DANGEROUS OBSESSION

24

LAUREN MOSS

I woke up to the alarm ringing for breakfast, but I preferred to use those minutes to sleep.

I woke up with this sinking feeling in my stomach, because it seems like a lot is going to change starting today. You know when you wake up with that gut-wrenching bad feeling?

Yeah, that’s me today.

“I hope it’s not for the worse,” I say while brushing my teeth.

I step into the shower and take a quick bath, after all, I decided to use only the breakfast time slot.

I did everything properly, tied my hair up in a ponytail, applied some facial moisturizer— there was no time for skincare—sprayed a bit of perfume and got dressed appropriately. I made my bed and took my dirty laundry to the laundry room.

I’ll deal with all of that later.

I made some tea, which I didn’t even finish properly, because by then the alarm sounded again, announcing the end of breakfast. So, I simply got up and left.

Everyone was already walking up to the top floor, and that sinking feeling in my stomach grew even worse.

“Lauren!” I hear Noah’s voice behind me, and I had walked right past him without even noticing.

“Where’s your head at?” he asks, smiling, and I smile back.

“Noah!” I greet him, matching his pace as we walk. “My head is already upstairs. Three people from each group… It’s a shame, and I don’t want to be one of them,” I say as we step out.

“Yeah, it’s really frustrating,” he agrees. “How did your test go yesterday?” he asks as we enter the elevator with the others.

“Well… it was complex, and I was practically collapsing from sleep. So, unless it was an illusion my brain created, I think I managed to do something decently,” I reply.

“And you? Did you manage?” I ask.

“I did, yes,” he answers, and then Apia joins us when we reach our floor and leave the elevator. We walk out, and everyone is so tense that they decided to stay silent until we’re inside.

For some extra reason—not just the nerves about possibly being eliminated—but something much stronger, my stomach completely freezes. And my body collides with that icy feeling the moment my eyes find Blake, who, honestly, somehow manages to look even more attractive than yesterday.

I am Lauren. I am not the least bit dramatic, especially when it comes to the beauty of men like him…

You know when you’re walking down the street and suddenly come across someone you’ve never seen in your life, and they’re somehow more attractive than anything you’ve ever laid eyes on? The type that draws attention just by existing?

Well, that is literally Blake.

It doesn’t surprise me that I ended up here because I was stalking him.

I’m not a stalker, I’ve never done anything like that, but he has something so attractive and so addictive about him. And it’s not just his beauty, his scent, or his physical presence. It’s like he carries a drug that makes people obsessed with him.

Not that I am, of course.

But the way I feel makes me question that all the time.

But is he even my type?

No, that’s the answer. He knows exactly how attractive he is, and he is arrogance personified.

And besides, to prove I’m not insane, look at Hailey. I don’t like her, but she’s stunning, and he, oh… he looks at her as if she were a clown.

Sometimes she acts like one, I won’t lie, but I don’t fully judge her. When you’re in front of someone like him… But she overdoes it.

A lot.

So, yet another reason to keep my distance. Even though he’s instantly magnetic. I’m known as problematic, but I hate causing problems. And there’s no reason to cause any now, especially when all of this could help me finally stop depending on the people who want me close and far at the same time.

“Good morning!” we reply as we line up.

Wow, it’s so empty.

“As you all know, three from each group will be eliminated today and will go through the memorial interference right after,” she says, and yet another reason for me not to want to leave.

Man, I completed a mission, learned a trillion things in such a short time, and I’m doing things that don’t irritate me easily. On the contrary, they give me this excessive adrenaline that I don’t want to forget.

I don’t want to forget Blake either, because what if I end up back at square one?

Maybe not, because I’m not crazy enough to do the same thing again.

Am I?

“As is obvious, if you’re here, it’s because you’re competent and because something about you attracted the organization.

However, being a secret agent requires much more than just one skill, or several that still don’t reach the level we expect,” James says.

“That doesn’t mean you’re not good, only that you don’t possess a certain characteristic that rises above and is necessary to occupy this position in the government,” he continues, and I was about to grab the hand of whoever was next to me, but feeling Blake’s gaze on me, I simply squeezed my own hands nervously and forced my eyes to stay on James.

He says all of that... and it doesn’t even sound like they’re about to use whatever it is they use to erase the memories of those who are leaving.

When they begin, I’m incredibly anxious. They eliminate, and eliminate, plain and simple.

I, who thought that this time I was going to be cut—even though I didn’t want to—ended up staying. And remember that guy who made fun of me in the cafeteria?

