Post by Kira & Lee Norris on Oct 13, 2007 9:50:12 GMT
"Hey, Deron!" Kira said brightly, as the metal door opened and his tired face appeared. She glanced him up and down warily, unsure of what to make of his dark shadowed eyes and slumping shoulders.
"Kira..."
"Yes, hi!"
Suddenly, his eyes widened, and he grabbed her arm, pulling her quickly outside. The door shut with a reverberating bang, which from the agitated glance over his shoulder, he instantly regretted. Kira didn't say anything, just let her be dragged right around a quarter of a circle, so that they were around the side of his house.
Deron spun Kira round to face him, and Kira laughed at the look on his face.
"Why so serious? Are you surpris- ?" The smile died from her lips at the glare he was giving her now.
"Kira, I don't have much time," he said heatedly. "I don't know how much you know about this- I mean, I assume it would be a Head issue, so you may know nothing- but the enemy have been infiltrating Cardsdale- and now, one of them's dead."
Kira felt her mouth fall open. "I..." Well, at least she didn't have to feign her shock. "How did you... know...?"
"Kerry," Deron replied darkly, his eyes narrowing. "The majority of Cardsdale doesn't know yet- hell, I didn't know until last night, but I'd no way of getting a message to you- "
"Deron," Kira interrupted him, still trying and failing to process what he was telling her, "I don't think I under- "
"C'mon, Kira!" he cried out, clapping his hand to his mouth in a grimace at how loud he'd been. "Look," he continued in hushed tones, "one of them is dead, because some of your lot interviewed her. It set off a trigger in her head; if one member of the enemy reveals too much of something- a plot or whatever- it sets off this trigger, alerting the enemy, and they die."
"Wh- why?"
"Cause they've betrayed their cause," he growled darkly. "And they've betrayed the enemy. Once you're in, you can't get out, or your life'll be forfeit."
Inside Kira's head, logic was beginning to turn. The reason Ruby was dead... she'd done that... And apparently, that was also why the enemy had been alerted so quickly. But it still wasn't answering a heck of a lot of questions that'd suddenly sprouted up, rearing their ugly heads in a sickening fashion.
"How d'you know all of- ?"
"Kerry!" he cried, his hushed voice strangled in his frustration. "Kerry- and her 'bad news' bloke! Total git, that Serrius! He's one of them, one of the enemy, and he's got my cousin wrapped right around his little finger!"
A swirl of train smoke clouded her vision, and a tall boy clutching Kerry's hand and a stack of leaflets...
... in code...
"Where is he?"
"Inside right bloody now!" Deron growled, wringing his hands together. "There's a meeting- tomorrow, in the Cardsdale Hotel. They're gonna' make it official. They're gonna'- "
"Deron?"
Kerry's airy voice flew through the air towards them, light and bubbly. A deep voice followed, slightly louder.
"C'mon, mate! Where'd you go?"
Deron grimaced. "Hang on a sec, guys! Armelle was in the toilet- and I was really bursting- "
Kerry laughed. "You've been out for ages though. You okay- ?"
She rounded the smooth curve of the house and stopped dead. Kira stood just behind Deron, her heart pounding as their eyes met. Then Kerry's pupils turned to ice.
"SERRIUS! SHE'S HERE- ONE OF THEM!"
Kira didn't even get time to think. In a flash, Serrius had rounded the corner, pulling a gun on them, when Deron had spun Kira around and grabbed her hand, dragging her along at an incredible speed down the streets, weaving in and out of shops and cars.
There was the echoing sound of gunshots behind them, but they barely registered with Kira. She just let her legs carry her forward, her mind too numb to think. This wasn't happening. It couldn't happen. Why was this happening? And since when was Deron so strong?
Bang!
A bullet skimmed past them, and Kira felt a thrill of terror. What the hell was she doing?!
Kicking into action, Kira suddenly veered off to the left with Deron, and burst into super-speed, her legs a blur beneath her. Aware of Deron, Kira kept at a pace which she knew he'd be able to keep up with, but it didn't stop the adrenaline pumping as more sounds of screams and bullets whizzed past her. Her heart thumping, blood roaring in her ears, she weaved in and out of the buildings with almost as much skill as Deron had.
Suddenly, there was a horrible skidding noise, where Deron threw himself over to the side. They crash-landed on the side of the street, Kira completely winded, but she'd no time to recover as Deron pulled her upwards and around the side of the house they'd landed behind.
"What are- you- doing?!" she demanded, between her harsh gasps for breath.
"They know we're heading back up to the school," Deron said quickly, apparently unperterbed by their freefall across the street. "Our best bet is to backtrack a bit, and take a more... controversial route."
"Bloody hell..." Kira panted.
