18:30pm (6:30pm)
Date: April 20th, 2018
Location: Unknown
Harry Styles
The jolt of the wheels suddenly brake too late, the seatbelt holding me from falling forward.
I open my eyes, awake in the back seat of the car. I've realized that I have slept the entire car ride from school to the headquarters. I'm having trouble staying awake these past few days, not to mention the countless nights I've been up with Sloane.
It's probably the only thing that gets me off my mind other than school and SIDD training. I've rarely gotten any mission assignments since the first day I got here. It's strange that I'm supposed to be on the lookout when there could be a whole swarm of CASTA agents in this town.
But I guess it gives me time to relax before I shoot someone in the head.
"Hey, sleeping beauty." Carter nudges me with his elbow. "C'mon we got business to deal with." He pokes me with his elbow again, even though he can clearly see that I'm wide away. He still munches on a bag of hot cheetos leaving his fingers all red and flaky.
I groan in frustration and throw my head back to the head rest. Unbuckling myself, I open the door and jump out to an empty factory building that looks abandoned and closed for years.
Cade gets out of the driver's seat and locks the car. The three of us start heading over to the gated area, where no trespassing signs are put up from side to side. We walk over the chains keeping it closed and walk further down, where the doors are wide open. Once we get inside, the whole place is wide and empty, a couple rubbish things on the sides and pigeons flying around.
Cade heads over to a door that says janitor as Carter and I follow his lead. There's a small keypad with numbers and a camera on top to see us. He presses the code in and with a green light blinking, the door opens. I expected to see a usual janitor's closet, but once the door is wide open there's a walkway long ahead to the other door.
Walking in together, Cade tells us to stand still on the pad. I don't know why but then all of a sudden it moves, causing it to pull us closer on a conveyor belt. Carter loses his balance, a few cheetos falling from his hand.
"Fuck!"
He crumples up the bag and shoves it to his pocket, licking his fingers clean with the cheeto dust left.
A purple beam light flashes in front of us as we move. Scanning our bodies from head to toe, the screen in front shows our ID pictures, confirming our access.
"Welcome Agent Reading, Agent Mason and Agent Styles." The lady's voice recognizes us and we stand until we come closer to the door ahead.
"Hello, SIDD." Cade says. Carter looks at him in confusion as if he was talking to a wall.
"Hello boys. Welcome to Headquarters. Sorry to interrupt, but we have a situation at our hands."
The three of us look at each other and then glance at the screen.
"You know the competition between us would love to see us burn. So we need all eyes and ears." The female voice gives away our next assignment, which I'm hoping to get on with this one.
"Target's name?" Carter asks.
"Hayden Benz. I'm rolling in diagnostics and specs. But in the meantime this is the target you need to capture before CASTA does. Good luck." The conveyor belt stops at the door. As the door opens to a stairwell, the three of us walk down to the base of headquarters. It's busy as usual, people running around from desk to desk, the recruits training in the practice areas and weapons being tested to the wall.
I smile to myself, remembering the countless times I had to be dragged out to these places with dad by my side doing the usual business with his team. Eventually, I found myself getting used to jumping from the states and the country too.
We get to the landing as Cade leads us to the meeting room, where hopefully the division leader in this HQ can do better than the one in Pittsburgh. The room is shielded by privacy glass and the door swings open as a lady dressed in a black turtleneck skirt and heels is standing before us.
She looks at the three of us and we stand looking like a bunch of little boys who got in trouble at the principal's office, "You must be the incoming agents from Atlanta." She says. "I'm Diane Mayfield, the division leader here in Greendale." She sticks out her hand as she shakes our hands while we greet her.
Cade takes a warm welcome first and puts a shining smile he always does. "I'm Agent Reeding, engineering and computer diagnostics." He says as she smiles back.
Carter looks at her like she's the playboy model of this year as his eyes look completely out of focus. "Hi um..I'm I'm Carter Mason. I do specialized forces and field agent." His voice is weary, shaking her hand as she shows a smile.
I take my hand out of my pocket and give a short smile. "I'm Agent Styles, field agent and weapons." I say politely and the woman nods her head.
"Follow me in, your next mission assignment is waiting for you." She holds the door open and we walk open to see a few chairs empty with a few people greeting us. As we take our places in the meeting room, there are tv screens everywhere and with profiles and databases scanned. I look at the people sitting next us, a couple of girls and a few guys that look pretty older than us.
"All right everyone, Let's get settled in. First things first: mission assignment, Melissa?" Diane turns attention to the brunette sitting right next to her. She points a controller to the tv screen as it plays a profile of a middle-aged man with glasses and a beard.
"Target's name is Hayden Benz, age 40, Dutch and a serious threat in our move to take down CASTA." She recaps Hayden's story about how he became the biggest weapons cartel in the early days and sold weapons to CASTA as a continuing dealer.
"The target is being moved through the states but mostly near Phoenix, Arizona." She presses another button to a different tv showing the location of a capture. "Hopefully by the next few days, we can run full diagnostics on his whereabouts and take him out for good. The only part of him being outside is not blowing cover." She ends her discussion and sits down to watch Diane takeover now.