He’s out.

I was in disbelief.

Not because I don’t think I’m good, but because he, even though he was an asshole, was good. At least in the physical tests, he was always in first place.

His gaze before leaving is sharp in my direction. I thought he was going to insult me or something.

After all, the newbie is still here, right?

But he didn’t. Not with his mouth, at least. Because with his eyes…

Jennifer is still here, humn... Apia’s friend and her crush from our group are also out. She isn’t showing it, but it’s obvious she’s devastated.

If I thought the room felt empty before…

Now…

At least I’m more relieved.

Even though they all seem to hate me for some reason, that may or may not be obvious… I feel like now I’m not just the new girl. I intimidate them. Somehow.

I managed to breathe out the air that had been trapped in my lungs, without even meaning to, once they were gone.

“From now on, you will continue your training, which will go only until noon, because the mission which will eliminate two more from each team will begin. And you’ll need to put a lot of what you’ve learned so far into practice,” Hailey says.

“Yes?” A girl from her team raises her hand.

“Do the tests we took have any influence on today’s elimination?” she asks, and Sasha taps something. A holographic board appears with the data from each class.

And I choke on my own breath, because we can see the percentage each person got on the test. I got a perfect score.

Man, I’m so happy!

“They do, yes, but they’re not the only component we analyze,” Hailey says, her gaze falling on me after seeing my score. And not only hers. But I simply choose to ignore it.

“And what about the mission format? Will it be all of us in one mission? Will it be competitive?” someone from her class asks.

“Yes, it will. But you’ll receive the proper information when the time comes,” she replies, and I observe her.

She seems distant from Blake.

I wonder if it’s because of the argument they had yesterday. She’s very withdrawn.

“You may go now,” she says, and everyone nods.

Samuel isn’t here. I didn’t talk to him yesterday. I’d like to know how he’s doing. And that Amanda girl…

She was poisoned.

What a situation.

I wouldn’t be able to stay as emotionless as he is. But he’s an agent. And I’m not.

“Good girl…” Apia says, tapping my arm and smiling as we leave, and I smile back, taking her hand.

“Are you okay?” I ask while pulling her toward the water dispenser, and she sighs, shrugging.

“I’m fine,” she replies. “I already knew there would be an elimination. It was necessary to expect that any one of us could leave,” she says, and I sigh, drinking some water.

“But I don’t intend to make it past this elimination. And you shouldn’t either,” she says, and I smile.

“I don’t want to either,” I say after drinking my water.

We enter the other elevator, because the others were going down in the other one.

“It’s still a competition,” she says, and I press the floor button. “Apparently, you’re already a target for many, and you can’t leave me here,” she says.

“I don’t have any intention at all,” I say, and now I’m scared.

If they really take me as a target, maybe not even because of my score, but simply because they want me out of here…

I’m screwed.

“Did you see Agent Blake?” she asks, and I look at her only to find her completely red.

“He manages to get more attractive with each passing day,” she comments, and I simply offer her a smile.

“Come on. Apparently, it’s physical training,” I say, seeing the uniform we had to wear today.

“Let’s hope it’s with him,” she says, and I wonder if she wasn’t just in love a moment ago.

We began!

It really was physical training, but not with Blake. Other than that, the rest were theoretical classes. We left.

I went to change in my little house and couldn’t do anything else. I ran to get lunch, because I’m starving.

I went there, and the stares continued.

Apia’s table is quite empty, but we ate and that was that. It’s still going to get even emptier than this.

We ate, I ate and the moment I finished, I ran back to my room to brush my teeth. I fixed my ponytail again, and that was it.

I grabbed my notebook as if I’d be able to read any summary. I read, but it was all very quick.

The alarm went off while I was drinking my digestive lemon tea.

“It’s okay, Lauren…” I say to myself, locking the door of my little house and walking there. “You can do this. And once you do, you’ll have much more to worry about. So there’s no point worrying now,” I tell myself.

HAILEY LEISTER

“Listen to me,” I say, speaking to one of my best students, and she nods. “I don’t want you to let Lauren get far,” I say, and she nods, smiling.

“No one wants her to,” she replies.

And that’s great.

“Don’t let her win or get past any obstacle easily. Break her leg or her arm if necessary, just don’t make it obvious,” I make clear.

“Of course,” she says, and I smile.

“Now go, we’re about to begin,” I say, and she nods, leaving.

I know Blake would never look at her any differently, for obvious reasons: she’s the daughter of the man who murdered his father.

