The Brotherhood of Ieoseph Cavan
ChAptEr 5
Information accumulated from various documents found in CIA official records (CLASSIFIED), Langley,Virginia, and Blackthorne Institute files (CLASSIFIED), Belfast, Maine.
Blackthorne Institute—Teacher Profiles
Arnett, Gregory (CIA-retired)
Age: 48
Sex: M
Ethnicity: Caucasian, American
Education: Blackthorne Institute for Boys
Profession: Metal Shop and Wood Shop instructor
Everell, Arnold (MI6-retired)
Age: 55
Sex: M
Ethnicity: Caucasian, German-English
Education: Unknown
Profession: Psychology of Soviet Society instructor
Ford, Elsa (MI6-retired)
Age: 56
Sex: F
Ethnicity: Caucasian, Irish
Education: Unknown
Profession: Nurse
Glass, Timothy (CIA-active)
Age: 32
Sex: M
Ethnicity: Caucasian, American
Education: Blackthorne Institute for Boys
Profession: CIA, the History of instructor
Hailey, Eugene (MI6-active)
Age: 24
Sex: M
Ethnicity: Caucasian, British
Education: Blackthorne Institute for Boys
Profession: Mechanics instructor
Hamilton, Christopher (MI6-retired)
Age: 36
Sex: M
Ethnicity: Caucasian, Welsh
Education: Unknown
Profession: Inside NASA (A Spy's Eye), Islamic Religion Study, Accents of the World instructor
Ivanovski, Aleksei
Age: 20
Sex: M
Ethnicity: Caucasian, Russian
Education: Blackthorne Institute for Boys
Profession: Chemical Warfare instructor
Olsen, Keller (CIA-retired)
Age: 54
Sex: M
Ethnicity: Caucasian, American
Education: Blackthorne Institute for Boys
Profession: Physical Activity instructor
Rose, Ronald (MI6-retired)
Age: 86
Sex: M
Ethnicity: Caucasian, English
Education: Unknown
Profession: Norwegian Dialects instructor
Sanders, Steven (CIA-unknown)
Age: 35
Sex: M
Ethnicity: Caucasian, American
Education: Unknown
Profession: Director and instructor.
Solomon, Joseph (CIA-retired)
Age: 42
Sex: M
Ethnicity: Caucasian, American
Education: Blackthorne Institute for Boys
Profession: Covert Operations instructor
Travers, Beau
Age: 19
Sex: M
Ethnicity: African, American
Education: Blackthorne Institute for Boys
Profession: Covert Operations assistant instructor and Night Drill Sergeant
Walsh, Gabriel (MI6-active)
Age: 22
Sex: M
Ethnicity: Caucasian, Scottish
Education: Blackthorne Institute for Boys
Profession: Quantum Physics, Chemistry, Calculus instructor
.~***~.
RINGGGGGG! RINGGGGG! RINNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!
Cammie shot up in bed. All around her lights were flashing red and boys were running around, pulling on sweatshirts. The ringing that had woken her sounded just like the bells that go off in a fire department when there's a fire. Cammie shoved her hands over her ears. "What's going on?" She shouted, fighting to make herself heard over the cacophony.
Tyler was scrambling to pull on a sweatshirt over his pajamas. He looked up in surprise at her and the other confused girls. "Shit!" he swore, remembering them. He turned and threw his pillow at one of the other boys—Justin, if Cammie remembered correctly—who's eyes widened when Tyler gestured to the girls. "What do we do?" Tyler yelled.
"They can't stay here! They have to come with us!" Justin shouted back. He tapped the blonde boy on the back of the head (he was sitting on his bed, bent over and tying the shoe laces on his sneakers). "Michael, they need jackets!" Michael looked up at the girls in confusion and then his eyes widened. He nodded quickly and the two boys dashed to the closet and pulled out an armful of ungodly yellow windbreakers. Cammie noticed the other boys shrugging them on over their pajamas.
"What is going on?" Cammie yelled again, shooting up from her bed. The boys were running around the bunker, only adding to the din.
"Night drills," Justin screamed at her over the storm of red flashing lights, high-pitched wails and stampeding boys. He threw a jacket her way, then moved to help Michael carry the rest.
"Night drills?" Cammie hollered, snatching the jacket smoothly from the air. "What the heck are night drills? She didn't get an answer.
All around her boys were gearing up to leave, so Cammie quickly threw on the jacket and pulled on the sneakers she had worn at dinner. The jacket felt bulky over Cammie's dad's sweatshirt, but fit all right, although it was clearly designed for a boy. She threw her hair back messily in an elastic.
