DISCLAIMER: I do not own a thing. Ally Carter does. So, unfortunately, all credit for characters (except for David Joseph) goes to her…
Behind Glass Doors
Chapter 3:
The bus came thirty-four seconds late, but it made it up to me by taking me exactly where I needed to go; the middle of nowhere, the Home of Blackthorne Institute for Boys: Private Detention Facility. I hid my possessions behind a rock that was entirely surrounded by ferns and bushes. I got up to continue my way to the waterfall when I was forced back down by a tall, broad, strong and familiar force.
"What are you doing here, Gallagher Girl?" demanded Zach through gritted teeth.
"I came looking for you."
I imagined that Zach would smile at me. I imagined that he'd sweep me up into his arms and kiss me. But he didn't do any of that. Instead, he just looked up at the sky with a pained expression on his face.
"You shouldn't be here," warned Zach.
"I know, but I don't think there is anywhere I should be," I went on to say. "Does your offer still stand?"
Zach looked at me confused.
"Your offer to run away with me last year? Does it still stand?"
He looked more bewildered than confused now.
"You're seriously considering running away from the safest place in the world?"
"It may be safe for me. But for the people I love, the people who are protecting me, they'll always be targets," I argued.
I realised that that was the most truthful things I've said in a long time (since Josh to be exact). The fact that my loved ones were targets 24/7 was the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I couldn't meet Zach's gaze because I knew I would immediately break down into tears. When I thought I had my emotions in check, I looked back up at Zach and I realised that his expression had softened and it took my breath away. I realised that there were no more secrets between us, no more lies to uncover, no more walls to climb. I realised that I had uncovered the secret to Zachary Goode months ago but he had uncover my secrets more than a year ago.
For the first time that day, I smiled. I didn't have anything to worry about at that moment. I was happy with where I was.
"Stay hidden while I get my stuff," he whispered.
I nodded obediently and watched him go. He was gone for twenty-six minutes and seventeen seconds (one-thousand, five-hundred and seventy-seven seconds). When he did return though, all he was carrying was a rucksack.
"Where's the rest of your stuff?" I asked curiously.
"This is it," Zach replied. That was all he had, plain and simple.
I couldn't help but smile at him and he smiled back.
"So, where would be the last place the Circle would look for a Gallagher Girl?" I interrogated.
For a moment, Zach thought.
"Sydney, Australia," he replied. Again, it was plain and simple. "It's low key, it's quiet, peaceful and we are old enough to live on our own there so, yeah."
I nodded, thoughtfully. He was right. I had never been near Australia, nor did I know anyone who had. Sydney was a type of place that had no need of spies, no need of secret services, no need to lie. But still, Zach and I were going there to do just that; lie, and we were going to keep lying each and everyday of our lives until we get caught.
So, I picked up my backpack, my carry bag and my rolling suitcase and I followed Zach to a shed.
"A shed? In the middle of nowhere?"
"Yep." Plain and simple, yet again.
"Does Blackthorne own it?"
"Nope," Zach was being too plain and too simple. "Joe Solomon does."
At that name, I froze. I don't know what happened but when Zach mentioned my former CoveOps professor's name, my whole body shut down including my senses. The only thing I could feel was my heart snapping in half all over again.
"Cam! Cam!" Zach shook me desperately. "Cammie, are you okay?"
I snapped out of my horrible trance.
"I'm fine," I answered in a hoarse voice.
There was a huge lump in my throat and I didn't want Zach to worry but I had already guessed he would.
"What happened? Is something wrong?" asked an extremely concerned Zach.
"I'm fine but," I hesitated. I shouldn't have hesitated because "Hesitation" broke CoveOps rule number One and Zach was able to see through me. "But can you not mention that name? Please?"
Zach stared at me. He wasn't concerned about me anymore, instead, he was thinking of whether or not to ask why. After a few moments, Zach nodded and opened the shed. He unlocked the car and tossed all our belongings in the back seat. He got in without hesitation, I was supposed to but I had one thought.
