CHERUB: Madness
"Right, girls," announced Zara. "Your punishments." Lauren was hating all of this. She looked across at Tiffany. The look on her face indicated that she was feeling the same.
"Well, Tiffany, Lauren is saying that it was you who started this fight. Is that true?" she asked, sternly. Tiffany, who had been looking at her feet, mumbled a muffled reply.
"What was that?"
"Yes" muttered Tiffany.
"Well then, I'm afraid that I will have to ban you from going on missions for, let's say, two months."
"What!?!" Tiffany gasped as her jaw dropped.
"And you Lauren, I want you to meet me up on the eight floor at five o'clock to discuss your punishment." Lauren was confused for a second, but then it clicked, and two words flashed in her mind.
Recruitment. Mission.
Zara stood up.
"You may leave now, girls," she said, and the two girls got up, and left the room.
*********************
As James got into the taxi, he felt a gush of warm air. The air conditioning was on.
"I'm going to Ballybracken," he said. "How much?" The taxi driver turned around and grinned, showing a mouthful of fillings.
"The only paying you're gonna be doing is when An Diabhal gets his hand's on you!" he said.
"Crap, not again," thought James to himself.
After a short car ride, the driver parked the car. He opened the door, and pulled James out, flinging him onto the ground.
"An Diabhal's got a lot to say to you, and he isn't very happy, lad," said the taxi driver. Then, the driver stunned James with a hard kick to his back, and dragged him to a small house.
The house had been built in the 19th century, and was currently unoccupied, but it was frequently used by An Diabhal and his gang. It had a wide path that ran up to the yellow door, through a small garden.
When they got to the door, the driver picked James up, and pushed him into the living room.
There was a large coffee table in the centre of the room, and it was surrounded by two armchairs, and a small couch.
James recognised the man sitting on the couch from the Garda files he had been shown during the mission preperations. It was the man himself. An Diabhal.
"Dia duit, James," he smiled. "How nice of you to join us." James didn't answer. He didn't want to give him the satisfaction.
"Oh, not speaking, hmmmm?" he asked. "Well you will be when I'm finished with you," he continued. "I don't like what you did to my two friends. Very skilful at martial arts I see. Well, now we're on my turf so if you fight, you'll fight fairly," he finished.
"A grown man against a teenager? Not exactly what I'd call fair, but if you say so." James jumped to his feet. An Diabhal followed.
They stood facing each other in the centre of the room.
"Ready James?" asked An Diabhal.
"As I'll ever be," replied James. Suddenly, An Diabhal threw a punch, aimed at James' head. James ducked, and it missed, narrowly. While he was crouching, James whipped An Diabal's legs from under him, sending him sprawling to the floor.
James took his opportunity to run. He sprinted out of the door, slamming it behind him. He took out his phone, and dialled Ewart's number. It took him a second to realise that it was not working.
Judging by the cracked screen, it had been crushed when the taxi driver had flung him to the ground. He cursed to himself.
It seemed as if he was lost again.
It wasn't as bad as when he had been lost in Russia, but being alone with no way to contact Ewart, or anyone who could help him, wasn't necessarily a good situation.
There was only one solution and that was to find a pay-phone somewhere, and to call either Ewart or the emergency desk. He looked at his watch, only to realise that it had also been crushed.
"Pity," he said to no-one in particular. "It was an expensive one aswell."
**********************
Lauren reached the eight floor at twenty past five. She saw Zara, and jogged towards her.
"Sorry I'm late," she said. "I have a tonne of Geography homework that has to be in by tomorrow."
"It's ok," answered Zara. "Just follow m-." She was interrupted by her phone ringing.
"Bear with me," she mouthed at Lauren who replied with a nod. Zara turned the corner, and took the call.
She finished the call about two minutes later. She came back around the corner with a worried expression on her face.
"That was Ewart," she said. "It's about James. He called Ewart to say he'd be home in half an hour."
"What's so bad about that?" Lauren asked.
"That was last night," replied Zara. "Ewart hasn't heard from him since."
*********************************
*PS: Sorry for not updating in a while. Life is pretty hectic.
Translations=
An Diabhal= The Devil
Gardai/Garda= Police
Dia Duit= Hello