But what happens is that he’s never brought any woman to his house. Not counting Irika and Sasha, obviously. But he has never done that.

For him to suddenly take her there because, apparently, she wasn’t feeling well.

Just for that?

I’m almost certain nothing happened. He changed with me, but he’s still the Blake I know.

But this girl is in my way, and I cannot allow her to try to take what’s mine. I’ve been putting in the effort, and she’s been getting in the way since the millisecond she appeared.

And why did they call her? Because of her assassin father.

But do we really need her here?

I could help him with that. We would do it together.

Not her, who will surely, once she finds out, take her father’s side and most likely abandon the mission.

She is not trustworthy.

I can’t stand her, I never could, and I have no intention of ever doing so. The more she dares to cross the limits that, for now, are convenient for her, the more she dares to get in my way… I swear I’ll make this girl disappear from the map.

LAUREN MOSS

We returned to the huge field up here, and the flutter in my stomach hit me again. Focus. Don’t look at Blake, because it’s simply unnecessary.

Look at Sasha, Lauren.

“You will be taken to the place where the mission will unfold, without any of us, but since this is a realistic mission, you’ll guide yourselves and will be monitored from a distance by some agents,” they say, and I exhale.

Oh boy. A realistic mission.

“Everything will be evaluated. Even though this is a competition, the goal is to complete the mission, not to interfere negatively with each other’s progress, because that will have consequences,” she says.

“It’s natural that you’ve formed emotional bonds during this time, but emotional control is the most essential thing above all. Therefore, do not help anyone. The mission is individual, not in a group,” she makes clear, and I can only look at Apia and Noah, because they would definitely be the ones to help me.

Oh, dear…

Blake walks towards us.

And just like that, out of nowhere, my heart threatens to burst out of my mouth.

Seriously, Lauren…

For the love of God, put some decency on your face.

Not that I was the only one, just saying.

Now it’s me, Apia, Jennifer, one of her friends, and the rest are men.

“This course will be individual. However, all of you have had my training and the training of the tutors I personally chose for my group,” he says. And what a damn voice, the way he speaks, his posture…

Everything about him is a bit too much for me to keep calm and even a minimum of decency.

“Two of you must be eliminated from this group, by decision of the organization,” he explains.

“However, that will not be an excuse to be eliminated because you were the worst or didn’t perform flawlessly, but simply because someone has to be eliminated.”

Demanding.

But true. In the group trials, his team has always led.

Surely, if they didn’t have to eliminate candidates from each group, most recruits would come from his.

“And when the elimination happens…” Jennifer says. “Whoever leaves, can they be recruited again?” she asks.

“Of course. That depends solely on you,” he says, and we nod.

His gaze, which hadn’t met mine even once while he spoke, finally does for a mere few seconds, and I feel my blood literally boil.

Lauren, for God’s sake! This is getting out of hand.

It’s not my fault—it’s my blood, which is at boiling point. But still…

Enough!

He walks away, and we simply follow the other agent, leaving.

I was going to speak to Noah, who was beside me as we exited, but at that exact moment Jennifer wedged herself between us, “discreetly” pushing me to the side.

Give me strength.

I just keep walking. There’s no point starting a fight when something much more important is about to unfold now.

BLAKE WRAY

“Moss went that way,” Sasha comments, looking at the information sent by our informants.

“Good,” I say, finishing sending the directions to the agents responsible for monitoring him.

“Blake!” Hailey says, appearing beside me. “Can we talk?” she asks, and I look at her.

Does she ever get tired?

“We have work to do right now,” I reply, and she sighs, following me as I walk towards the room where the mission will be monitored.

“Later, then?” she asks, whispering in my ear just as I sit down.

“I’ll be busy,” I say, watching the monitor and waiting for their entry. “Sit down, Hailey,” I say, and she does, sulking.

Good grief…

LAUREN MOSS

We were taken to the other side, blindfolded, in a van. All of us together and all in silence.

We’ve just arrived at the entrance. Along the way, they explained everything we had to do or collect throughout the course. In my head, it sounded like one of those kid-trap games…

At least that’s how my mind interpreted it, and I hope it keeps lying to me by pretending this is just a game.

I just don’t want to be last.

I don’t want to be eliminated. I don’t intend to go back to that hell now that I finally managed to feel myself far away from it.

Right now, we’re all standing at the starting point, dropped off by the agents.

There wasn’t even time to talk to anyone, mostly because I think everyone understood that this is an individual test, and everyone wants to save their own skin.

And I understood that I’d better get that into my head too.