I may be a spy in training. I may be a pavement artist. But that doesn't mean I don't respect the law. Because I do, it was how I was raised.
"Do you have a licence?"
Zach chuckled while I just stared.
"Not exactly," he answered, sensing my insecurity. "Do you remember the ball at Gallagher where we had Legends to impersonate."
I nodded. Of course I remember it. It's not everyday Gallagher Academy gets shut down by a Code Black (especially since we haven't had one since the Cold War). And it wasn't everyday that I was blamed for the security breach.
Zach silently passed me a file. I recognised the folder because I had received one just like it, and so did every other student and faculty member. I opened the folder to see Zach's photo but was labelled with a different name: Kieran Brookes. I looked further into the folder. It said that Kieran was born on May 2, 1992 to (the deceased) Maxwell and Dianna Brookes. It said that he was an orphan, high school graduate with hopes to specialise in finance and had just gotten his driver's licence.
At the mention of a full driver's licence, I got into the car and Zach sped off. We weren't headed straight to the airport because that would be too obvious and a little bit sloppy. Instead, Zach was driving us back to Roseville to drop off the car to Mr S and continue our journey through public transport. But first, I needed to explain to my roommates and though I would've needed it, I didn't ask for Zach's backup.
Roseville, Virginia
No one noticed Zach drive up my school's driveway because there was no security (surprisingly the guards and security took vacations too). We parked the car near the back exit of the barn. I told Zach to hide while I crept back out of the grounds and enter through my all-time favourite passageway.
I entered the passageway as clean as a brand new bar of soap but when I left the passage and stepped out into a corridor of the mansion, my hair was covered in cobwebs and I was drenched in a layer of dust. I calmly made my way to my suite where, no surprise, I found Bex, Liz and Macey whispering in the bathroom.
"Cam!" they all gushed at the same time.
"Where did you go?"
"When did you leave?"
"Who did you see?"
I had only set foot into the suite and they were already bombarding me with questions that need answers. I felt like I was being interrogated in D.C or London all over again. But this time was way worse, because I was being interrogated by very determined teenage girls.
I answered all their questions but other than that, I was very careful not to give away too many details. I was definitely one to know that the less you know about things you shouldn't, the less trouble you'll get yourself into.
"Liz?" I asked unsure.
At the sound of her name, the blond pixie-like senior looked up and stopped her thoughts right where they were.
"Can you do me a favour?"
Let me tell you, I do NOT like lying. I don't like lying to my mom, I don't like lying to my friends and I don't like lying to innocent bystanders. My displeasure is kind of ironic though, seeing as what path I had chosen my life to take. But the one thing I hate more than lying to other people, was having other people lying for me. So, I wasn't necessarily proud of what I asked my best friends/roommates to do.
I had asked Bex and Macey to make sure mom didn't find out about my plans to abort until I was completely gone. So that meant they would be spending half the night asleep in my bed and another in their own. For the first week, they had to say I was fighting a virus and that I was bedridden for a week at least. All my roommates had to make sure that our headmistress didn't find out I had run away until they couldn't stop the realisation.
I had asked Liz to do something that I am not and never will be proud of. I had asked her to turn me into someone else and that someone else's name happened to be Samantha Caroline Smith.
Full Name: Samantha Caroline Smith
Parents: Joseph and Grace Smith (deceased October 30, 2005)
Date Of Birth: February 14, 1993
Star Sign: Aquarius
Address: -Temporarily Disabled-
Home Phone: -Temporarily Disabled-
Mobile Phone: -(02) 04567 89236
Nutrition Status: Vegetarian
Medical Conditions: Asthmatic, Low Cholesterol
Allergies: -None-
Favourite Food: Spaghetti Bolognese
Favourite Colour(s): Red, Pink, Blue, Purple
Favourite Movie: The Notebook
Favourite Musician: P!nk
After I read my new Legend, my new identity, I mentally wrote "Best Friends: -Unknown-". I asked Liz to make a cover for a male in case I wasn't going on alone. Liz isn't the best field operative (she's more study and research), but she makes the greatest best friend so I guess that's why she hesitated.
