day and I assumed he had vanished for some few hours like he always did once every week.

“Are you sure she’s your mom because she’s really a witch in disguise. I mean who would sell their own daughter and have you seen how she looks without the camouflage skin?” he blabbered and shuddered like he had seen something beyond disgusting.

“You can see the real her without camouflage? How can she do that?” this was news I’ve never heard of.

“I can see because every month she needs to replace the nano-bots and I was once there when she did. It’s fairly easy, stand in front of a mirror and ask dusk to show you the real damage.” He explained.

I’ll admit it sounded exciting but what if I didn’t like what I saw?

“Can I? I mean am I ready to see this?” I murmured to myself but I guess Mr Ear heard my and took two steps closer. Things got even more tensed.

“You’ll never be ready but I’d rather get used to it before someone uses it against you.” He was always right. He turned and walked towards the window and left me to my thoughts.

‘Dusk, any suggestions?’ I reached out to her.

“I believe Alex is right, it’s better now than later.” She responded and gave me the final tip before I made up my mind

‘Will, you do the honours Dusk,’ I relayed my decisions and stood in front of the mirror, waiting for the worst.

For a moment, nothing changed and I was about to walk back when I noticed the colour on my legs had started fading. I was about to panic but I reminded myself that I better get acquainted with the real me earlier.

I looked hideous. Half of my face wasn’t covered by skin and my whole upper region was skinless. I could see my ribs as well as the organs and I wanted to hurl at the sight. My skin covered my elbow down to my fingers and they, for some weird reason, looked comical. It was like I was wearing gloves. My legs, from the waist down was almost bare, with little chunks of meat here and there. I looked like a skeleton in the making and it hurt to know that I didn’t deserve this but I had to live with it.

“When I said make yourself pretty, I didn’t mean you make yourself look like a dead girl come alive.” The witch’s shrill voice called out and I almost jumped. She sounded like a wailing banshee.

“It was my fault, I wanted her to show me what she really looked like and we kind of lost track of time. I’m sorry.” Alex beat me to an apology before I could make it but we both knew I wouldn’t apologize to her any time soon because she’s not worth it.

“Fine, dinner is in an hour, we need to show the buyers what you can do but it will be after dinner.” She said the last part like she was disappointed.

“Aww, I thought you wanted me here, mother.” I mocked her with the sweetest voice I could manage but stopped immediately when she sent me a death glare. If only she could shoot laser beams from her eyes.

“Now you owe me, princess.” His voice sounded closer than I would’ve liked but that wasn’t what mattered at the moment was the words he had uttered.

“Excuse me? I didn’t ask you to step in on my behalf.” I snorted at him and took a step away from him before turning to face him.

“If it wasn’t for me, she would’ve chewed your pretty little ass.” He reasoned out like the complete idiot he was.

“That didn’t concern you at all Einstein so I don’t owe you any damn thing.” I gave him an even stare which he perfectly returned and even went as far as raising an eyebrow at me. Smooth.

“Well, too bad, you already owe me. Besides, aren’t you glad I just showed you something you didn’t know of before today instead of being a brat?” he questioned like the smartass he was. I lowered my eyes at that because as much as I hated to admit it, he got me there. “I thought so.” He muttered smugly before he left me to get dressed.

We were settled at the dinner table when she made her presence known and behind her followed two people; one man and one woman who looked like they were in their early twenties. I guess they were the potential buyers.

“Darlings, I’m glad you’re both here. I want you both to meet Annie and Dexter. They’re representatives from two different parties and they’re here to see your abilities before they make their final bidding for you, or should I say, your abilities.” She announced proudly like she had just announced Jupiter was habitable. We both stared blankly at her but she shot us each our own glare.

“Hi, I’m Chloe and this idiot here is Alex, my best friend.” I introduced us in a bored tone but straightened up when it hit me what I had said about Alex being my best friend. It’s true, we’d spent the past month together and admittedly, I was closer to him than to any other person on this blasted planet.

Ashton and Em would’ve loved him, despite his ‘bad boy’ aura. I smiled ruefully at this even though I knew I would never see them again but at least I knew they would always be safe.

