24:30 (12:30AM)
Date: May 12th 2018
Location: Unknown
Sloane Davenport
I am one foolish, selfish person.
To think how things could've ended differently, they might have changed my life for better or for worse. CASTA will find out what happened and god knows what Wilkins will do when he sees me with the enemy who I am stuck to a motorcycle driving all the way to the safehouse.
During this entire ride, all I could think about was our moment in the main dining area. How I stood still like an idiot and didn't fire a single bullet at him.
He didn't even shoot me as well, but he was the first to lay down his weapons. All he did to get me where I am now is just by making it up to me. For what he did all this time.
I just want to know how true his words are..and if he really meant it to me. I could just jump off the motorcycle and ditch him. Even so, what would I even do to make myself better?
That little consciousness in my heart kept beating through all this time and I tried to ignore it as much as I could. My uncle from the beginning of my training told me to never trust anyone, no matter how good they are.
Because in the end, you always have to protect your heart from them.
The person who I thought I trusted was the one target I needed to swipe off this earth and from my life. How I was blinded from the start.
And most of all..I felt like hating him was the one feeling I had to stay with him.
I completely forgot who I was moments before I threw it away. I wasn't the scared orphaned girl or the agent who was willing to do everything to keep her organization's reputation alive. I never wondered who I was going to be if these two lives were to never exist again.
Yet, my affection was slowly fading away like all the other times I had when I started going downhill in my love life.
Why did I even save him? He could've taken me out for all I care. He's my rival competitor, the son of the commander in chief, gaining all of this power and darkness within a snap of his fingers.
Of course..I've always had a thing for very very bad boys. Just not the type I expected to swoop me off my feet.
I use my fingers to tap on Harry's chest, notifying him about the directions to the safehouse. His head bends down to see my fingers pointing to the right as a quiet signal to exit soon. He glides the bike to the last lane as the wind continues to prickle my skin.
We exit the highway, entering the offramp where nature becomes more vivid and where absolutely no one will suspect my location. We are far from Greendale and more towards the coastline of Northern Oregon.
I flip off my visor as we stop before turning.
"It's mostly safe here but we're gonna go off-roading a little bit to get to our destination. Make a left and go straight when you see the first deer crossing sign." I shout through my helmet.
Harry doesn't say anything but just a quick nod. His knuckles twist down to rev the engine and speed through the dim light road going more north.
My dress flies behind when we speed up. I memorized this route numerous times, only for when times were desperate. And now this was a desperate time of need.
.
.
.
I open the big wooden door as Uncle James unlocks it for me using a keypad.
"You'll have to remember the code before entering, okay kid?" He tells me. "There's a copy of keys but the code is most important"
I nod my head and look at the interior of this "safehouse" he built for almost 2 years in the making. I can see why his cover job was a construction and management business. Killing two birds with a stone and saw.
There's a big living room area accompanied by a giant fireplace and the kitchen straight across. Dark mahogany stairs lead up to the bedrooms as this is more comforting than those luxury cabin resorts tourists stay at.
I enter the house a little bit more as my uncle follows me through closing the door shut. A small beep dials through the walls as I assume that's the security system built in as well.
Next to the kitchen, there's a patio door that leads outside. A beautiful view of the forest; giant pine trees covering the sky. But just one look and I feel more peaceful rather than being in Greendale.
"And no one knows the location right?" I ask.
He nods. "Nobody except me and you. I like to keep it that way because remember it's hard to trust anyone who is too good to be true."
I agree with him. As my legal guardian and only living relative closest to me, he knows how much my protection is worth to him.
It was only because 2 years ago, he decided to make something useful for his job and continue what my father should've done in the first place.
"Listen, kid..the reason why I wanted to show you this is to see how it will be if you ever find yourself stuck in a situation. It may not feel like home but there's a place you can go. Believe me, I wish I had done this earlier with your dad."
His voice trails with guilt. I turn to face him as he looks away from me and stares up to the ceiling lights. I walk over to him and simply just hug him.
His arm wraps me and I suddenly feel a wave of sadness coming in my eyes. He tried his best not to feel ashamed for what he couldn't prevent from happening.
I think about it all the time whenever I come back to Ashland, trying to reverse the clock and see how it would've been different.
"It's enough for me to be safe. Thank you." I whisper.
"Anything for you kid." He lets me go as soon as I do. "Speaking of, wanna go to Phil's and get some ice cream?"
That earns me another smile to my face. "I can never say no to that."
.
.
.
We continue to drive down the long road for another few minutes until the headlights shine onto the deer crossing sign just ahead of us.
I just my fingers to tap against his chest, signaling to go right and get off the pavement. There's no actual road that's even enough to keep a car steady but with his skills, it'll be more bumpy on actual terrain.
We get off and soon enough, we entered the dark forest. The trailway is big enough for two cars to pass by but with the uncertainty of anything coming across us, I have to trust Harry to guide him all the way until there's no one following us.
I keep looking back every time; maybe because I'm too paranoid or that I'm feeling a sense of foreboding that I left back at the venue.
What happened back there was something I'd never say to younger self if she ever were to do her first takeout mission against the boy who is her rival.
I'd almost call myself crazy to think that I'd have the heart to let him go freely. But the chances were almost odd when I decided not to kill him then and there.
After another couple of minutes down the trailway, I finally see the last clue to the safehouse. It's the big tree on my left with a carving engraved on the front of the oak tree. It's an upside down heart with the two lines going straight through it.
Once we've passed it, the tall pine trees start to become shorter. Some cover the end of the pathway but it becomes clearer now when I finally see the house. The short two story cabin was built and designed from scratch.
The road becomes more sturdy and with less bumps to it. Harry leads me all the way to the front. Sadly there's no garage but my car is still parked alongside the house. When he parks the bike and kicks the stand, I can finally stretch my legs.
"What is this place?" He takes off his helmet, his hair ruined in a completely beautiful mess.
I take off mine, knowing how my hair will be frizzy and untamed by the suffocation.
"It's a safehouse."
"Does anyone else know about this place?"
I shake my head. "Just my uncle and me..and you now."
He nods his head in agreement as he sets down his helmet on the handle. I put mine back in the back compartment as night is still dark.
The front porch light only turns on as I lead myself to the front door. The security system is sensitive as fuck, but it sure does keep everything and everyone out of it's way. I hid the keys under the loose board of the porch, bending down and reaching for it.
Flipping open the keycode, I enter the five number pass quickly. Inside, a small beeping notifies me and I grasp onto the door handle to open it.
It's a little too cold in here with the air conditioning left untouched. I flip the light switches to a dim setting without the possibility of being noticed. But silence is looming in our presence. I let Harry in first and look back to see anything unusual until I close the door and let the security system do its job.
He finally sets down my AR gun from his shoulders.
"It's pretty nice for a safehouse."
"My uncle built it from the ground up." I say as I go to the fireplace and light a match to get it started. I try not to make the situation awkward as it already is.
First, I wanna kill, then I save him? And now he's in my safehouse.
There's so much I wanna ask of him, but yet I'm scared he's going to believe that this is all a trap to him. Once orange and yellow flames spark up to my eyes, I turn around, facing a set of pure green eyes standing before me.
Harry's body is only inches away, close enough to touch me. My breathing hitches, taken by the presence of him.
"Look, Sloane..what happened back there was-
"Could we..not talk about it." I cut him off. "Pretend that never happened."
As much as I want to ask him why never shot me in the first place, he'll want my answer as well.
"Sloane.." His fingers prey against my chin, lifting it up so my eyes meet his level. With the amount of blood and cuts on his skin, there's a touch of softness in his eyes.
"What?" I ask.
It takes him a moment to say something between us.
"Why did you do it?"
One simple question just read my mind. I stare at him trying to read his. I'm craving to know as well. He should've shot me first.
But then again, I didn't shoot him.
A sad chuckle leaves my mouth. "I honestly don't know why."
He shakes his head. "You're a shifty liar, you know."
