Chapter 1:
Alex sprang up from the bed, pouring with sweat. He reached for his for the TV remote on his bedside table and switched it on.
His curtains blew in the wind, the breeze whispering things he wanted to forget into his ear.
Alex switched to BBC news and found himself watching a report on yesterdays' "Trafalgar Square Attack."
The reporter said that a highly rich and skilled individual, probably a former soldier named Jack Davies booked out the rooftop terrace of the Trafalgar Hotel and used a sniper rifle to pick off tourists and others in the square below him.
She said that they do not know if he had any accomplices that helped him plan this attack or his motives for the attack as he killed himself before police could reach him.
'We will update this story as it unfolds. This has been Laura Parsons, from BBC News. Back to the studio'
Alex got out of bed, flicking the light switch beside his bed and walking over to his wardrobe and getting dressed to go outside.
Alex grabbed his phone and connected his headphones. He walked over to the door and turned the handle slowly, trying to make the least amount of noise possible so he wouldn't wake up his housemates.
He opened the music app on his phone, put on his headphones and opened the door.
It was another cold, winter, London day outside. Alex went down the stepped and broke into his usual morning run as he watched his breath turn to vapour.
Signs and streetlamps lit up the streets around him as he ran through the waking city. He always appreciated the beauty of London and loved the city streets and the atmosphere the city gave.
Alex ran through the streets that were empty aside from a few people that had already woken up and were heading to work.
After finishing his run Alex went back into his house and went into the kitchen to eat breakfast and found one of his housemates, Josh unconscious on the floor with an empty bottle in his hand and Vodka all other his shirt.
Alex stepped over him and laughed, he opened one of the cupboards, grabbed a box of cereal, made himself a bowl and went back to his room.
He climbed back into his bed and switched the TV back on. In his pocket his phone went off, so he put down his cereal, reached into his pocket and checked who was calling him but whoever was calling him had hung up.
1 Missed call from 'Unknown'
Alex swiped, opened his phone and called the number back.
"Who is this?" Alex said in a harsh voice.
"Meet me at the Aqua Shard restaurant on Thursday at 3 PM"
The caller hung up.
The man spoke in a thick cockney accent and his voice sounded familiar to Alex but he didn't know who the caller was.
Alex reached into his drawer and took out his antidepressants, put one in his mouth and swallowed.
In the next room, he heard Tom shouting at someone, Alex got out of his bed and went into Tom's room, were he saw Tom shouting at someone on the phone.
"Yes, I know you need your money!" Tom shouted down the phone
"Who told you that? Listen, OK, I'm getting paid tomorrow, I'll pay you then."
Tom threw the phone on the floor.
"What was that all about?" Alex asked
"Nothing, just someone I owe money," Tom said
Alex shut the door to Toms bedroom and went downstairs into the sitting room and sat down to watch TV when he heard a knock on the door.
He got up and walked over to the door and opened it.
The door opened to a young woman, not much older than him dressed in a winter coat and jeans holding a notepad.
She had made an effort to make herself look smart but she was still wearing tatty, dirty clothes. Alex had worked out already that something was wrong.
"Hi. I'm Neve Palmer from The Guardian, I was hoping to interview you for a story on emotional trauma."
Alex invited her into the house and cautiously guided her into the sitting room and gestured for her to sit.
"I've heard about what happened to you in Egypt and about the death of your guardian, Jack Starbright. How did you feel about her death?" Neve asked.
Jack Starbright, the thought of the name brought back lots of bad memories for Alex, memories of his final mission for MI6 in Egypt, memories of the house in Chelsea he grew up in with her after his uncle died.
"I was very fond of Jack. After my uncle died she raised me and treated me like her own son and I treated her like my mother. She was always there for me, even before my uncle died she pretty much raised me." Alex said
She looked at her notepad and wrote something down.
"Next question," she said. "How do you feel about your uncle, Ian Rider." She asked.
"My uncle was hardly ever home, he was always abroad for work. When he was home he hardly ever had time for me, I never really got to know him before he died." Alex replied
"What impact did the death of your guardian have on you?" She asked, probing Alex.
"After Jack died, I didn't know what to do with myself, I hated living without her and I still miss her as much as anything," Alex said.
"What about your uncle, Ian Rider. How did you feel after he died?" Neve asked.
"My uncle's death didn't have as much of an impact on me as Jack's did, I still loved my uncle but he was hardly ever around," Alex said, trying to be as truthful as he can whilst trying not to reveal as much as he could about his past
"Thank you, Alex, I'll be going now, do you mind if I use the bathroom on the way out?" She asked.
"No, not at all," Alex replied "It's just to the left of the front door."
Alex wondered how she knew so much about him, none of his files was ever released to the public and she wouldn't know anything about what happened in Egypt unless she was MI6.
"Shit," Alex said aloud.
He went into the bathroom and on the back of the door, he found a note.
'Mrs. Jones is waiting'
Alex went outside and hailed the nearest black cab and asked to go to the Royal and General bank.