“Hey, are you okay? You kind of spaced out and you had a creepy smile on your face.” He whispered but his tone sounded soft, which was a rare moment for me.

“Yeah, I just miss the people I left behind.” I explained vaguely and he gave me a ‘we’re not done yet’ look to which I just nodded.

“So, I was thinking that Chloe should show you her abilities after dinner, is that okay with you?” She shot me a look just when I was about to oppose her idea.

“Actually, we just want to rest because we’ve travelled from far. How about we start bright and early so that even Chloe will be at her optimum performance level.” The lady, Anna explained with a polite smile and had the witch nodding in agreement like it was the brightest idea she’d heard the whole day. Idiot.

“Chloe, Alex, you’re dismissed for the night.” She dismissed us like we were servants and I would have retorted but the look on Alex’s face told me to hold my tongue until the right time.

“Urgh, she’s a real witch. I hate her!” I exclaimed angrily as I walked into my room with Alex in tow. It was starting to feel more like a torture chamber instead of a prison.

“Relax, kitten, though you look hot when you’re mad.” Alex commented casually and for a moment I wanted to throw a shoe at him but I only hmphed and turned away from him to hide my hot cheeks. This boy will surely be the death of me.

“Anyway, I want you to tell me something that you never talk about. I want to hear about the people you left behind.” He trailed of and turned me around me to see his unsure gaze. It was cute.

“I made a trade with the witch, my freedom for theirs. My parents and my best friends. There was Ashton; he was like the older brother I never had. Then there was Emma; she’s sweet but don’t get me wrong, she can beat the living hell out of anyone. She was like the mother-hen of our little family and always kept us in check. Then there was Jared; he was the wiz in our group, he knew everything about everything and could tap into everything. He was an amazing friend and a great listener though his advices kind of suck so I wouldn’t advise you to take them. Then, finally, there was Leo; he was like the protector, he was also the rational one and he was very observant. He had his brooding moments but he can make anyone do whatever he wants with his mesmerizing green eyes. I think Em had a crush on him, because, her eyes lit up every time he was in the room and they got along exceptionally well. You would’ve fit right in and I know they would’ve loved you, especially Leo since you guys are like in some ways.” I explained with a smile on my face. Alex also had a small smile as he listened to the funny stories of my friends but I could tell there was something on his mind.

“Okay, out with it.” He looked at me like I was stupid. “I can tell you want to ask a question, let’s hear it.” I explained like I was talking to child.

“You haven’t mentioned Leo in most of your stories. Why?” his confusion was clear on his face.

“I didn’t know Leo existed until I moved away from home and enrolled in university.” I explained but he looked more confused than before.

“But isn’t he Ashton’s twin?” I nodded. “Then how come you didn’t know him before?” he asked and this question made me delve deeper into my complicated life and by the time I was done, there was almost nothing he didn’t know about me. Almost.

“Why are you telling me all this? Isn’t it the work of your boyfriend to know?” he questioned with a raised brow. Boyfriend?

“Have you been listening to what I’ve just said?” He nodded. “In which area did I mention boyfriend?” I challenged him. His face morphed into one of pure confusion it was almost cute.

“Isn’t Ashton your boyfriend? I mean, the way you talk about him, I just assumed he was your boyfriend.” He explained and I couldn’t help but laugh at him. Poor soul.

“Like I said before, Ash is like a brother, I never had those types of feelings for him and it would just be weird.” I made myself clear and he only gave me a cheeky smile in return. Maybe he wasn’t that bad after all, aside from his cocky attitude. Maybe we could be friends.

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

 

   ^^^^^

Finally, I’ll get rid of her once and for all.

All my life, adult life, I just wanted to be loved and Elroy gave me that love. He was the sweetest man on earth and I was the happiest woman when he proposed and I said yes.

Everything was perfect until that ugly night.

The night I found out I was pregnant was the worst time of my life. I wasn’t ready to have a child yet, I was just at the brink of success and having a child meant I would have to give up everything I’ve worked for and I couldn’t have that. I went to the bar that night with my colleagues for a celebratory drink and I made sure I was drunk; it didn’t matter that I had something growing in me.

