Lilac

prologue

THREE YEARS AGO

"Give it back, Jess!" Emery yells at the top of her lungs. "Not a chance!" And Jess runs off again with Emery's phone in her hand. Emery sighs but runs after her. She makes a jump for it and pins Jess to the ground. "Ha, got it." "Yeah, yeah, you're the best, Emmy." Jess replies. They roll off of each other and start laughing. 

A loud clanging wakes Emery up from her happy memory. "Hello love, time for your favourite time of the day." a guard says smirking. Emery spits at the man and looks away. "Now that was not very nice of you, was it?" he doesn't wait for a response as he carries her away harshly. Away from her other teammates in the cell, who are all unconscious. 

back at the headquarters...

"WE HAVE TO FIND THEM!" the Director yells at the agents in his office. "They are the only thing I have left." he says, more to himself than to the agents in front of him. 

"We'll find them, sir." a woman speaks up. "It's been two and a half weeks, I'm sure they're just laying low." another agents says. The Director nods and signs them to leave. They do and go back to work. 

We'll be careful dad, they can't kill us that easily...

The words of his daughters ring through the directors head, he needs to find them. He doesn't know what to do without them. 

FIVE DAYS LATER

Emery sits in her cell. In these past five days, they did not only kill the remaining of her teammates, but they also injected something in her blood. She didn't feel anything for these past two days, but when she woke up today, her senses were all enhanced. It started slow, but then it all started to become too much. 

"AAGHHH! MAKE IT STOP! PLEASE!" Emery's screams can be heard throughout the hallways. A guard comes up to her cell with the doctor named Lui. "It worked!" Lui said cheerfully. Lui nodded to the guard and gave him a sedative. Emery continued on screaming, her senses overflowing her. She didn't have enough energy to fight back, so she let the sedative in. 

When she woke up the next day, she knew she needed to control her senses. Find a way to turn it  off somehow. She used the entire day practising, and finally it worked. She could control it. A sigh of relief escaped her dry lips. She planned an escape plan, and tomorrow she would set it in motion. 

The next day Emery had to put up a show. She had to act like her senses still overflew her. "How are you doing, love?" the same guard as always asked her. Emery stayed silent, rocking back and forth. Acting as if she was barely hanging on, if only they knew. The guard smirked at her state. He came in her cell and dragged her out of her cell. She knew this would happen, just like every other day. Trying to get information from her on the Agency. 

After what felt like hours of torture, she was being dragged back to her cell. They left her with a broken leg, wounds on her arms and legs that would scar, broken or bruised ribs, broken nose and a bruised cheek. Her blood made her clothes clung to her body. While nearing her cell, she acted as though she was passing out. But she wasn't, that was the only way she could grab the grenade hanging from the guard's belt. The guard changed his grip on Emery and she grabbed the grenade. Good, phase one completed. He threw her in her cell again and she fell to the ground, softly wincing from the pain. But not noticeable. "Might have been your last day, love." the guard said while waving off and leaving her alone in her cell. "I don't think so." Emery muttered to herself. 

When the guard was far enough, Emery placed the grenade by the brick wall and moved as far away as possible. The grenade went off and left Emery unmarked. She got up quickly and made her way through the wall. She heard voices yelling at each other and an alarm going off, but she ignored them and ran. As fast as she could in her state. 

She continued running through the woods for what felt like an eternity. The voices left her long ago and she finally got to a road. She stopped on the side holding up her thumb when she heard a car coming. The car stopped in front of her, a woman stepping out. "Oh dear, are you alright?" the kind woman asked. Probably seeing on the blood on Emery's clothes . "I'll be fine, I just need to get to Chicago. Is that far from here?" Emery asked the lady. "Uhh, no it's not. It's about an hour of a drive." "Great, will you drive me there? My family must be waiting for me. I was playing a game with friends for Halloween." after Emery's answer, the lady's face relaxed a little bit. "Alright, climb in. I'll drive you home." Emery nodded and got in on the passenger's side. She looked back into the woods one more time, making sure nobody was there. And there wasn't. As they started driving Emery slowly drifted off to sleep. 

"Uhm, we're nearing Chicago, dear." the woman woke Emery up. Emery looked around and instantly recognised the scenery, finally she was close to home. "My family is just outside the other side of the city, you can drop me off there, thank you." the woman nodded and drove through the city. 

Once Emery noticed the start of woods, she knew this was as far as she could go. "Yes, right here. My house is just a small walk from here, thank you again." Emery said as the car stopped. "Off course, make sure you check yourself. Maybe you injured yourself." the woman said back. Emery nodded and jumped out of the car. She closed the door behind her and waved when the woman drove off. Emery turned to the forest and started walking. It was going to be a long afternoon. But she would soon be home...

"And what do we do when we are captured?" the teacher asked looking over his students. "We keep quiet." the class said in unison. The teacher nodded proudly. "And-" before the teacher could finish his sentence, the door opened and the Director walked in. "D-director, do what do we owe the honour?" the teacher asked. "I was about to start a meeting for the search of team 14, but I figured it would be a good lesson for this class. Would it not?" the Director asked. The teacher nodded at the Director. "Splendid, now follow me to the main hall."the  Director said as he walked away. The teacher and students following. Once everyone was gathered together the Director started his talk.

Emery walked over the driveway towards the Agency. It was a long one, to make sure nobody unwanted came here unnoticed. She knew exactly what to avoid, so she wouldn't get hurt even more. She limped over the driveway and when she looked up, she saw the buildings in front of her. The rain made the walk even harder for her, but she was so close she had to keep going. Before she could take another step, she coughed up blood and it landed on the ground before her. She gritted her teeth together and spit out the remaining. She went forward, her last few feet.

She reached the door and pushed it open slightly. She stepped inside and walked towards the main hall. When she got there, nobody noticed her. They were all looking at the Director. He was giving a speech while a slideshow was in the background. She scanned the slideshow and it came to her attention that it was about the search for her team. "And whatever happens, you must always keep information about the Agency to yourself and never give it away. When captured you must..." the Director said, leaving the sentence open for the rest to finish. Emery limped forward and spoke up. "Never let them break you." Emery spoke above the crowd.

In an instance everybody turned to her battered body. Gasps were heard throughout the crowd. "Emery..." the Director said while just about running towards her. When he got to her, he engulfed her in a hug. Emery finally let everything out and started crying in the arms of the man she had grown to see as her own father.

"Tell everyone to leave." the Director commanded the agents. "Shhh, it's okay you're home, you're safe." he said trying to soothe her. "Where are you hurt?" he asked when they broke away from each other. "Broken nose, bruised cheek, pretty sure there's a wound on my head, scratches down my arms, broken or bruised ribs, scratches and deep wounds on my back, scratches at the bottom of my legs and pretty sure I have an open bone fracture." Emery spilled in front of the Director. He stood there for a good minute to gather everything she just said. "Let's get you to the infirmary then." and they went off. She was home, but nothing would ever be the same again.