#1 in POLITICALDRAMA
In the late forties, six university students find themselves surrounded by killings on campus. They're messengers, relaying information back and forth between a network of professors who supply an intelligence organization.
The...
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Mary was already seated with a coffee when the five other friends filed into the Cornerstone the next morning for breakfast. She had stacked up her things in anticipation of them arriving, but it appeared that she had been there already for quite some time.
"You're here early," Betty commented, sitting in the seat next to her and peeling off her gloves. "How long have you been here?" She leaned forward, inspecting Mary's poorly applied makeup that did little to conceal the exhaustion she wore on her face.
Douglas sighed as he sat on Mary's other side, picking up her stack of work and taking the liberty of fitting it neatly into her bookbag for her. "My guess is she's been here since they opened at five this morning." His frustration softened at the weary expression upon her face. Mary was hardworking and tenacious, but she had little spirit for obstinate rebellion; though she had stubbornly ignored his pleas to abandon her surveillance, she did so with an air of harmless persistence and a gentle countenance that deflected any anger towards her entirely.
Hayley frowned down at her friend, confused. "Why so early? Did you forget an assignment that's due today?"
Mary shook her head with a smile. "Not at all; it just seemed like a good day to be up and around bright and early, that's all." She held eye contact with Hayley until the other woman got the message and moved on from the subject.
Edward and Charles dropped their bags at their chairs and started collecting money to place everyone's breakfast orders.
"You look worn out, carissima." Douglas touched the outside of her coffee cup, finding that her drink had turned icy cold. "You should get some rest today." He reached out to brace his hand against the back of Mary's chair, edging his own chair closer. "You have to balance caring for yourself with your responsibilities. One cannot fall short in favor of the other."
Betty ran her finger tip along the rectangular frame of her watch, nodding thoughtfully, halfway zoned out of the discussion, but saying, "He's right, you know. Life has to be give and take, not a hundred percent of one or the other."
Mary nodded with a barely concealed yawn. "I'm alright, thank you all. Really, I'm okay. I have to keep an eye on everything. It's the only thing I can think of right now." She ran a finger through her curls, accidentally pulling a pin out. As she fixed her hair, she focused her gaze on the counter where Charles and Edward were ordering. "If he uses this place as his killing grounds, I want to know everything."
Douglas' eyes flicked to Hayley and Betty, both of whom were already exchanging glances. Hayley left the news to either of them, shrugging out of her brown tweed coat and draping it over the back of her chair. She didn't want to say the words, and she didn't want to continue down the dark path of fear that the latest victim was someone she knew.