I remember that night like it just happened; Anthony, my partner and closest friend wanted to take me home but I couldn’t agree because I couldn’t face Elroy just yet so he took me to his house. Next thing I know, Elroy barges into the room I was sleeping in and he started shouting, blaming me for breaking his heart. I tried to go to him but I found myself stark naked and Anthony was next to me and his state was similar to mine. We broke up on that day and no matter how hard I tried to tell him that I never cheated, he never believed me.

I had lost everything in just one night; my career, because of this thing inside me, and my fiancé who also took my heart.

My life became dull, drinking every night to dull the pain and working all day to keep my mind off him. He learnt of my pregnancy but claimed the child might not even be his. That was a low blow, even for him. That was the day I ruined my life forever.

I thought I had the right formula and had ultimately found my break but nobody wanted to volunteer so I decided, against my better judgment, to test it on myself. That was my worst mistake ever.

It’s funny how one man can be perfect for everything; he fixed me but also broke me. My career was over the minute I opened my eyes; not to mention that I was now uglier as well as the fact that I almost went to jail. My colleagues lost the contract and it was given to the same man who fixed me. It was official; I had lost everything.

 Even my love for him.

I hated him with everything I had in me and I swore vengeance.

First, I took away his right as a father; he never gave me the chance to show him that Chloe was, in reality, his child. Next; after that little brat had been born and that chip was developed, I made it my sole purpose to make sure that he’ll never have to spend time with her. I told all the crime syndicates that dared to listen the goodness of having this chip which Chloe had and drove them to hunt for her so they could get their hands on it. After that; I made sure, with the aid of my mole to always disclose Chloe’s location. I even volunteered to get her on some occasions even though the men didn’t know what my real intentions were. No one really knows.

Now that I’ve sold her to those idiots; they don’t actually know what they have coming because I have a plan that will finally get rid of my dear daughter and her lovely father.

They took everything from me; it’s only fair that I return the favour.

They have no idea what they are in for.

 

^^^^^^

I was lounging in my room, looking for something useful to do when my door burst open and two bulky men busted through the door and made a bee-line for me.

“You’re needed in the training room.”

Before I could answer, someone else answered for me.

“That’s odd, Ilana didn’t tell me anything and I’ve just come from his office.”

“Shut up pretty boy, of course she wouldn’t tell you; after all you’re only good for satisfying her needs.” One of them sneered at Sam pointing his finger at me. For a minute I thought Sam was going to explode with anger but his lazy grin caught everyone off guard. He walked towards me and draped his arm lazily over my shoulders.

“You see boys, what you said was probably true, I do satisfy her needs but it’s something you both wish you could do and plus I’m head of everything that concerns her so I would advise you to watch how you speak to your superiors if you don’t want to lose your jobs, or worse, your lives.” He stated it like it was the most obvious thing.

“Now, run along and tell dear old Ilana that Chloe will be there in the next few minutes.” He instructed, his tone taking a drastic change from bored to firm and his eyes had hardened considerably to instil fear to the men who shuffled off muttering profanities under their breaths. I tried to glare at him but even I couldn’t contain my smile at his sense of authority.

The two guards walked out with scowls clear on their faces. They didn’t like the fact that they got served by someone younger than them and the promise of revenge was clear in their eyes. They would be back for more sooner or later.

 

^^^^^

I watched the two guards walk out and it was clear that they were not happy with what they had been told by that insolent boy along with the little lady. I wanted to laugh at them but I was supposed to be lower in rank compared to them. If only they knew who I was, they’d be bowing their heads lower than the grounds to me.

“The boss needs you in her office.” The guard who was supposed to take over my shift called out and for once I was relieved that I wouldn’t be standing out here any further.

I brusquely walked to her office and marvelled at the design. It always took my breath away, every single time.

“You called for me, your Grace,” I tried my best to bow but it came out more like a terse nod; luckily she took no notice of it.

“Yes, I want you to sit in this meeting I’m having, we’ve found a potential buyer and I want your input in this matter.” She said it like she was talking about the weather.

For a moment, my muscles tensed and my heart dropped to my feet; shad she found out my true identity? Could it be some sort of test to see if I would reveal my true status?

