Aon

Chapter Nineteen

As fall came around the corner, the less we ventured out and the more we settled into the Manor. We all agreed that winter would only make it harder for us to go on missions, and we decided to calm our searches until the spring. During this time, it was agreed we could plot a better strategy. Our plan was successful so far, but we needed to broaden our search and to make more juristic changes. There was word that in North Carolina the Legions had a base. It was our plan to find it and bring it down in the spring. We tried to weasel it out of the prisoners we had, but all of them had never seen it. The Legions were smarter than we thought, the weaklings knew enough to fight us, but not enough to know the intricate plan of their plot against us. The only person that would know of every detail, the ins and outs of this, would be someone I didn’t want to see…

What made matters worse was the fact everyone wanted him to be interrogated, too. But he wouldn’t speak to them, he either spat in their faces or completely ignored them and lied limp on his cot so he couldn’t be moved. He refused food and water, and he even paced to keep himself awake. But what the night guards hated the most, was when he began to use a tin can to beat against the bars. The guards were refusing to stay no longer than two hours. He not only banged that cup while keeping it from their reach, but he would sing a song that made the guards practically claw their ears off. They never could remember the lyrics, but it drove them mad and they would quit the guard duty period until only Sam was on patrol down there.

I didn’t want to face him again, but I had to lift my chin and pull myself together. I said I’d conduct the interrogation and Eli volunteered his assistance during. When we came face to face, Michael peered at me emotionlessly from where he sat across from me and leaned back into his seat.

“Were the handcuffs really necessary, sweetie?” He lifted his hands.

“For the last time, stop calling me that.” I said agitated with the pet name.

He gave me a dry laugh as his mouth curled up into a crooked grin.

“Nah,” he leaned back into his seat. “I enjoy it too much.”

“Just tell me what you want.” I snapped. “You’re out of jail, talk!”

He glanced to the handcuffs then back to me with pursed lips.

“Take them off.” I gestured annoyed.

“Eleanor-” Eli began.

“Just do it!” I said exasperated.

He reluctantly removed Michael’s handcuffs and Michael smiled in almost mockery at him. He rubbed his wrists and looked to me as if in approval and lifted his brows.

“You’re ready to know…” He said. “I’m sure you can take it now.”

“Just spit it out, Michael.”

He folded his fingers together as his smugness fell and he became solemn.

“What would you like to know first?”

Eli seemed to choke in shock as he looked to me.

“Is there a base in North Carolina?”

“Yes.”

“Where?”

“Charlotte.”

I looked to Eli who seemed perplexed to get this information so quickly.

“What else?” I inquired as I looked back at him.

“The base is built underground, it is a part of an enormous incorporation called H. S. M., Harrison’s Stocks and Merchandise. Harrison’s company is owned by Paul, his son. Paul built the base beneath his father’s incorporation to keep the site unknown to the Aons, it has worked so far… until now of course.”

“How many men could I sneak in?”

“Sneak in?” He said baffled and leaned back. “You do realize the incorporation is crawling with Legions. The only way in is the front door and the fire escape. If you want in, you have to have a Legion escort.”

“Alright, what else?”

“Once you get passed there, you have to watch out for the Bloodhounds.”

“Dogs?”

“No, Bloodhounds, they aren’t dogs… not at all.” He shook his head. “They are a breed the Legions use to sniff out the Aons, hence the name Bloodhound. They are nothing like a dog. Their bite is poisonous, and they have thick skin, impenetrable of bullets. These things can turn on its own owner in ten seconds flat, they aren’t something you’ve ever seen.”

“How do we get passed them?”

“Don’t look them in the eye.” He shrugged. “They will let you alone, unless you are an Aon.”

“Then how do we get through?”

“The escort has to warn the guards that they’re bringing in a prisoner or a new recruit.”

“That’s it?”

“Well, not really. There’s a lot to go through to get anywhere near the heart of the base.”

I rubbed my temple in thought and rested my elbows on the table.

“I see…” I mused. “What else do you know? What is their plan?”

He hesitated and folded his hands together. “I would have to tell you everything then…”

“Alright, what is it?”

