Traitors

Sunlight filters in through my window shining onto my closed eyes. It wakes me up slowly, but effectively. A bag filled with water fumbles onto my floor as I cautiously lift my head with a stiff neck. I turn my head to the left feeling a pop at the base of my head. I push my body up onto my elbows which I instantly regret as a crippling pain explodes from my back. I growl in disgust collapsing onto my face. I hear a small whimper followed by a warm tongue running along my arm. I turn my head opening my eyes to witness Kyra staring at me with worry. I slowly move my arm out from under my pillow and rub behind her ears. She happily accepts my gesture as she inches closer to me and rests her head down on my arm.

Mae tiptoes in unsure if I'm awake or not. She lifts the cloth off my back replacing it with another one that's colder. I arch my back startled by the coldness releasing a breathy grunt. Mae makes a startled shriek unaware I was awake. Kyra lifts her head snarling at Mae not realizing she's trying to help me, not hurt me. I pat Kyra's head before looking over at Mae. She kneels down next me with a heavy sigh.

"It's been a few days, how are you?" She asks placing the back of her hand onto my forehead. "You still have a fever." I suspiciously watch her as she taps two pills from the bottle on my bedside table. "Here," she places them in my hand, "they should help break your fever and get rid of any pain." She notices me staring and returns a questioning look. "What? Is there something on my face?" She runs her hand along her cheeks.

"It's been a few days?" My voice is barely audible from not being used in awhile. She rolls her eyes nodding her head quickly.

"Yes," she mutters tiredly, "roughly three days, but you're awake now so no need for worry." She glances back up at me. "Take those pills." She adds in. "They'll help you feel better, okay?" My phone buzzes from the other side of the room as I slip the pills down my throat. She releases an irritated sigh snatching it from my dresser and handing it to me. "This thing has been going off nonstop. Somebody's popular." She heads toward the door, but stops. "Hey," she leans against the frame, "talk to that girl of yours. She had a pretty rough meet and greet with Dad." She sighs heading down the hall.

I rest my head back down on my pillow wishing I could go back to sleep. I unlock my phone and check my messages. I have a few missed calls from Gabe, along with a voicemail from him, and a message from Phoe. I check my voicemail first knowing Gabe is going to ask me to come back to The Tunnel pronto. Kyra rolls over onto her side so she is resting against me.

"Fierce, hey listen. I'm gonna make this quick. We have a possible mole who has infiltrated and earned our trust. It's not one hundred percent proven yet, but me and Detope have conducted a plan to figure out if the claim is legit or not. Focus on getting better, but as soon as you are, we need you back here to help us out with the job. Alright, see you soon."

I sigh deleting the voicemail and slowly check the message from Phoe. I knit my eyebrows together in confusion as I read the contents of the message multiple times.

"You're a murderer."

The screen of my phone goes hazy and I feel my heart fall into my stomach. I swallow hard not understanding who or where she got that from. I chuck my phone across the room burying my head under my pillows before unexpectedly passing out.

Going on my own path was my decision. I didn't believe in what my father thought was best. He wanted a nation where people should live in fear. He wanted to be feared by people who went against him. He likes to intimidate people into doing things they don't want to do. But what he didn't see coming was people who aren't afraid of him and I think that scares him. Although, he would never show it. He taught us kids that showing emotions showed your weaknesses. As hard as I tried to not listen to him, he still got to me.

Growing up, Aaron was always the favourite. Aaron obeyed and followed in his footsteps, avoiding anything which would get him in trouble and if he deviated from that path, he blamed his error on me. My father was never a fan of me. I was the delinquent, always finding a different way to piss him off. I marched to the beat of my own drum and made sure he knew at all times that I would never be like him. The last words I said to him were, "If I ever become like you, I'd kill myself." I was over exaggerating, but it got my point across.

Being separated from him, I finally felt free. I found a shelter where I ended up living for years. I volunteered to help out in exchange for a room. That's when I met Hunter and Gabe. Hunter lost his entire family and Gabe to this day has no idea what happened to his family. The three of us worked in the shelter for several years together until one day a woman waltzed in looking for help. She offered the three of us a lot of money to steal information for her. Gabe accepted before we could even discuss it.

We infiltrated the Bloomsburg building which is now in ashes thanks to Detope. Our first mission didn't go according to plan since we got busted almost immediately. Luckily for us, someone else was sneaking around the building at the time and got us out of there, Quela. She set off several alarms as a distraction and broke in to sneak us out with the information we needed. We turned the information over and she handed us another job. We were stuck and we knew we'd need help.

After meeting Quela, she kept her eye on us for awhile until she claimed we were lost without her, which was completely true. The four of us worked well together until our employer wanted us to assassinate my father. That's when when we all drew the line. We turned her down and that's when we saw her true colours, a sadistic lunatic. She locked us up and took enjoyment out of watching us suffer.

