Accomplices

Chapter 1: The Job

Although my eyes were closed I could sense the warmth of the sun on my skin as it shone through the window. I remembered how I had forgotten to close the curtains last night. It came back to bite me, and I groaned, turning my body the other way and away from the window. I didn't want to get up, I wanted to cherish this moment for as long as I could.

However, nothing lasts forever and as I opened my eyes hesitantly to look at the clock I saw it was already 10 am. This meant breakfast would be over in an hour and I had in between now and then to get my ass up and get dressed or I would be without food for a while. The choices were sleep or food and unfortunately, food won this time so I got up and got ready.

Today was a special day. Well, it depends how you define special. Today was no regular day, no, today was the end of my break from work meaning I had to start my missions again. Today, the Directors would assign me a new mission where I was then sent off to a new world, a new dimension or a new timeline; it was my job as a "Traveler" to deal with time sensitive and extremely important missions where others needed assistance and couldn't always help themselves. Sure, maybe it seems fun and interesting at first but after so many times the negatives really begin to show.

Seeing as how I was being shipped off today I had to dress neutral, to make sure that my appearance didn't set off any alarm to any people that aren't me or the client. I put on a pair of straight black pants and a green t-shirt. After slipping on my sneakers I left my room and made my way over to the dining hall. The hallways in my section were empty and clearly I was taking a late start to the day. I walked with haste and made it there just in time to get my eggs and pancakes before they closed. I sat down at one of the tables and began to eat.

"Astrik!" spoke a voice to my right.

I turned my head to see two figures walking over to me. A short, pear shaped young girl with dark brown locks and icy blue eyes known to me as Rowan, one of my best friends. Alongside her was my other best friend, a tall and tanned boy with dark eyes and even darker hair (pitch black), my other best friend Noah. Some of the faculty would say that Noah and I looked like siblings, but disagreed completely. His hair was black while mine was a dark brown. His skin was only a bit tanner than mine and his eyes slightly darker which only made him appear that much more intimidating. I smiled as they approached me and gave them a small wave in acknowledgment.

"You're still here! I'm so glad we caught you before you left," Rowan spoke with worry in her voice and dread in her eyes, "what time do you leave again?"

"I leave at noon but I have to be at the R.o.E. at around 11:30." I spoke between chews.

"That's only 40 minutes from now!" she exclaimed, and then almost as if the comment hadn't fazed her for a brief moment she said "and Astrik how many times do I have to tell you to not speak with your mouth full!"

I rolled my eyes but smiled nonetheless. I didn't get to see her often seeing how we had different jobs in the facility. I was a Traveler, meaning I was always busy with missions and would be gone for weeks or maybe a couple months. My only solace was the brief breaks in between I would get to spend with them. However, Rowan was a Healer so she was also busy tending to people who had been harmed on missions, in training or general sickness/illnesses. She's the same age as me and is still learning as she is working. Noah's job was a bit different than ours. He was a Trainer and was, you guessed it, in charge of training. His job was to assist Travelers by training them in physical combat and in the very rare cases, follow them in missions when needed. He may only have been a year older than Rowan and I but because of his career path he was very fit and considered to be one of the best Trainers under the age of 18 in the facility (as I have been reminded constantly by him on multiple occasions).