Disclaimer: Do we have to do this every chapter?
Chapter One
Only the Beginning
Alex Rider woke with the sensation of falling. His body shuddered and his left foot flinched and collided with the footboard. Alex swore as pain shot through his toes and up into his thigh. His sheets covered him completely and a crushing weight rested on his chest, which turned everything around him into a furnace. Alex pulled the duvet off his face but instead of a cool breeze and fresh air, all Alex got was a mouthful of dog fur.
That explained a lot. The chocolate coloured Labrador stopped gnawing his leg to greet him with wet, dog breathed kisses.
"Ack, Rocky!"
The mutt crooned and stood up on the bed, and on Alex, to come in closer at the call of his name. Air rushed out of Alex's lungs with a strangled grunt.
When Alex had joined the Pleasure household, Rocky the puppy had immediately taken to him, and his bed. Rocky had not come to terms with the fact that he was no longer a puppy, and could no longer fit in the crook of Alex's arm as he slept; instead, he had spread himself over the young man crushing internal organs and other sensitive areas in the process.
Alex wrestled the dog off him and maneuvered so his feet touched the carpet.
He was still overheated and his shirt stuck to his chest with sweat. It was not uncommon for Rocky's weight and body heat to cause nightmares to occur.
Despite this, Alex could not bring himself to ban the canine from his room, and it had been getting better.
Last night he had returned to Kenya, running through endless scrub with a bomb on his back as the Kikuyu stalked him.
It wasn't the worst, but it wasn't kind either.
Rocky pushed his snout under Alex's arm, demanding attention. The digital clock on the computer desk stated the time to be seven thirty. One more day to the weekend, still one more hour until school started. Maybe he could use his current state to convince Liz he was ill.
"Alex? You up yet?"
Rocky's ears pricked up, he leapt off the bed with the grace of a newborn foal to greet Sabina who was already dressed for school.
Today, her dark hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, which was set on a noticeably crooked angle. Maybe it was on purpose, Alex would never understand the female mind or fashion trends. She seemed to have put extra effort into her makeup, blue eye shadow and the liquid eyeliner that he knew she hated using, made her clear eyes pop.
About two weeks ago, Sabina and her boyfriend broke up. They had been dating for eighteen months and nobody really knew what had caused the sudden split.
Alex hadn't really liked the guy but Sabina had been besotted. Now, things were just hostile.
Alex only commented on the relationship once. It was still new, about a few weeks, and Alex made it known to the household that he thought the guy to be a self-absorbed prick, what followed was the biggest argument Alex and Sabina had ever had. Even though their own split had been mutual, Alex, according to Sabina, was probably jealous, and Alex tried to justify that 'Just because they weren't dating anymore doesn't mean he shouldn't show concern for her'.
He hardly saw Sabina or the boyfriend for a month afterwards. His relationship with her meant more to him than his opinion on her new man, so he apologized.
To this day, Alex actively avoided discussing her relationship; he actively avoided discussing relationships with her in general, just to be cautious.
If she wanted his opinion, Sabina would have to ask for it, he wouldn't dare give it freely, not anymore.
However, if she were to ask for it, he would tell to focus on her graduation and scholarship instead. Not this, 'make the Ex regretful or jealous' bullshit that she was trying to pull. The guy just wasn't worth it.
Her eyes zeroed in on his slick hair and wet shirt. Sabina crossed the room and placed her palm on his head to check his temperature.
"Are you sick, Alex? Did you have a nightmare?"
Alex sighed and pushed her hand away but she linked it with his. Worry drifted from her face slightly as she realised it was the latter.
She forced a small smile, but her eyes held pity. He tried not to feel annoyed by it.
She squeezed his hand in what was supposed to be a comforting manner.
"Come on, you got an hour, and Friday is Pancake Day".
Letting go, Sabina turned and walked out his room, calling Rocky to follow. Rocky gave Alex a long, sad look before he lumbered after her. Sometimes that dog seemed to understand more than the people in this house did.
Alex's bedroom had an en-suite; he closed the door and stripped off to shower the night off him. Five minutes later, he stepped back into his room clean and hair dripping onto his shoulders.
Jeans hanging from hips, Alex checked himself in the mirror. This was not a case of vanity, just something he had always done since he had been burnt. Scar check. It was a compulsion of his, as if the next day he would check for them and they would be gone. They never were.
Faded marks and some puckered skin; Alex's body was a museum for them.
The missing nerves in his left arm caused occasional numbness, as if the coin shaped scar on his chest was not a big enough reminder. The burns sometimes made his shoulders feel tight, but the others never caused issues.
