Agent Kat

Chapter 13: The Hella-What?

"That was awful!" Kat exclaimed, lifting up the bottom of her blue dress as she walked down the hallway back to the dorm rooms. 

Leroy laughed next to her. "I know what you mean. Did you see how many times I stepped on that one girl's feet?"

Snickering, Kat nodded. "Yes. I think she regretted asking you to dance after that."

"I wish I had said no!" 

The team was heading back from the ball, tired, worn out and annoyed. Each of them had been given a dress or dress suit for the dance and were actually expected to dance. Kat broke the rules and sat off to the side with a plate of chocolate covered strawberries, watching as Nova tried to get her to dance. 

Each time Nova motioned for Kat to join her, she simply shook her head and slowly took a bite of a strawberry, trying not to wince at the cold fruit. "Not happening, Nova. I'm good, right where I am."

A few minutes later, Leroy joined Kat, sitting heavily down next to her. "I can't dance another step."

"I don't dance, so I'll just sit here and eat for the remainder of the night." Kat took another bite of strawberry. "Have you tried any of these yet?" she asked, holding one up. 

Leroy shook his head. "I haven't gotten the opportunity. Are they good?"

"Like heaven..." She popped another in her mouth and smiled. "Here. Try one. I can always get more."

"Thanks!" He took a strawberry and bit off a small chunk of it. "This is really good!" he exclaimed, this time taking a bigger bite. 

She laughed. "I know. I'm going to get some more. Do you want some?"

He nodded. "Are you kidding me? These are delicious!" He took another bite and closed his eyes in esctasy.

A bump from behind her jarred Kat from her flashback. "Kat! Hi! How was it?" It was Nova. Her red and pink dress trailed behind her, her dark blonde hair done up in a messy bun. Kat herself hadn't really done anything with her hair, but Nova had gone all out. "I had a great time!"

"I sat on the side and ate chocolate covered strawberries with Leroy, here," Kat responded, a smile tugging at her lips. 

"Yeah, I saw. Did you dance?" 

Leroy took that as his cue to leave and he walked a little faster, leaving room for Nova to squeeze into his spot. 

Kat laughed at the absurdity of it. "Do you not remember the simulation you made me go through? Did you think real life would be any different?"

Nova shrugged. "Maybe." She yawned. "Now I'm tired. I danced mostly with Dian, just because we're friends, but for a few songs, Brendan and I danced. He's so cute, don't you think?" she tittered.

"I dunno..." Kat didn't really pay attention to boys, but she had to admit, Brendan had nice green eyes... And hair...

Yawning again, Nova pushed their dorm room door open and dragged herself in. "I'm suddenly really tired... Are you?"

Confused, Kat shook her head. "No... I'm not tired at all. Maybe it's because you actually danced all night." Freya and Nani came in, laughing. Freya looked even more like a vampire with her black, low cut dress.

Nani refused to wear a dress, and wore a white blouse and beige skirt instead. "Dresses are horrible for fighting in," she had said.

As the girls got ready for bed, Kat heard a thump behind her. Turning, she saw that all three other girls had collapsed on the floor, passed out cold. She crouched down and pat Freya's cheek lightly with the back of her hand. "Psst. Freya. Freya, wake up."

No response. Frowning, Kat lifted Freya up, surprised at how light the muscular girl was. She put her down on her own bunk and covered her with her own blanket. 

She put the other two on the same bunk; she wasn't strong enough to lift someone up the ladder and into the upper bunk. Still confused, she changed quickly and knocked on the boys' door. Leroy opened it. "Hey, Kat. Um... sort of busy right now..." He saw her expression and stopped. "Did the same thing happen to you?"

He opened the door wider to reveal the other two boys passed out cold on the floor. "They just... fell. It was so weird."

"Yeah. I had to cram two of them onto the same bunk. What the heck do you think caused it?"

Leroy shrugged. "Absolutely no idea. Maybe we'll find out when they wake up, but for now, I feel like someone intentionally did this."

"What do you mean?" Kat gestured to the two boys. "Why on earth would someone want to intentionally make a bunch of teens fall aslee--" Understanding dawned on her face. "Someone drugged something at the ball..."

"That's what I'm guessing. And if our team is asleep, who's to say the entire helicarrier isn't?"

"The Hella-what?" Kat raised her eyebrow.

Leroy chuckled, but the humor wasn't there. "Helicarrier. This giant flying ship we're on?" 

Flying ship? When I looked out the window, everything was blue... like water.... Or the sky... Kat took a breath before saying, "So, someone drugged the food at the ball, and somehow we aren't affected, but that doesn't mean that the rest of the ship isn't out cold while enemy spies are crawling around like rats?"

"Pretty much." Leroy shrugged. 

"So... we're screwed?" Kat's heart was beating faster and faster with each word. She had never been up against other agents before. What if she wasn't prepared enough?"

He put his hand on her shoulder. "Not yet, we aren't. Follow me." He pushed past her, closing the door behind him as he walked purposefully down the hallway.

Kat nervously followed him. "Where are we going?"

"Somewhere we can find ammo." As soon as he finished speaking, the bright blue lights overhead flickered, and then went out. The hallway was shrouded in darkness, and that was when the blood-curdling scream rang out.