DANGEROUS OBSESSION

25

LAUREN MOSS

When I left with the agent, we went back to the van. Some were already there, including one of the guys from my class.

Everyone was giving me dirty looks, and honestly, I’m getting tired of feeling like an intruder wherever I go.

From home to college, everywhere… What’s my fault for being here?

“What’s going on?” I ask, making one or two of them look away, while the others stare at me even more.

My leg hurts.

“Why are you staring at me and treating me like this?” I ask, not really wanting their answers.

I’m just exhausted!

Fed up!

“How do you expect to be treated when you just show up in the middle of the training, manage to stay, even being behind all of us, and continue intact until now, while the others get eliminated?” a girl asks, nervous.

“The same way you asked me that, I’d like to know: what’s my fault in this?” I ask. “I was recruited just like you, and in the middle of the training no less. Is it my fault?” I question them.

“I tried to put in effort and study so I wouldn’t be eliminated, is that a problem? Like you, I want to stay. Did you expect me to just stop studying and trying to understand what you were learning just because I arrived late?” I ask, and they look at each other.

“Look, I get it, because sometimes I’m even shocked at my own progress in some things. But I try hard because I want to stay. I’d like to know what’s so wrong with that? I’m not the one who knows the elimination criteria,” I make clear.

“It’s normal for them to be upset, but that’s no excuse to treat me as if I interfered with something that was obviously never in my hands,” I say, staring at them, and they simply don’t say another word.

And, nervous because my foot really hurts, still a bit dizzy from the hits, I wonder why there’s so much hatred.

It didn’t take long before more and more of them started arriving.

I stayed in my corner. Apia and Noah arrived almost at the same time as Jennifer, who definitely didn’t expect to find me in the van, but anyway…

From so much pain I was feeling, I just stayed in my corner and even watched them take Hailey’s other student’s friend, who had fainted from the dart, away in another car.

Why, I don’t know, since there wasn’t a single agent there to see what they were trying to do to me.

It didn’t take long before we returned. We start leaving, and I limp out. “What happened?” Noah asks, concerned, grabbing my arm.

“When I entered one of the doors, two more classmates came in, and their mission was simply to hurt me and not finish the course,” I explain, and he frowns as he looks at my hand, which doesn’t hurt, but has a mark where it was stepped on.

“What idiots. You’ll have to tell them what they did,” Apia says, and I sigh, frustrated.

“And go to the infirmary,” Noah concludes.

We get back to the field, and my heart races. Not only because I saw Blake, but simply because his gaze was on me.

“I’ll do it,” I say, realizing that Noah is holding my hand. I gently remove it—not because of fear for myself, but for him. He caught my attention…

What if he disqualifies not only my performance but also Noah’s, when he’s only helping me?

“Look, there they are,” Apia comments, seeing them coming this way too.

Oh, the anger I’m feeling!

I simply join the rest of my group, satisfied for having finished the mission, but at the same time, worried. I think I took longer than necessary.

I just don’t want to be eliminated.

“As mentioned, two from each group will be eliminated today,” Irika says. “However, the eliminated ones from Agent Leinster’s group…” she says, looking at Hailey.

She’s a Leinster?

I’d heard that name before.

“They won’t be eliminated for their performance on the mission, but for sabotage, which was warned from the start would not be tolerated—wait…”

They saw it?

“Márcia and Karen,” she says, and both step forward. “They will face a sanction before your elimination,” Irika says.

In the hologram, it clearly shows them trying to strike my arm on the bridge. Then Márcia throwing the robot in my direction, and every time she tried to hurt me, i.e., break my leg.

The looks oscillate between her and me.

I’m relieved they saw my effort not to return the same action onto her.

They are taken away with their heads down, and I look at Hailey, who keeps her face expressionless about the matter.

I have the feeling she ordered them to do this. But at the same time, no. After all, she’s an agent. She must have been doing this for too long. She wouldn’t do that.

And she wouldn’t risk losing her best students over it.

I want to find out…

“What cowards!” Apia comments, caressing my hand while watching them leave.

“It should be remembered that any type of misconduct results in immediate expulsion. We do not tolerate this kind of behavior,” Samuel says, and everyone nods. “Let’s proceed,” he continues, announcing the other two who were eliminated from the other group.

My body goes icy when they mention calling out the names of Blake’s group members.

“Omar… and Kristen,” they say, and I almost fall to my knees in relief.

They didn’t say my name.

That means I’m part of the five who remain in all this. I’m not going out. We restrain ourselves from celebrating here and maintain seriousness.

I can’t believe it!

Technically, no one here is a secret agent, but we weren’t part of the elimination, and that’s way too surreal.

I thought I’d be eliminated first, and suddenly… pow!

I guess thinking that I could leave that hell served as extra motivation.

“All of you remain in the evaluation phase, which will determine if you can officially join the organization,” they start, already cutting our wings.

“As you know, this is a profession that demands total commitment in every sense. Those who cannot meet these requirements will not be part of it and will be eliminated,” Irika says, and everyone nods.

“You will stay here for a few hours,” she continues. “And you will have lessons.” Everyone nods.

