The air here is dry, not as dry as the UAE, but it's an upgrade. I rub my eyes slightly as I stifle a yawn, as the jet starts to descend into what I'm assuming is the Dulles place Incognito mentioned earlier.
I look over at him. He's focused on something on the tablet he's holding. It's morning here in the States, and the soft blue glow from the device bathes his skin.
My phone buzzes in my lap, and I turn it on—no messages from Dad or Aunt Yaz. My older brother, Harvey sent me an image; it was one of the both of us right when Julian and Adrian were born. I was four and he eight. We were staying over with our grandparents in England since dad was with our mother at the hospital.
In the photo Harvey and I were drenched. We were bored and decided to wash Grandad Marshall 's car, it ended with us bickering over who got to use the hose and we ended up washing ourselves instead of the car. I smile and send him a text, "Lol, you found my dark past."
"Maddie sent them." My grandmother despised any title, she shid it made her feel old. So, she was Maddie to all except her dear Marshall.
I shake my head and grin looking back out the window. "What if my family asks what I'm doing?" I ask Incognito, "What do I tell them? I'm supposed to be in school in three weeks."
"Your aunt has handled that, and before you ask. I don't know how."
I scoff, "Wow, so he isn't all knowing."
The jackass doesn't even look up from his screen. He just swipes a finger across the tablet, probably dismissing lives the same way he dismissed my questions. I lean my head against the cool plastic of the window. Home feels like another lifetime. This morning in Virginia feels like a dream I can't wake up from.
"Two minutes to touchdown," the pilot's voice crackles over the comms.
I look back at Incognito. "So, is that it? We land, you lock me in a basement, and I spend two years learning how to... what? Hack into the Pentagon?"
"The Pentagon is child's play, pipsqueak," He says, catching my gaze. He doesn't smirk this time. "And nobody is locking you in a basement. You'll have a room. You'll have food. But you won't have the life you were used to anymore."
He stands up as the "Fasten Seatbelt" sign chimes. He leans over me, one hand on the headrest of my seat, forcing me to look up at him. "When we hit the ground, the 'Eden' who wanted to go to Sorbonne, who dreamt of being a dancer because her mother was one, stays on this plane. You're Cipher now. If you remember that, you might actually make it to that two-year mark."
He straightens as the wheels hit the tarmac with a jarring thud. "Welcome to America. Try not to hate it too much, you'll be here for a while."
As we step down from the jet, I stretch slightly, and my eyes fall on the building in front of us, or rather, what's left of it. Before us is a rusted imitation of a warehouse. "Now, I'm fully convinced you're fucking with me," I scoff and roll my eyes as I turn back to face the plane preparing to take off. "What the?" My heart sinks as I watch the plane fly off, the wind of its departure mocking me and tossing my hair.
I turn back to face Incognito, the ridiculous smirk on his face making my blood boil. The warehouse looked like it was held together by prayer and tetanus. I shudder at the scourging attempt of a caress from the wind; it felt like it was trying to peel the skin off my face.
"I'm offended you thought you could have left that easily," He walks backwards towards the desolate excuse of a building, "Gimme a little trust, Cipher." I'm surprised he even remembers to use the codename I picked earlier on.
"This is it?" I asked, glaring at him, then the warehouse. "VION's big American headquarters is a condemned storage unit? I've seen better architecture in horror movies."
