Storm Brew

We finished climbing the metal stairs of Crown Inn. Nate opened the second door of the hallway. He was still acting strange as he dumped his stuff onto bed.

"I'm going to the vending machine." He said walking out with his hands stuffed in his pockets.

Seriously, what gives?

I sat on bed looking to the 32-inch flat-screen suspended above the dresser. I couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. He said it was nothing, so obviously it was something. I knew one thing though, he wasn't alright—I had to go after him. Running out of the room seemed familiar—like when he'd stormed out after I pushed him for information on his relationship with my parents. I was careful not to be too noisy; the Inn's reception edifice was across from the rooms and parking lot. Nate didn't stop at the vending machines—he rounded a corner. I picked up my pace then, I couldn't lose him from view. I looked to the sides not seeing anyone. I passed the food machine with hesitation wondering what could be beyond the corner...

"She didn't have a choice!"

"Then she did kill Drew."

My breath caught not only because Nate was discussing my murder but also... I knew that voice. It had been a while, I'd only heard it once... I knew it, though. Maybe because of what that person had told me.

It was Reed's.

"...what were you thinking, Nathaniel?" I returned my attention catching the last words. "She could've died! The whole point of Melissa having you as a bodyguard is that she stays alive."

My eyes lifted and there was a van parked a little ways from where they were, I could see Nate's image along with Reed's being reflected. Nate's fists were curled up beside him and Reed looked like he could push my boyfriend in front of a moving van.

"She's not, is she? She's alive—"

"Because she killed someone." Reed shook his head looking elsewhere. "She killed your sister—"

Nate's impulse was so fast I wondered if he didn't have super-speed or something. He was holding Reed by his collar to the wall. I pressed my lips together hoping he didn't do anything stupid.

"Drew's better off dead. I just wish I'd been the one doing it." He spat giving Reed a final shove before backing away. "She killed her parents—she betrayed the Hive, Reed. We don't kill our own, not without a reason and there was no reason."

Reed's face morphed into a hard one.

"I know that, but it doesn't change the fact that she was in danger—because you were reckless. You were walking into a trap and you didn't even see it!" Reed threw his arms up. "Elena asked you to keep her safe—"

"I've been keeping her safe!" He bellowed.

Reed cackled.

"Oh, really? What was that last night?"

Nate's eyes widened slightly.

"You... you've been spying on us?" Reed looked to the sky before staring my boyfriend squarely in the eye. "For how long?"

"Since you told me about Drew's death." I was shocked. We'd been spied on and... "The fact that I was able to do it without you having the slightest notion of it," He took a couple of steps to Nate. "Proves how unfit you are to protect her."

My nails dug into my palms, my throat felt dry.

"She'll always be safe with me," Nathaniel pushed the words. I could tell how Reed's own had put him on edge. "I—"

"I'd believe that if I thought you could separate work and your feelings for her. You're not like everyone else, Nathaniel. She makes you feel normal but you're not. And you're together because her life is in danger—you're not doing your job." Nate looked dazed and short of breath, all I wanted was to run up to him... "Melissa has become more than a job to you. You care for her..."

Nate looked strongly to Reed.

"She's the only person I care about." I shuddered at the lowness of his tone, challenging and decisive. My heart fluttered in my chest.

"That's the problem." Reed's shoulders dropped somewhat. "Elena wanted to keep her daughter hidden, like she'd never been born for a reason she wouldn't even tell me—you're not going to be the reason she dies."

Just what was my Mom to Reed...? He made it sound like they'd been close—real close. And what was that about my Mom wanting to make it seem like I was never born? I mean, I got the part about keeping me away now, because they didn't want me growing up to be like them but make it seem like I didn't exist?

"So, what? You're going to keep me away from her?" I drew in a shallow breath at Nate's question.

Reed couldn't...

"No," I sighed lightly lifting my eyes to look at the van's window. "I can't do that. You're here because you want to, and I'm sure Melissa doesn't want you to leave..." He walked around with short strides like he was taking in the environment. "But she needs someone who's always alert, a person that doesn't take her out to have a good time. This isn't a road trip, you two aren't taking time off College to sightseeing and date—apparently it's beyond your capability to see that now."