Tyler finished tying his sneakers and starting going down the line of girls beds. "Girls, you need to get up!" he bellowed, throwing covers off of beds. "Get dressed!" Cammie, Justin and Michael followed behind him, passing out the yellow jackets and shaking drowsy girls.
"We're going outside? In the middle of the night?" Courtney groaned incredulously, rubbing her eyes tiredly. "But it's freezing!"
"Put on running shoes and the jackets!" Tyler told them.
"Running? I'm sorry, did you say running?" Tina screeched, pulling her bed sheets up to her chin.
Tyler narrowed his eyes. "Yes—now get up!" He shoved her out of her bed and she fell with an undignified oomph! "Come on! You have about 30 seconds! Hurry up!"
Cammie's felt like her ears were going numb from the constant ringing, and she had to squint to see Tyler clearly through the flashing lights.
"We can't change in front of boys!" Eva yelled at Tyler, looking affronted.
Tyler scoffed. "Trust me, no one is paying any attention to what color bra you're wearing!" Eva sent a death glare at Tyler's back and pulled sweatpants on over her tiny shorts. "Hurry," he said again.
"We're going as fast as we can!" Mick shrieked with a scowl. She frantically dug around in her trunk for her sneakers.
"That's not fast enough!"
Most of the other boys had already left the bunker in a big blob of highlighter yellow. "You guys go," Tyler barked at Justin and Michael. "Tell Travers we'll be right there!"
"Are you sure?" Michael asked. Justin was already out the door. Tyler nodded and Michael quickly ran after his friend.
Cammie noticed Grant and Zach hanging back. Zach was pulling on Grant's arm to go but he was looking right at Cammie. She thanked the merciful god in heaven for the sporadic lighting keeping anyone from seeing her blush.
"Need any help?" Grant shouted, shaking off Zach's grip on his arm. Grant was probably talking to Bex, but Cammie wasn't sure.
"Just go," Tyler shouted back without looking at the other two boys. He was holding Jessica's jacket open as she slipped it on. "We're almost done anyways!" Grant did as he was told, following after Justin and Michael, but Zach stayed, his eyes narrowed and glinting. He strode forward and started forcibly zipping up jackets and throwing shoes at girls with bare feet. "I told you to go!" Tyler yelled at him.
"No, I'm helping!" Zach yelled back, his voice hard like steel. Tyler rolled his eyes, but a smirk lit his face when he caught Zach glancing at Cammie again.
The girls finished pulling on clothing and shoes in a record twenty-two seconds, and they stumbled out of the bunker and onto the paved street. The night was dark and cold, and the air crisp and sharp on Cammie's face. She could see her breaths in the air in front of her. As the door shut behind Mick, the ringing finally shut off, and Cammie sighed in relief.
The only sounds were the footsteps of two boys and ten girls taking off down the road through a maze of small, metal buildings. "Where are we going?" Cammie panted.
"To the—" Tyler started, but Zach abruptly cut him off.
"To the training field." Zach said as he sent Tyler a triumphant smirk. Tyler rolled his eyes and sent Cammie a look that said 'What an ass.' Zach's smirk dropped when he saw the look and glanced back in time to see Cammie giggle breathlessly. Zach scowled and sped up.
A beam of light passed over them for the second time (the first was right as they left the bunker), illuminating everything within a ten-foot radius, before moving on. Cammie counted the seconds before it swept over them again (nine and a half). "What is that?" she asked.
"Search light," Tyler answered breathlessly.
"This way," Zach said, changing the subject. "It's just around the corner."
They turned around one of the slightly taller buildings and Cammie's eyes widened. Apparently the 'training field' meant the vast empty piece of land serving as part of Blackthorne's perimeter. At the very far end of the field, separating it from the river and cliff was a talk chain-link fence, barbwire running along the top.
"This is the training field?" Kim asked.
"What were you expecting?" Zach asked with raised eyebrows.
"Er…well, not this. Maybe something a little more…grassy." Tall grasses and shrubs were scattered in little patches, littering the field, but the rest was dirt. Cammie could see remnants of a baseball diamond in the dirt, and in the middle of the field a bunch of equipment had been pushed together to make an endurance course of some sort.
Zach smirked. "Our cover is a detention facility, not a sports club, Princess." Cammie watched in disgust as Kim practically swooned when he called her Princess. Repulsive.