“It would be an honour, your grace, but if I may ask, why me when I’m just a lowly servant?” I tried to gauge her reaction but she didn’t give me what I wanted; she still was as infuriating as ever.

“I admire your loyalty, and I trust that you won’t tell me lies just to please me, am I right?” she questioned mischievously and I could only nod with a faint mumble of ‘yes’. “There is a traitor in our midst and I want you to help me sniff out the little brat before he sells me out to everyone.” She hissed the last part to herself and I wanted to laugh at her. If only she knew. This was going to be easier than I expected.

“I will prove my loyalty, your grace, it would be an honour to assist you in any way possible.” I stated, a real smile on my face as I marvelled at how my plan was easily being carried out for me.

“Good, I’m counting on you to make this work.” Her lips curled up into a cruel smile and she nodded once to dismiss me. Phase one was complete, successfully might I add. Now on to phase two.

 

 

^^^^^^

It was almost midnight and still no sleep came to me. I wondered what would happen to me after I was sold to those people, would they take the chip from my head or would they let me be and then install the latest edition of who knows what or would they just adopt me like their little pet. Maybe they’d change me into a robot and erase all my memories. That’d be one way to go. At least I did something good in my life. That gave me a thought. I had to do something that they’d remember me for the rest of their lives.

“You should be sleeping right now.” Alex’s voice called from the door; when did he get here?

“So should you, what are you doing in my room?” I asked, not really in the mood to argue with him especially in the dark.

“I came to check if my ‘best friend’ was alright.” He replied, and I could tell from the tone of his voice that he was smirking; lucky idiot.

“Huh, I wonder who that is, such an unlucky fellow.” I shrugged like I didn’t know what he was talking about it.

“Off the record, I think of you as my best friend too, but if you tell anyone that then I’ll deny it and punch you in the face.” He declared and I almost laughed when I imagined the frown on his face.

“Aww, sounds like big, bad Alex cares about little old me.” I mocked him and heard a faint chuckle that made me, despite my resistance, smile. I felt the space beside me dip indicating that he’s joined me in bed. I didn’t know what to do next.

“So, tell me something I don’t know about you.” I tried my luck now that he was here.

“You don’t know anything about me” he chuckled and I resisted the urge to smack myself. This guy would be the death of me.

“whatever.” Was my smart comeback after failing to come up with anything better than that.

“Well, aren’t you the smart cookie,” he retorted sarcastically and I was a minute away from kicking him out of my room.

“I never felt like I belonged anywhere.” He blurted out and my head just went blank. What to say to someone who always looked so sure of himself and fit in everywhere?

“Why? I mean you’re the coolest guy I know and I thought you fit in everywhere?” I blurted out the words and immediately smacked my head for thinking that he was the coolest guy.

“You don’t have to flatter me princess, I know I’m no one’s favourite and I accepted it a long time ago. I mean even my own father didn’t want me around. Kept saying how much we were disappointments.” He muttered the last part in such a low voice that I barely heard him, but I still heard him.

“But it’s not flattery, you’re actually cooler than anyone I know, don’t tell them I said that because they would kill me but it’s true. I know where you’d fit in, with me and the others, we’re the outcasts.” I declared before I registered what I had just told him. I really wanted to hit myself but I wasn’t done embossing myself. “On behalf of the Outcasts, I officially welcome you Alex…” I trailed off when I realized that I had no idea if his name was Alex or it was short for something. Oh snap, what name should I use?

“Just go with Alex, and no, it’s not short for Alexander or Alexis.” He explained like he just read my mind, but I decided not to question him.

“Okay, so, on behalf of the Outcasts, I, Chloe Jade, welcome you Alex, to the group if you promise to always have every member’s back and do what’s best for them before your own personal interests. Do you?” I asked mock serious.

“Yes, I do,” he sighed after realizing that I was seriously waiting for his response.

“Great, now welcome to the group, you’ll meet the others one day.” I explained like it was the most obvious thing making him chuckle at my words.

“You’re one weird girl princess.” He exclaimed like he just realized it and I rolled my eyes at him despite being in the dark where he couldn’t see me do it.

“Don’t call me that, you make it sound like I’m a fragile, naïve, girly damsel in distress, which I’m not.” I explained making him laugh at my idiotic reasoning but it was true.

