INDIGO
The base was in complete chaos.
Men ran back and forth, children screamed, women pushed past me, teenagers either making jokes about the body or crying in the corner. I could barely think through the scene unfolding around me.
Nydia stood to my left, regaining her composure as she was sipping a second cup of caramel hot chocolate, her grin returning though not quite as wide as before. Out of respect, she would turn grim and nod to friends and family of the dead before turning back into crazy-grin-Nydia. I sighed as we stood leaning against the railing.
"What are we supposed to be doing?" I asked. Nydia just dragged me up to the second-floor railing looking over the mess hall.
Nydia shrugged. "I just felt like coming up here."
I pushed off the railing. "Then I should probably go help with the body-"
Nydia grabbed my sleeve. "Don't. I feel like we're supposed to be here."
I hesitated for a moment before leaning back against the railing. It wasn't uncommon for Nydia to follow a gut instinct so religiously, and I couldn't blame her for it. Her instincts were always uncannily on point, whether it was something big or small. I wasn't about to fight against it.
Nydia had reached the very bottom of her glass by the time Wolf came into view. He was alone and a spot of blood was still on his shirt from cleaning out the body. His eyes scanned the crowd below before they landed on us and nodded in greeting as he passed.
"Nydia. Indigo."
We nodded back, neither of us failing to notice the slight tilt of his head, which said "Follow me."
Waiting a few seconds, Nydia and I followed at a distance as he wove through the halls, journeying away from the mess and training halls towards the area of the dorms. At last, he paused and opened a metal door, standing aside to let us in first. We stepped into a cluttered custodial closet that didn't look like it had been used in a while. He shut the door behind us and it clicked. Locked.
Nydia sneezed.
"If your only intention is to make us clean the crime scene, I'm never listening to my gut again," she glared at him.
"I know better than to put you in charge of cleaning."
"Then what are we doing in here besides magically activating allergies I never had?"
"There's a mole," Wolf whispered, getting straight to the point.
"A mole?" I asked.
Wolf nodded. "The way our victim was murdered out in the open couldn't have been done by someone breaking in unless they were an assassin. But, if it were an assassin, they would've killed everyone, not just one person."
"Maybe it was an Intellect," I said. "They could've been planning to make it think it was one of our own and tear each other apart all by ourselves."
"It's possible," Wolf said. "But what about the murders all summer? You yourself said it wasn't the assassins' MO."
"You think the murder in the training hall is related to the murders of our spies?"
"It has to be," Wolf said. "For months, we've been wondering how others were getting their hands on our own secret operatives, but what if there was a mole all along? They would have easy access to our information. And if someone figured it out, the mole would've needed to silence them someway, and quickly without leaving room for much planning..."
"Like murdering them and dumping them in the training room," I finished.
Wolf nodded. "I need you two to figure out who it is."
I raised an eyebrow. "How do you know I'm not the mole?"
"Because we've already seen you in action," Wolf reasoned. "And your preferred method of annihilation happens to be more discreet."
He wasn't wrong.
"You shouldn't be so quick to trust."
His strange eyes bore into mine, a steady assault which I had no way of fighting. "Just because I recruited you doesn't mean I trust you. Not completely. That kind of trust needs to be earned. Here's your chance."
I shook my head. "But everyone else is just like you. If they don't trust me, how am I supposed to snuff out their secrets?"
"I chose you two for a reason. Both of you have experience with some undercover work."
"And I failed at it," I pointed out. "The assassins were playing me all along and I didn't even realize it."
"That's because they're the Crowns. They trust no one but themselves. The Streeters aren't like that. They want to be friends, to find a confidant because if you don't have one, in the world we live in, you're as good as dead."
"So I'm supposed to become friends with people who hate my guts?"
"Yes."
"I suck at making friends."
"I guess I'm just a sidekick then," Nydia stated.
"Okay, fine," I threw my hands in the air. "But even if I manage to become friends with the others, how do you expect me to make them spill their secrets? Or even just lower their guard long enough for me to figure it out?"
"It's simple. You're the biggest suspect behind the murder for obvious reasons. They'll think you're too busy trying to prove your innocence to pay attention to their actions."
"That's a shitty excuse to lower your guard," I said.
Wolf shrugged. "Humans enjoy shitty excuses if it makes their life a little easier."
"Humans can also be paranoid when in the face of danger."
"Nope," he smiled. "That's just you."
Damien's face flashed in my mind, and I remembered the feeling of his presence when I thought he was my friend.
"And yet I wasn't paranoid enough."
"Obviously," Nydia said as she squinted at the few drops on the bottom of her cup. "Otherwise, you would've known about the snakes trying to get in your room."
