The Viral Chase

Chapter 13: The Training Center

Chapter 13

The Training Center.

After his nonstop driving, we have finally made a halt for a cup of coffee. No sleep for the whole night has surely taken its toll on us beyond our thoughts. Harry could drive no more and I had to practically force him to make a stop at the nearest available place to pull over. And here we are in Dartford, in a pretty little cafe with no more than two people at this hour of the dawn. We are waiting for the waitress to bring our coffee in our usual silence, looking everywhere but at each other. "I was supposed to take you to Watford on Samuel's order." Harry mutters sleepily trying to break the silence for the first time. Nice conversation starter, my mind mutters sarcastically. He reveals this like he has done an appreciative job. "And you brought me here to Dartford, to a totally opposite town. Way to go Styles." I snap back at him thumping my palm on the table. I get a look from the two people that are the only customers and so I bow down my head, looking at the table now. Blame my grumpy mood. Maybe its the lack of sleep thats making me irritated or it can be him, giving me reasons to not trust him when I am trying hard for a way to believe him. But either way, I am grumpy and its going to be a long time until it wears off. "Oh forget it!", Harry mumbles irritably. And I don't have a choice but to be with him. I still don't understand why did I agree to be left with a complete stranger that too without proofs of what he is saying. I think I should have pushed him away long ago but instead I joined him just to stay alive, at least that's what he told me, and to stay out of the reach of an unknown killer. I can only believe in his stories due to the last night's incident of bullet firing, that still sends chills down my spine.

"This is the place where I underwent a severe training program for nearly eight months before joining SIS. The fastest to complete the training and become eligible to join." He informs me with a beaming smile. It is nothing but a small cottage on the outskirts of the town. There is a gushing sound of water nearby, probably a waterfall or a river should be around. The total area is covered in thick foliage with a small patch of grass in front of the cottage. This place is well hidden unless someone tries to find it. Harry has parked the car a little farther in a small shed which was a bit difficult due to a narrow path. We step in and Harry sighs. A smile appears on his lips with a dimple etched on his left cheek. His eyes are again taken back to those months, I guess. I walk with him while he shows me around. The average sized rooms in pastel shades gives a cozy feeling while the living room downstairs is covered in shades of warm yellow and orange with similar furniture. The kitchen is small yet comfortable. Harry places a small backpack of his own besides the one provided to me, in one of the rooms. I push open the windows and a calming breeze enters the room. His light steps make their way towards me. I turn around to find him nearer than I assumed. The cool breeze makes his curls sway backwards. His eyes stare into mine for a moment and I am mesmerized by the green emerald orbs that holds a glint that was missing since we took to the roads. He blinks suddenly and looks down. Something bothers him for a few seconds as he knits his eyebrows but he shakes his head in the next moment and looks back at me and mumbles, "I want to show you something." He takes me to the back porch and we walk for a few minutes, crunching leaves beneath our feet and there is the small waterfall that I heard previously. The thick stream of misty water gushes out of the cracks in the slopes of the moss covered mountains, filling the river below that rushes in the direction opposite to me. "I knew you would like this." He smirks turning my awed face to a contemptuous one. He settles down on a large branch of a nearby tree lying on the ground besides the waterfall.

"How come instead of sending you to some sort of training center they put you here? I mean I thought it will be a real center with all those equipments." He chuckles and an amusing smile rests on his lips. I raise an eyebrow with a questioning expression. He laughs one more time before answering me. "Samuel wanted me to train under his best expertise and that too secretively. I had to hide from the world for my own good and no one can suspect this place to be a training center for someone even if found. He visited me after intervals to check on me." He explains staring ahead at the water falling down below in full speed yet somehow serenely. "Who trained you?" "He was a retired agent named Christian, but he was considered the best. Still is. Never told me his last name. He made me practise day and night, just besides the cottage in that grass patch. In the initial days, I used to give up too soon, struggling in pain and injuries. But he made me work until I did better than him. I remember, one night of a very cold December, he had me submerged in this freezing water with only my trousers for the task. I was shivering very bad and the sound of my clattering teeth didn't bother him either. He never stopped my sessions unless I succeeded in them." He gazes in the water as if searching for something underneath its surface and bends down to touch it with his hand, letting the ripples spread out in every direction. I can see his muscles flexing as he stands back up, using his hands for support. "Lets go back." And with that, he turns around to walk back with me, trailing behind him. It seems like he doesn't want me to know anymore than this and yet he seemed relieved in a way.

Dinner was a simple affair after which I settled myself on the chair near the window staring outside in the green patches aimlessly. Anyways, there is nothing else to do when you are stuck up with an almost stranger in an unknown place. This all seems like a movie scene but the panicky feeling that accentuates within seconds on just a small noise is seriously not something one would enjoy. It is very difficult to calm that racing heart. And the fact that someone wants you dead is the most disturbing fact in the first place. One would feel the thrill while watching a Mission Impossible movie but in real life, there are no second chances and the good ones doesn't win always. All these has happened around me and I still have issue trusting him while on the other side, he seems to be opening up well. Giving me his past memories like we were long lost friends, meeting for the first time after years; even though only limited ones but he still does share. I have always had counted close friends which includes Jack. It took me months to be able to consider him as a friend. But still, he is not that close to know my secrets except a few small ones.

Harry interrupts my deep thinking by clearing his throat gaining my attention. "Here. See these files." I flop down on the couch beside him as he places the laptop on the coffee table placed in front of us. I scan over the files and I freeze even though I knew this could be a possibility. This file is nothing but the same code fragments I designed to breach the system's security. "These are my codes." The words escapes my mouth unknowingly in a small whisper. "But the most shocking thing is I never saved them on the main server." "So you mean someone else is involved?" "Definitely. If someone hacks into the main server, it gives him access to all the other employee machines. Then it is easy to locate the target system and read its data." "Okay. I got a brief idea of it." Harry murmurs mostly to himself. He hurries to the kitchen grabbing his cellphone on the way. Probably sending this information to someone in the agency. But if he feels there is a traitor amidst them, he wouldn't reveal this to anyone of them except...Kevin! Yes, obviously. If I can only ask Kevin about Jack and Nicholas. I hope they are alright. My absence might seem suspicious to them. What they are concluding from this situation is really unpredictable. I can only hope. Sit here with Harry and hope for things to turn right; for Jack, Nicholas and Kevin to be safe; for me to get back to my normal life, my university semester that I am currently missing out and for once to have a peaceful mind, without fearful thoughts and livid nightmares. Just for once.

*****

Really sorry for the late update.

Tell me how was the chapter! Any suggestions? Share them with me.

Comment and vote if you like.

Regards,

A.R.