The truth about August

Fifteen

I was picking at the ends of my hair while I waited for something to happen. The situation was pretty anticlimactic, in my perspective. I didn't know what was happening inside that club, and all the action resided on the strained breathing of the poor dude laying next to me and on simply sitting there doing nothing, understanding nothing, and seriously debating what to do next.

"We sure weren't expecting this to happen, am I right?" I said, quite aware that he wouldn't really answer.

I looked over at the old man. He had his swollen eyes closed, breathing through his mouth, he had a few cuts on his cheek and I was pretty sure he sported some major bruises on his body just like on his face.

In that moment guilt started to eat me alive. Why? I had done everything in my power to help this man. It was not my fault that he got so hurt.

Except, maybe it was your fault when you ran away like a chicken, or perhaps when you stole that suitcase in the first place!

That annoying, sensible voice inside my head sounded again. Why was I listening to it so often now? I thought I had killed it years ago.

I looked back at the man next to me and fidgeted with my hands.
"I could've stopped him earlier" I huffed, the man didn't even flinch, I wondered if he was unconscious. I sighed. "You weren't supposed to get hurt either. I wasn't- I didn't mean for this to happen, you know? I was just trying to get out of a dreadful situation and I ended up getting into an even worse one and I-" I rested my head on my hand. "I'm sorry" I simply said and closed my mouth.

I looked towards the entrance of the pub. Was I waiting for August to come back unharmed? Was that what was making me so anxious and chatty and apologetic?

The truth is I was rooting for him to come out of that pub holding Sullivan's lifeless corpse on his back or something, although it was rather improbable. So I was secretly hoping that he at least made it out alive... that way I wouldn't feel even guiltier than I already did. Yes... that was the reason.

"He'll be fine" Said a raspy voice next to me, making my head spin towards him with the speed of light. "He always is" He said, coughing slightly with closed eyes.

Was I that obvious?

"What- How do you know that?" I asked too fast, making my cheeks heat up. "I mean- it's not like it would affect me if he died, but I guess... it would be fine if he didn't" I rambled on, feeling stupid as hell.

The old man opened his swollen, heavy eyes to give me a condescending side look. The nerve!

My cheeks grew hotter. Again, the silly schoolgirl was back and I hated it.

"I know it" He said, going back to closing his eyelids. "But he'll be in trouble later" He said, his voice breaking into a cough.

"Why?" I asked. The man remained silent,  forcing me to process his words. I contemplated it for a second. It was silent inside that car, the only sound being the soft music coming from the club and the strained breath of Klaus next to me.

"Is it because of what you told him? The Chief will send him back to some place..." I thought aloud.

The old man chuckled slightly. "You really don't miss a beat" He said.

"Where will they send him?" I dared to ask, for some reason, really intensely.

The man opened his eyes again, they were really small due to the bruises surrounding them, but he held my gaze nonetheless.
"Prison" He said sternly and I thought I heard wrong.

"Prison?" I asked. "They took him out of prison? What-" I looked at the man carefully, inspecting him, analyzing his words. "Who are you people?" I asked suspiciously.

"I thought you'd gather that by now" The man said, his head dropping onto the window, eyes closed.

I frowned, looking to the front, gazing at the dark street.
"Well, you're too organized to be a terrorist group, and too secretive to be a pair of police officers" I said, staring into nothing. A smile crept onto my face as I thought of another possibility, absurd but amusing.

"What are you? Spies?" I snorted. I waited for a similar reaction, but nothing came from the man next to me. My blood stopped running in my veins.

I snapped my head back towards the man, his face was serious. A cold shiver ran through my spine.

"You're spies?" I almost yelled. The man didn't say anything. "You- you're telling me I tricked- I robbed an English spy?!" I pounced at him and he just looked at me.

"Agent August Frost" He said sternly. "Indeed"

Agent August Frost. The words echoed inside my head like he had just yelled them inside an empty cave.

"Oh god" I said, already starting to panic. How did I not notice earlier? How!? The files, the secrets, the lock in his apartment, the way they handled me with PROTOCOLS. How did I not know?!

I knew then that I was way more screwed than I had thought before. I realized I could be thrown into a medieval dungeon for all they cared and nobody would ever know. They could make me disappear, just like that. No trials, not even considering death as mercy. If I thought I was in trouble before, this didn't even come close to it.

"What will be of me?" I whispered to the old man, my voice was shaking. He was looking at me with troubled eyes. He opened his mouth to say something but couldn't. That was all the answer I needed.

I had thought I could talk my way out of this situation, trick some officers, get August to let me go, he did say we would get to an agreement, after all. But now I knew that had been a lie. There was no way I could get out of this situation by myself, and August was just as finished as I was. Right then, I knew I couldn't stay. Not anymore.

I took a deep breath, making up my mind.
"I'm sorry about everything" I told the mustached man. In his eyes I could already see he knew what I was going to do.

"Goodbye, Serena" He said with a strained voice. I nodded once, swallowing my spit as I opened the door. I stepped into the cold night, my icy blue dress flying just slightly with the soft wind. Just when I was about to turn and close the door, I looked at Klaus.

"Tell August we're even" I said, holding the man's eyes. "He fooled me too" I smiled slightly. Klaus gave me a soft nod and with that, I closed the door and walked away from that car.

In the distance, I could hear the slight roar of cars approaching, but I was already about to go around the corner, about to disappear again. History repeated itself as I kept walking. I heard them arrive, it didn't stop me, I knew what I had to do.

But first, I needed to find my goddamn cat.

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A.N// Hey guys! This chapter is a bit shorter than normal, but I'm already working on the next one which I promise will be bomb(astic) 🖤

By the way, I'm loving the love (lol) If you're enjoying the story let me know by voting or commenting!

Will August and Serena ever meet again? I'm surely hoping for it ;)