They were just there, permanent, ugly reminders of a past life.
Alex pulled on a shirt, threw on a hoodie and tried to shake himself out of the rut he had woken up in. If Liz or Ed saw him acting off, they would send him back to the shrink early.
Once a month was plenty.
Alex shifted his duvet in a weak attempt of making his bed and headed down stairs, mind focused on the promise of pancakes.
The kitchen radio blared as Liz sang and swayed to Lady Gaga.
Pancakes were stacked onto a plate on the counter island behind her. When he had lived with Jack, the familiar feeling of grief sprung up into Alex's chest, they would just eat pancakes from the pan. Sugary maple syrup overruled burnt fingers.
In this household however, there were 'Standards'.
With this in mind, Alex stalked his way to the plate, grabbed three, lathered them in syrup and ate them over the bench. Maple ran down his fingers and dripped onto the surface.
Alex let out a quiet moan of joy as the sweet syrupy goodness acquainted itself with his stomach.
"Alex Rider! Put that on a plate!"
There was a grinding shrick as a plate was pushed across the counter stopping near Alex's resting elbow. Alex gave Liz a full-mouthed sheepish smile and dropped the remaining pancakes dramatically on the plate with a splat. His smile dropped at the sight of smoke curling from the frying pan.
"Uh, Liz, shouldn't you be, umm"
He trailed off as he wildly gestured to the pan. Liz's eyes widen.
Alex watched with amusement as Liz waved a kitchen towel through the smoke and turned down the element. She muttered profanities and threats to the pan.
Rocky approached and stared at her. Liz glared back.
"Fine," She huffed and threw the burnt pancake on the floor, "It was the last of the batter anyway".
Alex watched the Lab as he vetoed chewing and swallowed the food whole. Liz chucked the pan in the sink with a clang, hit the tap and watched the water steam as it hit the hot metal. She turned off the tap and dried off her hands with the towel.
"Well that was a bit of a waste".
"I smell smoke"
Sabina strode into the kitchen, trying to attach a bracelet to her right wrist. Her ponytail had been re-tied and was now significantly straighter. She plopped down next to Alex and held out her wrist, wordlessly telling him to attach the jewellery for her. He obliged, working the fiddly latch with ease.
"Liz burnt the pancakes."
Mother and daughter shared a look; Alex had been trying to pick up the habit of calling Liz 'mum', but it felt unnatural. He had never really had parental figures, his uncle had always been Ian and he never discovered what Jack had been short for. He had called Liz 'mum' in the past, so now whenever he didn't, there was always a slightly disappointed look that crossed the woman's face, and sometimes Sabina's as well.
The latch clicked and he gently pushed her wrist back. Sabina shook her wrist to straighten the bracelet.
"Thanks little bro." She had the audacity to ruffle his hair. Alex didn't bother being gentle this time, he shoved her. Sabina jumped off the stool to avoid falling and laughed at him.
"You have mascara on your eyelids, Sab."
Her laughter stopped with a choked yell. "What! But I checked," She quickly went to find a mirror to fix her non-existent issue. Alex snorted back a laugh and used his last pancake to wipe up the last of the syrup from his plate.
"That was a little mean."
Alex just shrugged and licked clean his fingers. Liz grabbed his plate and loaded it into the dishwasher. He lifted his elbows for her as she began to wipe the bench down. Sabina returned and whacked him in the shoulder. She grabbed her car keys from the key draw.
"Bye Mum." The door slammed behind her.
He could not help it; Alex laughed, his eyes watered a little. Liz giggled along with him.
Alex got up from his seat.
"I should finish getting ready"
Liz nodded and her eyes dropped to his wrist. Her smile faded slightly.
"Don't forget your wristband; I don't want people thinking that you're a gangbanger. Someone might call social services."
Alex raised any eyebrow, "Do you even know what gangbanger means?"
Judging by her expression, she didn't, but her stern look got her point across.
Just under a year ago, Alex had gotten into an argument with Liz and Ed.
He could not even remember what about exactly. But out of spite, Alex got a tattoo. He had been lashing out for a while, his grief over a lost childhood and family had turned into anger. The tattoo symbolised a high point of his low point but he couldn't bring himself to have it removed.
It was a black scorpion, the symbol of Scorpia to be exact. On his right wrist, it sat 7 cm long, 6 cm wide and in line with his pinkie finger. Underneath it in neat cursive were the words, Veni, Vidi, Vixi, Vici. The extended version of the famous Julius Caesar quote; I came, I saw, I lived, I conquered.
