CHERUB: Fitting in...

I apologise for the delays in updating! Exams came up XP. Hopefully I should get quite a few chapters up this holiday.

Chapter 9

Previously: I couldn't stand being in a place where I was constantly going to be reminded of my heritage. Shouldering the light bag, I quickly ran out into the night, away from the CHERUB campus...

I leant my head back against the trunk of the tree. I was now several kilometres away from the campus now, sitting up a tree. Trees were my favourite place to sit, as they were high up, allowing me to see everything around me and to plan strategies accordingly. I pulled down the black band covering my mouth to allow myself to breathe more deeply. Old habits were hard to break, and I had wrapped the usual black band around my head, allowing only my grey eyes on view.

My mind turned back to the disaster that has lead me out here in the first place. Maybe I was being touchy about the whole thing, but I hated my past. I had to live in a world where assassins were not welcome. Yes, I had killed more than once, but the punishment for disobedience was not pleasant, and I hadn't known that there was a choice in what I could do. I sighed, closing my eyes. I wanted to go home, but where was home?

I think I dozed off briefly, because the next think I heard was someone underneath the tree I was sitting in. I shifted into a crouching position, looking down, and froze. There was a man down there, with an enormous looking dog. As the man looked around, I recognised him. Bruce had pointed him out to me in the dining hall once. It was the training instructor, Norman Large. I pulled the bandage back over my mouth, preparing myself to jump to the next tree.

I made the leap, but my foot caught a branch, snapping it. Both man and dog looked up at me. I swore in my mind, eyes wide, and began to give chase, no longer caring about being silent. He had seen me, now all I had to do was try and lose him. I could hear him speaking into what I guessed was a radio.

"I have her within visual range, she's in the trees!"

"Keep her in sights, groups A and B are heading over to your sector now," Came a voice from the radio. My heart froze as I recognised Mac's voice carry through the air. I leapt from branch to branch, tree to tree, desperately trying to outrun the training instructor below me, but his dog kept close tabs on me. Then an idea popped into my head.

I slammed on the braked, jumping upwards, crouching on a higher branch. My sudden change of direction had the desired effect on my pursuers. The dog stopped as well, but it sniffed the air, wandering round in circles before whining, turning back to Large. He sighed, ruffling his dog's ears and radioing again.

"Mac? I've lost her."

"Keep looking, the others are nearly at your position."

My heart sank again as I saw two small groups of people jogging through the trees, meeting up with Large. James was among them, along with Bruce and Kyle. Meryl Spencer had joined them, as well as my own handler. I listened to them discussing tactics, trying to form my own strategies. However, I didn't expect the three boys to suddenly take to the trees. I pressed myself against the trunk, knowing that there was no way I could change position any further without being noticed. I took a deep breath, praying to whatever god there was out there that they wouldn't find me.

"Sighted!" Came Kyle's voice from my left. I glanced in the direction sharply, seeing Kyle there, pointing a stun gun at me. I narrowed my eyes as Bruce moved in from my left, and James in the tree opposite.

Great, just great, I muttered darkly in my mind.

"Come back with us Shad," Bruce said softly, lowering his stun gun a fraction. I narrowed my eyes, glaring at him, unable to speak because of the black band covering my mouth. Something snapped behind me, and I turned to see Kyle there, his gun inches away from my chest. I watched him, making no move.

I barely felt the voltage, but I felt myself lose my balance, falling backwards, through the branches, plummeting to Earth, my mind unfocused enough to stop my fall. I don't even remember hitting the ground.