***Author's Note***
First of all I would like to say a big thank you to all of the new followers and favourites. I really appreciate that people are still reading this after I've had such a long hiatus!
Secondly, sorry for the absolutely epic wait! I recently had a baby so all of my time is for her :)
Thirdly, I received an anonymous review about how someone feels sorry for my baby because I spend so much time on this. I haven't updated since April before this chapter. So whoever posted it, thank you! You gave me the motivation to get out another chapter fr those who are enjoying this story!
Again, sorry for the wait and I apologise that this isn't massively long.
Chapter 38 - The past and the present
She entered her run-down, shabby flat which she shared with her mother, brother and sister, and the new baby. The smell of weed and stale alcohol hung in the air like a fog, clinging to the upholstery and their clothes. Her mother sat at the kitchen table riding her latest high, a can of lager in one hand and a burnt out cigarette in the other, her eyes were unfocused as she stared at the ceiling. The girl sighed, self pity and mourning over a childhood that could have been. The baby was crying.
She stooped and rummaged through the cupboard in which she kept the canned food and grinned triumphantly when she found a tin of "pork 'n' beans", it would be something in their bellies at least. A glance at her mother showed that the woman hadn't noticed her eldest daughter, which was a blessing. She cooked the food in a dirty microwave and fed the baby milk from a bottle.
The next morning, her mother was gone.
"Miss Travis, if I might have a word?"
The young brunette looked up from her notes as her cheeks flamed red whilst her classmates made various noises of disapproval. Tuts and barely concealed questions followed her as she left the room with the tall, silver haired man.
"What has she done now?"
"Must be serious if he has come to speak to her..."
"Oh my God, she's so weird..."
"Do you think-"
The door shut and she embraced the relative quiet of the hallway for a moment before following the deputy head master to his offices across the school grounds. Rain was falling, nothing new in Manchester, but it felt ominous as it bounced of the grey asphalt and lashed the grey windows of the engineering and science building. She watched the back of her escorts head, he ignored the rain as he walked toward the administration buildings, letting it soak his silver hair and grey suit. She wished he would speed up as her own hair stuck to her cold, pink cheeks.
Thankfully, the walk didn't last forever and the welcome warmth of the building made the girl take a breath of relief. A receptionist with a bright smile and an even brighter jumper greeted them with hand towels, Mr. Dowd ignored her and resumed his previous pace toward his office. Marie quickly ruffled her hair with the towel, instantly regretting it as it stuck up at odd angles, she was desperately combing through it with her fingers as the deputy head master gestured to a seat in his warm, oak accented office. There was various memorabilia scattered around from his time in the army.
"Now then." His fingers clasped each other as he looked down his nose at the student. His stern face gave away no clues as to what he wanted, "It has come to my attention, with news from your lecturers, that you are very smart but easily distracted." Straight to the point. He shifted in his seat to open a draw, the symbol on his right breast caught the light. A golden hexagon with two accents on either side, the symbol of the Cerberus division of the army. They were specialists that worked in the British and American forces ranging from engineers to assassins. The military school she attended happened to have a few teachers that used to be in the Cerberus division, "your grades are suffering due to your lack of attention. Not so much that we'd be willing to suspend you, but enough to grow some concern." He placed a file between them, the Cerberus symbol was branded on the fine paper, "Is everything okay at home?"
No. "Sure." Her voice was clipped and short, Mr. Dowd's mouth twitched at the corner.
"Good." He opened the file, "We have a way you can pull your grades back up to an acceptable level without having to miss out on your learning." The file contained the paperwork for a new class concentrating on advanced space travel and a nice pay if your work was good enough to be used, "Interested?"
"Are you going to do it?" Ryan sat at the small table in the small kitchen, pushing pasta around his plate with a frown. She helped Billy take in a mouthful of food, pretending she didn't hear, "You're only seventeen. It seems a little odd that they're willing to take on someone so young with falling grades."
Libby floated in and perched on a counter with her own plate of pasta, the fourteen year old watching as she flipped her hair and kicked of her old shoes.
"We need the money, Ryan."
"And how come they're paying you?"
"Only if some of my work gets taken on." Billy spat pasta into his hand and wiped it on her jeans. She sighed and wiped it quickly away.
"I can get extra shifts at the pub..." Ryan grumbled into his drink.
"And then you'd be exhausted. I'm doing it."
