Chapter 12
3rd POV
It's ten minutes later in the large black van and two darkly-clad SKUL agents sit in the front with another next to them driving. Oscar's sat slumped in the back, tied up and surrounded by SKUL guards, half-conscious. The smaller of the two guards in shot-gun dropped a glove which he'd just taken off and leant forward to pick it up. The other chuckled and leaned back, his head in his hands and his eyes closed.
"Well, that went as well as could be expected, wouldn't you say eh Barney?"
Barney sat up and hit his head on the dashboard. He rubbed his head and sat up more carefully. "What? Oh, yeah, sure, whatever."
"What's wrong Barney? You've been away with the fairies since we successfully got the boy in the back. You're not having second thoughts are you?"
Barney stared at him. "Of course not. It's… the Boss's new protégé – Millicent? She's…scary. I don't like being near her. You know what happened to Jesse, but then again he was a traitor so he did kinda deserve what he got. I mean – what if we kidnapped the wrong boy? He didn't put up much of a fight, hardly son of The General. I'm… paranoid, that he's not MI9 at all, not Oscar Dixon-Halliday, and that Millicent will take her anger out on us!"
"Calm down, we've definitely got the right one. I've worked at SKUL longer than you have, and I've seen him before – sneaking around, causing a nuisance and it was definitely him when Jesse died. The Oscar-boy was with that blond girl Honey. They're both incredibly irritating. Shame we couldn't get both of them but no-one has any idea where she is. It'll be nice to watch Millicent get her claws into him, revenge for everything he's done, and his friends at MI9. And anyway, she's not scary at all. Those tight leather clothes showing her perfectly sculpted body, perfectly arched feet accented in those deadly black books and perfect boobs… Phwoar!" he grinned, thinking of the new female recruit.
Barney stared at him shocked. "Pete! She's scary, not sexy. Dragon yes, perfect… no. She scares the hell out of me."
He winced and moved away as Pete sat upright, eyes snapping open and lunged at him. Pete grabbed a fistful of Barney's shirt and pulled him up to his face.
"You shut up. You have no idea. You're just a kid. She's beautiful, a goddess, not a dragon."
Barney placed his hands on top of Pete's and pushed him away. "Okay, okay. God Pete, defensive much over someone who isn't even your girlfriend? There's no need to strangle me."
Pete glared at him. "Quit your whining or you'll get kicked out, and then you'll be sorry."
The pair sat in silence, turned away from each other. The van stopped and in the back, Oscar pulled out through the doors roughly. He slipped and fell into a puddle, soaking his clothes and splashing mud on his face. He was jerked upwards by a SKUL guy and shoved through a pair of black doors. The driver got out and walked away, leaving the two alone. Barney leant forward to open the door when Pete grabbed him from behind.
"Listen buddy, you stay out of Millicent's way. She's mine and I'm not gonna let a nobody like you take her away from me." He let go and pushed him out of the van. "Come on. We don't want to keep Millicent waiting. You know how she hates to be kept waiting." He strode off through the doors leaving Barney alone in the gloomy courtyard.
"I wouldn't want her anyway," he muttered shaking his head and followed Pete through the doors, his new iPod he'd received with evil talks on, turned on and plugged in.
A couple of hours later, Kittie was lying down on the grass in a graveyard by a couple of headstones, the ground in front of them covered with a thin layer of grass. She sighed and sat up.
"Mum, I can't do this. Uncle Tristan's being such a… such a control freak. I can't look after them and run the hotel and be… me. I just can't do it all. I'm not a super-woman like you were. And you had dad to help you. I have Michael I guess but we're just kids. I need someone to be there for me in a different way to a brother. I had Robin and he was great. He helped me so much after you died, and then I had Alan but they're both gone. I don't know what to do and I have no-one to turn to. I had Oscar but… Why are boys so infuriating? You think you know them but you really don't. They hurt you, break your trust, make you cry, are unreliable and they break your heart. Why are they so… unaware of their feelings and just so… urgh! I don't know whether to hate him or not. I still love him but it hurts so much knowing he doesn't feel the same way about me. He used to, I'm sure but now… He rarely talks to me, just ignores me and I don't know. Rose and Carrie tell me he's lying to cover his tracks and that he's scared but… I don't know. I really don't know anymore. I wish you were here to help me. Robin was easy – to tell that he liked me I mean. He barely spoke about love, calling it mushy-girly stuff but you could tell he was covering it up. Little things like the top of his ears turning red whenever he spoke to me or whenever he helped me which didn't happen with any other girl, the small change in pitch when he spoke, clammy hands when we touched. I'd known him since I was little – and we were childhood sweethearts. But it wasn't supposed to be I guess. Oscar… I don't know. He seems so familiar." She stopped and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
"Mum, would you mind if we went back home? Not… not to the hotel but to the house, our house. I can't cope with school and spying and the little ones and the hotel. I'm sorry but I can't cope, even with Michael with me. I was kidding myself thinking I could handle it. I'm sorry, I really am to leave it in Tristan's hands but I can't do everything and I want Michael with me, plus he deserves a break and time with the kids."