“The lessons will be interspersed with the missions you will be integrated into and must execute,” she says, and we all nod.

“However, you will not stay here, but in your residences. It’s important to remember that secrecy is paramount. Any breach will result in elimination and the same sanctions as those who are eliminated,” they say, and we nod.

I don’t want to go back… I can’t.

But, for now, that doesn’t matter. They spoke and authorized our departure.

“Lauren!” Sasha calls me as I leave with the rest.

Now there are so few of us here.

“Come on, let’s go to the infirmary,” she says, and I nod, leaving with them, limping.

“No need to exaggerate, walk properly,” Hailey says, glancing at me as we leave.

“Instead of addressing me, you should have understood your students’ intentions better. You should have corrected them, not me, because I’m only like this because of them,” I say, frustrated, and she rolls her eyes.

However, instead of entering with us, Blake just holds her by the arm and pulls her out of there. My eyes follow them, and I wonder where he pulled her like that.

“Come on,” Sasha says, catching my attention, and we enter the elevator. I lean against the metallic wall.

“What happened?” I ask, unable to hide my curiosity about where Blake took Hailey like that.

He apparently seemed nervous, as if it were a possible reconciliation. Or maybe a couple’s argument, since, until the other day, her eyes had been shining more than usual in his direction.

“Don’t worry about that,” she responds, changing the subject. “How are you?” she asks, concerned, watching me.

“My head hurts, my leg too,” I answer, looking at my wrist, which has a scary color. The good thing is that it doesn’t hurt.

“And your wrist?” she asks, observing my hand.

“I’m not feeling any pain,” I say, and she nods.

“Let’s take care of this right away,” she says, and the elevator doors open.

“I just don’t understand why they did that,” I comment, truly outraged, leaving with them.

“You were doing well on the mission; they probably felt intimidated,” Irika says, and I look at her.

“I highly doubt that. You should know better than I do that, in terms of physical ability, they are much better than me. Where we were, they had an infinite possibility of completing the mission without breaking any of my limbs,” I say, indignant.

“And also, they always seemed more disciplined too. They never seemed like the type who, at this stage, would risk everything over a possible threat called Lauren,” I continue, entering the infirmary with them.

“Hello!” we all greet the doctors or nurses present.

“Hello!” they respond.

“She suffered strong blows to her body, more specifically to her head, wrist, and foot. Can you check?” Sasha asks.

“Of course, you can remove the uniform,” the doctor says, and I nod, heading to the other door.

“What are you suggesting, Lauren?” Irika asks about my previous remark.

“I think this… would be inconvenient, wouldn’t it?” I ask, suspiciously, and she enters the room as I remove my uniform and put on the hospital gown.

My leg is truly scaring me now.

“Heavens…” I murmur, looking at it—it’s beyond swollen, badly bruised, with an extremely intense color.

It even seems as if the pain tripled just by looking at it.

“Oh, this looks bad,” she comments, and I sigh deeply, leaving with her.

“We’re going to do an X-ray,” the doctor says. “Can you tell me if, besides your leg, you feel pain anywhere else in your body?” she asks.

“In the head area, the neck…” I answer, sitting on the examination table, which moves into the machine.

“And the arm?” she asks, touching it.

“I felt pain in the moment, but it was very brief. I just think it was strong enough that it left a mark,” I say, and she nods.

“You can lie down,” she says, and I do so.

HAILEY LEINSTER

“Where is your head at, Hailey?” My blood boils with anger seeing him upset like this with me because of Moss’s daughter.

That rebellious girl, just like her father. She can fool everyone, except me.

“I already said I didn’t do anything. The girls confirmed that I’m not involved in any of this. Why are you approaching me like this, Blake?” I ask, indignant, and his blue eyes, staring at me like never before, make me nervous.

“You should have known by now that lying to me is useless,” he says, and my heart skips a beat. I find myself forced to look elsewhere, unable to hold his gaze.

“I hate lies,” he makes clear, and I feel awful.

“I know, I know you,” I say. “But I don’t understand why you’re angry with me to protect her. Especially her, Blake,” I say, frustrated.

“I wouldn’t be angry with you if you weren’t doing things that make me doubt your cognitive abilities, Hailey,” he says, and it sounds like a dirty insult, even without swearing once.

“You know that the closer we are to Moss, the better it will be. That’s why we brought her here,” he says, and I sigh, frustrated.

“I never agreed with this,” I say, and he smiles.

“There’s nothing to agree with when it’s none of your business, Hailey,” I sigh, feeling like I’ve been hit.

Nothing has changed…

“Nor should you instigate students to hurt someone under our responsibility, for now,” he says. “Not to mention that you broke too many rules that could get her out of here,” he adds, and I swallow hard.

“There’s no testimony, there’s no proof…” I respond, distressed, and he watches me as if my face were a confession.

“There’s no testimony or proof required for me to demand your removal,” he says, and my blood boils.

“You won’t do that,” I say, incredulous.

“For now, no. But don’t try me again,” he says, staring straight into my eyes. Instead of being just intimidating, my state worsens in the most lustful sense possible, just from being stared at.

