𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐚 | ✎

𝐱𝐱𝐢𝐯

The crowd of other agents cheering and screaming, my heart pounding, and my rapid breaths fill my ears as I keep sprinting. Out of my peripheral, I see Hayes catch up with me. The action only makes me legs pump faster.

But somehow Hayes gains even more speed gaining on me, just as we cross the finish line. Slow motion cameras flash videos quickly as we both cross it. I try to catch my breath while they watch the replay on the slo-mo cameras, but a feeling sinks in my stomach like I already know the results.

"Got it," They mutter once they've found out who won the challenge. They whisper to Cole and he nods his head, not showing any reaction.

He steps up next to me and Hayes. The crowd in front of us waits in anticipation as they await the final results.

Cole holds a medal in his hand as well as box that contains the one of a kind weapon. I don't even know what the weapon is. I tried begging Cole to tell me what it was, but he refused. I even searched his office everywhere, but I think he knew better and hid it somewhere where I wouldn't find it.

"And the winner of the final competition is..." Cole pauses for dramatic affect as Hayes and I eye each other, but we both already know the results. Hayes' face stays composed, not displaying anything. "Agent 18, Hayes Kingsely!" The crowd erupts in cheers and I even hear one small boo, probably coming from Elijah, my boyfriend, who knows how much this meant to me. It almost makes me smile. 

Hayes still stares at me as Cole hands him the medal and the polished box with his prize in it. Cole congratulates him clasping his shoulder. Hayes finally takes his eyes off him and nods at his Director. Cole steps away and Hayes drags his eyes back to mine. The medal shines around his neck and the box sits in his hands waiting to be opened.

"Well?" I prompt.

He raises one of his brows for me to elaborate.

"What's in the box?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Hayes smirks. I resist the urge to flip him off by crossing my arms and remaining civil.

"Yeah, we all fucking would," I gesture towards the crowd waiting. Slowly he opens the lid on the box, blocking me from seeing what's in it. His smirk disappears as he just stares at the box.

Getting impatient, I walk up next to him to peer into the box.

In it, lays a dagger with small ruby gems engraved into the handle. The edges on the knife looks like it's been newly carved and sharpened. Our reflections stare back at us, that's how shiny this dagger is. Cole has told me about this kind of metal. It's very rare and when it comes into contact with flesh, let's just say it would hurt a lot more than a normal dagger would.

In other words, it's so fucking pretty, I wish I could go back in time to actually pay attention in math when they taught us long division.

My jaw clenches in irritation as Hayes' smirk grows on his face. I step away from him, before I seriously hurt him.

"Congratulations," I mutter.

Mock shock crosses Hayes face as he looks up at me, "Wow, your being so civil right now for someone who just lost a competition."

"Well, one of us has to be, since clearly you're not capable of it." I roll my eyes.

A dry smile crosses his face, "Well, one of us has to be good at math, because I highly doubt you would've gotten that answer if you didn't look at my board."

"Are you fucking with me?" I state out of shock at the fact that he's accusing me of cheating. "I completely guessed that number. Someone's jealous of my dumb luck."