She sighed and stood up. "I wish you were here to help me, both of you. I love you, I always will and I'll take good care of the little ones and makes sure they never forget you even if you're not there for them. I'll make sure Charlie grows up alright even if it kills me. Family comes first which is why we're going back home, after we get a few changes made of course. I think I'm going to keep my room, Michael at the bottom and the kids in between. But maybe not. I think we'll have Lexi come and live with us if that's ok with you. And I was going to suggest Oscar maybe as well but that was before all of this. I'll tell you of all we're going to do but I just need a chance to escape."
Behind her, a tall blond figure was walking along the grass. He stood listening to Kittie talk to her parents and chuckled. "Talk to the dead much?"
She spun round startled and laughed, throwing herself at them. "Jack! You're alright! I was so worried. We didn't hear anything from you for weeks." She let go and hit him hard on the chest. "Why didn't you contact anyone? You… you made us worry about you and you were fine this whole time?"
He looked hurt but grinned still. "Not all this time but you know how good I am at getting out of awkward situations. Did you think I'd left you?"
"I did start to wonder. With everything that's been happening…"
"I know. Come here. I want a proper hug." He held out his arms and she hugged him tightly.
"Don't ever leave me again. I don't want anyone ever leaving me again, definitely not you. You're my brother, I've always followed you."
"And look how odd that's made you."
She let go and glared at him. He chuckled again and took her hands in his. "I'm sorry but it has made you different. You grew up with boys all around you – us older brothers, your best friends were boys… I'm beginning to wonder if maybe that's what triggered it all. You wanted to prove you could be as good as us even though you were much younger and smaller. Besides it may be in your genes but there must've been a reason why you became a spy. Was it because you wanted to prove yourself to everyone?"
She dropped his hands. "Of course not! Why would I want to prove myself to anyone? I'm myself. I've never cared what others think of me, not really. Why would I need to prove myself to anyone?"
"I don't know. Don't ask me. I never ever thought you had to prove yourself to anyone."
"Wait, are you trying to distract me? You are, aren't you? You never answered my question; well it wasn't a question, more of a statement. You will never leave me again will you?"
"I'm afraid I must Kittie. You know the other's will be here soon."
"Well, I'm coming with you."
"One day, when it's safer, then maybe. But not now. It's too dangerous."
She sighed. "Please, stay. Just for a little longer at least. I don't want you to go. Please don't go."
"I have to. I'm not supposed to be seen with you." He turned to go and stopped, drumming his fingers on his leg. "I heard you say you were moving back home. Your same room, right?"
She nodded.
"Okay, when?"
"As soon as possible. Hopefully in the next couple of days."
He nodded thoughtfully. "Okay. I can get out again in 4 days, they don't check so much then, not since I bribed Roddy. I'll come and see you then. Just the two of us."
"Three of us. If I'm at home, Lexi'll be there too and he has every right to see you as well."
He nodded. "Alright, just be careful okay? You're not allowed to end up like our parents. I want you safe Miercola."
She smiled. "You and Lexi are the only people who call me that."
He smiled, waved and disappeared amongst the grave stones.
She shook her head and wandered further over towards two more graves, one a lot newer than the other. "Alright guys, I have to go. Don't want to be late for dinner. Please, can you keep an eye on Jack? I don't want him getting hurt either. If you can hear me, please will you? It… it's so stupid everything that's been happening. I love you, all of you. Sweet dreams."
She sighed and left walking across the grass towards the gate.
A tall dark figure dressed completely in black and wearing black shades stood several feet away, watching Kittie walk out of the graveyard.
"The girl… she's… alive still sir," he said, talking into a comms unit that was in his wristwatch.
The comms unit crackled and faintly a deep rasping voice spoke back: "Okay, good work. Call it."
The figure in black looked at his shiny black metal pocket watch. "18:23 Monday evening, Pine Green Cemetery, Stevenage."
The voice spoke back, slightly angry. "There's no need to be that precise. We know she's in Stevenage. She wouldn't leave, not yet."
"Yes boss. Do you want me to follow her home?"
"No, she… we don't want her to know she's being followed. She's an ex-Barclay student and they are trained very, very well."
"Yes boss. Do… She was with a boy - tall, blond hair. Do you want me to find out who he was?"
"Yes. I want to know everything about him. I take it wasn't Oscar."
"No sir, not the Dixon-Halliday boy."
"Cole, he's now Oscar Cole."
"Yes sir."
"Very well. You may go."
"Yes sir." The man turned and walked away, passing the graves of Kittie's parents. He stopped, and pulled lillie from his trench coat. He dropped it across the graves and left the graveyard, closing the creaking rusty metal gate as he entered the street beyond.