"Thank you Melissa." She nods her head. "Now, here is where you three come in with the team." Diane takes our attention as we look to the screens in front. It names the list off easily with certain tasks and affiliations,
"Agent Reeding, you will join my team of computer analysts so that we get much better coverage on Hayden Benz. He is one heavy tech geek to get through." Diane reports. Cade smiles and nods his head in complete understanding.
"As for Agents Mason and Styles.." Looking up to her eyes she pays full attention but only to me. "We need you to take out the target personally. Make sure it is quick, clean and contained. We don't want CASTA to know that we're closer to terminating them." I nod my head and look back at Cade who is staring into the girl next to him as she fiddles with her hair looking back at him.
I shake my head and kick his foot under the table, so that he now understands. "Uh, yeah fully got that Ms. uh Mayfield." He stutters but looks back at the girl sitting next to him, smiling like an idiot.
"I need all hands on deck for this mission. We are close to getting through the competition in this race with CASTA. If you have any more questions, feel free to contact me. Otherwise, back to your tasks people." She turns off the tvs with the remote and everyone scatters out one by one through the door. I wait with Cade to be the last ones out until Carter stays behind to talk to her. Jeez, is he really gonna fuck her in the meeting room?
He asks her something and she replies with a confident answer, which I don't know what it is. Carter thanks her and walks out the door. Cade gives him a 'what was that' look to him.
"Oh nothing, I just wanted to see Dalagard would give me the code to that stupid burner phone he had." He shakes his head in a negative response, as we walk out to the spaces filled with agents. I'm confused on why he asked Mayfield about something, maybe if Damien is getting through his training or actually owning up to our shit for once. God knows what we do with him if he betrays his loyalty to us.
And with us being stuck in another underground hideout, we might as well get comfortable getting used to our associates. I'm sure Carter already got close with a couple of them, not to mention the boys and girls that come out of our houses when we rent them out. Cade's a little shy but only because he's never been out on the field to actually talk to the girls.
I've been out and about, making time run and staking out the target until I kill them dead. I've had a few mishaps and encounters. Girls come one by one and I leave them stranded the next day I move to the next mission. They're honestly what keeps me running when I need a little motivation in this goddamn sick life. But one of them almost got me provoked of my life here in SIDD and I promised myself I'd never fall for someone who got that close to me. She was...everything I ever thought I would have. A person like her was smart, beautiful and vulnerable and could only see me through the little things about me.
That was until she actually compromised me and it failed me as an agent and an assassin. She never once put her love for others including me, it was all just a lie. And till this day, I swore I would never fall in love with someone who could actually trust me. Because falling love can easily bring out your weaknesses. You lose trust, and it makes you go insane every time someone tries to show you affection. It plays entire game of your feelings or just plain fucking around.
All the one night stands are my care-free drugs in this life of mine. One hit and I'm already taking out my victims with my eyes closed. I can almost feel the blood in my veins crave for more and with the drugs that I take once we get them settled into the house. Can't wait to have my hands on them other than my usual intake of cigarettes and bubble gum.
"Yo Harry, wanna take some practice at the shooting range?" Carter nods his head over to the area, where behind the doors have glass windows that show shooters are separated in their own lane. With ear muffs and guns lined up on a peg board, shots fire to the imaginary target. The shooting targets with civilian outlines have been punctured numerous times.
I already felt relieved the moment I saw the range and immediately followed Carter in.
It's something about the feeling of a gun in my hands that allows me to just to really take control over my emotions from falling out. A man's best weapon is always a killer smile and a beretta 92. Dad gave me my first gun at 10 years old and at the trigger I pulled it on a flock of birds that got shot down before they took flight. Even at an age where nobody wanted to be my friend, I took advantage of what was given right in front of me and eventually it made people fear me more.
We head on over to the shooting range, opening the door as a couple of recruits younger than us are finishing up target practice. The instructor notices us as soon as we start looking at the weapons wall and the top score board from the recruits here.
"Hey guys, welcome to the shooting range. I'm Cameron." He shakes both of our hands. "You fellows new to our headquarters?" He asks.
We nod our in compliance and he hands us the earmuffs on the table. "Nice, we could use a couple of guys with experience. Our newbies haven't gotten used to killing a real person yet. But you guys can get started. I'll be in the other room if you need me." He finishes off with a warm smile and presses a button so that the used practice targets are moved away and replaced by new ones.
Carter heads over to the weapons wall and chooses a black glock 19. I go over and choose a Beretta 96 and fill it up with enough ammo to last me a whole round. But an idea pops up in my head as soon as Carter is about to hit the target range.
Looking around to see if anyone else has joined us, I slide the safety goggles on, pull back the lever and start shooting at the target in front of me then the one to the left side and on my right. I repeatedly keep going at it, hitting different spots but also aiming at them so that the bullet goes through the same hole.
I don't miss after my first few shots, but all I can see is my tunnel vision as I visualize each target standing before me if they were to come closer. My index finger isn't numb yet as I feel the trigger of my gun pull back and forth. The earmuffs have saved the ringing of my ears and I can almost feel running out of bullets. So with that, I let my thumb glide down to the back so that the empty slots of bullets pop out and I pull another from the table, pushing it in quickly, pull the lever and fire again.