Sometimes I think she's high.
Wolf tilted his head. "How do you stop them?"
"I don't. They just slither in and out as they wish."
"I see."
I had no clue what they were talking about, considering I hadn't found a single snake since I came here.
"Anyways," Wolf waved a hand and refocused the conversation. "Nydia, you're already friends with most of them, so they'll be more inclined to let their guard down."
"But she's friends with you too," I pointed out.
"That doesn't mean I'm on his side all the time. I can keep secrets," Nydia pouted.
"But they aren't anything that could deeply affect me, of course," Wolf said, though the statement sounded more like a question.
Nydia shrugged. "Depends."
Wolf narrowed his eyes but only said, "You guys complete your side of the task and I'll do mine. We'll be checking in every once in a while, but if there's ever an emergency, feel free to pull me aside."
Nydia asked, "Does Laine know about this?"
Wolf shook his head. "He knows I'm asking people to investigate undercover, of course, but he doesn't know who exactly. At least, not yet. I'm sure he'll be asking for your names soon enough. Until then, I'll be reporting everything you guys tell me to him."
Of course, he would. Sometimes, it was easy to forget Wolf was only the lieutenant of the Rebels. Laine's the one who founded the Rebels. Wolf was just another Streeter member who joined and managed to climb to the top at only eighteen.
We nodded and he grabbed the knob, about to head out, but then turned back around.
"And try to get it done as quick as possible," he added. "We don't need more people dead."
Nodding one last time, we exited the dusty closet and headed back towards the mess hall. We needed to snuff out the mole, but I had no idea where to start. The first obvious step would be branching out and making more friends, but I was a former assassin, an Alpha at that. No one here would let me get near them, much less make friends. So what the hell was I supposed to do?
"Fluor," a sharp voice called, dragging me out of my thoughts. The words echoed around the hall, dancing and repeating in different tunes. The mess hall ahead fell into a muffled hush. Wolf was no longer with us and Nydia looked confused. I turned, following her gaze to find the source of the voice.
Laine, the leader of the Rebels, was walking towards us in swift strides. His greying hair stuck out in the dark glow of the hall, his faded blue eyes unwavering in their gaze. He was followed by two other higher ranking Rebels whose names I couldn't place. Wolf and Cree stood in the distance, watching the scene unfold, their faces grim.
"Yes?" I asked, trying to keep my voice calm even though I guessed as to what was coming.
Laine came to a stop a few feet away as the two others, a girl and a boy, grabbed my arms. They held them behind my back in a stiff hold.
"Indigo Fluor," Laine announced. "Due to your history as an assassin, we name you the primary person of interest for the murder of one of our own. You are to be detained and questioned."
Handcuffs dug into my wrists as they clicked in place. Nydia threw up her hands, glaring at Laine.
"You can't do this!"
"Actually, I very much can."
"Every single Rebel is supposed to vote on whether she's guilty or not. You can't throw her in a jail cell without our permission."
"In cases of danger for the members of the Rebels, we must take necessary precautions. If she's set free, how many other people could she kill."
"She didn't do it!" Nydia shouted.
"We'll see."
They pulled me down the hall, the handcuffs digging into my skin. Cree stepped forward, having the audacity to look apologetic as he carried a black hood. Wolf stayed back, not uttering a word.
Nydia grabbed Laine's arm. "But she-"
"Enough, Raphaella!" Laine barked. "This is the decision your elected leaders have made and it's your job to honor it."
Nydia shared a glance with Wolf and slowly stepped back, letting go of Laine's arm. Laine sighed, rubbing his eyes with a hand.
"Get her in a damn cell."
I could've broken free from their grasp and slipped away even with the handcuffs still on, but I didn't. Where would I have gone? My parents are dead. Axe is dead. Chance is dead. Echo's dead and I wasn't on the best terms with her parents after I disappeared. The Crowns would kill me the first chance they get because of the Fortier blood which runs through my veins. The only people I had left were a girl with a crazy smile and a boy with wolf eyes. If I left them too, where would I go?
What would I do? I wasn't one of the assassins anymore and I wouldn't be a Rebel. Leaving would do nothing. My only option was to stay and fight for a place amongst the Rebels. I needed to complete the task I was given, and I needed to prove my innocence to do it. This was what I wanted for myself. I'll be damned if I let someone else take me from finally doing something I wanted for myself.
They pushed me down to my knees and Cree lifted the hood. I locked my jaw and didn't let the fear break through my expression. I had a goal now. There was no time for fear.
The hood fell over my face and my vision went dark.