Nathaniel laughed sourly whirling around to see Reed.

"Alright," He opened his arms. "You've pointed out all my faults as a bodyguard—what now? What are you going to do?"

"I'm assigning someone to help you."

My pulse increased, thundering in my ears. Someone to help Nate? With me...?

"Who?"
"Someone you can trust—that she can trust."

"Her?" My eyebrows knitted together, I inched closer to the edge of the wall. "She's going to be in shock."

"Better in shock than dead," Nate scowled and I did it, too. "She'll get over it."

Over it… Her? What did it all mean? At my core I knew it meant Reed was giving another person the job of keeping me safe—someone to help Nate, a she.

Nate shook his head not looking pleased at all.

"Where is she?" I heard him ask trying to keep calm.

"She's in the car." Reed ran a hand through his hair looking a bit nervous.

"In the car?" He yelled. "You couldn't let me prepare Melissa? You're just going to spring this on her…"

I could see Nate's jaw adopting a straight line.

"She'll be alright." Reed walked up to Nate albeit threateningly.

They didn't say anything else. They just stared each other in the eye, Nate was probably two inches taller than Reed. It was kind of scary.

"Fine," Nate conceded. "We'll do it your way."

"I wasn't giving you a choice." Reed replied strongly walking off across to the driveway.

I watched Nathaniel sweeping his ash waves with his fingers, exhaling deeply. I didn't stay there anymore, I went to him. My arms wrapped around his forearm from behind. Nate was startled giving it a jerk, until he saw it was me. His brandy eyes glinted with recognition.

"Mel," He said with a choked voice.

"I followed you." I told him.

A ghost of a smile crossed his lips.

"I noticed," Then his face morphed into deception. "I really am off my game…" He muttered to the side.

I frowned, what was that supposed to mean?

"What…?"

"I didn't even notice you came after me." Nate looked me in the eye for a split second. "Did you hear?"

I nodded faintly. I guess he was worried because he should've known I ran out after him. I could see how that was a downer for a trained killer. He wasn't used to getting caught by surprise.

"Everyone slips up every once on a while." I tried to console him. "You do have a hango—"

"No, it doesn't happen to me." He denied shaking my hands softly from his arm. "And this isn't the first time I make a mistake…"

I wanted to tell him something to make it okay, but like other times with Nathaniel I couldn't find anything to make it better. It was hard dealing with him when he was beating himself up.

Nate looked around, his eyes slit for a moment—he was looking to the driveway, I was about to look… Nate's hands gripped my face making me look to him instead.

"I'm sorry," He said softly. "I… there's not really a way I can say no. This is better for you. I'm doing this because it's better for you. I'm sorry I didn't tell you—"

My hands fell on his trying to get him to let go, to make him settle down.

"Tell me what—"

"Hey, neighbor."

Nate's hands fell away, his eyes lowered to ground level. That wasn't Reed's voice, that wasn't a man's voice to start with. But it was a voice I knew; a girl's voice. My head tilted to the side at first not believing that it was her voice—or not ready to face her.

"Anna…?" I whispered out.

***

I should be used to slow motion now. I'd experienced it right before shooting Drew… I wasn't used to it, though. Maybe it was the circumstances, because… standing there was Anna.

Anna—my next door neighbor for as long as I remembered, one of my best friends. She was there; wearing a thin camisole with the sign of the English flag and navy shorts and red high Converse's.

I took a step back ramming my back into Nate—who steadied me smoothly. My eyes found his as I looked up, avoiding momentarily confrontation. What did that… I knew what it meant. Reed said she was in the car, that he was assigning her to help Nate.

Anna was that she. Anna was a… Anna was like Nate? Oh God. When you think life can't get anymore screwed up… it does.

Nate deviated his eyes from mine looking in front, I think he was telling me to do the same. I didn't want to.

"Mel," It was her. "We should talk—alone." I'm guessing she gave Nate and Reed a look.

No, I wanted to say as Nate took my hand in his, pulling me towards the way I'd come. Up the stairs to our room—Anna was following.