"Shit, what the fuck are you trying to kill, my dad? I barely had the chance to do a third round." Carter takes off his earmuffs and glasses as I finish my third round with an HVR-5 firearm.
I shrug my shoulders. "Nah, I just thought it would be easier for me to take out multiple victims at once." I smile while he shakes his head. We thank Cameron for letting us practice and head out the door.
"So you joining me and Cade at The Black Rose Club this weekend? I promised Cade that he would actually start going out with me to the clubs and bars here. Plus he needs to work on his flirting with the girls around here." Carter says out of reminder, but he's really stubborn when it comes to his off days at SIDD and at least every mission he tries to drag us to a club or bar after we succeed.
I shake my disappointment and click my tongue. "Can't. I've actually made plans with someone." I told him.
Glancing back, his eyebrows furrow. "What? Since when do you make plans?" He scoffs in an amused but serious expression.
"Sorry to burst your bubble Mr Partyhead, but things change." I hum. He exhales heavily, hanging his head in response to my blow in his invitation.
"C'mon man. What's so important than taking a couple of drinks, smoke a line and a bunch of girls and guys that are willing to do lap dances on us better than your weekend?" He tries to persuade me by his highs in the other life but I slowly decline even though I'm still willing to grab a few bags of coke from him.
"Yeah, no. I have plans of my own. So don't try pulling another house party while I'm gone because i'm going to be home the minute you're drunkass even face-plants on the porch." I warn him. He backs off with his hands in defeat while we keep walking back to the exit to meet Cade who is at the vending machine.
"So...your plans don't have anything to do with that girl you've been seeing hmm?" His question makes my face change and from the corner of my eye, I can feel his smile getting bigger. Fucking hell, why do I always put up with his shit.
His face lights up and he starts to taunt me like a 5 year old. "Oooo you like her don't ya?" He hums. "Well then I guess I'm not the only one that needs to get laid huh?" Shaking my head, I try to keep his words from creeping in my head so that it doesn't bother me or knowing about Sloane.
"Who needs to get laid?" Cade pops into our conversation, holding a bag and chips in his hand as he munches on them.
"Harry apparently." Carter mumbles and takes a chip out from Cade, who seems annoyed without asking him first.
"Wait, are you still seeing that girl we saw in the camera footage?" He asks and my face is starting to burn with annoyance crawling up. Can we just please drop this conversation and go home already?
"Oh, so you've met her before huh? What's her name? When we gonna meet her?" Carter is starting to really get on my nerves this time and my fist is forming into a tight ball, my knuckles on the verge of punching that nose of his.
"For fucks sake, Carter. Don't you have another dick appointment to get to? It absolutely means nothing." I point him out. "So just leave my life out of this or else I'm stealing those drugs in your room you've been stashing for months into the fire pit."
Cade starts laughing as the humor in Carter drains from his face. I smirk back at him and just let him eat his own words to himself. He's can't go a day clean without those drugs or making profit off of the people here.
"Ugh fine whatever." He groans. "Gotta hand it to you bro. Just outta curiosity, what's it like being inside of her pants, huh?"
This time I won't hold back on my anger. Grabbing the nape of his shirt collar, I push him towards the wall so hard and with in mind I pull out my gun from the back of my pants, I release it open so that clicks to trigger straight on his forehead.
He now looks like he's going to shit his pants for real. I'm hoping he does so that everyone around us can watch him act like a pussy. The fright in his pupils says he's not gonna last long to make it this weekend. I can hear Cade whisper oh shit to himself as he's amused by all of this.
"If you ever joke about her ever again, I'll kill you." I hiss through my teeth. He nods his head and puts his arms up in defeat. I slowly push away, letting go of his collar. I shuffle my gun back to waistband of my jeans as Cade watches the show eating his chips in the back.
"And this is why I don't ever want to date because of this shit." Cade says while biting down on the last few crumbs in the bag. I pinch my nose and gather myself to end this headquarters tour already.
"C'mon, we can't stay long. We gotta get back to the house.." I say. I take lead up the stairs again with Carter and Cade trolling behind me as our shoes hit the metal steps up to the real world again.
I return to another week of school after this weekend is over and I'm already regretting pulling a gun on myself rather than Carter.
But it's too late to pull back once I took an oath to this ungrateful life. At 13 years old you really think life is set up for you and that everything is going to be all shits and giggles. Well this ain't that kinda story when you find out that your dad is a deadly assassin before you were born and took every living CASTA agent in their time. I was born into a world of cruelty and malicious people, that was the point in my life and carrying their legacy within it.
Everyone is this world has their own purpose and mine was guided by murder and viligance. I never knew how much hatred can sprung from a person you love. You try so hard just to let them love you again in every way, but they ignore it and focus on what is really more important: your faults. It was your fault that you almost got caught as an agent. It was your fault that you let your feelings get in the way of the mission. It was your fault that you will never honor your family in this life. And it was truly your fault letting your parents become so destructive that they are no longer available in your life.
That's just the truth when you start to mature.
A/N:
Carter when Harry was about to pull the trigger on him lol: