Hi guys! Sorry, I know I've been AWFUL about uploading :/ school started this week (dangit!) and this weekend we drove down to Kansas City again for my grandma's birthday. Okay, so I got like a zillion book recommendations lately, and I promise I'm still gonna read them! I just can't recommend them on this chappie, because with everything going on lately, I haven't had a chance to read most of them, so if I've randomly stopped commenting on your book or something, it's not that I don't like it anymore (I still haven't lost interest in a single one of them! I promise!) It's just that I haven't had a chance to read lately.
Oh, and I need to say that even though Damian hasn't been mentioned in FOREVER, he's still in the story! So sorry to all you Damian/Trevor haters out there (I'm kinda a Damian hater myself....), but he's not gone yet!
Well, on with the chapter!!
**********************************************************************************************************
I gawked as I looked at the giant building in front of me. It was beautiful, with white and light blue bricks framing it, and a sparkling glass dome on top. The whole building was surrounded by a garden, full of bright, red roses.
But I didn't let it's appearance fool me. I knew that some of the stuff that went on in that place was far from beautiful, because for those of you who haven't guessed, I was standing in front of the CIA headquarters.
Trying to ignore the odd stared that the well dressed people going in and out of the building were giving us, I walked forwards with as much confidence as I could.
The Boss had told us our directions less than an hour ago- we were supposed to walk in, attracting as little attention as possible, and wait on the second bench to the right until an agent in a blue tuxedo told us where to go from there.
I pushed open the heavy glass doors, and immediately my eyes scanned over the room, taking in all the details. The floor was made from marble, just like about everything else in there. Marble columns, marble statues- you name it, they had it in marble.
I spotted the bench that the Boss had told me about, and I hurried over to it. I sat down on the edge, and the rest of my group sat down with me, as we waited in silence.
Not knowing what else to do to pass the time, I studied the people walking past us. They all looked different, but there was two things that were the same about every one of them.
They all wore dark black suits that didn't have one wrinkle in them, and they all had cold, unreadable looks in their eyes. I couldn't help but shiver at the stares they were giving us, like they could read our minds.
I shifted around in my seat, starting to get a little creeped out. I hoped that the agent the Boss sent hurried up....
As if on cue, I saw someone walking towards us that definatly didn't fit in with the rest.
He looked like your average tough guy that nobody wanted to get in a fight with. He had dark skin, and his sleeves bulged with muscles that I'd bet big money were bigger than my head. His eyes were a little startling- they were pitch black, and even though that sounds intemidating, I still saw a twinkle in them that let me know he had a good sense of humor.
The most hilarious thing about this was, he was wearing a bright, baby blue tuxedo.
He cleared his throat, and stuck his hand out to shake. "Hello, my name is Hugo." he said in a deep, rumbling voice. I bit my lip to keep from giggling about his choice of suits, and shook his outstretched hand. He motioned for us to stand up, and without saying a word, we followed him.
He led us down the hallway, and then led us down a different hallway. And another hallway. And another. Before too long, I was gasping for breath.
"C..can we st..stop for a s..second?" I panted loudly. Hugo, who hadn't even broken a sweat, gave me an odd look, before stating bluntly, "You don't work out much, do you?"
Well, talk about embarrassing!
I ignored him and turned to Rose, who looked like she was about to hyperventilate. Ha! I wasn't the only one who's tired of walking! Take THAT, Hugo!
I was about to point out casually that Hugo was starting to sweat a bit, too, but then I realized he'd stopped in front of a door.
Hugo looked insanely nervous, and he stood in front of the door fidgeting. Finally, he said, "Okay, you can go in, but be respectful. That's the head of the CIA in there, and he hates disrespect."
I nodded, smiling a bit. Hugo obviously thought that we were going to embarrass him in front of his boss.
I lifted my hand and nocked on the door three times, and then we waited. Less than a second later, the door swung open to reveal two armed body guards. They took one look at Hugo standing beside us, and then nodded, letting us pass.
The room was nothing like the rest of the Headquarters. While the rest of the building looked all modern style, this looked like.... an old cat lady's house. Literally!
The carpet was long enough to make my feet itch, and the room smelled like rotten eggs. The walls were painted a hideous puke-yellow, and they were covered front to bottom with paintings of cats.
In the very back of the room, there was a large desk, at which sat a very... unusual man.
His face was very defined, and his chin was so pointy I bet he could stab someone with it. His eyebrows were insanely thick, it looked like two black, hairy caterpillars had crawled over each eye, and his eyes were a light, dull blue.
"Heeeello there." he drawled, looking at us lazily. "My name is Mr. C. Litter, but you will address me only as Mr. Litter."
As soon as he said that, I started snickering uncontrollably. I mean really, am I the only one who sees the irony in that? C. Litter! Like cat litter?
My snickers turned into full fledged laughs, and before too long, I was standing there, cracking up while everyone looked at me like I needed to take a trip to the Crazy Barn. Come on, was I the only one with a sense of humor there?
I finally had to stuff my fist in my mouth to control my laughter, and I took a huge breath of fresh air to try and calm myself down.
Mr. Cat Litter raised one bushy eyebrow at me, and I could tell he was deciding whether or not he should call security.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Ca- I mean Mr. Litter." I apologized, praying that I wouldn't start laughing again. "I just.. thought of something funny."
He looked like he wanted to say something, but he shrugged it off. "Vewy well, Missy. Now, I undewstand that yew were bwought hewe on owders fwom whom yew call, de "Boss"? He asked, in his repulsive accent. I nodded, and resisted the urge to say, "Thank you, Captain Obvious."
"Vell, that is because ve think yew 'ave infowmation. Infowmation that vould be vewy useful to us." he said bluntly, and I gawked at him, my mouth hanging open in shock.
US have informtion? What about them? When they said they'd wanted to discuss information, I thought they had some they wanted to tell us.
"And vhy vould yew think that?" I asked angrily, mimicking his accent. "We've told you all that we know!"
Mr. Cat Litter narrowed his eyes at me. "Vhy do you lie? Ve know that yew were at ze Jones' house, don't deny it."
My mouth opened in protest, but before I could argue, he flipped a button on a remote by his hand, and an image appeared on the wall. My heart sunk when I realized what it was of.
I was swinging across a vine, a terrified expression on my face. Tanner was on a nearby branch, urging me on, and the Jones' house was visible in the background.
"Erm.. about that..." I started, but Mr. Cat Litter cut me off. Man, I was really starting to hate this guy!
"Vat did they tell yew?" he demanded, his lips in a straight, thin line.
"They didn't tell us anything!" I spat out. "And why do you care so much, anyways? I thought that we were supposed to be working together on this case!"
His eyes hardened, and he looked at me with an unreadable expression on his face. "I vill not be considered equal to a bunch of teenagers." He growled.
"Hey!" Natalie snapped, but Mr. Litter cut her off. "Ahh... I can see now that vis is not going to vork out." he said, mostly to himself. Then he looked at me, dead in the eye.
"From now on, ve are no longer in an allience. Any partenership vetween ze CIA and yew people is over. From now on, yew are on your own.