We didn’t spend long at the cafe and soon we were walking through town, making our way to the house I had lived in for nearly 2 years.
“Home sweet home,” I sighed and looked at Eli.
“It’s like we never left,” he said and opened the front door, walking into the house.
“Erik, Oli, Joey!” He called as the door slammed loudly behind us. We heard movement in the lounge and walked in just as we saw Erik scrambling off of Oli. They were both stark naked.
“Oh my god,” Beth said, her eyes wide. “Oli, you’re gay?”
I scoffed and they hurriedly threw some clothes on.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Oli exclaimed, his face bright red.
“Who’s he?” Erik wondered, gesturing to Jasper who’s eyebrows were raised.
“Where’s Joey?” I asked.
“Since when were you gay?” Beth demanded, pointing at Oli.
“Since always,” I said dismissively. “Joey?”
“Are they still going at it?” Joey’s voice called as he cautiously descended the stairs.
“I bloody hope not considering we’re in the room,” Eli said.
“What are you guys doing here?” Joey wondered. He grinned when he saw me and I was pleasantly surprised when he hugged me.
“Hey there,” I said. “Sit down, guys, it’s time for a chat.”
“Who’s the friend?” Joey asked as he, Oli, and Erik sat down. We joined them.
“Oli, Erik, Joey, this is Jasper,” I said, gesturing to Jasper who was seated next to me.
“His name doesn’t explain who he is,” Oli said. He watched Jasper cautiously. I didn’t blame him, I would have done the same thing.
“He’s my brother,” I said.
There was a moment of silence.
Joey scrunched his eyebrows. “But... Adam?”
“He’s cousin,” I explained. “Rob’s actually my uncle and I’ve met my real dad.”
“Hold up,” Oli said. He looked at me with wide eyes. “What the fuck?”
“It’s a bit of a long story,” Eli said. “But we haven’t got long and shit is serious.”
“What’s going on, Eli?” Erik asked. The three of them all sat up a bit straiter and watched us carefully.
“Rob is a liar,” I said. “He’s been making us kill whoever as long as he gets paid. He doesn’t care if they’re good or bad, he will send one of us to make the kill for whoever pays him enough money.”
Erik and Oli both looked like they were going to be sick. They had killed many people for Rob, like the majority of us at the Agency. Joey looked mortified, but I was relieved for him that he had yet to take a life.
“He also was behind the attack on Daisy,” Eli said slowly. “He did it so she would want to kill again.”
“That’s sick,” Joey gasped. “I’m so sorry, Daisy-”
“It’s fine,” I said dismissively. “The Agency he sent us to take down turned out to be his brothers Agency, who actually were the good guys and only killed because who was the lowest of the lows and because they deserved it. The two have been trying to take each other down for years, they hate each other. It turns out Rob also kidnapped me from my real family when I was younger and raised me to think I was adopted. All because it would hurt his brother.”
I noticed Jasper tense and grit his teeth. “We’re taking him down,” Jasper said. “And we need your help.”
“Do you even need to ask!” Oli gasped. He stood up and hugged me. “Of course we’ll help, you idiot. Did you doubt that we would?”
“No,” Eli said immediately. “We did not.”
“I did,” Jasper admitted.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Erik said.
“Rob sounds crazy, he could’ve got into your head like Blake’s,” Jasper shrugged.
“Let’s not talk about him,” I said.
“So what’s the plan?” Joey asked.“We raid the Agency,” I said. “There’s no way we’re going to be able to get to every single agent, but hopefully we’ll have enough to storm the Agency and take control.”
“Well,” Oli said and coughed. “When is this shit going down?”
Time passed in a blur. Before I knew it I was standing in front of the mirror the next day, staring at myself. The person who was going to kill the man that had raised her.
“Shit,” I said to Beth. “It’s really happening. Isn’t it?”
Beth forced a smile and climbed out of bed. It was early morning and most people were just waking up, but I hadn’t slept. “It is, babe. How are you feeling?”
“Like I want to be sick,” I admitted and walked over to my bed where I had various weapons laid out.
“We managed to get the majority of the agents on our side,” Beth said. She yawned loudly and stretched. “We can take the Agency down, easy.”
“That’s granted everything goes to plan,” I sighed. I picked up a knife and slid it into my boot. “Adam said that seven agents had to be restrained, they were loyal to Rob. They may have sent a message to him somehow, our plan may be screwed before it even begins-”
“Girl, respectfully, shut up,” Beth said. “We took precautions with the agents that were loyal to Rob. Our plan is good. Stop stressing.”
I groaned in frustration. “I don’t stress, this isn’t me,” I muttered. “I hate this feeling.”
“What you’re feeling is normal,” Beth said. “Just keep your eyes on the end goal, yeah?”
I gave Beth a look and grabbed the pillow off of my bed and threw it at Emma’s bed, successfully hitting her in the head. “Wake the fuck up, you’re not screwing this up for me today.”
Emma sat up and glared daggers at me, but I ignored her and tucked a gun into the waistband of my jeans. I finished securing the rest of my weapons to myself as Beth and Emma got ready. When I was finished I walked out of the room and into Eli’s. Everyone was awake and preparing themselves.
“Morning,” Eli said. His hair was a mess and he was rubbing his eyes, clearly having recently woken up. “How did you sleep?”
“Wonderfully,” I said.
“You didn’t.”
“If this was your adoptive dad/uncle person would you?” I said. “I don’t need sleep, I need this day over with.”
“It will be soon,” Tom called.
Eli gave me a look, and I couldn’t tell if he was concerned or annoyed. “You’re going to be of no use if you collapse on us, princess.”
“Don’t lecture me,” I snapped. “I’m fine.” I grabbed one of the knives that were stored on the inside of my jacket and threw it at the wall, it landed on the picture hanging up, directly in the center. “I’m sure I can aim at Rob that well, even if I’m a little tired.”
Eli rolled his eyes and ripped the knife out of the wall, throwing back to me. “Guys, let’s hurry things up,” he said and checked his phone. “We’ve got to be outside in 5 minutes.”
“I’ll meet you out there,” I muttered and walked to the door.
“Oi,” Eli called and caught my arm as I opened the door. He pulled me into the corridor. “Stop freaking out.”
“I’m not freaking out,” I said and pulled my arm from his grasp. I leaned back against the wall and crossed my arms over my chest.
“Look me in the eyes and say that,” Eli said.
I looked up at Eli. “I...”
“Take a deep breath,” Eli ordered. “You know what you’re doing. You know what’s going to happen. You need to stay calm.”
I looked to the ground. “I am calm.”