The Numbered

Chapter Thirty

Hannah had been holed up in her bedroom for nearly thirty hours, having arrived under armed-guard. The family had been waiting up for her to return. She checked to make sure Diana, John and Edward were okay, ignored the fuss Diana was making of her and scurried up to bed. She'd been there ever since. As they hadn't been allowed to leave the house, until Briggs was happy the immediate threat had been, in his words, neutralised.

Hannah looked at her alarm clock. It was now eight o'clock. Now only a few hours later, she reluctantly opened her eyes. Sunlight was burning its way into her room through a crack in the curtain. The family had been awake for an hour already, she'd heard them creep past her room, speaking in hushed voices. She heard movement outside her door and then a knock.

"Hannah, its Zeke, I need talk to you urgently," said the voice on the other side of the door.

She groaned, just what she didn't need. "Just one minute!"

Hannah forced herself to get up, and put on the fluffy pink dressing gown which hung on a hook in her bathroom. Not caring a jot about her appearance any further, she opened the door.

"What!" she asked as she moved back to bed and sat down heavily.

Zeke stood looking into the room warily, reluctant to enter.

"Come in Zeke, you've woken me up for some reason, you might as well get down to it!"

Zeke entered and walked over to the window and threw open the curtains. Bright, garish sunlight flooded the room.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

"Fine and dandy," she replied. Her tone said otherwise.

"I have to take you to headquarters; Briggs wants to speak to you."

"I have nothing to add to the statement I made yesterday. I was at a party, someone chased me and I escaped. As for that man, I never ever want to see him again. End of."

Zeke sighed and walked over towards her. Her tentatively perched on the edge of her bed.

"How is your face today?" he asked.

Hannah had forgotten about the injury. The amount of blood loss had been disproportionate to the size of the wound. It had taken only five, small dissolvable stitches to fix her. Hannah moved her hand up to her face and gingerly touched it. It hurt a little, strangely she didn't mind.

"It is fine, thank you. The doctor said it will heal quickly and they can laser away the scar tissue if necessary. It'll be like it never happened." She laughed and stopped almost immediately.

"I know you are pissed at me, Hannah. If I'd known what was going to happen, I would never have left. I won't be making that mistake again; that's if I am able stay in my position."

"It doesn't matter Zeke, nothing matters anymore, I've made up my mind, and I am going to go home, back to my real home. There is nothing you or anyone can do about it. I am going to back to living my life, with my real parents. I will get me old job back in time try to forget this bloody experience ever happened. You can go tell whoever you need to, that Hannah Green is not and never will be a pawn in some stupid game that can never be won." Hannah took a deep breath, surprised by her own outburst.

After a pause, Zeke spoke softly. "I can't do that Hannah and neither can you."

"I'm telling you, Zeke, if you push me any farther, I am going to straight to Briggs to tell him this whole sorry story, including everything about you!" Deep in her heart she knew she wouldn't and she thought that Zeke probably knew that too, but she was angry and clutching at straws.