She enjoyed spending time with me the most purely for reasons all her own and that's what I can never forget. The other three were lucky they were only in there with her for an hour or so every other day. For me, I was in there for hours every single day. She thought I'd give up, but I didn't. I gained an advantage one day and that's when I attacked. I stabbed her in the abdomen and sliced across hoping I'd do an effective amount of damage. She was still breathing when I broke us out of there, but we ran and never looked back.

That's when we started our own rebellion. We couldn't trust those around us and we could only rely on each other and eventually anyone we could find who felt the same way as us. We set ground rules for those joining, the most important being not to kill anyone. Having the burden of ending someone's life, even if their a terrible person, is something which will haunt you forever. I couldn't allow anyone else to endure such turmoil.

Once the rebellion started getting attention, my father knew I had some part in it. For some reason, he hasn't told anyone about it. He lets me wander around leading a group rebels hoping to bring an end to his reign in office and bring the divisions back together. Although, I'm certain he has a hidden agenda as to why he avoid confrontation with me about the rebellion, but for now I file that thought away in my head to worry about at a different time.

My body forces me to wake up as I realize I'm slowly suffocating. I lift my pillow off the back of my head and breathe in cold, fresh air. The alarm clock on my table reads almost midnight. I rub my eyes making sure I'm reading the time correctly. The sun disappeared from my window and has been replaced with the moon. I groan forcing myself to get out of bed. My vision is slightly distorted, but adjusts after a few seconds. I push myself up onto my feet, but my legs wobble from the lack of nourishment running through my body.

I fumble my way into my bathroom taking a hard look in my mirror. I slowly turn to the side and witness the damage left behind from the Russian. I still don't know where she came from, but I'm lucky she didn't do more damage. Her cackling starts to ring in my ears as I remember getting sliced suddenly. I roll my pant leg up slowly and realize Mae didn't find the claw marks which run along legs. The scratches aren't nearly as bad as the wound on my back, but the Russian definitely knew what she was doing.

I glance over and notice my phone face down on the floor. I don't remember throwing it, but I remember the reason as to why I would. My nose twitches in disgust and before I know it my body is moving on its own. I throw on a beater which is more painful than I anticipated. I growl through my teeth trying my best not to wake Mae up whom is sleeping in the room across the hall. I pull on my sweatshirt grabbing my phone from the floor and snatching my car keys from my dresser. I slip on the first pair of shoes I can find.

I tiptoe down the hall and silently leave through the front door. I crawl into my car and it roars to life. I quickly back out not letting Mae have a chance to stop me from driving off. I don't feel conscious, like all of this is a dream, but I know I'm awake.

No one is on the road and not a single cop is lurking around to make sure no one is breaking the law. It isn't long before I pull into the parking garage across the street from The Tunnel. I'm not one hundred percent sure if anyone is even here, but I don't give a fuck. The freezing night air doesn't phase me as I cross the abandoned street. I tug on the backdoor feeling the wound on my back rip open. I shriek feeling the pain suddenly paralyze me. Once I find the courage, I pull at the door again successfully opening it and slipping inside, attempting to ignore the throbbing pain erupting from my back.

I head towards the rooms in the back. I walk by Quela's room knowing she's inside and asleep. I head to the room at the end of the hall which is unoccupied. I hear typing from a keyboard echoing from the plant and charge in that direction. I turn the corner and notice all the monitors are off and unoccupied except one. Her back is to me, but I know it's her. The bright red hair is a dead giveaway. She types rapidly and then leans away from the monitor waiting for something to load. I march over to her, blinded by a sudden rage. I slam my phone down next to her on the desk which causes her to jump almost three feet in the air.

"Jesus Christ! You scared me!" She shrieks resting her hand against her chest. She looks at me with confusion. "What are you doing here?" She whispers.

"I don't know who told you and I honestly don't give a fuck." I bark. "I can't say it was an accident because it wasn't."

"Fierce, what are you talking about?" She runs her fingers through her hair.

"I don't think I should have to defend myself. I'm not on trial, am I?" I give her a questionable look not really sure if I'm understanding what I'm saying either. "We all make mistakes, but to be honest with you I don't look at that as a mistake. Sure, I think about it every day, but I'm not a murderer." I hiss.

"Logan," she slowly stands up, "what the fuck are you talking about?" She enunciates each word.

"I'm talking about the message you sent me."

"What message?"

"The message you sent me." I motion toward my phone.

"I didn't send you any message. My phone has been in my locker the past few days since I've been working on the plans for this job with Gabe and helping Hunter run training sessions since you were recovering." Her hand touches my forehead and then my cheek. "You still have a fever. Why the fuck are you here and not at home?" I stare blankly at her.

"I don't know." I murmur defeated. "I don't remember how I got here." I answer truthfully. Her face expresses pity for me. She lifts herself up on her toes pressing her lips onto my cheek.

"Let's get you home, okay?" She reaches into my sweatshirt pocket and pulls out a pair of car keys. My hand grabs onto her hand which possesses the keys.

"Detope, don't put yourself through that. You don't need to drive." She half smiles leading me to the exit.

"I'll be okay. We got to get you back home." She takes a deep breath leading me out into the night.