“But you are a damsel in distress, like Rapunzel in Tangled or Fiona in Shrek, strong enough to save yourself from the wicked witch, and you’re hot.” He tried to explain but his voice trailed at the end, a sign that he was falling asleep.     

My last thought was before sleep took over was that I liked Alex’s definition of my kind of princess.

^^^^^

I watched her sleeping soundly by my side, I never realized how cute she looked, but the drool was definitely a deal breaker.

For the first time I actually talked to someone and got a decent response without too many questions. Come to think about it she didn’t ask me anything about my past. She was a weird cookie, fierce, loyal, has a bit of mouth on her, funny and an overall entertainment. She was the perfect distraction from my demons.

I know she might never forgive me once she finds out what I’ve done but I’m so used to her company and weird form of entertainment that I don’t want it to end. Something must clearly be wrong with me because I remember clearly how much I hated her but looking back I can’t explain why I hated her in the first place. I felt something I’ve never felt before, I felt like I was home, like for the first time I belonged with people, and it was all because of her.  

 Maybe she wasn’t so bad after all.

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

 

^^^^^

There was a humming sound near my ear and it was damn annoying. The humming sound grew to voices which were murmuring but the tone was what made me snap my eyes awake.

“Look at her, tell me that you can walk up and wake her up and disrupt the only time she’ll have to rest before her torture begins.” Someone hissed in a hushed voiced

“Well, when you put it like that…” the other voice trailed off, “you have thirty more minutes before Ilana comes to wake her up herself.” Silence, finally.

“Wake up princess. The wicked witch will be here any second to wake you up.” Someone whispered in my ear like an annoying buzz. I turned my head and pulled the covers over my head. I needed more sleep.

“Wake up or I’ll bring out the needle.” The voice whispered harshly and that was the magic word that made me snap my eyes open and I sat up to find Alex smiling smugly at me.

“Took you long enough, you have exactly ten minutes before the witch barges in and drags you downstairs herself.” He explained but my thoughts were still foggy so I didn’t understand a word he was saying until when he repeated everything for the second time.

“There you two are, I was starting to think that you ran away.” The witch tried to joke but no one was stupid enough to laugh at that.

“So, we were discussing and decided that they’ll see a footage of how you perform then they’ll take you with them and carry out further tests.” She carried on like her hideous joke had never happened. I sent a grateful smile to the two potential buyers and they gave slight nods that neither Alex nor the witch noticed. They just saved me from a serious round of torture.

We went back to my room and waited for them to make a decision on who will take me as the next lab rat and Alex and I had to stay away so that they would do that “peacefully”. I hoped I would end up with the nicer one of the two.

 

^^^^^^

I stared out the window of what was once my best friend’s bedroom window. I felt so helpless and useless in this situation. I couldn’t help her when she needed it most. What I wouldn’t do to switch places.

“We need to talk.” A voice called out from the door and I turned to find Reece staring at me with an unreadable expression.

I sat down on her bed and patted the space next to me for him to join me.

“You really did love her, didn’t you?” he asked after a short moment of tensed silence.

“Yeah, she was and still is an amazing girl. I just miss her so much.” I spoke truthfully for the first time.

“Look, I know right now’s not the right time but I need to know something.” He spoke hesitantly, as if he was afraid I would lash out at him or something.

“Okay, what’s up?” I asked, suddenly feeling the tension that hung thick in the air.

“I know she means everything to you, and I can never compete with her because she’s got everything but I need to know if there’s any hope for me. I need to know if what I’m doing might be worth it, even if the chances are slim. I need to know that I’m not fighting a lost battle.” He blurted out in one breath and I was left staring at him in confusion.

“What are you going on about?”

“You know my feelings for you and I know about your feelings for her, but I need to know your feelings for me, do you feel anything for me?” he asked in a curious tone. I could tell from his expression that he was nervous; he looked like he wanted to know and didn’t want to know at the same time.

“You’re right I do love her and you can’t compete with her.” I paused and watched as his expression fell and I couldn’t continue torturing him any longer.