They announce the start, and that alone was enough for my mind to focus on the course and ignore everyone else.

Just like everyone, we start running.

What does the place look like?

Well, it’s enclosed. We entered and, obviously, we won’t be leaving through the same place. It looks old. I think that’s exactly why it was chosen.

Which I’ve already taken into consideration.

Obviously, I still don’t know everything it contains, because getting through this path to the exit is the mission’s goal.

But once we started running, we found several entrances. Five, if I’m not mistaken. And I chose the path to the left.

Why?

I don’t know. I think it’s because it’s the side of the heart, and my brain decided that was a valid reason at the time.

I didn’t enter alone. Two other girls from Hailey’s class came in too, if I’m not mistaken, and the others spread across the remaining paths.

They’re really good, which somehow pushes me to pull even more out of myself than I thought I could.

We run to the end of the entrance corridor and reach this spot where we have to cross a bridge with no side rails. The height from here to the ground is massive, and I love piloting, so I’m not afraid of heights, but right now I’m rethinking that.

Still, I went for it anyway. Scared.

I can’t go after them—I have to finish this as quickly as possible.

There’s no time to be afraid.

I lie flat on the floor and start crawling. The floor is solid, and lying down gives me more control. It’s a bit slower, but it feels safer.

I don’t even want to imagine what happens to someone who falls from here.

They said there would be agents ready for any inconvenience, but I’m not seeing a single one.

The other two came right behind me, and honestly, that worried me. After all, the width of this bridge barely fits one body at a time, and like I said, there are no rails… no safety barriers at all.

I kept crawling as fast as I could when, out of nowhere, one of them steps on my hand. I know it was on purpose.

My hands were in fists, and she stomped right in the center.

“Argh…” I groan, trying to hold back my indignation and not move abruptly so I don’t fall.

Without wasting a second dealing with an obviously childish provocation, I spread myself even more across the floor so there’s no space for both of us, and I simply keep going.

“What do you think you’re doing?” one of them asks behind me, and I sigh. Not now. Not here, Lauren.

Go!

I kept going and finally reached the other side.

“Ah!” I hear a scream behind me, and when I look back, I see darts shooting under the bridge.

Good thing I crawled.

I enter the next corridor, swallowing my empathy. The walls are narrow. I’m not claustrophobic, but right now I’m questioning that.

“Come on, Lauren…” I mumble to myself, holding my wrist that hurts from the stomp and wiping my hand.

Idiots.

Barely out of the corridor, I hear them getting closer. A scream and then three robots appear, attacking.

“Damn it…” I mutter.

They explained that we had to disable the robots and also retrieve a key each one of them carries.

I pull back abruptly, dodging attacks from those intelligent tin cans, just as the other two girls enter the room.

Out of nowhere, the one who screamed collapses on the floor, dropping a dart. Must’ve been the one that hit her.

Focus, Lauren!

“Ah!” I kick the robot in front of me against the wall, right in the center. Its core destabilizes from the impact. We studied this not too long ago.

I kick it again, and again, while dodging the other robots that are still active.

I move behind the robot I’ve been hitting and start messing with its wiring, shutting it down and searching for the key.

And I find it, right when I’m struck so hard I slam into the wall and fall to the floor.

“Ah…” I groan in pain, blinking as my vision blurs from hitting my head.

I see the robot coming towards me, forcing me to roll to the side and try to get up immediately. Then, out of nowhere, the girl steps on my foot so hard it makes me gasp.

She’s doing it on purpose. She’s provoking me. I saw how she’s been looking at me for a while now.

I’m holding myself back from throwing her against the wall and giving her a taste of her own medicine—only because of the warning we were given.

BLAKE WRAY

Shit!

“She threw the robot at Lauren,” Sasha confirms, watching the footage.

“No, she lost her balance,” Hailey defends.

“Replay the footage,” I say, and Sasha pulls it up on my monitor. Besides, she’s clearly trying to hurt her.

This is more than obvious.

I prefer not to believe this was Hailey’s doing, even though that’s exactly how it looks.

LAUREN MOSS

“You’re doing this on purpose,” I say. “Don’t provoke me,” I warn, tucking the key in my uniform pocket while dodging the robots’ attacks, my foot throbbing in pain.

“Or what?” she dares to ask, and I take a deep, irritated breath. Fueled by anger at her, I strike the damn robot.

“You’ll see!” I pant, dismantling the wires of the robot I just destabilized.

“Don’t threaten me!” she says, and I sigh deeply, glad I found this key, placing it with the other one.