Of course he knows after being around me. My stomach is in knots. The warmth of the fireplace is making me sweat already. My fingers are fumbling on my rings as I twist them over and over.
I stare down at my shoes instead of his face. "Was every word you said to me true?"
His fingers move, brushing my hair away from my face. Instead of lifting my chin again, he cups my cheek.
"It did." He pauses for a second. "Taking you down..I thought it was going to be the hardest thing I had to do in a while. But seeing you go through all these years..I don't think I could ever be forgiven unless you shot me."
"And you believed that it would make yourself any better if I did?"
"Maybe.." He swallows a lump in his throat. "But I think part of me wanted to tell you how sorry I was for making your life miserable even if I wasn't around until the last few months."
The questions linger inside my head. "So why didn't you do it?"
"I had this gut feeling I used to have before I came into this part of the world..and never did I think it would come back." He says.
"When you said in a while..what did you mean by that?" I ask him, curious to know more about the real Harry aside from his agency and darkness alluded.
He looks down at the ground, avoiding my eye contact. "It was a long time..before I even took away your.." He doesn't want to finish the sentence, knowing how difficult it is to confront it to me.
"Hey.." I lift his chin, keeping his face steady. His eyes are wavering and ashened by something that must have been traumatic enough to ignore.
"What happened?"
He takes a deep exhale. " The last person I had true intentions for..I had to take her down." He whispers.
A small gasp leaves my mouth.
The girl he loved back in the east coast.
Julia.
He did tell me that night we went to my beach lookout and why he never really brought her up until now.
"Till this day, I keep reminding myself how I shouldn't have fallen for her in the first place. But then I realized what would happen if I didn't do what I was supposed to do." His eyes continue to look down.
I remember him telling me she did something to hurt him. But what was it? She couldn't have been a CASTA recruit because I would've seen something on her on my system.
But I can't force Harry to say something that isn't tied to me. So I'll just let him talk.
"Is that why you couldn't pull my gun on me?"
He nods his head. "One look at you holding my gun to me and with yours on my end..I felt like I was 16 again." He takes one second to look back up and face me with our eyes to each other. "I was meant to be a fucking time-bomb around everyone. That was my entire reason why I SIDD wanted me to join so early. But things could never go right once Julia found out about my double life."
"Wait, she ID'd you?"
"Unfortunately, yes." He says with disgust. "Things got out of hand when I wanted to keep her away from what I was actually doing in my spare time and all I could see was the fear shocked on her face."
I can see the anxiousness plagued upon him as his fingers play with his rings.
"When she found out...she threatened to expose my identity to the real world. I couldn't let her but she had already seen enough to unleash something so treacherous."
I've heard the consequences of what CASTA does if any outsider leaks information on any agent. Yet in my 5 years of being duplicitous, my thoughts wonder what happens if SIDD does the exact same thing. They are known to be lethal and careless.
"What did SIDD do to her exactly?"
A chill runs down my spine as I wait for his answer.
Avoiding eye contact and staring anywhere but to me, the shame and guilt have painted in emotions too far. He takes another deep inhale and closes his eyes in a repeated mantra.
"My father ordered me to kill her."
I clutch onto my chest and a gasp leaves my mouth. He takes a step back from me, giving me room to breathe more now.
"They captured her in a facility right then and there. Tied her to a chair. He gave me a gun, looked me straight in the eye and told me to get rid of her before he points a gun straight to the back of my head." Harry takes another second to process his memory as his eyes become glassy.
"And I dare I say till this day..that was one of the hardest things I-I'd ever done to a person." He turns around to avoid looking at me more as he hangs his head low. "I don't think I could ever forgive myself, Slo. That's why I wanted you to end my pain for me"
Darkness and cruelty have laid upon ever since he became an assassin. But after learning what he did to someone who loved before all of the secrets and lies..I'd started to feel something inside for him. And I think that's why he couldn't kill me.
I have endured more pain in the last few years, but he and I aren't so different going through what happened in our darkest moments. We both lost something we couldn't gain back. He shows more empathy than I realized.