“Otherwise, besides being removed from her position, she will face the consequences awaiting her without exception,” he concludes.

“Blake…” I try to speak to him, but he simply refuses to listen.

As if I were just any agent…

“Get out of here. Work to finish, isn’t there?” he asks, indifferent, and I sigh.

“Excuse me,” I respond, turning away with the urge to cry, leaving that i***t full of anger behind.

Surely, if she weren’t here right now, everything between us would have already been settled.

I am his ex-fiancée, not just anyone. It’s impossible that what we had and all the feelings involved could have simply disappeared for him.

The presence of this girl makes me extremely irritated; it makes me lose myself.

I don’t want her here, and I will prove that we don’t need that girl for anything. Not even close to her father is she—how could she help us?

“Whoa, someone’s angry,” James says as I nearly bump into him at the door.

“Don’t bother…” I reply and walk away, ignoring him. I hear him laugh as the doors close behind me.

BLAKE WRAY

“Where’s Moss?” I ask James, who enters the room.

“She’s with Irika and Sasha in the infirmary,” he responds.

“Was the damage bad?” I ask, after all, the robot is extremely heavy, and she doesn’t have much muscular defense to endure a hit like that without bruises—neither from the robot nor from what Hailey’s students did.

“She’s getting an X-ray, but she was limping, so she’s probably as bad as we thought,” he comments, and at the same time, Samuel enters with coffees.

“A black coffee for Mr. Blake,” he says, handing me mine. He also delivers James’s, takes his own, and places Irika’s and Sasha’s on the table.

“Where are the two of them?” he asks as I observe the files collected on Moss.

“In the infirmary with Lauren,” James replies.

“Speaking of her, what are we going to do about that?” he asks, and I stare at him, trying to understand what he means by that question.

“Don’t look at me like that. We know her life is somewhat exposed for her to go back to her father’s mansion, and we need her close to us, not distant. You know that better than we do, Wray,” he says, and I sigh.

“I know, but…” I start, and he interrupts immediately.

“Take her to your house,” he suggests, and I look at him, outraged.

“That girl? At my house, again?” I ask, shocked.

“What’s wrong?” he retorts.

“The obvious, don’t you think?” I reply.

“You’ve already taken her once; it shouldn’t have been that bad,” he insists.

It was. I hate having people in my house, especially the daughter of my father’s assassin wandering through it.

Out of the question.

“No, out of the question,” I respond.

“On the contrary,” my grandfather’s voice grabs my attention, making the others stand the moment they see him enter.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“What you already know, Blake,” he says, and I sigh. “She will stay with you, and we both know why,” he states, and I sigh in frustration at the idea, unable to argue, because it’s what we have discussed for a long time.

And honestly, putting up with her isn’t such a big sacrifice compared to the fact that I’ve been planning this in detail, tirelessly, for years.

The faster we can extract information from her, make her discover evidence that incriminates her own father, the sooner I won’t have to endure his daughter. And the sooner I’ll have that i***t in my cells or under the ground, which, honestly, pleases me more.

LAUREN MOSS

I didn’t fracture anything, but I did sprain something or the other. The doctor applied ointment, put a bandage on my leg, and another on my hand.

I also received a painkiller intravenously for my headaches and muscle pains. At this moment, we’re heading to Blake’s office.

I hope Hailey isn’t there.

My mind can’t believe that those two did this to me just for the sake of it, putting all their effort at risk.

But anyways…

“Hello!” I greet everyone in the room—Blake, whom I glance at out of the corner of my eye. I shouldn’t and don’t want to look at him directly. Strange things happen to me when I do.

Obscene things, in fact.

Samuel and James are also here.

“Oh, how are you, Lauren?” Samuel asks when he sees me.

“I’m fine. I could be better if they hadn’t tried to break my bones, but I’m fine,” I reply.

“Don’t worry, Blake has already ensured they will be punished,” he says, and for some reason, I have to force myself not to smile.

Why do I want to smile? What’s good about this?

It’s the least they deserve, right?!

“Why did they do that?” I ask, indignant, turning to Blake.

“Don’t you think there are more important things to worry about right now?” he retorts, watching me in a way that takes my breath away out of nowhere.

How embarrassing! I almost never feel embarrassed.

“Like what?” I ask, frowning.

“You don’t want to go back to your parents’ mansion, and I know that,” Samuel says, and I sigh.

“Oh, that,” I say. “I turn…” I reply, still not knowing exactly how.

“You will live with me,” Blake’s voice sounds, and I look directly at his lips, just to make sure he really said that and I’m not making up sentences with his voice in my head.

“Live with you?” I ask, surprised, and he stares at me.

“It’s an offer. You decide,” he states, and I hold myself back from acting like a crazy person.

“Uh… of course!” I exclaim. “I mean, thank you so much, if it’s not inconvenient,” I say, genuinely excited.

What?!

“Great, then you’ll continue with the project facade,” he says, returning to work as if nothing happened.

“Of course, all right…” I reply, ecstatic.

“Return to the base, classes have already started,” he orders. “Of course, excuse me,” I say, simply floating.

Did I really just hear that?

I leave like that, trying to maintain my composure. I need to talk to Miriam.