“You have met me more than once, Eleanor.” Michael began evenly. “I am –was an agent for the Legions, as was Caleb Jackson, my partner. I’m sure you’ve heard of him. Our mission was to go undercover and discover where the next Aon Heir was being kept, to find, capture, and destroy.” He said slowly as I eyed him warily and rigidly.

“Where are you leading this?”

“When Liam Bennett was killed, a small war had begun between the Aons and the Legions, killing men on both sides of the Clans. Two men had died, they were Aons, and I and Jackson took their identities, playing their lives for two years until we were perfectly hidden in the loop of the Aon’s lifestyle. After two years, it all had begun to come together, and it was time to execute the plan…”

My stomach churned as I stared at him, somehow, I knew… I just knew who he was speaking about. Someone who was a traitor to the Aons –someone who was strange to the Aons suddenly…

“What were their names?” I whispered.

“It was our duty, if I had known-”

“What was their names?” I thundered as I stood with a jolt and grabbed him by the throat.

His mouth became a thin line as his eyes softened and he gingerly removed my hand.

“Their names were Jacob and Marcus Freewood, twin Aons.”

I couldn’t breathe as I yanked my hand away and half stumbled into my seat. Michael tried to stand, but Eli grabbed him by the shoulder and roughly forced him to sit. He glowered at Eli before looking back to me with worry creasing his brows.

“Which were you?” I said hoarse, in both horror and rage.

“Eleanor-”

“Which were you, Michael!” I screamed as I brought a dagger to his throat.

His mouth fell shut at his name and he watched wordlessly as the angry tears collected in my eyes.

“Caleb was Jacob Freewood and I took the role of his twin, Marcus Freewood.”

The dagger loosened in my grip and touched the base of his throat as I stared in horror.

“Marcus?” I breathed in horror “You were Marcus.” It wasn’t a question. I knew the answer –yet, I rasped it in pain.

“Yes,” he said softly. “But you have to understand. I didn’t know my Soul Twin was the next heir to the Aons. If I had only known beforehand…” He trailed off.

I remained silent as I left this digest slowly. I couldn’t think straight as my next words came stumbling out.

“If I hadn’t escaped…” My voice cracked as I avoided his gaze. “If I hadn’t escaped, which twin was supposed to be the one to kill me?”

He wouldn’t meet my gaze as his brows creased and his jaw clenched.

“Which one?” I screamed as I pressed the dagger harder against his throat.

“Marcus…” He muttered. “Caleb was going to knock you out and I was supposed to shoot you once out of town.”

When he looked at me, I felt a blow to my stomach and the dagger fell from my grasp and onto his lap. He didn’t move, and he didn’t attempt to pick up the dagger, he remained silent as I tried to process this. I didn’t know why I cared, maybe it was because he was my Soul Twin and it hurt. The betrayal was deeper than I had thought.

“You’re dead to me, Michael Killian.” I rasped. It was as if I had shot him and he jolted back as horror filled his eyes. “I want you gone. I don’t care where you go or who you tell. I want you gone.”

He put his elbows on the table and put his head in his hands.

“I won’t go.” He mumbled. “I can’t let you out of my sight again.”

“You don’t have a choice.”

He lifted his head and cupped his hands together as he pressed his fingers to his lips.

“I’d rather be put back in that jail cell than leave.”

I couldn’t look at him and turned my head away. I felt sick to the stomach as I waved at Eli.

“Eli?”

He nodded and grabbed Michael by the arm and forced him to stand, but before he could walk out the door, he looked back at me.

“I’m sorry.”

He didn’t make an excuse or another comment, instead he shrugged off Eli’s hand and escorted himself to the jail cell with Eli right behind him.

I couldn’t face anyone without feeling the emotions boil up, I didn’t know whether I would snap and kill someone or if I’d burst into tears. As I slipped through the halls and made my way for the study, I passed Sam on the Cellar steps and she only stared at me amused.

“What? Is it finally getting to you, princess?”

She kept walking and I stared after her before opening my mouth.

“I hope you drop dead and rot in hell. I hope you swim with the demons and are thrusted into the lake of fire, you ungrateful bitch.” I muttered.