I noticed that Bex and Macey weren't doing anything except sitting on my bed with sad looks on their faces.
"Where are you going?" Macey asked depressingly.
"I can't tell you that."
"Why not?" Macey cried out, she was obviously on edge.
"Because you'd be better off not knowing."
Now, I was the one being plain and simple. Not Zach, not my mom, not my former CoveOps teacher, not my Aunt Abby. Me, Cammie Morgan soon to be known as Samantha Caroline Smith.
"Well, what are you going to do?"
It was Bex's turn to question my decision now. And believe me when I say, she isn't one to give up easily.
"Find a job, rent an apartment, anything, I guess."
I shrugged it off as if it wasn't a big deal, as if the rest of my life was going to be smooth sailing from there. But I knew, my roommates knew, that that wasn't the case. I was going to have to keep secrets and lie. But I knew that one day I'd drown in those lies and secrets. I knew that one day, those two essential things in a spy's life were going to make me fall from my tightrope and when that day came, I had to make sure my friends and family weren't looking up and watching.
"You're mom's looking for you, Cam," Liz cut in when I was off my guard. "You should probably go find her so she doesn't suspect anything. Maybe start faking symptoms of the virus you're supposed to catch."
I listened to Liz in silence. I knew that helping me leave was breaking her heart. But I knew she knew that it was the best way to stop innocent people getting hurt. So, I nodded and left our suite to find my mom.
I found my mom sitting in her office alone. I could tell she'd been crying so I guessed she had Mr S's resignation form. I knocked on the door quietly.
"Come on in, kiddo."
The carpet of mom's office muffled my steps as I slinked inside.
"You were looking for me, mom?"
"Yeah," she tried to smile but it turned out to be more of a grimace. "Joe told me that you didn't take his news so well."
It was weird hearing my headmistress call my former CoveOps professor "Joe" instead of "Mr Solomon", I had to admit. But I also had to admit that I wouldn't have to get used to it because by eight o'clock tonight, I would be gone. Just like a shadow in the moonlight.
"I'm not the only one," I shrugged as I gestured at her reflection and the tissues.
Mom tried to laugh but it sounded so force, so incomplete. She was staring at me like she knew there was something I was keeping from her. She left her place behind her desk and walked steadily to me.
"You've been in those passages again," she whispered. "Haven't you?"
I laughed my nervous laugh. I was trying to act as guilty as possible (which may sound hard but it totally wasn't).
"Why would you say that?"
I looked down at my clean jeans, new t-shirt and cleaned sneakers. I seemed to have cleaned up pretty well but I purposely left a few cobwebs in my hair for evidence that I was guilty.
"You have some cobwebs still in your hair."
"Oh."
I sounded surprised (which I wasn't), I sounded guilty (which I was) and I sounded like I regretted keeping secrets from my mom (which I totally did but I'm still doing it).
I made a pained look cross my face for just a second before looking out the window. I knew my mom would notice and I was right.
"Are you feeling okay, sweetie?" she asked.
I could hear the concern in her voice and when I turned around to look, I could see it on her face as well. The guilt struck me harder but I stayed as stone-like as I could.
"I really, just need to sleep. I've been having this headache all day."
My headmistress nodded sympathetically and I knew that she had the same thing.
So, I left my mom's office and headed back to our suites. Liz handed me the two legends (one for me and one for Zach) along with all the other official stuff (licences, birth certificates, catholic sacramental certificates, high school diplomas etc.) and I left. I hadn't said a word to Bex and Macey because I figured they didn't want to hear it. I did give Liz the biggest hug (I hoped Bex and Macey would someday realise that some of that hug was meant for them) and I left. I dropped by Sublevel Two to steal a few wigs, contact lens and a few items of clothing (because I thought they would look good on me and Zach and not for covert purposes). I used my favourite passage one last time to leave the sacred walls of my sisterhood. But this time, I wasn't leaving because of my sisterhood, I was leaving for it.