Deron grinned at her. "That's why we get on so well. Now- c'mon!"
Deron's 'controversial' route took the better part of two hours, racing across open fields and countryside. Deron seemed to have an endless supply of energy, which was a good thing for Kira because she needed the encouragement. The wild country seemed to give them an endless supply of thorny bushes to crawl through and the murky streams and rivers to wade through. Kira knew she was fit; she knew she was in good shape- but she wasn't prepared for this kind of experience. She didn't have enough stamina. Kira was used to short, quick but powerful bursts of energy.
It was something she would have to work on. And if she was working on it, so would her Spies...
Deron came to a sudden, skidding halt at the edge of Orchid Hill Forest. Kira was shocked they'd managed to get here at all. It'd seemed that they would always be running together- lost in a never-ending chase.
The bullets would always be flying...
"Kira," Deron sighed, turning to her. "I can't tell you much about the code. Serrius never really trusted me, I don't think. There's a meeting soon- tomorrow- if not tomorrow, sometime this week. They'll probably reschedule, knowing what I've done. Now, I need you to go back up to the school, find your Head of Spies and- "
"Deron, where will you go?" Her eyes were round, like bright blue coins. Now that she was no longer concentrating on her aching muscles, panic had settled in full flow.
"I'll find somewhere," he shrugged it off. "There are people like me who aren't happy about the rebellion- it's ok, so I've got friends. I can handle this."
"Can I contac- ?" Stupid question. Kira knew it was far too risky.
Deron smiled at her. "C'mon, Kira. Even you aren't that thick."
"I..." She'd known things were bad but she'd never expected this to happen. For one thing, she could barely get her head around the fact the enemy had planted that trigger. She'd thought that when Ailith and her had buried the body, it would've bought them more time than this...
But no. The enemy had been five steps ahead- as always.
"Kira?"
She jumped, looking up at him. "Yeah?"
"I'm sorry about all those mean things I've said to you. You know I'm just being silly, right?"
There was something strangely ominous about the way he said that.
"I know," she murmured, her muscles giving a particularly painful lurch this time.
"Okay," he said, and leant forward briefly to kiss her on the lips.
It only lasted for a few seconds, before he wrenched himself away from her and was sprinting off across the countryside once more. Kira stood rooted to the spot, her eyes still following, until he jumped through a bush- then vanished. Even once he was gone, she didn't want to move. That'd been too final- too darn brief.
It took all of her self-control not to follow him back towards the village, but instead to make her bitter, aching trek through the forest, to Prof. Hoodham's room.
"Kira..."
"Yes, hi!"
Suddenly, his eyes widened, and he grabbed her arm, pulling her quickly outside. The door shut with a reverberating bang, which from the agitated glance over his shoulder, he instantly regretted. Kira didn't say anything, just let her be dragged right around a quarter of a circle, so that they were around the side of his house.
Deron spun Kira round to face him, and Kira laughed at the look on his face.
"Why so serious? Are you surpris- ?" The smile died from her lips at the glare he was giving her now.
"Kira, I don't have much time," he said heatedly. "I don't know how much you know about this- I mean, I assume it would be a Head issue, so you may know nothing- but the enemy have been infiltrating Cardsdale- and now, one of them's dead."
Kira felt her mouth fall open. "I..." Well, at least she didn't have to feign her shock. "How did you... know...?"
"Kerry," Deron replied darkly, his eyes narrowing. "The majority of Cardsdale doesn't know yet- hell, I didn't know until last night, but I'd no way of getting a message to you- "
"Deron," Kira interrupted him, still trying and failing to process what he was telling her, "I don't think I under- "
"C'mon, Kira!" he cried out, clapping his hand to his mouth in a grimace at how loud he'd been. "Look," he continued in hushed tones, "one of them is dead, because some of your lot interviewed her. It set off a trigger in her head; if one member of the enemy reveals too much of something- a plot or whatever- it sets off this trigger, alerting the enemy, and they die."
"Wh- why?"
"Cause they've betrayed their cause," he growled darkly. "And they've betrayed the enemy. Once you're in, you can't get out, or your life'll be forfeit."
Inside Kira's head, logic was beginning to turn. The reason Ruby was dead... she'd done that... And apparently, that was also why the enemy had been alerted so quickly. But it still wasn't answering a heck of a lot of questions that'd suddenly sprouted up, rearing their ugly heads in a sickening fashion.
"How d'you know all of- ?"
"Kerry!" he cried, his hushed voice strangled in his frustration. "Kerry- and her 'bad news' bloke! Total git, that Serrius! He's one of them, one of the enemy, and he's got my cousin wrapped right around his little finger!"
A swirl of train smoke clouded her vision, and a tall boy clutching Kerry's hand and a stack of leaflets...