“She’s like the sister I never had.” New hope shone in his eyes before I continued. “However, there’s this guy I met, I mean, I knew him from before but I never thought of him like that until sometime this year. Don’t get me wrong; he’s a cocky little prick sometimes but he has this cool hairstyle and these piercing eyes that can do wonders. I love it when he’s jealous when he sees me with the girls and I’ve waited for so long for him to kiss me though…” I didn’t get to finish my rant when he crushed his lips onto mine. Well, I didn’t think he’d get the hint.

The kiss had a hint of everything combined; desperation, smugness, urgency but incredibly soft. Don’t get me wrong, the kiss felt good but I wouldn’t exaggerate it and add the fireworks because that was what girls felt. Not me.

“Ash, I was…okay, I wasn’t expecting that.” Em’s voice trailed off as she found us lip-locked on Chloe’s bed. “Um, can you stop now, it’s making me uncomfortable.” She piped up when a moment passed and we were still at it. We pulled away and Reece threw a slight glare at Em but she didn’t seem fazed by it.

“We’ll talk later, I need to sort out some things.” He murmured to me but Em also heard him because a sudden smug smile appeared on her face.

“Wow, I didn’t think Ash had the ability to make someone that aroused.” She commented loud enough for Reece to hear and red stained his cheeks almost immediately as he sprinted out of the room leaving a cackling Em.

“So, what did you want to tell me?” I pointed out and her smile dropped almost immediately.

“The extraction has been postponed till tomorrow. There’s too many of them and we’re not prepared enough for it.” She explained and my giddy mood suddenly vanished. She handed me a piece of paper. This was not good.

“So, how will this plan out?” I asked in a sombre mood, this was going to be harder than I thought.

“They’re planning an attack at dusk, just after the sun sets so that we can catch them off-guard.” She shrugged nonchalantly and I nodded my head. That was good. Hopefully, they bought it.

 

^^^^^   

“So, after everything we’ve seen, I decided that we’ll take her at 3billion.” The man, I forgot his name, stated. This was more than I expected.

“Five billion’s our final offer.” The lady countered and I just kept quiet. Let them argue it out, is what my mother always said.

“Ten billion, final offer.” A voice rang from the door and we all turned to look at the generous buyer. I would have laughed at their wide eyes if I wasn’t sporting one myself.

“Alex darling, what are you doing?” I tried to sound surprised but I don’t think I could’ve hidden the anger from my face or voice.

“I want to buy her. I have a blank check here that I can write it for you but there’s only eleven billion and I need at least one billion to get away from this shenanigans. At least that’s what my boss wants.” He shrugged like it was no big deal. I didn’t know he had another employer.

“I’m afraid neither of us can afford such an amount.” They both shook their heads at me and I would’ve been mad at Alex if I hadn’t gotten a bright idea instead.

“How about I see cash first before I can finalize the deal?” I asked smugly, knowing that he wouldn’t have it but he merely smiled at me, that sneaky little thing.

“That’s fine by me, I knew you’d say something like that so I came prepared.” He replied smugly and I knew there was nothing I could do. At least I got the money.

He motioned for someone to come and I saw Chloe walk in with a briefcase that inside I assumed was my money. Alex tossed me a contract and asked me to sign which I did hurriedly without even blinking, I mean, it was an agreement of transfer of custody and I would get my money.

“You’re dumber than I actually thought. I didn’t think you’d sign without looking.” He remarked and I would’ve smacked him for insulting me but what he said registered in my mind. What had I agreed to? The other buyers had smug smiles on their face. This was definitely not good.

“You see, you just signed yourself over to HQ. Here; I’ll read it for you.

I, Ilana accept to submit myself over to The HQ headed by Elroy McJaeger and do accept wholeheartedly, any punishment he deems fit for me and agree to everything he says which includes to FORFEIT my hold on his daughter Chloe Jade and to willingly accompany them to the Cells where the mentally unstable people are held so that I can receive the help needed.

I also accept, to hand over the leadership position of my people over to them. For this, I accept to give back the TEN BILLION DOLLARS which was given as the price on the condition that they’ll keep me alive, healthy and renew my nano-bots as per the requirements. Failure to adhere to this will lead to DEATH.”   