And out of spite—because I could just leave and let her get the key she could have claimed ages ago, but apparently her mission is to take me down somehow—I pull the robot from her hands.

“What are you doing?” she asks, pushing me aside, trying to take the robot back.

Oh, she’ll see who she’s messing with!

I take up as much space as I can and strike the robot. The moment I notice how destabilized it is, I grab the key and this time, she doesn’t even try a sneaky hit; instead, she grabs my hand.

“Girl, let go of me!” I shout, fists clenched, trying not to punch her face.

I’m not risking disqualification here.

I use my strength to push her away, leaving her behind.

When I take a step forward, on the same foot she stomped on, she trips me, and the pain is hellish as I hit the floor.

“Argh…” I groan, keeping it as controlled as I can.

And so, wanting to cry in anger just for not being able to do the same, I can’t retaliate. But she’s not going anywhere without the keys, so here, I have the upper hand.

On the other hand, I might be at a disadvantage compared to the rest of my group, who are surely ahead of me.

Fueled by rage, by everything, I get up and keep running, limping at the same time. She’s right behind me, and her advantage is that she’s not limping like I am.

Damn her!

We enter a new area, completely enclosed. Four walls, no door, nothing.

I try to remember if I’ve ever encountered a scenario like this in any of the exercises I’ve done. But what comes to mind are those movies where the walls just decide to crush you alive.

“Blocked path,” she says, angry, rolling her eyes. “Damn it,” she mutters, clearly irritated as if I tried to break her limbs, and simply leaves through the same path she entered.

I examine the walls more carefully, trying to decipher this place. The robots wouldn’t be here if this side was really sealed like this.

“Fake wall…” I murmur, thoughtful, cautiously moving my hand over the walls, searching for a hidden panel.

“Come on…” I mutter, panicking. If I’m wrong, I’m screwed. Then, by divine miracle, my hand sinks into the wall.

“My God…” I murmur, thrilled, and pull on the panel. And would you believe it—the wall actually moves aside?!

If I weren’t in such a hurry, I swear I’d be trying to figure out the mechanism that makes it work. It’s almost like I’m in one of those mystery movies. I step inside and find… just three boxes.

They mentioned this.

I approach, already pulling out the key and trying to open each one, which didn’t take long. I grab the jewels—three of them—and hurry down the corridor.

“Come on, Lau!” I tell myself. My hands are sweating cold.

There’s a door here connected to a computer and a bunch of other things. Obviously, I have to use these jewels as a power source.

“Use your brain, Lauren…” I mutter, sitting in front of the computer.

We didn’t have specific lessons about this, but during the group study in the library, we glanced over it.

Chemistry and technology…

“Humn…” I search for the spot where I need to place one of the stones to act as the power source.

It didn’t take long, and I found it. Everything flowed perfectly.

The computer turned on, and I only had to work to decode the door’s password. We had lessons on this earlier today, which helped a lot.

The door opened, and I stepped out, finding agents clapping. My heart nearly exploded!

I finished! I did it!

“Come,” one of them says, and I follow, simply relieved. I hope that was enough.

BLAKE WRAY

Not bad.

“This girl manages to surprise me more every day,” Samuel comments, and Hailey stands up, clearly upset.

“There’s nothing to be surprised about. Besides her attending classes and getting important information she could use against us, she’s the daughter of an assassin,” she says, and I also stand.

“Bring the girls in and interrogate them. Once they confess that you ordered them to do this, you’ll be removed from here,” I say.

“I didn’t order them to do anything! I don’t understand anything anymore. Now you’re suspicious of me because of her too?” she questions.

If I didn’t know her…

“I will, until they say you had no involvement in their insistence on attacking Moss,” I say, and she smiles indignantly, running her hands through her hair.

“I can’t believe this…” she says, frustrated. “I can’t believe this s**t,” she adds, irritated.

“If you didn’t order them to do anything, there’s no reason to be nervous, Hailey,” Sasha says, and she sighs, leaving the room.

“Keep an eye on her and don’t let her have contact with any of the girls,” I tell the other agents, who nod and leave.

I return to watching the monitor because some haven’t finished the course yet. As soon as they finish, we return to the field for the elimination decision.

“I think it’s time to put a stop to Hailey,” Irika says as we walk into the field.

“You need to talk to her; she’s out of control,” she adds, and I’m so irritated I can’t even look at the one who’s here.

On the contrary, I’m curious to see whether her students actually managed to hurt Moss or not.