He doesn't see it often, but I do. There's so much love that's left in him and he's afraid that if ever does..he'll start to think about losing it one more time.
I break my courage, take a step towards him and just give his hand a warm squeeze.
"You don't have to apologize, Harry." I mutter. "That's why I didn't kill you, because..you can still see the good in me that I don't think still existed."
He turns his head around, caught by my words.
"I know..you didn't mean to take my parents away from me." A lumpy throat starts to rise. "And you were just a kid, torn and used so that your survival would be in better hands. I can't say the same for me." Tears begin to swell my eyes more.
"The amount of people I had to kill, their kids left alone...I always had to push it away because it meant nothing to my leaders. But part of me is so fucking guilty for taking a person that they loved...I..I don't think I even deserve to be alive right now."
Harry turns his body around but his hand still interlocks with mine. Green eyes lay upon me as he brings his other hand up to my cheek. And there's that small softness that sparks up in his face. He looks at me with sadness but complete adoration.
"You don't deserve me.. but you? You were meant for a better life."
"It's not a coincidence for you too, Harry."
"That's just it ..You were never a game to me, stranger."
With those words, my breath is suddenly taken away. His thumb brushes my cheek so gently that it wipes a fall tear from cascading.
"The first time I ever saw you in the school hallway..you were mesmerizing to me. Everytime I saw you I wanted you for myself. Any chance I got to be with you..you made me feel like I was free from SIDD, Sloane. Like I never had to pretend to be someone else. But I'll never play with your heart no matter how fucked up I am or who i have to say against what my organization says..I'm with you on this."
My heart beats a thousand times more. My vision becomes more glossy as tears hit my eyeline again and again. Harry brings my forehead closer so that we now touch our skin against one another.
"All the times I thought about taking you down I tried to ignore and wish that you didn't have to be my target. But I see this..every side to you, good bad or the fucked up..and I still want you. I want your days and nights to be filled with happiness, not to be weighed by your sadness. You don't have to be alone all the time. It's crazy to say..being yours is what I wanted out of you."
He peers his eyes down to mine and says words that hit me harder than a bullet.
"I have truly fallen for you, Sloane."
He takes another second to say one more sentence.
"I love you."
After a long and tiring fight and almost 5 days of complete hatred hitting on myself, there was something I couldn't resist about Harry standing in front of me where no one else could find us. He became someone I despised so much in little time, yet I felt like he saw the truth in me more than anyone. The worse parts that I never wanted, the parts that I felt like hiding in the dark night.
Deep down in my lonely little heart, I wanted love so badly. Even then at the same time I saw him the first day, I fell for him too. Down a dark twisted rabbit hole that soon became a whirl wind of lies and deception.
Our hearts beat for each other without realizing how fast it changed over the course of time.
I draw myself closer, just before our lips meet and look him in his eyes.
"I..I loved you before I knew you."
Harry doesn't say anything but leaves his small grin and presses his lips on mine. It ignites a bigger spark in me.
We continue to kiss, our lips leaving heavy breaths and the warmth of the safe house becoming greater.
His arms move away from my face and soon enough to my arms. He tugs closer more but something pains me when it becomes a little harsh.
"Ow."
He pulls his lips away. "You okay?"
I shake my head. I can't lie how much I've hid this from him but I finally find the courage to let my guards down.
"What is it, Slo?" He removes his hands away from my shoulders,
"Actually..I'm sorry Harry..could you look at my back for a second?" I ask.
He willingly nods his head as I turn around to face the fireplace. I anxiously wait for him to say something. I crave for his touch but I don't know what's going on.
"Sloane..you got shot back there." Harry says.
All the color in my face starts to drain. I only assumed that it was just a cut from shattered glass back there but it turns out the police decided to leave me more damaged than I thought.
"Luckily there's no exit wound or else you would've been losing more blood. Do you have any medical supplies or a first aid kit?"
I nod. "Yeah, the first bathroom down in the hallway. I'll-
"I'll go get it."
He leaves me as he goes to find it. Soon enough he brings the metal box full of supplies.