Alex thought it rather fitting, given the circumstances. He had never seen Ed look so angry or Liz so disappointed. So despite the 'emo' and 'cutter' comments from school, he now kept it covered with a thick wristband to appease them.
Alex ran his thumb over the barbed tail. He nodded and left the room. Alex never knew what his adopted parents' opinion meant to him until that moment he had returned home, black ink on show. He never wanted to see those looks on either of their faces again.
The sound of an abused car horn signalled that Alex's ride was here. His neighbours had often complained about that sound.
"They're late again" Liz huffed.
Alex threw his bag onto his shoulder and grabbed his house keys.
"See you after school, Liz"
As he went for the door, Liz placed a hand on his arm. Alex fought the instinctual urge to rip it off; having to remind himself that Liz would never do anything to hurt him. Some days the paranoia was easily overcome, other days…well, Alex hadn't one of those in a while, a sure sign of the progress his psychiatrist insisted he was making.
"Wait just one second; did you remember your journal?"
The psycho journal, the shrink had given Alex; must be filled in every day and be on his person at all times. Only so later, he could read every word to check he was still sane.
Alex tried not to groan.
"Yes Liz, I remembered my journal and yes, I did fill it out last night...And yes, my friends are late again and you're not helping".
Liz reached to straighten his collar.
"Well, okay. You'll be fine, there's nothing that could happen today that you can't handle. You're stronger than you think".
Alex sighed; grabbing her wrist to stop her faffing, he drew her into a hug.
"I'll be fine, seriously. And I love you too" Alex pulled away. "But I really have to go".
As if to prove his point, there was another long and loud honk of the waiting car horn, followed by an obnoxious, feminine voice.
"C'mon Wagon Wheel! Time to GO!"
Liz nodded. Tugging him closer for one last squeeze and then pushed him away.
"Well hurry up then, be gone already. You've had enough detentions".
The name belonging to the loud, obnoxious voice was Andi or to be more correct, Alexandra. Naturally, they could not have two Alex's in the group and Andi did not like her name anyway, Alex had feigned to be insulted, however was actually relieved as Alex hadn't liked the sound of the alternative AJ.
Her designated place was the driver's seat and Andi's twin, Oscar, was shotgun next to her. Their mechanic father, Lee Moore, had raised them on his own; he even took Alex under his wing and given him a job in his garage after Alex had been told to find a productive hobby by his psychiatrist, (Alex remarked that a productive hobby was why he was there in the first place, the Doc hadn't been amused).
Usually they would be trying to talk over each but it was Friday and end of the week exhaustion hung over the brunette siblings. Oscar was mindlessly chewing a muesli bar that was probably breakfast. Andi honestly looked like she shouldn't be driving.
Sitting beside Alex was Ellie. Vibrant red hair, colour from a bottle, styled in a pixie cut; you could spot her a mile away. For the lack of a better word, she was petite, sitting at barely 5ft 3 and even though she was older than all of them, she looked like a freshman.
She was also well known for turning up to Comic Con as Luna Lovegood every year (the year before she had convinced him to go as James Bond, simply for his perfect accent; Sabina refused to go as Miss Moneypenny and made a point of not talking to him the entire time).
Her head was buried in a magazine, somehow immune to the carsickness Alex would be feeling if he were to read in a moving vehicle.
Streets passed by at a rate that suggested Andi was due for another speeding ticket in the mail. Her last one had just been paid off and her grounding lifted.
As the school came closer, Alex got a sense of...wrongness. Maybe it was warning, maybe it was just the paranoia again.
After two years of 'freedom' from MI6, he had been taught that the instinct, as Alex had called it, which had kept him alive in so many occasions, was now out to get him. That he was "safe" and that his "paranoia" was PTSD, and the danger was "in his head". Right now however, Alex wasn't so sure.
Andi pulled into the carpark and the companionable silence became a heavy one.
"Where is everyone?"
Oscar voiced Alex's own thoughts. They were not so late that the area would be full of cars but void of people however there was no one around.
They all exited the vehicle, the slam of their doors echoed symphonically around the concrete clearance.
Andi scouted the area.
"So, what do you think? We missed the Rapture?"
Ellie hummed in disagreement, shifting the weight of her bag on her shoulder, as she started forward.
"I think that is highly improbable as I'm still here but I'm not surprised you would be".
Alex gave Oscar a sideways look, which he returned with scrunch of his features and a casual shrug.
"What are you four doing out here? You should be in the auditorium; get inside NOW!"
Oscar looked ready to run for it as a strict looking, slight female figure marched towards them.
"Oh Shit! Mrs Harnett!"