Zach caught Cammie's eye and winked slyly. She abruptly looked at Tyler. "What is it we're doing here, Tyler?" she asked sweetly, placing a hand lightly on his arm. She sent a glance filled with poison at Zach, whose eyes narrowed dangerously.
Tyler pointed to the playground of equipment. "You'll see them in a second." Just as he said it, the spotlight swept over the deserted field and lit up a long line of boys standing at the end of the endurance course, facing away from the campus. There were about thirty of them, and Cammie recognized some of them as juniors from the bunker. She figured the others must be seniors, since they looked too old to be sophomores. Cammie noted all the boys were standing stiffly at attention.
"Come on," Zach said, gesturing for them to follow him. He led them at a steady jog to the assembly. Even though they were easily heard approaching, none of the figures looked behind them to see the smaller group come closer.
The line of boys was completely silent, which Cammie found a little strange. Just then a deep voice called out "Campbell, Rex?"
"Here." Replied an equally deep voice. Cammie couldn't see over the shoulders of the boys because they were all so tall, but she figured someone was going down the line taking attendance.
"Chambers, Jack?"
"Here, sir!"
Zach and Tyler quickly stepped into the line between Mario and Dmitri, where there had been a space just big enough for the two of them. Cammie and the other girls exchanged glances bemusedly. Was there some sort of order they were supposed to stand in?
"Hill, Scott?"
"Present."
"Ivanovski, Vasily?"
"Here." The attendance-taker was rapidly moving down the line of boys, and the girls were still standing around like idiots, wondering what the heck they were supposed to do.
"Pst!" Cammie whispered desperately at the impassive boys in front of her. Tyler looked back at her and mouthed 'Alphabetical order'. Oh…duh. She and the girls quickly arranged themselves in alphabetical order and added themselves onto the end of the line.
"Goode, Zachary?"
"Here."
"Hill, Tyler?"
"Here."
"Thank you for joining us boys," the disembodied voice said sarcastically. Cammie leaned forward to try and get a better look at what was going on just in time to see Zach and Tyler share identical grimaces. Cammie moved her gaze to the dark man in front of them, making marks on a clipboard.
The man was tall, Cammie would say about six foot two, and he had gorgeous skin the color of rich, dark chocolate. His head was shaven, but the curly hair coming back in was almost as dark as his eyes, which shone black in the pale moonlight. His face had an angular, striking set to it—almost erotic. He couldn't have been older than twenty.
The first thing she thought about Attendance Man was he was a very handsome man—almost too handsome. The second thing she thought was the armed guards on either side of him was incredibly scary, and just as attractive as he was (darn them!).And the third thing she thought was she should step back because his penetrating stare was trained on her.
Attendance Man snapped his clipboard under his arm in a smooth motion and came to stand directly in front of Cammie, his face expressionless. "Nice of you to join us girls," he drawled unpleasantly, with narrowed eyes. Cammie was surprised at how deep a baritone his voice was. Even though he was addressing the Gallagher Girls as a whole, the dark man's vicious stare was stuck on Cammie. His sharp, wicked eyes swept over her entire body, scrutinizing her in a way that made her feel naked.
"I understand that you didn't know about the Night Drills, so I'm going to let this one slide." Attendance Man leered deviously, flashing pearly whites. The way he spoke, and the dip of his gaze to her chest, made Cammie cringe. Obviously, his train of thought way slightly more…wayward than hers.
"…But if you're ever late again I'll hang upside down by your toes in my office for a week." Cammie flinched at his ominous warning, and her eyes widened in fear of the sinister man. He watched her reaction with gleeful pleasure, as if he was getting off on it. Next to Cammie, Kim trembled. Attendance Man practically purred in despicable delight, his back arching like a cat in a strange way that looked entirely too natural for him. Um, ew, much?
Attendance Man spun and walked back to Zach and Tyler again, but not before sending Cammie one more menacing sneer. Only when Attendance Man had started roll again ("Ivanovski, Dmitri?" "Here." "Lee, Daniel?" "Present, Sir."), did Cammie release the breath she had been holding. What the hell is wrong with everyone here? She thought angrily. First I'm an outcast—a social anomaly. Now I'm being sexually harassed! This is getting really old and I'm sick and tired of it! Cammie felt like punching somebody. She also felt like shriveling up in a hole and dying. Next to her, Mick grabbed her hand and gripped it tightly, but Cammie wasn't sure if it was to comfort her or to hold her back from murder, and consequentially federal prison. Cammie took a deep breath to calm her down as much as she could.