He looked up to me and I couldn’t hold back the aggravated scream from my mouth. This couldn’t be happening!!

“But—but, it can’t be! I had it all under wraps!” I explained in an aggravated voice but the idiots only smiled smugly. How lovely.

“I’m sorry Ilana but you got served.” Alex stated smugly. I couldn’t keep it in any longer, a laugh tumbled from my lips making them look at me like I was an idiot.

“Are you sure that the document is signed?” I asked in a sickly sweet voice making Alex’s eyes immediately drop to the bottom line where my signature was supposed to be.

I watched in glee as his eyes widened and he stared at the document like it was an alien. Poor foolish boy.

“I never signed it, I just signed a piece of paper that I wisely placed while neither of you children were looking. Clever isn’t it?” I asked, the sweetness dropping from my voice. “Now that I’ve figured out who the traitor is in the group, I would like to call my new second in command to escort you to the dungeons where you will patiently wait for my judgement.” I explained as I keenly examined my nails.

These children seriously underestimated me, how could they expect me not to know; I mean, their plan would’ve worked if I hadn’t been tipped off by my most trusted spy. Heck, I even had video footage as proof. The little idiotic girl couldn’t even be wise enough to go back on her word believing that I would kill everyone she loved. I would do that in a heartbeat if I could but the little brats were hard to track and seemed to vanish into thin air after she turned herself in. bless her poor noble heart because it would be the end of me if she ever changed her mind.

 

^^^^^^

 “YOU HAVE NO PLAN!!!” I roared as I watched Alex shrug without a care in the world. What was wrong with him!

“Chill out princess. At least I tried to save you. You’re welcome by the way.” He explained like I was some idiot. This guy was more annoying than I could ever imagine.

“Yeah, thanks for sealing our fates. I’m sure we’re all going to die today.” I remarked sarcastically and Alex rolled his eyes at me like I wasn’t getting the bigger picture.

“No, at least you’ll get the Titanic kind of love, you know, you die next to the guy you love. Isn’t that the best kind of love?” He explained it like the world’s biggest genius ever known. He was the genius who proved to the world that idiots like him actually exist.

“You do realize that only one person died and they weren’t even dating.” I explained exactly the way Dusk explained in my head.

“Ha! At least you admit you have watched it despite the many times you denied it. Admit it, you’re a sap deep down.” He said smugly and I was about to unleash the full wrath of Dusk on him if the door hadn’t suddenly burst open and a guard walked in. It was time.

“Time to face your consequences.” He droned on and for a moment I thought it was his punishment getting us. “Bit—boss wants you in the clearing deck now.” He continued and I smirked at his first description of the witch.

“How soon, tell her that we’ll be there in ten minutes. I need to groom myself first.” Alex’s bored tone rang out and everyone turned to look at him like he was insane, which he probably was judging by the way he was speaking. “What?” he asked when he saw that everyone was looking at him.

“Anyway. You have to follow me now or she’ll come to get you herself.” He droned on.

“Dude, could you sound a little excited? You sound like you’re dying.” Alex retorted and the other man who was one of the buyers swatted him at the back of his head.”

“Yippee, you four idiots are going to die today. Now let’s go.” He expressed in a bored yet utterly sarcastic tone that made me almost admire his talent. Almost.  

We all stood up with Alex being pulled up forcefully since he didn’t want to. We followed the guide through the halls and instead of going to the clearing deck, he was leading us to the stairs.

“I thought you said you were taking us to the clearing deck?” I raised my question but everyone turned to look at me like I was an idiot.

“Wow, princess, I didn’t know you were very excited to die. Why question your enemy when they’re making a mistake?” Alex questioned me making me realize how stupid I was actually being. The longer we take, the better. I shut my mouth and followed them waiting to see what the future holds for us.

‘Dusk, any sign of trouble and you activate protection mode. Make sure they survive.’ I mentally instructed her and relaxed as I heard her ‘affirmative.’

Imprint

Text: Book owner
Images: Book owner
Editing: Book owner
Publication Date: 02-01-2017

All Rights Reserved

Dedication:
To all those who wish things were different in their lives, the power is all in your mind. create the world you want to live in.