June
0845 Hours.
My Office
19 days since Liam was murdered.
66º Indoors
"Was it really necessary to come here in the morning?" Selene complains, yawning.
"I don't see why you're complaining. Your classes usually start at six in the morning. It's almost nine now," says Dorian.
"But it's Saturday," she whines. "I wanted to sleep in today."
"Get used to it," I tell her, although my attention is trained on the computer. "If you want to become a soldier, you need to learn how to wake up early."
"I should've become a doctor like my dad wanted me to," Selene grumbles to herself. "Then I wouldn't have to be dragged here from my cozy bed."
"Oh poor little Selene still needs her nap time," Dorian teases. He ruffles her hair, making her even more annoyed.
"Go grab some coffee or something. Maybe that'll wake you up," I say as I type in the password to access online files.
Selene's eyes suddenly brighten and gleam. "You mean from the lounge down the hall? The one that only captains and higher officers can use?"
"Yeah sure," I mutter. My eyes still glued to the computer.
"Wait what? June! You can't let her use the sacred coffee machine," Dorian protests.
"Ha!" says Selene triumphantly. "Jealous?"
"But...but...June why? I spent so many years as a cadet dreaming for the day I could use that lounge. And yet you're letting a cadet-in-training use it? What kind of justice is this?!" He complains childishly.
"Oh please, you weren't even a cadet for long. In your file it says you were a training assistant before June made you captain," Selene points out. "So technically, you also shouldn't have the right to use the lounge."
"Wait a second, how'd you get access to my file?" Dorian asks, narrowing his eyes at her. I try not to laugh but fail to. Dorian glances at me and pulls the pieces together. "June! That was confidential info!"
"Only to your weak argument. Let Selene use the lounge just this one time," I say.
Selene laughs and walks out the room while Dorian looks at me feigning betrayal. "Favoritism. I see how it is June."
"Why are you so attached to that coffee machine anyways?" I ask.
"I'm not attached to it. I'm just trying to defend the lounge because people have to earn the right to go in." Dorian crosses his arms.
"Really. That's your main concern? To be honest, I appointed you as captain because I thought you were serious. Not so that you could defend your sacred coffee machine."
"Hey, I said I wanted to defend the city. That includes saving my coffee machine from a cadet-in-training," he jokes.
I groan, rolling my eyes.
"Come on June. You know you to want to laugh," he says with a goofy infectious grin spreading across his face. I fight against the smile.
"I should've known you learned Pascao's tricks," I say.
"Shadowing him for two years taught me a lot. Like how to make a serious, beautiful girl smile." Dorian grins cheekily and winks. I give in, a smile flickering on my face.
"Yes!" he says victoriously. "You smiled!" He glances at Selene, who had just come back with a cup of steaming coffee. "And you owe me 10 Notes," he tells her, smirking.
Selene grumbles, digging into her pocket and tosses him a few crumpled Notes. "You guys were betting on whether I'd smile or not?" I ask.
"Yup. Selene thought it was impossible for you to smile so I proved her wrong," he says, counting the money.
"You two are ridiculous." I roll my eyes again. "But anyways, joke's over. Time to get serious. Two more people were murdered just this week by the same killer. We need to find the person before more people fall to the same fate."
"Sorry, but could you remind me who the victims were?" asks Dorian. "It slipped my mind."
"The first person was a seventy-four year old male, Alexander Qiu. He recently retired from his position as general. The other victim was fifty- seven year old Lydia Stryder, a nurse and also Liam Styder's mother. Small bombs went off in both of their apartments during the night." I let out a deep breath, tears stinging my eyes. "The numbers 15 and 16 were found spray painted on the remaining walls."
"This killer is one sick bastard," Selene whispers quietly. She sets down her mug, reaching out to grab a handful of papers and files.
"Shouldn't we be out trying to stop whoever's doing this instead of looking through old dusty files? There's no pattern, no consistency. So far the victims were a captain, an arrested second-in-command, a retired general, and a nurse. It makes no sense. We don't even know what clues to look for," says Dorian.
"I think I do," says Selene after a few heartbeats of silence. She shows me the photo of the bloody message that was written on my wall. "You said only one person called you 'Little Iparis'," she points out.
"Jameson," I whisper. "But she's dead."
"Perhaps not," she says. Selene takes out a thick folder that's labeled 'Classified' in bold red letters. "I've looked through her files, but I can't find an autopsy report. So either it's gone missing, or-"
"Or one was never written in the first place," Dorian finishes, his eyes widening. "Do you think she's actually alive?"
I shake my head. "She can't be. I saw soldiers shoot her. I saw her fall down from over ten stories." I saw her amused, triumphant eyes bore into mine, victory painted on her face as she fell to her death. I curl my hands into fists so that neither of them can see my hands shaking. "She has to be dead."
"But that's not all," says Selene grimly. "I can't figure out what these numbers mean, but I think we might be able to predict the next victim."
"How?"
"Everyone that was murdered by this killer is all connected to the same event. They were all there at the last battle between the Colonies and the Republic. The same place Jameson was supposedly killed," she says.
My eyes widen with realization and my breath catches in my throat. The memory flashes through my mind:
"Shoot her!" I scream. "Shoot her!"
"I knew you couldn't do it yourself," Jameson says with a twisted smirk. Two soldiers turn their aim towards her, opening fire. Jameson loses her grip, but she's still smiling as she falls down, down, down.
"The two soldiers who shot her…," I whisper to myself.
"One of them was Amy. The other was Alexander Qiu, who she was shadowing at the time," says Selene quietly.
Another memory of mine is unearthed: Day's running to a nurse holding Eden. The nurse is blinded with fear, frantically running in the wrong direction. "And there was also a nurse carrying Eden Wing. I think that was Lydia Stryder," I say.
"It is," replies Selene. "I checked in the files."
"So basically, everyone who was there at that battle is fair game," Dorian concludes.
"Not quite. I think anyone who went against Jameson or ruined her plan is in danger," says Selene grimly. "Like you June."
Or Day, Tess, Pascao, Eden. They're all in danger. I can't lose them. They're like my family; I can't bear to lose another loved one. And Day, I don't want to lose him again because this time, he's not going to be gone for only ten years. If the killer gets their hands on him, the boy who walks in the light will be gone forever.
"I have to protect my friends," I say, my voice strangling the words.
"June, you're in more danger then any of them. If this is Jameson or someone who's avenging her death, they're going to come after you next," says Selene. "We need a squad of soldiers to protect you at all times."
"No," I murmur. "If I'm protected at all times, then the killer won't target me first. They'll target my friends and other unprotected civilians. If we are to catch this person before they murder anyone else, then we have to lure them into a trap. And I can be the bait."
"June, we're not going to let you risk your life like that," Dorian says firmly.
I narrow my eyes. "I'm the commander, not you. I make the final call. And I say that the best way to catch this sick freak is to use me as the bait."
"You may be the commander, but you don't finalize the decisions. Not if the Elector knows about it. Everyone knows that his feelings for you are still strong, and if he knew that you were going to do something completely foolish and suicidal, Anden would stop you instantly," says Dorian.
"Don't you dare tell him," I hiss. "He doesn't need to know."
"You can't keep secrets from the Elector, June. You know that. He has a right to know that there is a psychopath running around in the streets, killing people."
"Then I'll tell him after this is over. This will be a classified mission, and you two must swear not to spill any details of it. The last thing we need is for civilians to panic," I order firmly. "I swear on my life to never say a word," says Selene solemnly. I nod at her with approval.
I swivel my focus towards Dorian. His jaw is clenched and his face is filled with reluctance. "So Dorian, are you going to follow orders and keep this quiet?"
"Fine," he says. "As long as it's for the people, I'll do what you say."
"Good," I say, giving both of them a smile. "Let's get to work then. We have a killer to catch."
Please review and tell me what you think of the story! It'd be awesome if you guys could leave some constructive criticism on improving the story/ my writing.