Cammie looked up then and Zach caught her eye. He was looking at her with his brow furrowed and his eyes unreadable. He looked…worried and slightly disturbed. Maybe 35% worried, 35% disgusted and 30% angry. Cammie really hoped he wasn't directing those at her. What were the chances he was actually feeling those things for his pervert Night Drills instructor out of loyalty, and not the outcast, freaky, new girl? Oh, right. That'd be zero.
Attendance Man—When are we going to get a name to put to your creepy face? Cammie thought—had finished the attendance for the boys and was starting on the girls. "Alverez, Eva?"
"Here," Eva squeaked.
"Bauer, Courtney?"
"H-here."
"Baxter, Rebecca?"
"Here, you mother fu—!" Courtney snapped a hand over Bex's mouth faster than Bex could say 'Bloody Queen of England!" Attendance Man sneered and moved on to Jessica, and Cammie didn't think it was very wise of him to turn his back on Bex like that. Never turn your back on Bex. Cammie had learned that the hard way. Courtney had to hold Bex back from jumping the guy, not that Cammie blamed Bex. Maybe Bex and I can commit homicide together, and spend the rest of our lives in the same jail cell, scratching tic-tac-toe on the walls with our fingernails! Cammie thought with enthusiasm.
"Lee, Kim?" Attendance Man was right in front of her again. Cammie tried not to wear her heart on her sleeve, but when all you can think is 'Ew, ew, ew! Get the slimy slugball away!', it's kind of hard.
"Morgan, Cameron?" Yuck, was that a purr?
"Here," Cammie replied stiffly. She looked straight ahead, but she still saw the glances Attendance Man was shooting at her out of the corner of his dark eyes. Well, didn't she just have the worst of luck? At least if he had been interested in Courtney or Bex they might have flirted back with him. But Cammie was…well, Cammie. She wasn't frigid (not after Josh! Ha!) but she wasn't going to respond to this older, creepy, spy instructor's advances. He was sick! Even if he was one of the most gorgeous men Cammie had ever seen. You would think that for such a good-looking fellow he'd be able to come by a few more women without resorting to pedophile methods. But, then again, he lived on a strictly boy-only campus 24/7. A man needs what a man needs. (Cammie personally thought that was cow crap. A man can wait, or a man ain't gonna get nothing at all!)
Absently, Cammie wondered if all the Blackthorne Boys ended up as beautiful as him. Zach was pretty dang handsome, wasn't he? And Grant, and Tyler, too, and even Jonas in his own way. Cammie eyed the armed guards walking slowly behind Attendance Man. They were fine specimens, themselves, and a glimpse at some of the all male staff (ahem) at dinner had told her classes would not be boring. Especially not if she sat with Bex.
"Walters, Tina?" Attendance Man finished at last.
"Here." Cammie had to blink multiple times because she could have sworn Tina was batting her eyelashes and giggling and twirling her hair around her finger! …Nope—she was still doing it! The Gallagher Girls watched is disbelief and disgust as their sister completely betrayed Cammie and their sisterhood, openly flirting with the teacher, in front of the boys no less, and had the gall to send Cammie a triumphant smirk. Holy crap! Did Tina not understand this man was probably a registered, hunted sex offender! It's not like he was trying to be subtle. Sure he was good-looking, but Cammie had never thought Tina was that shallow. How could she have missed the way he had practically raped Cammie with his eyes? Judging by everyone's uncomfortable and slightly harassed expressions when he was finishing roll, everyone could tell. I mean, they weren't spies for nothing. Cammie felt like taking Tina by the shoulders and shaking her, yelling 'You don't flirt with eye rapists, Tina! Or any rapists, for that matter!' Was Tina really that petty to be using this as a way to get back at her? Well, Tina could have him for all Cammie cared! If Cammie didn't think he was dangerous she might even encourage it! Oh, and if he wasn't a teacher. Yeah, definitely that too.
But then the strangest thing happened. Attendance Man looked Tina up and down with a look of disapproval (and was that a hint of disgust?) and then rolled his eyes and turned away. Tina's jaw literally dropped (along with all the Gallagher Girls and half the Blackthorne Boys) and she sent Cammie one of the meanest, dirtiest, angriest looks Cammie had ever been on the receiving end of (and she had gotten a lot of those in her life time). She looked ready to strangle her!