"Nate…" I finally whispered. "Don't…"

Don't what? Leave me alone with my childhood friend from next door? Anna wasn't going to jump me, she wasn't going to shoot me in the head—but she was an assassin. How did I deal with that? I hadn't known Nate until one month and a half ago! I knew what he did from the beginning. I'd learned to deal with it—overcome it. It helped that I was in love with him… like they say love is blind. Anna, though… she was different. I'd always known her as a normal kid—like me. Dealing with this was different. I didn't know how to handle it, what to say. So many things crossed my mind… I didn't know where to start, I couldn't sort my thoughts out.

Nate seemed to know what was going through my mind because he didn't say anything. He knew there was nothing he could say, because I wouldn't ask him anything else. I wouldn't ask him to stay with me. I wouldn't finish the phrase… My eyes held his like they usually did, and then he was leaving me alone with Anna, closing the door.

Finally, I was able to meet Anna's ever soft forest green eyes. It only took like five whole minutes of breathing in and out continuously. I was so not fine.

"This is unexpected, huh?"

"That doesn't even begin to describe it…" I muttered sitting on the bed. Anna stayed leaning on the wall, her arms lightly crossed. "Did you know…?" I found myself asking. "Of course you knew…" I answered on my own, rubbing my forehead dumbly.

Anna tucked a strand of her black hair behind her ear.

"I did." She said anyway. "They swore me to secrecy, kind of…" She trailed off looking awkward.

That was new, Anna was the kind of person that could make a huge scene in the middle of the street and walk it off like it was nothing.

"Since when—you live next door to me how can you be an assassin for the Hive? I thought you had to live—"

Anna waved her hands for me to slow down.

"Okay slow down, Mel. My head isn't programmed for those many questions at the same time…" She rubbed her temples for good measure. "You know that." She added. I felt my lips turn up despite everything. My brain knew the girl in front of me as a good friend, not as a killer, it still hadn't registered the new information, I'm guessing. "To start things off, I should explain my ties with the Hive." She rubbed her palms down her shorts. "So, like you know I live with my Aunt because my parents are dead. My Father died in a car accident and my Mother died in an assignment. My Mom belonged to the Hive, my Father didn't. My Aunt was my Mother's younger sister and of course she was—is from the Hive—"

"Didn't your Dad know... about anything?" I couldn't wait to know, I never got many answers about the Hive.

"No... my Mom never told him." Anna confessed.

"Don't you need to live in California...? Since the Hive is there and... you know." I shrugged settling into awkward silence again.

Anna leant her head on the wall giving it a slight shake.

"We don't need to live there—Informants contact us when there's a client. They're like our managers or agents." Oh. So that was an Informants' job.

"Hum... where is the Hive exactly?" I scraped my brain for talking material, all I came up with were these questions...

Anna seemed relieved that I was talking at all, though.

"The real Hive is underground. Above ground it's disguised as a Land Development Company."

"You're... kidding?"

"No." Anna said simply, like to her it made perfect sense.

"So..."

"They do normal work above and they train people to kill other people underground. In the Company not all employees are agents—many don't know what's below. They're normal people. The ones who do work at the Hive and at the Company are mostly founding families."

"The ones who created it?"

"They're descendants," Anna cleared up. "Others have other jobs, they use them as cover ups."

That must have been what Nate meant when he said Drew was earning prestige for the coming generations of the Armstrong family. The longer you belonged the better, was my guess.

"But if you live in New York how were you... trained? I mean, you were there since... I we were little."

"Well, I started since I was seven. You know when I went away every school break and I told you I was at camp?" I nodded automatically. "I wasn't, I was going to train. And on Summer, too."

I stayed quiet. I didn't know what I was supposed to say. Again.

It was frustrating to be constantly faced with new details of my life. Things I should know—that I had a right to know, but didn't. No matter how much I tried to understand why my parents had kept me in the dark about so many things, I just couldn't wipe away the little voice screaming how unfair it all was. What if I had preferred to have been raised like an assassin, just so I could have a family? No one ever gave me a choice. Family can't be chosen, you're not in control of your birth, but you can choose your friends. The people you want to share your life with.

Did I have that choice or was it made for me, too? I heard what Nate told me about my Mother knowing so much about me, I puzzled together the reason for his guilt. What he didn't tell me.

"It was you," I whispered softly looking ahead not actually focusing my eyes. "That's how my Mother knew things about me... you told her didn't you?" Anna didn't say anything, the corners of her lips turned down slightly, though. "Were you like their spy—to keep an eye on me? Was that it?"

