The Elites

Chapter Twelve

Our walk back to the central hall was in complete silence. Alice walked out in front of us, Juliet and Chase a short distance behind her. I wanted to laugh at the contrast – before we'd gone into the kitchens she'd been more than willing to stick by my side, but less than five minutes later she was putting as much distance between us as possible. Elites can be so prissy sometimes – can't handle being wrong. I was quite a prime example of that, as was Alice. But at least I could accept my bad choices or methods. Alice just tried to ignore her own and belittle mine – the ones that actually ended up right.

When we got back into the hall a lot had changed. Mr Hetley and Paxley were stood in the middle with a few other Agents and Ashton, the rest of the guests lining the walls on either side. Some stood, some leaned and some sat cross legged on the floor. Ties had been loosened and most pairs of heels had been removed, some replaced with flats – Lara and Blair always used to always carry a pair of comfortable shoes in their bags whenever they wore heels. Will and I would always tell them just to wear the comfortable ones in the first place, to which we'd get some form of you just don't get it.

"Christopher," I called, forgetting our earlier conversation about professional environments completely as I rushed towards the small group in the middle. Will and Lara were amongst them. "Violet's crazy. She just-"

"We know," he said, putting out a hand to stop me. "We saw."

I scowled at him slightly, trying to understand what he meant. It fit together fairly quickly as Will looked up at the wall behind me. I followed his gaze and remembered what had been lowered from the ceiling earlier that night.

I had had the idea that what had happened in the kitchens would be televised. If Violet could hijack the Agency's systems, then she could probably hijack another one. Then I realised: Violet hijacked our system. She could stream things onto whatever screen she wanted. If she can get signals in and out of the walls, surely she could transfer signals from one screen to another inside them.

The screen in the hall was now black, but I knew only too well that it hadn't been whilst we'd been inside the kitchens.

"So you know that Harry here won't be going again," Alice said snootily. I could've gone into a whole speech about how Juliet – an Elite ten years younger than her with half the credentials – was ten times better than her in there and that she was the one that shouldn't go again, but instead I just laughed. Mr Hetley would've seen it for himself.

"Well, actually..." Mr Hetley started, but was cut off by a loud collective gasp from everyone in the room. It had become a standard alert that a screen was no longer empty.

"Well, everyone, wasn't that impressive!" Violet said. Again, the background was pitch black and completely impossible to figure out. "And wasn't it lovely to be able to select your own troop!

"I'm sorry to say that that will not be the case from now on. So despite your protest, Ms Carson, Mr Eastbourne will be going again. In fact, I'm in the mood for a reunion. And I'm sure you're all dying to work together again."

I knew what was coming before she said it. I swore under my breath; Will seemed to understand too he grumbled unintelligently.

"Mr Hurford, Miss Hurford, Mr Eastbourne and Miss James, please!" she said brightly.

To my surprise everyone remained perfectly silent. I expected to hear the heels clattering against the floor as Lara and Blair dragged themselves towards the centre of the hall before remembering that both of them would've changed out of the death traps they called shoes into something more suitable for a game set by a psychopathic murderer daughter of a psychopathic murderer.