The Only-Live-Once Society | Book 2

Prologue

Five things I have learnt in the last year;

1. Horrible things happen when you're least prepared for them.
2. Betrayal happens from people you think you know best.
3. There are no warning signs when you're about to be attacked.
4. Enemies don't wait until you're in the right outfit and feel comfortable, they'll come whenever.
5. If you choose to accept this as your life, you're always going to be looking over your shoulder.

My name is Amelia Webster. Last year my parents were murdered, I was enrolled into a school for spies, kidnapped, tortured and traumatised.

Now, I'm hiding out in one of my roommates parents flat. We've been on the hunt for answers for a couple of months but we haven't found any.

We have had to put up with Vince, the boy who rescued me from my kidnappers. Vince is decidedly not my uber-buff, terrifying boyfriend, Elijah, who I would much rather be here with.

But Vince does know more about the people who took me than anyone else, on account of the fact he lived with them for a year and his mum may or may not be one of them too.

She shot dead the agent tasked with protecting me and ran. It seems you can't trust anyone, not even family, and you have to stay vigilant at all times.

It's why, when we step out of Grace's flat to get in her car, I don't immediately ignore the heat prickling at my back. That feeling you get when you think someone is watching you but you can't see anyone.

Grace pauses mid-step, car-keys in hand, and looks to her left sharply.

"You okay?" I ask her.

Grace looks at me. "I don't know something feels-"

"-Off." Vince finishes for her.

We're all looking around, our trained eyes searching for things that others may not notice. Everything is still, even though we're in central London. There are no sirens or horns beeping, no people whizzing past or commuters angrily talking on their phones. It's silent. Maybe that's what's throwing us off.

"Is it too quiet?"

And with that, Vince spins, almost in slow motion. I watch his arms expertly move, poised to punch something behind him. Grace shoves me down the steps, everything fast and slow at the same time.

"You need to run—" Vince shouts.

I turn to see a guy hanging from the roof of the building, attached by a singular rope. He's descending towards us and fast - a mask covering his face.

There's a sudden bang and sound of wood scraping. My head spins to see a masked figure bursting through a window in a house opposite.

I can't help myself, I shout, "You have got to be joking!"

I feel Grace at my back, see Vince preparing to fight the figure rappelling from the roof, and brace myself for impact too.

"Will you run!" Vince shouts at me, irritated at my lack of movement.

The two figures don't rush towards us, they're methodical with their movements. They know what they're doing. Now is not the time for me to panic. Running won't help.

Now is the time to think.

Grace and I stand back-to-back, preparing ourselves on the steps of her London home.

"We all go or none do!" I yell.

I sacrificed myself once, it took more from me then I ever knew it could. Vince might be safe if his mum is working with them, but what if she's not? And what would Grace be? Collateral damage? It's not risk I'm willing to take.