〚FEATURED + WATTYS SHORTLIST 2021〛
Someone tried to kill him. Someone nearly succeeded.
A traitor walks among them.
The question is, who?
⭒⭒⭒⭒⭒
"A sky full of stars and he was looking at her."
He was a man with a deep and profound love for the stars...
"You think he's answering to someone," Corban muses contemplatively, rubbing his chin with a nod, "that makes sense too."
"This," Stella leans back in her seat, rubbing her forehead, "got a lot more complicated than I initially believed it was."
"Yeah," Gale mutters, clearing his throat, his eyes on his feet, "How do we get him to... confess? And how do we prove it?"
"Well," Axel speaks for the first time since the revelation, making everyone in the room instinctively straighten at the dark fury in his voice,
"There's only one way to know, isn't there?"
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Do you know why you've been called here?"
Winston only looks at Axel nervously, before turning back to Corban.
"No sir," he mutters unsteadily, shaking his head.
Corban narrows his eyes at him, while Bea makes a move to pointedly sharpen her knife in the background.
"Is there something you'd like to confess?" he asks, his polite tone wavering as the threat in his words becomes clearer.
"Con-Confess?" Winston looks startled, as his eyes widen and he shakes his head rapidly back and forth, "No sir, I-I haven't-"
Before he can finish the sentence, the distinct sound of a gun clicking echoes in the small room, and a gun is pressed against his temple, making him let out a startled sound.
"How about now?" Axel murmurs darkly, pressing it harder against his head, "Got something you'd like to come clean about?"
Winston's throat bobs as he swallows, too scared to move.
"I really haven't, sir," he whispers shakily, his lips trembling, as Axel grits his teeth in annoyance.
Even this time, Stella stays quiet in one corner of the room, simply observing him.
The man sitting in the chair looked terrified, and the fear on his face seemed genuine enough.
She wasn't sure if he was still fooling them, or if he was truly afraid- whether it was fear because he had to reveal himself, or because he was actually terrified and didn't know a thing about the investigation.
One thing was for certain, however. Winston clearly didn't do all of it on his own, which meant he was answering to someone of a higher power.
The question was, who?
Someone else in the unit, or someone from outside?
Axel and Corban didn't seem to be doing much observing, however. They only glanced at each other, before a common understanding seemed to pass between their gazes.
"Alright then," Axel says, a dangerous smile on his face, "I think you could do with some convincing, hmm?"
Winston's eyes widen as they both yank him up to his feet, pulling him along.