"No—sort of..." She wiped her raven hair behind her. "It's not like that... your Mom asked us—me and my Aunt to keep an eye on you, yes. But it was to keep you safe—"

"That's all I hear people talk about—keeping me safe from what?"

"I don't know. They never said—your parents didn't want anyone to know they had a daughter!"

Ouch. That hurt... but I'd heard Reed say something of the sort earlier. What was up with my life...?

"Were we ever friends?"

Anna rubbed the heels of her palms together—searching for the right words, I'd say.

"You want the truth..." I bit my lip feeling it tremble. "We didn't meet on casualty and I did get close to you because your parents and my Aunt asked me... but I swear that everything we've shared all this time—that was real." Anna advanced hesitantly to the bed, I kept my eyes as she sat beside me. "Our friendship has always been real to me..." She trailed off shaking her head and I could see how her eyes were shinny. "I wanted to tell you—but I didn't, to keep you safe."

I really wanted to tell everyone to stop keeping me safe, but right now... I flung my arms around her, it was familiar. I couldn't count the times I'd done it—to her or Pacey. She was my friend, that's how I knew her—and I couldn't be one hundred percent sure, but... it was probably the only way I would ever see Anna as. She was there for me whenever I needed her. She was the same person who snuck us out of detention without getting caught, she was the person who bought concert tickets to go see bands I'd never heard about.

"I've been so worried about you." She murmured wrapping her own arms around me. "Reed told me what happened—I was in New Orleans, I didn't know after a week had gone by..." Anna pulled us a part, her hands resting on my shoulders. "And then... he told me you were with Nate."

I frowned.

"What was that?"

She tilted her head wiping the doubtful face.

"What?"

"The face you made when you mentioned Nate."

Anna sighed softly.

"He's... not the type of person who protects people."

"Well, he's been protecting me." I defended fiercely.

"I know," Anna held up a hand. "I just meant it's not his area."

"His area...?"

"Yeah, there are people who specialize in protection and others who specialize in killing. Nate's the later."

Oh.

"What...?"

Anna almost did a take back at my clueless expression.

"Oh God, they didn't tell you anything did they?"

"No, I guess not." I was certain she meant the two guys standing outside this room.

Anna hit the bed with a fist, yep that was the fiery girl I knew.

"They are so stupid! I could punch them—"

"I don't doubt that..." I giggled very slightly, then I recalled why she was here the first place. "You're going to stay with me... with us?"

"Reed wants me to." She wrapped an arm around me. "And I want to be with you—make up for not being there when you saw..." Anna gave a small lift of her shoulders, I knew what she was talking about. Anna narrowed her forest eyes then broke into a smart smile. "Will that be a problem?"

"Huh, I don't think so." My eyes traveled to the door, I could see Nate's outline in one of the windows. "As long as you get along with Nate and don't give him a hard time." I'd said before I knew it.

"Hmm, sure—unless he earns it. Then I'll kick his ass." The words were muttered with conviction, I almost believed she could kick his butt, almost. "So," My eyes returned to her. "You have lots of things to tell me. Starting with Nathaniel and ending with Drew."

I swallowed at the sound of that name. It bothered me, and would always tick me off. The reasons for it were many.

"Yeah..."

Anna pulled me to her side, I looked to her.

"You'll have plenty of time to catch up, but..." She whispered. "Kudos, I hated the bitch."

Wow. Drew really didn't have fans... it didn't make not feeling guilty alright. Why, though? I hated morals sometimes.

"We should go out there, they were going at each other's throats half an hour ago." Anna nodded getting up with me. As we walked to the door I reached for her elbow, she stopped facing me. "Anna," I said arms crossed softly. "If I told you to go back to New York because I didn't want you to get hurt—"

"I'd tell you no way in hell, girlfriend." She smiled that characteristic impish smile of hers. "You're my best friend. I don't plan on getting a new one any time soon, so I'm going to make sure I don't have to."

I rolled my eyes. I wanted to ask if I wasn't an attachment, because assassins didn't have those—or shouldn't. But what I wanted more was to get out the door before Nate did something impulsive.