Mrs Harnett, (other names included Mrs Hornet or Mrs Hardnuts) an angry middle-aged teacher with a hatred for tardiness (and children) was storming towards them with all the fury of a snarling wolf.
Alex shared a panicked look with the group.
"Auditorium it is then".
After being forcibly careened into the auditorium and seated separately by the spidery woman, Alex felt no less at ease by what looked to be an impromptu assembly. The large room hummed with quiet nervous chatter as the large figure of the Headmaster, built for rugby, Alex always thought, walked onto the stage with two stiff, dark-suited men behind him.
Taking their places, Headmaster Hamilton boomed over them through the microphone.
"Silence!"
The quiet came upon the crowd in unison, falling like a heavy blanket. Alex fidgeted in his seat, and examined every exit out of habit. The two suited men reeked of secret service; every hair on the back of his neck stood on end. He just knew.
"Your first period will be cut short half an hour, we're sorry for this inconvenience…" Alex scoffed. "But you have all been called in for a very serious matter. It has come to police attention that this school is under the watch of some rookie…" One of the agents behind Mr Hamilton scowled. "Criminal organisation".
Chatter once again erupted around the room, the tone of fear and confusion evident. Alex felt his heart descend into his stomach. Mr Hamilton raised his hand in a calming manner.
"Quiet, quiet! No need to panic; cellphones AWAY! Thank you. Please no contacting parents 'til after this assembly, we have vital information to give you".
Hushed whispers could still be heard as teachers (and the odd student) shushed the rest.
"We do not know why we are a target or what they want..." It's me, Alex thought he may melt into the floor (deep breaths Alex, -it's me- it's all in your head, -it's me- you're safe -they want me-). Alex closed his eyes. Inhale...exhale.
"Which is why the FBI have sent their best agents to investigate the matter. Your parents…or caregivers are already being informed. If you wish to be pulled out from school until the situation is resolved, the agency has promised to supply tutors free of charge. For those of you who choose to stay, classes will continue as normal. If you are approached by an agent I expect ALL of you to be as polite, respectful and truthful as you would be to all staff and act in a way that is representable to this school".
Mr Hamilton took a step back and gestured to the agent standing left of him.
"To further explain, I ask you to welcome FBI's Agent Cahil Faust to speak"
The auditorium gave the most half-arsed round of applause that Alex was sure the Headmaster would comment on it.
Agent Faust was a stout, serious, unattractive middle-aged man whose face reminded him of a pug or a bulldog. Maybe it was just the frown he had permanently chiselled on his features.
"As your Headmaster has informed you, I am Agent Faust. I will be leading this investigation with my co-worker Agent Beckett, who is currently not present..."
The agent's scowl deepened upon mentioning his colleague and Alex had to wonder if there was bad blood between the two, or maybe it was just a bad day.
"This organisation, although newly developed, is still a significant threat. At this point in time, I can disclose little information however I can provide this…"
Faust pressed a button on what must have been a PowerPoint remote and an enlarged red and gold image of a bird in flight appeared on the projector screen.
"They call themselves Phoenix; this here is how they identify themselves and each other. It is their symbol, their emblem. If you see this, whether it be a spray-painting, banner or tattoo, inside this school or outside, you are to notify us immediately. I expect you all to be cooperative in this investigation, failure to do so is 'impeding on an investigation' and a criminal offense.
If we feel you are a hindrance, you will be subjected to the full consequences of the Law".
Faust made a point to pause and stare down every student in the room. Mr Hamilton stood very awkwardly behind him. Walking to the front, the Headmaster clapped his hands loudly together.
"Thank you, Agent Faust. Now that we are all on the same page, you are all to go to your first lesson..." The students around him and through the hall started moving from their seats, "SIT DOWN! You have not been dismissed! You have until after school to notify us of your choice to stay or be removed".
The crowd murmured and shuffled in their seats, half standing-half squatting. Alex reached down for his bag under his seat, ready to throw it over his shoulder and power walk (No Running!) out of the suffocating environment.
"You are dismissed!"
AN.
So, we changed this chapter around again. We were discussing the story as a whole and we realised there were still things we didn't like. So we changed it.
You may have noticed the John's alias was one of them, we've decided to change the entire family's name, Marcus being the only exception. So we are hopping over to Of Curiosity and Barrels to edit things there as well.
Edit: So another book is in the works. Anthony Horowitz released an excerpt on Twitter, it's a bundle of information for the Pleasure family, including the name of the dog, and a name for Sabina's ex, who fits into the time frame of our story quite nicely. Shame it wasn't released a few days earlier when we were editing this chapter.
-Jean & Diana
