The Good-For-Nothing Society | Completed

Chapter Twenty-One

Hours until we leave for London: One.
Where the safety deposit box is located; Harrods, Kensington.
How long I need to break into it: Five hours.
How many I will actually have: Two.
Team: Grace.
Number of Questions Stan has asked me since he accosted me at breakfast: 14.
Number I've answered: 5.

Stan is unusually skittish with me. He's watching my every move. He's nervous about something and doesn't want me to catch wind of it. Which can only mean he knows something about Amelia and doesn't want to tell me. My worst fear is that she's dead. The best outcome is they've found her, but she's not in a good way. He keeps telling me to focus on the mission. That I need to ignore everything else that has been going on. He says it like it's simple. But It's very hard to do when every waking thought is consumed with a girl I haven't seen for almost three months.

Seventy-Eight days they've had her. 1872 hours. Have you ever have something horrific happen to you, and it feels like it's been going on for an endless amount of time, but when you look at a clock, it's only been fifteen minutes? Imagine what happens when that fifteen minutes becomes over one thousand hours. Who knows what they will have done to her by now.

The fact she hasn't come back leads me to believe she's not alive. All my training tells me that. I think that once today's mission is over, Stan is going to tell me they've found her corpse. Which means they will have gotten whatever they need from her. Three British spies will have died. Yet somehow only I, the teenager in training, seems to really give a shit. If she is dead, I will never forgive my brother or this school.

My entire year is sat in the entrance hall waiting for instruction. Everyone is chatting excitedly, but not Grace and I. We're sat, shoulders pressed together, silence beating between us. She's been as torn apart as I have. She looks worn, tired. There is a belief that if we are taken, backup will be coming. But Grace and I have been left to feel as though we're crazy for wanting to provide backup for Amelia. It really is proof that once you're out of here, you're on your own; trust no one. Not even your own brother.

"What's that noise?" Lily asks, looking at me.

There's a pulsating, rhythmic noise filling the air outside. I shrug my shoulders. They all do this. They all expect me to know everything all the time. I don't know if it's because I'm top of the class or my brother, but no matter how many times I tell them; Stan doesn't tell me anything; they still ask. Lily makes her way out of the hall first, and we all follow. We look up at the three black shadows in the sky.

"It's a helicopter," I say, half as a joke.

"No shit," Alvin snaps, draping his arm over Lily's shoulders.

They're a thing now. They think everybody cares and talks about them. They don't. The most interesting thing Lily has ever done is get kicked in the head by Amelia. That's her legacy. I don't bite back. I watch as Miss Gateshead, Stan and Mr Hawkness emerge from the building.

"There will be three groups," Stan wastes no time in starting. "One with me. One with Gateshead. One with Hawkness."

I'm praying for Hawkness, but I know I'll have Stan. They're keeping an eye on me, and what better way to do that then put me with a trained spy who knows everything about me. He's been there since I was born, was literally in the room when I came into the world. There is no one else who can figure out what I'm up to quicker. Which is why I had Grace hide the contents of Fluffy's grave. I have to work extra hard to keep my mask up around him. I can do it, but it's easier not having to.

As predicted, Stan calls my name. Along with Grace and a bunch of others. He instructs us board the first helicopter. We do the thing we know best and follow instructions. Grace takes a seat next to me. There are headphones to put on, but I decide not to. I want to drown out my brothers voice for as long as possible today.