"I don't think I'm fit to give stitches, Slo. But I'll just give a bandage to cover up okay?"
I reply a quick yes as he leads me back to the guest bathroom with better lighting. I better call Devon or Cory to come here and fix me up good.
He begins by washing his hands as I fix myself to prepare for sterilizing. After he's done cleaning himself up, he makes me stand away from the bathroom sink and mirror and more towards the glass shower stall.
I turn my head slightly to the left, hearing the box open and Harry putting on black rubber gloves. He searches through and finds everything he needs to cover me up.
"M'kay..you ready?" He says.
"Yeah.."
He gently moves my hair to the other side, with only my right shoulder bare with my dress strap still covering me. Taking his time, I can hear the rip of a packet of alcohol wipe pads being open.
It stings once it hits close to my open wound and I react ever so by flinching.
"Sorry love, but you're gonna have to stay still for me okay?" He tells me. I nod my head, biting my bottom lip to ease the pain.
"Well there's no bullet inside you, just some heavy stitching to pull some skin together." He says continuing to wipe my dried blood away.
He sticks the gauze pad gently inside to avoid any bacteria from entering, then sticks a soft bandage as the final cover.
"Thank you." I say and I try to face the mirror but he steps in front of me for a moment.
His covered hand brushes the other side of my shoulder as he looks down to the deep hole that was cut by the glass flute.
"You're not done just yet."
He pulls out a pair of tweezers and I groan like a little kid.
"Save the whining for later, I gotta pull what I pieces I left inside ya."
I deeply shutter at the words as I try to stay still and I shut my eyes once the tweezer goes deep to the wound. It's a weird pulling as he takes them out one by one as my pain becomes higher and higher.
The only thing that was soothing through all of this was when his free hand clutched my hand. His thumb brushing against my knuckles and giving a reassuring squeeze every time the tweezer pulled out the glass.
"It's okay..I'm almost done."
Soon or later, he managed to remove all of the broken pieces onto a napkin and sterilize my cut with the medical supplies.
Lightly, he puts on the bandage and gauze cover over it.
"Thank you."
"Of course, not the first time trying to play doctor but definitely not the last." He tries to lift my spirits with his jokes like always. I turn my head around, as he rips off his gloves and deposes them into the small trash bin.
I move over to the mirror and see the work done by him. The patch covers it wound as I have yet to see how my stitches will be by tomorrow.
Harry stands behind as he cleans up the leftover supplies in the bin. Until I noticed how big the cut I left him with my knife has fallen onto his forehead.
"Wait.." I stop him before he closes the bin and takes it from his hands.
"What?"
"It's my turn to fix you now."
Harry makes a quizzingly look by tilting his head. He faces the mirror to see his dried up cut that will now leave a hefty scar, grazing his fingers just near the open skin line.
"Oh damn, I completely forgot about this shit."
I reopen the medical box and find the same items he used on me.
"No, Slo it's fine I'll just wash some water on it."
"Says the man who thinks he can play doctor and give me a gauze pad." I wash my hands at the sink and insert my rubber gloves on. "Now don't move or else I'll have to staple gun you to the counter."
A small chuckle leaves his mouth as he stands to the side of the sink. I rip open a packet of alcohol wipes and start to clean away the dried up blood. I avoid hitting his cut and stinging him with more pain.
I focus more on his forehead. But I feel his eyes on me. I suddenly tense more, the uneasiness in my heart is lurching out any minute. Crimson red begins to fade easily as I wipe more and more.
Scooting over more to his side now, I take another packet and wipe away the cut that I dug within 10 feet of him. I do feel sorry though we were both in a battle that lasted an hour or so. I actually didn't believe it myself when the knife made contact with his head, almost splitting his brains open.
I peek up at Harry who lets out a shy smile.
"Didn't realize how strong of an aim you got with those knives." He murmurs.
I shrug. "Usually I never miss a target."
"Hmm." His mouth moves upward. "You seem a little more skilled than I thought."
"Well, guns were never my highest weapons score so I chose something more quick and easy than a few bullets. And keep still please."