... in code...
"Where is he?"
"Inside right bloody now!" Deron growled, wringing his hands together. "There's a meeting- tomorrow, in the Cardsdale Hotel. They're gonna' make it official. They're gonna'- "
"Deron?"
Kerry's airy voice flew through the air towards them, light and bubbly. A deep voice followed, slightly louder.
"C'mon, mate! Where'd you go?"
Deron grimaced. "Hang on a sec, guys! Armelle was in the toilet- and I was really bursting- "
Kerry laughed. "You've been out for ages though. You okay- ?"
She rounded the smooth curve of the house and stopped dead. Kira stood just behind Deron, her heart pounding as their eyes met. Then Kerry's pupils turned to ice.
"SERRIUS! SHE'S HERE- ONE OF THEM!"
Kira didn't even get time to think. In a flash, Serrius had rounded the corner, pulling a gun on them, when Deron had spun Kira around and grabbed her hand, dragging her along at an incredible speed down the streets, weaving in and out of shops and cars.
There was the echoing sound of gunshots behind them, but they barely registered with Kira. She just let her legs carry her forward, her mind too numb to think. This wasn't happening. It couldn't happen. Why was this happening? And since when was Deron so strong?
Bang!
A bullet skimmed past them, and Kira felt a thrill of terror. What the hell was she doing?!
Kicking into action, Kira suddenly veered off to the left with Deron, and burst into super-speed, her legs a blur beneath her. Aware of Deron, Kira kept at a pace which she knew he'd be able to keep up with, but it didn't stop the adrenaline pumping as more sounds of screams and bullets whizzed past her. Her heart thumping, blood roaring in her ears, she weaved in and out of the buildings with almost as much skill as Deron had.
Suddenly, there was a horrible skidding noise, where Deron threw himself over to the side. They crash-landed on the side of the street, Kira completely winded, but she'd no time to recover as Deron pulled her upwards and around the side of the house they'd landed behind.
"What are- you- doing?!" she demanded, between her harsh gasps for breath.
"They know we're heading back up to the school," Deron said quickly, apparently unperterbed by their freefall across the street. "Our best bet is to backtrack a bit, and take a more... controversial route."
"Bloody hell..." Kira panted.
Deron grinned at her. "That's why we get on so well. Now- c'mon!"
Deron's 'controversial' route took the better part of two hours, racing across open fields and countryside. Deron seemed to have an endless supply of energy, which was a good thing for Kira because she needed the encouragement. The wild country seemed to give them an endless supply of thorny bushes to crawl through and the murky streams and rivers to wade through. Kira knew she was fit; she knew she was in good shape- but she wasn't prepared for this kind of experience. She didn't have enough stamina. Kira was used to short, quick but powerful bursts of energy.
It was something she would have to work on. And if she was working on it, so would her Spies...
Deron came to a sudden, skidding halt at the edge of Orchid Hill Forest. Kira was shocked they'd managed to get here at all. It'd seemed that they would always be running together- lost in a never-ending chase.
The bullets would always be flying...
"Kira," Deron sighed, turning to her. "I can't tell you much about the code. Serrius never really trusted me, I don't think. There's a meeting soon- tomorrow- if not tomorrow, sometime this week. They'll probably reschedule, knowing what I've done. Now, I need you to go back up to the school, find your Head of Spies and- "
"Deron, where will you go?" Her eyes were round, like bright blue coins. Now that she was no longer concentrating on her aching muscles, panic had settled in full flow.
"I'll find somewhere," he shrugged it off. "There are people like me who aren't happy about the rebellion- it's ok, so I've got friends. I can handle this."
"Can I contac- ?" Stupid question. Kira knew it was far too risky.
Deron smiled at her. "C'mon, Kira. Even you aren't that thick."
"I..." She'd known things were bad but she'd never expected this to happen. For one thing, she could barely get her head around the fact the enemy had planted that trigger. She'd thought that when Ailith and her had buried the body, it would've bought them more time than this...
But no. The enemy had been five steps ahead- as always.
"Kira?"
She jumped, looking up at him. "Yeah?"
"I'm sorry about all those mean things I've said to you. You know I'm just being silly, right?"
There was something strangely ominous about the way he said that.
"I know," she murmured, her muscles giving a particularly painful lurch this time.
"Okay," he said, and leant forward briefly to kiss her on the lips.
It only lasted for a few seconds, before he wrenched himself away from her and was sprinting off across the countryside once more. Kira stood rooted to the spot, her eyes still following, until he jumped through a bush- then vanished. Even once he was gone, she didn't want to move. That'd been too final- too darn brief.
It took all of her self-control not to follow him back towards the village, but instead to make her bitter, aching trek through the forest, to Prof. Hoodham's room.
