The building in front of us is big and beautiful, with large pillars outside and floor-to-ceiling windows covering the walls where the marble doesn’t.
It looks like something out of one of the fairytales Bella speaks of before the war.
Before we created the systems that protect the citizens.
Walking up to the large double doors, we show our fake IDs to the security guards before being allowed to continue. As soon as we’re inside, a boy dressed in all white gives us a glass of champagne from a tray.
I drink it immediately to calm my nerves, I can almost hear my heartbeat. The fizzy alcohol almost immediately goes to my empty stomach.
It’s always the moment before I find my target that my nerves start to play. I start to second guess myself like I wasn’t trained for this.
Carefully, I readjust my earpiece, tapping it once to make sure Lauren can hear me. And sure enough, I get a tap back in response.
Well, at least she can do one thing right.
Making our way into the large ballroom, Lauren and I start to look around, trying to find our target amongst the crowds mingling together.
It’s weird to see so many people casually talking at once; this type of connection would get you put in the chair for three days in The Academy, if not more. But of course no one knows that. Every detail about The Academy is confidential, including the fact it exists.
I wonder if they know what they do to us there. Our existence is known to the world despite The Academy’s best efforts. Not our identities, just what we do.
Nothing has been confirmed, of course, but the rumours run around Zone Three and the elites, who just pretend not to know.
“I don’t see him,” Lauren whispers into the earpiece.
“I’m going to check the bathroom. Wait for me here.”
Walking out of the room into the corridors, I look around, hoping to find the target out here, preferably alone, but I don’t back down from a challenge.
I turn off my earpiece, leaning against the corridor wall, needing a moment of reprieve from the mission and the sound of my heartbeat racing so hard I can feel it pulsing in my veins. It’s an unfamiliar feeling, and I don’t like it. Why am I so nervous?
Although Lauren and I are the only ones who can hear each other right now, our conversations are recorded and sent to Madam and the Overseer for review, and it’s not worth the risk of the chair.
Once I manage to calm myself down, I turn my earpiece back on and make my way outside instead of going to the bathroom. I search outside in the courtyard for any sign of the target, trying to find anything to go off, but coming up short.
The party is loud inside as I make my way back in. I take the time to survey the room, something I probably should’ve done when we first arrived, but curiosity won out.
We are in some sort of grand hall with large marble pillars on either side of the room, the walls decorated in the same material. Hardwood floors line the room, while the ceiling almost looks bronze with three large chandeliers.
The outside of the floor is decorated in tables with white cloth draping down from the top to bottom, with gold metal chairs placed in a circle around the table to seat six people.
Maybe if I can find the target, I can find a way to be close to him and observe.
On the left side of the room are two doors leading to the outside courtyard, which is surrounded by brown metal tin roofs. The courtyard has a large tree in the centre, its long, slender branches falling with leaves so thin yet dense, it looks like drooping silk. Beautiful. It’s unlike anything I’ve seen before outside of The Academy.
Forcing myself to look away, I turn to the back of the room. There are two doors on either side of a stage, leading out to the backrooms, I assume, which more than likely lead to the kitchen and other areas not meant for guests.
Exactly where I want to be.
“See anything?” Lauren whispers through the earpiece, and I shake my head despite not knowing if she can see me.
“Nothing yet.”
I memorised the photo from the mission briefing, though it was slightly blurred. One thing catches my attention: there is a scar across the bridge of his nose and down his left eyebrow, which will be how I manage to identify him.
If I can fucking find him.
Our usual targets aren’t so hard to find. With an everyday mission, like the one from yesterday, we know exactly where our target will be, down to the very spot. But for formal missions, irregular missions, it’s harder.