Cammie wasn't sure whether or not she should be happy Attendance Man had snubbed Tina or not. On one hand, Tina was safe, and even though they didn't get along very well, they were still sisters, and Cammie cared about her as much as she cared about Kim or Mick or Bex or Liz. But then again, that just meant Attendance Man was probably going to come back on to Cammie. Not to mention that, for some reason, he was stuck on her, kind of like the way the boys were. He singled her out and treated her differently, but not in a good way. And it was all directed at her, her, her, her—oh! And only her. Did she mention her?
Sucks.
"Okay, everyone!" Attendance Man said, moving to stand in front of everyone again. "My name is—" Finally! Cammie thought. A name to give if my underwear goes missing."—Beau Travers, for you Ladies who don't know." He sent them what he probably thought was a pretty suave wink (Cammie would never admit it, but even though he was a creep, he was one hell of a hunky creep and his wink was about as suave as they come. James Bond, anyone?). "I'm the Night Drill sergeant," Beau rumbled deeply, his eyes lingering on certain areas of certain females' (who shall remain unnamed) bodies. "Basically I'm here to tell you what to do." He flashed his pearly whites, which were almost luminescent in the moonlight.
"Um, e-excuse me?" Anna stuttered, raising her hand slightly. Beau raised an eyebrow at her and nodded his consent to ask. "What exactly are Night Drills?"
"Excellent question! "Night Drills are exactly what they sound like. They're drills made to test endurance and skill—"
"Are we going to be graded?" Liz squeaked in disbelief. She couldn't be graded on a physical level! She would fail!
Beau sent her a severe look for interrupting, and Liz flushed. "Yes, Ms. Sutton, you will be graded, however your Drill grades don't interfere with your class grades. At the end of the year they are evaluated and you are given a separate final grade." Liz's shoulders sagged in relief.
"A few times a month the alarms will go off, like they did tonight in your bunkers, for you to come meet me here at this field. You have three minutes to be dressed—Yes, Ms. Bauer, wearing the yellow jackets—and lined up at attention for roll. It you aren't here within three minutes of the alarm…well, let's just say you really want to be here." Beaus eyes glinted as he scanned the girls' faces. "The alarms go off completely randomly, so one month you could have Night Drills once every week, and one month you could have them every night for a single week. Seniors and juniors always have Drills together."
Cammie was surprised at Beau's attitude She wouldn't it was all that different from what she had seen during roll, but from the reverence and respect in his voice, he obviously loved his job. He was focused and professional, and there was no hint of anything sexual in the way he spoke to the girls now. In Cammie's eyes, it made him very admirable, in a way. While, yes, he wasn't the nicest of people, he didn't let personal matters get in the way of what he did. For a spy, that was essential. Because personal matters slow you down, and sometimes, they get you killed.
Not that Cammie trusted him now, though. Not by a long shot. Spies can never be trusted.
Cammie frowned. Now that she thought about it, for a spy he was very expressive of what he was thinking. It was strange for a spy. Spies should be able to control their outwards feelings fairly well. For him to be so obvious was extremely abnormal.
Cammie's eyes widened. Could it all have been an act? She wouldn't put it past her mother, or Dr. Steve or Professor Buckingham for that matter, to set up some kind of test. After all, they'd been known to do it before (The Josh Incident, ahem). Maybe they told Beau to freak the Gallagher Girls out! But…would her mom really tell him to sexually harass he daughter? No..no she wouldn't, Cammie thought with conviction. She wouldn't…but Dr. Steve might!
"Now I want fifty laps up and down the field!" Beau suddenly shouted, startling the girls. "On my whistle!" he instructed, and not a second later the shrill sound of his whistle pierced the air.
.~***~.
Cammie was panting when she finally jogged to a slow stop. She bent over and put her hands on her knees, taking a moment to slow her breathing.
Fifty laps, it turned out, was a lot longer than it looked.
Five laps into the run, the females present had realized that, while boys are sore losers in general, spy boys are really, really sore losers. After the fourth boy shoved her off the track in an attempt to gain the lead, Cammie had had enough. She didn't know if they had superiority complexes or just incredibly poor vision, but she and Bex decided it was time to kick some bad boy butt! (Liz had dropped out after the first mile and a half, collapsing on the side of the track. Cammie made sure to keep an eye on Beau and his distance from her fairy-friend. Luckily for him, a respectable distance was maintained.)
Cammie and Bex ran hard and fast, quickly passing twenty-eight surprised boys. But the boys wouldn't have it. They sped up and it became a mad dash to the finish line with Cammie and Bex in first. With only a lap left to go, Grant yanked Bex out of her place, and Zach moved to fill it. But Cammie wasn't going to let him win! Ha, as if! So she ignored the throbbing pain in the limbs and her lungs, and pushed herself forward. And then all of a sudden, before Cammie could even comprehend, Zach was behind her and she had finished first!
