LOVED, BRETHLESS, AND WANTED

Cammie’s Point of View

Tomorrow was my best friend Nicole's birthday. I was at a strip mall shopping for her present. The mall was surrounded by a dense forest, and since it rained here often the trees were always tall and green. I was staring at a mannequin's outfit, wondering if it would look good on Nicole. But that was when I heard it.

A gunshot. I felt the bullet fly past my ear and through the glass of the store I was just looking into. Time seemed to go in slow motion. I heard screams and shouts echoing around me. I whirled around, eyes wide. I was just a normal, average-looking high school girl! Why would someone shoot

me? A woman with piercing green eyes was holding a gun, pointed directly at me. My instincts took over and I sprinted as hard and fast as I could into the cover of the forest. My mouth was dry, and all I could hear were my boots slapping the ground and my labored breathing. I heard more gunshots fly past, missing me by a few feet. I heard them lodge themselves into the trees. Leaves and branches whipped my face, some cutting into my skin. But I didn't care. Getting cut up by trees was a whole lot better than

dying.

And then I heard footsteps. And they were gaining on me. Fast.

Suddenly, a bullet grazed my arm, causing my shirt to rip, and for streams of warm, sticky blood to start sliding down my arm. A strong hand grabbed my wrist and yanked me to a stop. I screamed, and looked into the exact same green eyes of my attacker.

Zach's Point of View

We had been assigned a real mission. And we were only in the 11th grade! My friends and I, Grant, Bex, Tristan, Macey, Jonas and Liz, go to Gallagher Academy. Blackthorne merged with Gallagher a couple years ago.

"You will be finding a girl," Mr. Solomon had said. "Her name is Cammie Morgan. She is a civilian."

"Then why is she so important?" Bex asked.

Mrs. Morgan, the headmistress, looked us straight in the eyes and said, "Because she is the daughter of Matthew Morgan. And the COC want her."

We had been looking for weeks, but haven't even found a clue. We were all up in a helicopter, looking down to see anything suspicious. And that's when I saw her. My mother. Otherwise known as the leader of the Circle of Cavan. She had just barely missed a girl who was window shopping. The girl turned around, and even from up here I could tell she was gorgeous. Her eyes widened and she started running. I think I found out girl...Cammie Morgan. For some reason, I already had an extremely strong urge to protect this girl.

"Let me down. Let me down now!" I shouted. Liz opened the door and dropped a ladder down. I climbed down and started running after the girl. She was a fast runner, but she was a civilian. With some spy training, one day she'll probably beat me in a race. Just before I caught up to her, a bullet grazed her arm. She didn't even wince. That was weird-she must be tough. I grabbed her small wrist, and she whirled around and screamed.

"Hey!" I shouted. She had started thrashing around, trying to get out of my grip. "It's okay. I'm here to protect you." I soothed. Up close, I could see her features more clearly. She had long honey-brown hair, reaching the small of her back. There were some gold highlights in it. She had even not-too-tan not-too-pale skin. But what was truly amazing about her were her eyes. They were a clear, dark blue. A blue that looks light blue in the sun, and almost black in the night.

"I'm not stupid." She snorted. "Where are you hiding your gun? In your shirt? Your back pocket? Just go ahead and shoot me then, and get it over with." Even though she sounded cocky, I could feel her trembling a little, and her eyes showed that she was afraid.