"I could get a job..?" Libby suggested.
"You're too young, Lib. Besides, if my work gets chosen, Ryan wont even have to work."
A seventeen year old Libby greeted her tired sister at the door of their flat. Late shifts finishing some sort of pod or egg or something were getting on top of her, as well as helping their older brother raise Billy who had just turned five.
The flat was nicer now and improved every time a piece of Marie's work got accepted. This pod she was working on would hopefully gain enough that they could move into a bigger place and hopefully allow Marie to move on in the space programme and get a promotion.
She hung up the leather jacket she wore to ward of the autumn chill and turned to the kitchen to settle on making dinner.
"I'll make dinner, Marie. You get some rest, and I think Billy has some drawings to show you from school."
"Okay, yeah." She shuffled her feet into her little pink slippers and wandered into their living room where Billy was sat watching a children's show.
Things would only get better from here.
"Hey!" She heard heeled feet pick up some speed behind her, "Hey! Wait a sec!"
Marie turned to see the secretary of the building she worked in running toward her. Blonde hair scraped back into a high bun, glasses that framed heavily shadowed blue eyes, and red lips that spread into too wide a grin. The Cerberus logo glinted of her chest.
"Hi Caroline, what's up?"
"I saw you handed in a letter of resignation. Why is that? Your last piece of work was amazing!"
"Yeah, well the money I got for it is enough so that we can move and we're moving quite far away." Caroline nodded for her to go on, "I was maybe going to get a job in engineering nearer to our new place..."
"How long did you work for Cerberus?" Her tone was serious as her hands went into her pockets and rooted around. They started walking again through the autumn coloured trees of the campus.
"I think maybe three years, not included those two I did out of school. Why?" She glanced over her shoulder at the blonde who was still rooting in her pockets. The blonde shrugged and frowned as she still searched, Marie turned back to watch where she was walking, expecting her friend to catch up.
"You know too much." A sharp prick to her neck and the world swam around her and black shadows crept in.
A tomb in an old graveyard was open. Shadowy figures waited for her to enter. Inside were the graves of her siblings, clustered together in death as they were in life. The back wall opened, letting in a pillar of white. Faces she knew looked in on her, puzzled and intrigued.
Shepard's hair was tied back in a loose ponytail.
Marie opened her sleep deprived eyes, the edges of a dream falling away as she looked around the bright warehouse. The lights were always on since the last and only escape attempt. It was still cold, even the warmth of her cage-mate was not enough to stop the numbness in her arms and legs. Others in the warehouse were watching a guard pace the large space in the center of the room where a chair had been set up whilst she was sleeping. She didn't care enough to ponder on it, the natural inquisitiveness of her mind had backed away and hidden behind a tall wall. She doubted it would ever return. She doubted she would ever leave this place.
She estimated that she had been captive here for at least a week now, maybe more. A part of her still hoped someone would rescue her, the other part could not remember who that someone could be.
The man she shared the cage with stirred, his pale skin forming goosebumps as his body remembered the coldness. He mumbled and turned toward her, hoping for a sliver of comfort but receiving none. This place had beat them both.
The guard received an audio transmission in his ear. She knew from the way he tilted his head toward it. A grin formed on his face and his four eyes narrowed to slits as he pulled out a baton and began raking along the cages making their occupants quiver.
His footsteps came closer and closer, each step sounding like finality and doom. Finality-doom, finality-doom. Over and over until they stopped. The dark leather had a pattern, she noticed in a bemused way. She would've liked to study the pattern and find its meaning, but then her cage was opening and a strong arm was grabbing her long, matted hair. She went willingly,the haze in her mind wasn't registering the danger.
There was a shout. The arm holding her moved suddenly as her guard scuffled with something. A gun shot. A gurgle.
She glanced back at the cage as she was dragged along the floor toward the chair. The man in her cage lay motionless, his dark, dead eyes were obscured by his black hair. Those dead eyes watched her as she sat in the chair and allowed herself to be restrained with ties. A tear fell down her pale cheek, leaving a clean stain as she tried desperately to remember his name.
A batarian sat before her, "Tell me, why has Shepard not come for you yet?"
She looked up at him confused, "Shepard..?"
A fist connected with her tear stained cheek.
Again, I'm sorry it's not very long. But it was nice to get something out.
Let me know what you think!