Cammie collapsed in the grass, spread eagle. Her chest was heaving and sweat was rolling down her face and arms, but she could care less. All she wanted was to go to sleep for a thousand years. Maybe I'll even wake up to a handsome prince charming, she mused. One with thick, dark hair, and emerald colored eyes. With nimble hands and lean muscles. And a deep voice that makes me w—
"Cammie?" Cammie shot up from the ground like a bolt. Was that a male voice she heard? Did her ears deceive her? Was someone talking to her?
Her eyes widened and she blushed when she looked up at the boy who had spoken to her. It was Zach, and he was standing very close. Very close.
"Yes?" she asked breathlessly.
"Good job," he said. Cammie's surprise was written clearly on her face, making Zach grin. "That was impressive running. You and Bex are the only girls who made it all fifty laps. Here," he reached down a hand and she only hesitated a moment before she put her hand in his and let him pull her up (she tried to ignore the way his muscles clenched).
With her standing, the two spies were even closer, making both of them blush. Their chests were pressed together lightly, and if she had wanted, Cammie could have lifted her hand slightly and caressed the smooth skin of his abdomen through his shirt. Instead, she watched, riveted, as a bead of sweat slowly trailed down his neck, over his collarbone and down his shirt. Her heart beat quickly and she tried to control her breathing. He was so close. Her eyes made their way up his face slowly, tracing the line of his jaw, zooming in on his lips, up his cheeks, and finally to his eyes. He was staring at her intensely, and as she watched his eyes darkened. His eyes settled on her lips, riveted. He leaned forward, and for some reason Cammie thought he was going to k—
"Ms. Morgan, Mr. Goode." Beau's smooth voice came from behind them spontaneously. Impulsively they both took a quick step back, and turned to face their instructor, embarrassed. Beau was glaring agitatedly at Zach, like he was a fly buzzing around the older man's head, and Zach readily returned to look haughtily.
"Was there something you needed, sir?" Zach said sarcastically, his eyes challenging.
"I just wanted to commend you for being the first two runners to finish all fifty laps," Beau said, barely covering a sneer and Zach's expression hardened coolly. Cammie thought Beau was mocking them, but she couldn't be sure. "Usually," the older man continued, "I would only applaud the first, but seeing as one of you is a Gallagher Girl and one a Blackthorne Boy, I figured I might as well congratulate you both. And here you both were, oh-so-conveniently." Now Cammie was sure he was being ironic. He interrupted us on purpose! she realized angrily. That slime ball! Zach was going to—he had almost—argh! "So, anyways," Beaus said, looking at his nails like he had someplace to go that would be less of a waste of his time. Cammie fought the urge to snort. "Well done, you two."
"Thank you." Zach said stiffly, barely hiding his anger.
Beau raised an eyebrow. "Thank you…?" Beau prompted, leaving the sentence hanging in the air.
"Thank you sir," Zach said obediently, like a dog whose cruel master had hit it. Beau smiled smugly. Zach fought to keep his demeanor calmly aloof.
"Thank you, sir," Cammie muttered, staring hardly at him. She caught herself just before her lip curled in disgust when he flashed her a meaningful smile.
"Anyways, goodnight," Beau said, nodding formally and turning to address everyone. "That's it for tonight, ladies and gentlemen! Good work, and I'll see you all next time. Hit the showers!" As boys passed him to return to their bunkers, Beau patted them on the shoulder amicably, offering words of felicitation. Wait—was he being nice to them? At this rate, Beau was going to give her whiplash. As Cammie watched, she was struck by how different he was around his other students.
So overview: Beau was the creepy Night Drill instructor with a pervert mind, who loved his job and was extremely good at it, and was friendly and polite to his Blackthorne students. Um, mood swings, much? Maybe he was bipolar.
Cammie turned to follow everyone, trying not to blush when Zach walked with her. They didn't talk on the way back to the bunker, but both were extremely aware of the other's presence. Once, when they were passing the blacked out cafeteria, their hands had brushed together slightly. They had both blushed, thought Cammie admitted her's was much more profuse than his slight coloring of the cheeks. When she had glanced up at him, on instinct, she was startled to see him looking at her. He, noticing her surprise, sent her a cocky smirk and continued walking, pretending it hadn't happened. They didn't make eye contact for the rest of the walk.
.~***~.
