A/N: Hello again everyone, and welcome to Chapter 14. I hope you enjoy this piece of literary make-believe.
"So anyway, when we land, there's some stuff I need to do at the school. You go straight to the house and start unpacking. Make sure you upload Morty into the system so he gets a chance to stretch his legs… metaphorically." Sam said as the seatbelt lights came on. I nodded wearily. For the entire trip, Sam had been giving me advice about the mission, and some of it was extremely obvious. My favourite so far was "Don't kill your classmates because they're not as smart as you".
The plane came to a standstill in the air, and then it began to descend. There was a soft thud as the wheels touched the ground. The seatbelt light was deactivated, and Sam and I stood up. I grabbed my bag, and Sam grabbed his, and we exited down the stairs. I looked around, and, after a moment's thought, I remembered where we were.
A car pulled up before I could say anything, and Sam ushered me inside. He went to the back of the car and put his bag inside. He then went to the other car that had pulled up after my one, and got in the back seat. Both cars then pulled off. I was a little nervous, but mainly because this was my first mission. Every loose end from my previous life had been tied. My old family had been relocated, and were warned to never try to contact me, and the same warning was issued to my relatives. As far as my friends were aware, I had spent the last few months in a very expensive private school, and I could make up whatever I wanted to about it, because there was no way any of them would ever look for it. The only other real worry was that someone would mention the body that had caused me to disappear in the first place.
My first kill.
I remembered my first month at the Academy. That kill kept me up at night, but after a couple of weeks, I came to terms with it. I had ended a few lives after that in the following months, as part of my training, and the exams, and while I didn't find it pleasing, it was by no means difficult to take a life.
After about ten minutes of my reminiscing, I realized where we were. Only seven months ago, I had ridden my motorbike down this very street, trying to escape the person that I had killed at the school. I was moving back into my old house, which had been modified slightly to accommodate the AI that would inhabit it, as well as all the weapons that would be hidden around the place.
The car pulled into the driveway, and I exited it. I looked around at the neighbours, and recognised none of them. The Assassins were very thorough. I pulled my bag out of the trunk, and then I grabbed Sam's. I walked with them up the last couple of meters to the front door, which was opened as I approached by the driver.
"Stay inside until the other one shows up," he said to me, and with that he closed the door. I heard the lock click, and footsteps walking back to the car.
"Alright Morty, where do I plug you in?" I said to the air, putting the bags down and walking slowly around.
"Try the kitchen," Morty said, sounding as though he had no idea either. I walked into the kitchen, and used my gift, which had yet to fail me. I saw a faint gold glow behind on of the upper cupboard doors. Maintaining Eagle Vision, I opened the cupboard, and moved all of the pots and pans aside, and found a small opening in the wall. Barely a crack. I extended my blade, and inserted it into the wall. After a moment, Morty's voice sounded through the air around me.
"Ahh that's better. Room to run around."
I smirked to myself as I pulled the blade from the wall, sheathing it with a flex of my hand. I went and retrieved the bags, and walked down the hallway, opening doors and trying to decide which room I would take. In the end, I decided on the second largest one at the back of the house. It had been my sisters, before she moved in with her boyfriend. Inside was a double bed, a plain wooden desk, and a wardrobe built into the wall. I dumped my suitcase on the bed, and activated Eagle Vision. Scanning the room, I found a small arsenal of hidden weapons.
There was a handgun hidden in the top drawer of the desk, a machete taped to the underside of the desk, a shotgun under the bed, throwing knives built into the headboard, and a multitude of weapons in the closet, presumably hidden behind a false wall.
I walked out of my room and into the room next to it, which had been my parents. It was similarly decorated, though with a door leading to the bathroom en-suite. Using my Vision, I looked around and found the room armed in much the same fashion, though with a couple of extra guns in the bathroom.
Walking back to the living room, I found a PS3, an xBox 360 and a moderately large T.V.
"Looks familiar, doesn't it?" Morty asked, as I sat down on the three seater lounge.
"Yeah, it's basically an Assassin room spread out over an entire house, though with everything slightly crappier." I replied, looking around for a remote, which I found on the other side of the room. I groaned.
"Morty," I asked, putting on a falsely sweet voice, "Could you please turn the T.V on for me?"
There was a pause, and then the T.V started. I thanked Morty, and settled back to watch some garbage T.V until Sam got back.
I awoke a couple of hours later to the sound of the door closing. Careful not to make any noise, I got up off the lounge and snuck over to where the sound was coming from. I stood around the corner, ready to defend myself, but Morty's voice chimed out from the hidden speakers.
"It's Sam, you paranoid moron, don't kill him."
I stepped around the corner, looking at a haggard looking Sam walking away from the door.
"Which rooms mine?" he asked, suppressing a yawn.
"Last on the left," I said, pointing down the hall. Sam nodded his thanks and went down the hall. I looked at the clock, and saw it was 11 pm. I yawned myself, and followed Sam down the hall to my room, where I promptly fell on the bed and dozed off, leaving Morty to turn the T.V off, and keep watch on the house.