He mouths an 'okay' as I continue to wipe every corner that paints red. Once I finish, I take some antibiotic ointment, letting my fingers press it against his wound. He grunts at the pain, shutting his eyes at the sensitivity. I lean my body past his head and reach for the bandage strips to put on him.
As I pat on the strips one by one, my body starts to tense. Both of his hands rise to the back of my dress. I'm overwhelmed in his presence, letting my body crave something that I wish I was with all the time.
That's when he spreads his legs out more and pulls me closer. Our lower half of bodies collide. My abdomen is beginning to flutter. Although his body language says more than everything, those pairs of eyes beg for one simple pleasure.
I put on the last strip of bandage to the final corner and now his fingers glide up to open part of my back. Goosebumps come alive. Tilting his head to the side, he lets his lips reach mine before a kiss is even placed.
I close my eyes but feel his affection crawling.
"Easy now, you lil snake." I whisper.
He chuckles. "What the fuck did you call me?"
I can sense his smile opening up more. Once more, he brings his hand to my neck tugging it gently down so my lips are almost forced to his.
However, he presses them onto the edge of my chin and I melt away so quickly.
I try to barricade my lips, but he tries to chase them more and more when I twist and turn. His hand that is still placed against my back traces thin lines with his fingers and I arch myself without hesitation. Wet kisses trail down to my neck and I can't help my moans escape.
"Fuck, I've missed doing this.." He says, taking his lips away from my skin. "You're already wanting more."
Heat rises through my cheeks and my body. The hand that was once touching my spine makes its way done to the cut of my dress, just touching my ass. Fingers find their way under the material and caress the lace of my underwear. I pant heavily as he kisses me again to my neck and back up to my chin. The straps of my dress are loosening as I let my tension dissolve.
If anything, I missed this feeling too.
"If I met you sooner, I would've let you spear a knife at me so that you could have me more." He confesses.
"You know what's more passionate than that is having your gun right up to my head."
My wicked thoughts overcome me. During our fight, his hands on my skin felt on fire, devious as him and insatiable.
As he continues to kiss me, his hands push down deeper. Right under my underwear and find my center. One stroke becomes dozens and I'm already losing my mind. Our chests rub against each other as his back is still up against the side of the sink. My fingers tug slightly on the back of his hair making him groan.
I haven't felt desire like this since the last time I was with him.
That's when I pulled my lips away from his. He continues to kiss my neck repeatedly while his fingers toy with my clit.
"Harry.."
He mumbles a "mhm" before he stops what he is doing and looks at me. A tremble urged in my body, afraid that there was things I couldn't quite grasp once we unfolded ourselves.
"Sloane.." He cups face to the side. "What's wrong?"
I'm conflicted at this moment. I don't have any exact answer, which I never do.
"Are you sure..you..want more?" I confront.
All he can do is stare at my eyes waiting for some answer to show up. He doesn't even let his hands continue.
"If you don't want to, it's okay. I'm not pressuring anything on you." He says. "It's been a long night too, so let's just get some sleep."
He most likely knows that we've been at each other's asses for 5 straight days. But I can't blame him for finding a way to squeeze into my heart.
I don't want to sleep just yet, or at least what's left of my sleeping meds. Nightmares will plague me either way and I'm afraid of waking him up everytime they come at me. He starts to pull me off from his chest but I hold my ground and clutch onto his forearm.
I looked at it, seeing how many tattoos were covered from his sleeve. Dozens of ink scribbled through his skin in art pad. I pulled him back to me as if there was a string attached to our stomachs, keeping my eyes on him. He stares me down and places his hands where they were in the beginning. Fingers dance on my delicate back as they tickle me.
Is it weird to confess that my heart wants to be with him..more?
Because the more time I spend with you, the safer my heart feels. I couldn't help myself falling for him.
"Stay." That's all I can say.
And the only response that comes out of him is a deep and maddening kiss.
"I'll stay then." He says.
Love was the only exception for the two of us.
Maybe being his enemy was the best thing that ever happened for me.