Zach POV
There's no way. There is absolutely no way.
'You're a Gallagher Girl?' I asked
'I'm sure this is quite a revelation, however we need to get inside' Townsend said. Cammie nodded.
'You know where to park?' She asked. He nodded.
'Let's hope I don't get wet this time'
Cammie smiled at him
'See you in a few' Townsend got back into the car, driving towards the...lake? I looked at the boys, all of us very unsure at what was going on.
Cammie then turned to us 'Alright people, let's go'
We carefully wheeled Abby's bed through what was left of the double doors. We were greeted with what appeared to be a massive hallway, a staircase that would have once been grand & wrapped around the walls was now burnt & unstable.
The tiled floors glistened in the beams of light poking through the ruins.
'What happened here?' I asked again, amazed at how a place like this, a place that trained these very skilled girls could just possibly be burnt down. There's definitely more to this story.
None of the girls answered me. They led us to a small corridor at the base of the staircase. They stood in front of the full-length mirror, just staring.
'Um ladies, I don't mean to be rude, but checking yourselves out in the mirror right now doesn't seem appropriate' Grant noted. All four girls turned from the mirror to glare at him.
'It's a biometric scanner' Jonas muttered, impressed. The girls turned back to the mirror, studying their own reflections.
In the mirror I noticed a small green light flashed in the eyes of the painting behind. The mirror slid aside, revealing a small elevator. The girls wheeled Abby inside & we all followed suit.
It was an incredibly tight squeeze with Abby's bed taking up the majority of the room. I ended up, somehow, pressed against Cammie. Weird right?
'We need to stop meeting like this' I smirked, keeping my voice low enough for the others not to hear. Cammie rolled her eyes but there was a faint blush on her cheek.
The doors slid closed behind us. But we weren't moving.
'That's odd…' Liz muttered
'VOICE KEY REQUIRED' An automated voice announced. The girls all looked at each other.
'Did you know about this?' Bex asked
'Absolutely not' Macey quipped 'Liz?'
'Maybe they've upgraded their system,' Liz muttered.
'Cammie…' Bex said. I looked back at Cam whose expression was hard and unreadable.
'VOICE KEY REQUIRED'
'Cam…' Bex's voice raised an octave.
'Cameron Morgan. Graduate'
Nothing
'Rebecca Baxter. Graduate'
Nothing.
'Macey McHenry. Graduate'
Nothing.
'Elizabeth Sutton. Graduate'
Nothing.
'VOICE KEY REQUIRED'
'What do we do?' Grant said, beginning to panic 'Jonas, hack into the elevator'
'Unless you want to release deadly nerve gas, I wouldn't' Bex hissed.
'Cam, what do we do?' Liz asked. Panic in her voice. Cammie took a deep breath, looking up at the small surveillance camera in the corner.
'We are the sisters of Gallagher. We learn her skills, honour her sword, and keep her secrets'
We were all silent for a moment. Holding our breath. Then the elevator began to move.
'That's some cult shit right there' Grant muttered. And once again, everyone glared at him.
'What?' He grumbled 'learn her skills, honour her sword, and keep her secrets. Pfff. That's stupid'
'Just like getting a permanent inking of a symbol belonging to a group of assassins?' Cammie quipped 'You have your team, I have mine. And since you're in my home, show some damn respect'
That shut Grant up very quickly.
...
The elevator eventually stopped and slid open. Revealing a very white and bright space. Standing there was a woman standing in a suit, her hair piled in a neat bun on top of her head.
'Welcome home girls'
'It's good to be back Professor' Bex smiled as we exited the elevator.
'Everything is in place for Abigail. Miss Baxter, why don't you and Miss McHenry escort Abigail to the infirmary. Now located on Sublevel two'
'Got it'
'Miss Sutton, Dr. Fibbs is requesting your immediate assistance in the labs' She shook her head 'He needs help with a special project'
'No problem. Sub seven?' Liz said
'Not anymore. There was an...incident so the labs have moved to sublevel five. Why don't you girls go ahead'
The girls disappeared back into the elevator. The door sliding behind them. Leaving Cammie and all three of us.
'This way, and do keep up' She spun on her heels. Considering we were underground, there was light, natural light pouring in through the ceiling.
'How-'
'Tiles' Cam & the woman replied. I looked up and noticed the high ceilings and the tiles across the top. So the light from the ruins above ground were streaming all the way down here.
We marched down several corridors, passing what appeared to be classroom after classroom filled with girls learning. We made our way to the end of the corridor to a set of large double doors.
The woman opened it and we followed her inside, revealing an office. There was one wall adorned with various books and photographs of past students. In front was a large oak desk with two chairs in front of that, there was a soft rug in the middle of the room and a couch against another wall.
'I still can't believe you managed to move everything down here' Cam was drawn to the photos.
'It was not easy. Gentlemen, please take a seat' She gestured to the sofa. We all sat down & immediately two metal bars launched across us, trapping us with a loud clunk. Cammie spun around, her eyes shocked.
'What the hell?' I hissed.
'Professor…' Cammie sighed
'You know the rules Cameron. You may trust them but until they pass our polygraph, they are not moving'
'You know we're trained to pass the tests?' Grant quipped. Jonas and I glared at him. You do not tell the enemy your secret.
'I have no doubt that you can' She adjusted her glasses 'But you haven't had our test before'
'Look lady-' I began
'Zach' Cam cut me off 'Just do it. Please'
I relaxed a little. I noticed Cam was holding a photo in her hand, her eyes turned sad.
'You okay?' I asked, momentarily forgetting we were in a room with several other people. Cam nodded, keeping the photo close to her chest.
'Your room has been set up for you on sublevel 4. Dinner will be served at 6:30, as usual. Although you might want to appear later, the staff have been informed of your arrival but the girls haven't. Therefore I ask that you only use the doors that are visible and-'
'-No funny business. Got it. It'll try...' Cam smiled 'Thank you Professor Buckingham'
'My pleasure' She gave Cammie a brief hug. Cam headed towards the door just as Liz & a male teacher (who I presume was Dr. Fibbs) entered with some, quite scary looking equipment.
'Sorry' Cam mouthed to me & then she disappeared.
Dr. Fibbs walked over to us, examined our pupils & made some comments in...Arabic? Which Liz noted down on a piece of paper.
'Do any of you boys have any allergies?' He asked, putting on a pair of gloves.
'I'm allergic to bullshit' Grant said
'Funny, because you seem to spout it all the time' Jonas quipped.
'Miss Sutton, hand me number one' He said calmly. Liz picked up a massive needle from the trolley. I gulped.
This was not going to be good.
...
Cammie POV
It had been a couple of hours later. Whilst the rest of the academy were eating in the new grand hall (speaking French today I believe), I found refuge in the library. All of the precious texts were moved down here. Preserved for generations to come.
I had settled myself on one of the sofas close to the fire. A fake fire obviously since we're underground. Dr Fibbs has been very busy with a bunch of new projects. Synthetic Fire he calls this. So operatives can stay warm even in the harshest of conditions.
I sighed, looking down at the photo in my lap.
'You look cozy' I glanced up to see Zach leaning against one of the bookcases. He looked tired and worn out.
'I take it by you standing in front of me, you passed the test'
'Yes. So did the others. They've headed to bed, I decided to look for you, make sure you're okay'
'I'm fine' I smiled at him.
'You're lying'
'And you still have truth serum in your system' I stood up 'Take it from me, it's best to eat before you sleep it off, otherwise, you'll wake up with a headache so bad you would have thought you drunk a whole bottle of tequila. Not fun, trust me' I began to walk past Zach, playfully shoving his shoulder to take him towards the kitchen. Zach grabbed my wrist.
'What? Aren't you going to ask me any burning questions? This is your only chance to get the truth out of me, Gallagher Girl'
'Don't call me that'
'Why? You are a Gallagher Girl just like I'm a Blackthorne Boy. That's your pet name for me and my pet name for you'
'You're ridiculous'
'Ah, but you like it though. That's why you're keeping me around. You like me'
'You have information that I need. I'm keeping it professional'
'Keep telling yourself that' He smirked, his gaze dropping to my lips then back to my eyes 'So...questions?'
'I'm not going to go that to you Zach' I said sitting back down
'Why not?' Zach moved to sit next to me. He looked at the photo I was holding.
'That's your family?' He asked
'Yep. My mom, dad, Abby & me. Joe took the photo'
'Why was it in the office?'
'My mom is...was the headmistress. Professor Buckingham took over when my mom took on the mission'
'You look like your mom' He reached for the picture, his thumb grazing mine slightly, I moved, not wanting to be too close. I stayed silent.
'You miss her don't you?'
'Everyday…Do you miss your family?'
'I don't have a family to miss' Zach said bluntly. I tilted my head to look at him, his eyes were focused on the fire. His eyes were hard and steely. Pained. Like a wounded animal.
'Who hurt you, Zach?' I blurted. The question hung in the air for a long time, slowly Zach pulled his eyes to mine. Green into blue.
'Everyone' His voice was barely a whisper so it took me a moment to process what he said.
'Everyone?' I repeated.
'At some point everyone does. Even you will at some point. But I don't want you too. I trust you' He trusted me. That was the truth. Even if the truth serum wasn't still in his system, I would know he's telling the truth.
I didn't realise how close Zach and I were. Our faces a breath width apart.
I turned away, clearing my throat and standing up.
'Do you, um, want to get some food now? Chef Louis makes the best creme brulee. I'm not even kidding, it's award-winning'
'Sure' Zach stood up. I moved to the fireplace and flicked the switch, immediately extinguishing the fire.
We were making our way back through the stacks of books towards the door. We were walking side by side, our shoulders occasionally brushing when…
'CAMMIE!' I spun around to see a small blur of a girl running up to me and wrapping her arms around my waist. Momentarily knocking me slightly off balance.
'Hello to you too, Amy' I chuckled, peeling the girl off of me slightly.
'Cammie, I can't believe you're back!' She squealed. 'At dinner, some of the girls were saying that some graduates were here & some boys too. I saw Liz in Dr Fibb's lab so I guessed you'd be around here too'
'Wow. You're getting better with your investigative skills. Very impressive' I smiled at her. Amy looked past me to Zach.
'Hi, I'm Amy. How do you do?' She held out her hand. Madame Dabney would be very impressed.
'I'm Zach. Very nice to meet you' Zach shook her hand. 'How do you know Cammie?'
'She's my sister' Amy shrugged. Zach raised an eyebrow at me.
'Being a Gallagher Girl is being part of a sisterhood' I explained 'We do anything to help our sisters'
'Cammie, could you please come to the common room. The girls won't believe that your back' Amy pulled on my arm, excitement radiating off of her.
'I'm kind of busy at the moment Amy. Maybe later, okay?'
'Sure' Amy said, a little deflated 'How long are you staying this time?'
'Not long. Sorry kiddo' I said. Amy's shoulders slumped slightly. I knelt down and adjusted her shirt collar.
'How about tomorrow, I convince Ms Hancock to let me lead your P&E class and I'll teach you some new moves. Sounds good?'
Amy smiled.
'I need to tell the others! They'll be so excited'
'Perfect' I said 'I'll see you later'
'Bye Cammie. Bye Zach!' And with that Amy rushed off down the hallway. Was I really that small at some point?
'That was Princess Amirah right?' Zach asked once she disappeared
'How did you know that?' I asked. Amirah's identity was a secret. A big secret that only a handful of people know about.
'Joe mentioned her,' Zach shrugged. I furrowed my brow for a moment. Why would Joe mention Amirah to the Blackthorne Boys? He knew that she had to be protected. Unless...unless he knew deep down that I wouldn't be able to protect her.
Author's note: Hello everyone! Thank you all so much for loving this story thus far, I can't wait for all the next few chapters (I sound like a broken record when I keep saying this but it's true; I'm just so excited about this story! EEEEK! So everyone is back at Gallagher, but not the Gallagher that we all know and love; it's burnt down & underground. What did you think about this little Zammie moment? And Joe mentioned Princess Amirah? What do you think will happen next? See you all soon, might not be an upload next week so I'll apologise in advance xxx
Archer5210: A very dangerous game indeed, and now that the boys are there, anything could happen. It will get worse for Cammie for sure. xxx
Smiles180: Cammie and Zach will slowly reveal their secrets to one another. Some may be liberating, others might hurt. It might possibly be related to the books in some way, but as everything in this story, nothing is as what it appears to be. xxx
covertoperative456: Yay! So glad you're enjoying it xxx
Duchess12: Cammie and the girls take none of Grant's bullshit. I know he's not like this in the books, but I think it's needed in this story for a little bit of light relief. Preston is unfortunately dead. Sorry. (Though I might be lying. Haha). Zach and Cammie having conversations, like normal conversations, is my favourite moments where they can just be together. Gallagher hasn't been rebuild, but they've gone underground, keeping the sisterhood even more secret than it already is. The reason for the fire happening may surprise you. xxx
Guest: There is a deep tragedy revolving around the fire. One that has stuck with Cammie and the other girls. xxx
gymnast1150: Yay! So glad to see your review pop up. The FLIRTMANCE is insane, it's only going to heat up more. There's a magnetic force pulling Cammie and Zach together, which neither of them can deny. I'm not going to say anything to the fire just yet. You'll have to wait and see! They probably knew about Gallagher Girls through Joe, or heard whispers about them along the way. I promise you that ALL will be revealed with Joe, Rachel & Matthew at some point in the future (it'll be a while). ANSWERS ARE COMING! Thank you so much as always! I absolutely love your reviews! xxx
Roxie: Thank you! Gallagher was burnt down, by Cammie but the reason will be revealed soon. xxx