I awoke a few hours later, more due to habit than anything else. I looked at the digital alarm clock next to my bed, and gave a sleepy moan. It was six in the morning, and I had school today. I got out of bed, and turned on my Eagle Vision, looking around for Sam, who I found in the kitchen. I walked out my room and down the hall.
"What's for breakfast?" I asked as I entered, looking over at the stove, where I could hear bacon sizzling.
"Whatever you can make," Sam replied, scooping all the bacon from the pan and putting it on the plate with his scrambled eggs. I opened the cupboard, and was bombarded by a whole lot of nothing. There was a loaf of bread, a small carton of soy milk, and a tin of fruit. I closed the pantry.
I walked across the kitchen, and opened the fridge. I found nothing at all. I looked over at Sam, who was tucking into his meal with a smile on his face. He nodded toward the far bench, and I saw something that made me feel like an idiot. There was a cooler sitting there. I opened it up and found a carton of eggs, some raw bacon, half a dozen sausages, some apples, oranges, and a tub of vanilla yogurt. I reached in to the cooler, aiming for an apple, before I heard Sam clear his throat.
"That is the food I was smart enough to bring with me before I go shopping this afternoon. If you want something, go buy it." Sam said from the table, an obvious smugness in his voice.
"Fine, I think I will," I said, picking up from the bench a debit card with my name on it. I went back to my room and opened my suitcase. I pulled out a shirt and a pair of shorts, and put them on. I grabbed my sneakers from where I had left them the previous day, and grabbed my wallet from the desk, tucking my card into as I left the room. I went down the hall, putting on my shoes as I did. When I reached the end of the hall, something was thrown at me. I caught it.
"So you look like a normal teenager," Sam said, scraping up the last bits of his eggs. I examined the iPhone in front of me. I turned it on, and a number appeared on the screen, which I quickly memorized, because what good is a phone without a phone number. After spending five minutes setting up the basics, I passed the phone to Sam, who input his number. I pocketed the phone and headed out the door.
"Remember," Sam called after me, "you can't spend more than $500 in a day."
I jogged off at that point, heading for the small shopping complex that lay a couple of blocks away. As I left my street, I found myself no longer alone. There were quite a few other people jogging at this time, and I vaguely recognised a couple of them. I followed them to the corner, and then I went left when they went right.
Down a hill, around another corner, and through a car park and I had arrived at the 24 hour bakery. I opened the door, and was greeted by a friendly and familiar face.
"Hey there, what can I get for you this morning?" asked Emma. There was a moment where we just looked at each other, and then I shook my head.
"Sorry, still a bit tired," I said, "I'll have one of your salad rolls, thanks,"
She smiled at me as she grabbed a roll and a knife and went to the cutting board near the register. She sliced the bread and began putting the things on. She finished, wrapped the roll and walked the last step to the register.
"That'll be $4.80," she said, holding out her hand. I handed her the card.
"Credit or savings?" she asked, running the card through the machine.
I responded with the latter. She handed me the device to input my pin. I mentally slapped myself.
"One sec," I said, pulling out my phone. I went to messages and sent one to Sam.
What's the pin?
I laughed with Emma about the whole incident. My phone chimed as I got a reply.
The first four numbers you put in.
I shrugged and tapped in four random numbers.
8, 2, 5, 3.
There was a small ding as it accepted the code. As the money was being processed, Emma spoke up. "I'm probably way off, but you look familiar. Have we met?"
I smiled, nodding. "Yeah, I'm James. I used to go to your school,"
Her eyes lit up in recognition. "Yeah, I remember now. You just disappeared one day. What happened?"
"I got sent to some snobby private school in Sydney." I replied, hoping for no follow up questions.
"Right, so, are you coming back to us?" she asked, with a small amount of hope in her voice. I nodded, and she beamed. "Great, I kind of missed you, after you disappeared. You were always so nice and funny and…" she trailed off. There was an awkward silence, til I thought of something.
"How come you're working at 6 in the morning on a school day?" I asked, sounding puzzled.
"Umm, since when is a Sunday a school day?" she replied, obviously amused. I pulled out my phone and looked at the date.
1/1/2005.
"Well that's not right," I said, heading to pocket the phone again, but Emma held out her hand, and I gave it to her. After a few moments of tapping, she handed it back to me. I looked at it, and it had the correct time and date. Unlocking it, I saw her number now saved. Neither of us had noticed that the receipt had come up.
Emma looked down, and handed me the bit of paper.
"If you want, we could hang out after I finish. Meet me here at 11?" she asked, sounding obviously hopeful.
I smiled. "I'll see you then," I said, picking up the roll and pocketing the docket. I walked out the door, waving as it shut, and I jogged off, feeling very happy that I had re-made a friend already.
A/N: Would you look at the size of this chapter. And to think, I did all this, me, the world's biggest procrastinator, did this in a single day. Just think what I could do if I devoted myself to my studies like this. Anyway, R&R, and don't comment on the obvious flirting that was going on, *cue bad French accent* I have a plan. Since I have school starting the day after tomorrow, and three assignments to do before then, I probably won't be able to update the next chapter for a couple of days, but bear with me, considering I have given you like three chapters in 4 days. See you next time.