She stopped and looked back at me shocked as I turned, leaving her gapping as I headed for the study. I fastened the latch and collapsed into my father’s chair, glad the doors and locks were exchanged. I restrained from another tantrum, I didn’t want to see the horror and pity in Thomas’s eyes when he comes to inspect it. Instead I recoiled and tucked myself behind the desk in the corner of the room, hidden from sight and almost guarded by an extra layer. I shouldn’t feel betrayed, yet it still burned and hurt me the more I thought about it. I should have known, yet I never made the connection between him and Marcus.

Those words he spoke, they made sense. I used to wonder what it meant when he said, “Not everything is as it seems”, but now I fully understand what he meant. Not everything was as I thought it was, the people I thought were helping me were the enemy, and the people I feared were the people I should have run to. I wondered what would have happened if I told Kaden who I was, would have the Sledge Sisters survived?

Marcus was the one that killed a Legion to protect me by pushing him down the stairs. He was the one that ran with me out of Sledge Manor. He was the one that tried to snap me out of my ‘shock’. And he was the one that comforted me when I awoke from the nightmare…

I kept wondering why it hurt, why I felt such pain when I didn’t care for him. I sat alone in the study, tucked into the corner of the room as I rocked myself soothingly. He haunted me, taking every thought and molding it until it felt twist and demented. I couldn't rid him, he was my worst nightmare brought to life.

"Michael." I murmured. “Why are you doing this to me? Why, Michael?”

I called out his name in the silence, like he could hear me... like he would actually care. I felt bipolar, one second, I hated him and the next I was wondering why he betrayed me. I hated him because he betrayed me. –I hated him for being a Legion, someone that was not only the death of my world, but the death of me. Would I run from this? Would I hide? Or should I face this?

I closed my eyes and found his sorrowful eyes peering back at me. I wanted nothing more but to be alone in my own thoughts, but now I could never be alone. Whenever I close my eyes, he is not far from me, it’s as if when my eyes shut, he is suddenly sitting next to me.

“Why?” I whispered.

The eyes seemed to fall, and his face became remorseful as his brows creased. There was no answer and I didn’t expect one, he was merely a figment of my imagination here. Someone I could see as the man in my dreams, the one who looked to me in a way I have never been looked at before. But in reality, I only gained the hollow gaze from his wicked Legion face, where the darkness seemed to leak into his flesh and turn my stomach. In reality, he was like a disease that festered and brought to light all that I hated; where my dreams brought someone who was not real, someone who seemed to breathe life into me.

No one came to the study, which I was thankful for. I remained silent and still, peering into those eyes until I heard the grandfather clock strike midnight. I reluctantly got to my feet and laid down on one of the sofas, I wasn’t in the mood to try and attempt setting up the cot again. Instead I remained sleepless, staring at the gleaming glass over the ticking hands of the clock. I didn’t know whether I was a shell of a girl I use to know, or if I was always like this… Was I always this angry? Was I always this confused? Was I always this empty?

Who was I, truly? Was I not the person I once knew as Anne Bennett? Is this the new me, Eleanor Adela Foster? What has become of me? A hollow pit of despair and anger? Or am I now reflecting what I always felt, lonely and angry at everything. Was Michael just breathing life into what I felt?

I was restless throughout the night and the next night after that. I ventured out of the study at dawn, composed with the imitation of pure sanity and stability in my actions and voice. They were easily fooled, all except for Eli, who had seen my face and reaction when I was told.

I thought I was whole, with all that I had to endure alone. I didn’t feel the need for anyone to mend or breathe life into me. I was not broken. Yet, I couldn’t say I was securely composed. I was stable, wasn’t that enough? Couldn’t he see I didn’t want anyone to mend or fix me?

“It wasn’t meant to be.” I told myself.

But somewhere deep inside of me, someone chuckled and whispered into my ear faintly:

“Oh, you have no idea how wrong you are.”

My heart was set on fire, the ashes catching light as the fallen arise again and catch flame. My soul was trampled long ago, but now it has been awakened, stirred alive by the fight raging on behind the mortal eye. Yet, he was always there. Even when I never realized it.

There was no time to roll back the clock and restart. There was no time to undo what has been done. No words could stop what was fate and what was set and stone since birth. If there was, then I would have stopped it long ago before the discovery of my Soul Twin.

Who would have thought that a war between two Clans wouldn’t be my only war?