Paige Brim

Chapter Five

    James pulled over in front of the Corinthia Hotel on the corner of Northumberland Avenue and Whitehall Place. The hotel was a grand sight, situated on a triangular base between Trafalgar Square and the Thames Embarkment, making the Corinthia captivating to all who laid eyes on it.

     Paige recalled her history teacher telling the class about it once. It was know, decades ago, as the Metropole hotel and had been situated close to British government buildings which led to it's involvement in World War I and II. Soon after the war, it was bought by the Ministry of Defense and used as  government offices until it was declared surplus and sold in 2007. It was then restored into a luxury hotel and residential building and renamed The Corinthia Hotel.

    “What are we doing here?” Paige asked.

    “This is where i'm staying.”

     “So why am I here? Take me home.”

      “Paige you know you're not going to be safe at home.”

      "If you tell what's happening, i'll be able to take care of myself."

     He sighed. “i told you i'll explain everything once you're safe.”

     “Well i'm not going into a hotel with you. ”

      “Please Paige, we don't have time for this. He could be trailing us as we speak."

    She crossed her arms and stared at the windshield.

     He sighed. “you're stubborn, you know that?”

She didn't reply.

 

      He let out a deep breath. “Fine.” he muttered in defeat.

She turned around to face him, satisfied.

    “The truth is, and I know you won't believe me, but I'm with MI5. We're MI5 agents, your father and I” He said, his tone even. He searched her face for emotion, any kind of reaction, but her eyes just stared into him blankly. He went on.

   "I met your father back when we were recruits in the army. We were execptionally skilled, especially your father. I almost envied him. This stuff came naturally to him. We were young, powerful and reckless. We knew what our superiors were expecting from us. We tapped into their minds, learned the secrets of the game, collected all the info we needed to ascend in the ranks. We blackmailed, threatened, did whatever it took to get to the top. It wasn't long before we had finished our training and with our abilities and potential, we were recommended into the british SAS. Two years into the SAS, we were visited by the Director of MI5, Samuel Parker. ”

    “He told us he had a job offer for us, one that if we accepted, involved completely wiping our identies, our lives, anything to suggest that we once existed, and taking up a whole new life. We were going to be paid a six figure salary, get facilitated access to any city, in any country, on any continent we wanted, and all this, while serving our country." He waited a second to let all that sink in before he decided to go on.

     “It was the job offer of a lifetime but your father refused. You had just been born and he had already lost your mother when she was giving birth to you a couple months earlier. He just couldn't leave you. I stood by your father and declined as well. The director gave us his card and told us we had a week to contact him not if, but when, we changed our mind. 'I want you on my team', he'd said”

     Paige felt a deep hatred towards the Director in James' voice. He obviously didn't think very highly of him.

    “Near the end of that week, while your grandparents were babysitting you, someone broke into the house. The intruder wrote me and your father's names with paint on the wall above your crib while you were sleeping. They didn't steal anything, they didn't harm anyone, but we knew what it meant. The message was clear. Either us or you, Paige. In the end, the director of MI5 got what he wanted.”

     “It didn't take long before we figured out why the Director wanted us so badly. He knew about our powers. He had a whole sector of MI5 agents training to hone similar powers. Even though they were trained, we were far more powerful, nearly as powerful as Director Samuel himself. But soon, Samuel realized that your father had powers that the great Director didn't have. Your father could get through anyone's mental defenses without the person realizing it. Your father didn't break the defenses like the guy from your school did to you, your father slipped right past them. "

       "He started to send your father off on more dangerous missions against powerful people other agents couldn't face. The last mission your father was sent on was to subdue and capture a man named Andrew Reynolds. This man had attempted to break into MI5 headquarters and the Director was determined to capture him and take him in for questioning. "

       Paige could barely keep track of all the information James was giving her. The entire day's events were becoming overwhelming. Listen first, process later she told herself. She brought her attention back to James.

      “The director questioned Andrew personally and then had his tongue cut off before he was locked away in order to make sure no MI5 secrets ever got out in case he ever escaped. The last I heard of your father was before the mission. We heard that friends of Andrew Reynolds tried to track down your father and kill him. For all I know, they could have succeeded. Then they came after me. I got away but it was only a matter of time before they found out about you. After that, I tried to locate your father but despite all my efforts, I couldn't find any information concerning his whereabouts. Your father was excellent at staying hidden. Even from the closest of people.”

      Paige's mind was buzzing with all this new information. She had so many questions and wanted so many answers that she didn't know what to ask. She decided on the first one that came to her mind.

   "You said the guy at school broke through my defenses.…but i didn't set any up." He looked uneasy like he didn't want her to press the subject.

    "Ahh, yes that was me."

     "You? Can you even do something like that?"

      "Yes Paige it's possible, not easy, but possible. I had to protect you in case Andrew or his friends came after you. Obviously my preception was accurate."

       "When did you do it?"

       He hesitated a little.

     "I set up those defenses every night while you were sleeping."

      Paige tried to block out the image of him jumping through her bedroom window every night to put some magic spell on her while she slept in her pajamas. It was just too embarrassing.

     "Okay, and who was that guy at school?"

     "I believe that was one of Andrew's friends."

     He put up his index finger. "One more question Paige, then we have to go."

She thought hard about what she wanted to ask. She had too many questions. Questions about her father, about James, about this Andrew person who was after her, but mostly, questions about herself. In the end she settled for the one question she kept subconsciously asking herself since they left the school.

    "So what now?"