Grant groaned as he entered the bunker and threw himself onto his bed. He fell asleep right away, without even taking off his shoes.
Cammie and Zach followed behind, the last ones to arrive. The bunker was dimly lit by one of the weak lamps, casting shadows all over the bunker. The beds were filled with snoring, passed out lumps. Cammie unzipped her jacket and was about to shrug it off when Zach politely took it for her, hanging it up with his. She smiled at him, murmuring, "Thanks, Zach."
Cammie turned to move to her bed when Zach's hand shot out to gently capture her hand. Her eyes widened at the contact, and she blushed.
Zach was staring at her fixedly, his eyes boring into hers. Cammie's stomach fluttered in a way it hadn't since Josh. Her heart thumping loudly in her chest.
Then Zach smirked deviously, and the entire mood changed from something innocent and simple to something…sultry and sexy. "Cammie," he said, huskily. His hands moved to her shoulders, and she almost jumped when his thumbs started rubbing her skin in circles. Her eyes fell shut and her head tilted back slightly. It felt…really good. Really, really good. If Zach ever decided he didn't want to be a spy, she would be the first to suggest he be a masseuse. She would go to him, that's for sure. Zach towered over her, watching her expression change with rapture as her massaged her thoroughly. Cammie sighed blissfully.
Cammie didn't know how long they stood like that, but finally the last lamp was turned off and they stood there in the dark.
Cammie blinked when Zach finally stopped, feeling lighter than air, and more relaxed than she had in a long time. Then he leaned down to her ear and Cammie shivered at the feel of his warm breath gently wafting over the skin of her neck, caressing it. "Goodnight, Cammie," he whispered, his voice melting over her name, and his breath tickling her ear. She shivered, breathless.
She could barely make out his form in the darkness, but she could feel his eyes trained on her as she pulled the covers back from her bed and slid in. She watched the darkness, but she never saw him move to his own bed and fall asleep silently.
A/N
First, I'm sorry it took me so long to update, honestly. :/ I wish I could write all day long all the time and finishes stories quickly, but I can't. So both you guys and I have suffer. And trust me, I do suffer.
REVIEWS: Okay, guys. Normally I'm not one to beg for reviews because, in my opinion, that's like fishing for compliments. But, in this case I am. I just think I could be getting a lot more reviews. I know a lot of people are reading my story (I've checked the traffic) so I'm kind of disappointed that only 50-some people have reviewed. I mean, the story has been up for awhile. And all the reviews I have gotten have been good. I don't know, is it just really not that good of a story? Is that why people aren't reviewing? I guess I just don't understandit. But just know that the more reviews I get—and the more suggestions—I get, the faster and the better the chapters will come. The reason I'm really begging for suggestions is because, and I know I say it a lot but I'll say it again, I DON'T HAVE A PLAN FOR THIS STORY! Meaning I have no idea where this is going. Pretty soon I'm going to run out of ideas! And then the story will likely be given up! After the next chapter or two I'm not going to have any idea what to write and then I'll just have to give the story up. It's not like I have a vague idea to go on or anything. I literally have no idea what will happen in this story. I mean, I know what I want to say in relation to thing like Cammie's dad, what happened with Josh, and why the Blackthorne Boys are stand-offish with Cammie, but I can't have a bunch of explanations with no plot. Help me!
TIME/SETTING: And I just wanted to clarify on when this story takes place because I don't think I ever did. Anyways, its mid to late October, so both schools have already started, and the girls are picking up with Blackthorne classes. I just thought you should know because I didn't want anyone thinking it was freezing in the beginning of September. Nononono, it's definitely freezing out. Almost winter.
BETA-ED?: I just want to make it clear that I'm not getting this story beta-ed at all. So I apologize for any grammar or spelling mistake, or anything like that. Because of the length of these past few chapters I haven't been doing a lot of revision either. Generally I write it all out then go through it once, maybe twice just in case. So sorry for anything I don't catch.
ABOUT THIS CHAPTER: This chapter was really hard for me to write. I expect the next one will be too. Once I got to the part about Beau and attendance for the Night Drills I had a super bad case of writers block! But then, after, like, five days, it just started flowing again. Unfortunately, I think around there the entire mood and the tone of the story changed too. It just felt a little more Cammie/Gallagher Girls sounding to me. Before, I was kind of writing in serious mode because I've been writing my other fic in which the mood is a lot darker than this one, so I just sort of kept that up, but after I got over this writer's block I was a lot more into writing Cammie's thoughts, and I was a little bit more liberal with sarcasm and the character's internal rambling.
I know I said this chapter was going to be a lot more, but I accidentally wrote a lot more about the Night Drills than I meant too. It was long enough to definitely post so I figured I might as well, instead of making everyone wait until I write the rest.
ABOUT THE CHARACTERS: So…I just realized how absolutely out of charactermy characters are…it's making me depressed… Send me a review about what I can do to make the characters sound more authentic, cause I really don't know. Like, tell me if Cammie needs to be more sneaky or silly or anything, or if Zach doesn't come off as…well, as Zach, you know?
About Beau…um…well, I never meant for him to come off as a pervert rapist. Originally, he was just going to be a nice guy. But then I started writing him and his character sort of developed itself, really. I never meant for it to happen, but I'm kind of glad it did. It makes him unique in a way, and shows that Blackthorne isn't all happy and light, like Dr. Steve. It's actually a dark place, with bad people. Plus, every good story needs a good villain, and up till now I didn't have one planned.
So Beau's my villain; Dr. Steve is the slightly clueless, happy-go-lucky director who has a lot of secrets; Tyler is my closeted-gay, friendly, nice-guy best friend; Grant is the girl-crazy, good-like male specimen; Zach is the cocky, secretive, top-of-the-class guy; Jonas is the Liz-equivalent nerd, with small muscles, but muscles none the less.
NEXT CHAPTER:
Getting ready in the bunker, boys in towels, communal showers, breakfast, "Julien", schedules, and maybe classes. I know I keep promising classes will start, but I end up writing really long chapters that just don't get me there yet.
Preview: "Pst!" Something small hit the back of Cammie's head. "Pst!" Cammie turned around and fixed the boy leaning across the isle talk to her with a glare. She put a hand to her hair and her face morphed in bewildered disgust.
"Did you just throw egg at my head?"
He laughed. "Hey baby," the boy said with a wink. His eyes raked Cammie body and she suddenly felt dirty. "My name's—"
"Going to end up on a gravestone if you don't turn around and mind your own business," said and angry voice.
"Julien!"
…..
"Yes…but you have to admit," she grinned, "His voice is effin' sexy!"
…..
Okay. Moment broken. "Bex!"
UPDATE: Thank you to everyone who gave me advice about the whole dead or alive thing in regards to Cammie's dad. I've made my decision and I can't wait for it to come out in the fic! And I've decided I'm probably going to bring Madam Dabney into this, but I'm still a little sketchy, so if I shouldn't stop me now!
Read and Review! SUGESTIONS, PLEASEEEEEEEE!
Love,
Katie
P.S. (KIND OF, MAYBE, SORT OF IMPORTANT!)
For anyone who's interested, I've just started something new on my profile. I'm just calling it Letter Grades, but basically what it is is I've given each of my stories a letter grade (A+, A, B+, B, C+, C, D+, D, etc.) based on how I think I did as an author AND what I think of the story as a reader.
Now, I had this idea of asking my readers what they would give my stories. If you're interested at all you can PM me, leave it in a review, or I've got a poll open on my profile for it. Right now I'm taking votes for this story (Brotherhood), but later, if people actually end up doing this, I'll do them for my other stories.
I thought it'd be really cool to compare my rating with yours, so tell me what you think! :)
Also, I want you all to know I've changed the names of a bunch of my stories, an I might for this one too. I haven't decided yet, but if I do I'll let you know In an author's note before that, so you aren't totally confused.
Oh, Scott and Tyler Hill are brothers too. I don't think I mentioned them in the author's note where I mentioned most of the others. Scott's a senior, and you know Tyler's in Cammie's class.
P.P.S. Wow, these author's notes are getting really long!
P.P.P.S. I'm just about to post this right now and I just had the most brilliant idea! I've decided that when Tyler comes out as gay there will be a confrontation between him and his brother Scott, who had always known but denied it, saying it was wrong and his brother would never be a poof. Then Tyler get's really hurt (emotionally, but maybe physically in a fight, too?) and Scott and him have some sort of touchy-feely brother moment. Maybe, if I do have them fight and get hurt, his parents could come in to Blackthorne and we'd get to meet them. Anyways, I just had to share! I'm so excited! At this point, I think this story is going o be a long one that I'll continue for awhile. I don't see it finishing anytime soon, especially since it could easily have to cover an entire school year, since that's how long the exchange is. Except maybe something big will happen and the exchange will ne cut short! I need to write all these ideas down somewhere!
P.P.P.P.S. My author's note is three pages long…. Okay, I'm going to stop now.