Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
└➤ the agency 。✑ ───┐
THE FIRST THING THAT ELIZABETH ADLER NOTICED WAS HOW THE AIR REEKED. It reeked so bad that her nose felt like it was burning, and it made her eyes water. Yet, her mother was completely fine as she sat beside her daughter. Across the table sat a large plump man with a balding head who looked bored and tired. "Tell me about your daughter, Mrs. Adler," the man said, causing Elizabeth to shrink into herself, her long brown hair falling into her eyes. She didn't want to be here, she could feel all the death within this building and it scared her.
Her mother didn't care as she smiled, all Elizabeth was to her was a giant paycheck. It's all she ever had been since she first discovered how talented her daughter was. Her mother had a problem with gambling, which led to them never having any money. This business would help with that. "Elizabeth here has had talent since she was only 6," her mother started. "She's always had great luck with touch and telling what was the source with just a graze."
The man looked at Elizabeth, she didn't like how he looked at her, he looked at her as if she wasn't a person but rather just another asset. A machine. "So, she's a toucher?"
Her mother nodded. "Yes. but she can also hear them, it's just not as strong as her touch."
The man smiled. "Well, you're in luck. We've a vacancy."
Elizabeth's shoulders slumped. There was no way of getting out of this. She was going to be stuck in this awful agency and there was nothing that she could do. "Oh, good," her mother smiled.
The man returned her smile as he leaned back in his chair. "Mrs. Clarke will take care of her paperwork, her office is just down the hall."
Her mother thanked him before she faced Elizabeth, ushering her up and out of her chair before she led the young girl out of the office and down the hall where Mrs. Clarke's office sat. The door was wide open so her mother stepped inside with Elizabeth trailing behind. Mrs. Clarke greeted them as she gestured for them to sit down. "Welcome, welcome," Mrs. Clarke smiled. "Let's get started."
Her mother nodded as she leaned forward while Elizabeth leaned back in her chair, shoving brunettes locks behind her ears before crossing her arms. "You can confirm that your daughter is of legal age?"
"Yes," her mother said.
"And has adequate ability to sense the presence of type one and type two visitors, and defend against them?"
"Yes."
"You understand that she'll be exposed to significant risk of trauma, injury, and death whilst carrying out her duties?"
"Yes."
"And that beyond completion of training and issuance of protective equipment, it's her responsibility to safe guard herself at all times?"
"Yes."
"Payment will be made on the last Friday of each month. Into whose account?"
"Mine," her mother answered.
Elizabeth shook her head, feeling angry. Her mother was more than fine with throwing her daughter's life away if it meant that her mother got money from it. It was as if her mother never loved her in the first place. And maybe she didn't.
✎
SHE stood next to another girl, Lucy if she had the name right, trying not to glare at the man's bald head. She hated it here already and it had been less than five minutes. He was an ass of a man. They stood in front of a classroom, which meant that there were eyes on both of the girls. The man cleared his throat. "This is Lucy Carlyle, listener, and Elizabeth Adler, toucher," he introduced. "Norrie, look after them and show them the ropes."
And that was the start of a beautiful friendship between the three girls. Elizabeth was quick to realize that Jacobs was an absolute asshole. And her friendship with Lucy caught like a wildfire and in a matter of a month, they acted like they had known each other their whole lives. Which surprised Elizabeth since before arriving at the agency, she had no friends because people didn't like her. She was always too weird or too snappy. Yet, Lucy didn't mind. It made living at the agency easier, made living more bearable. She could actually breathe, no longer was she ready to give up on life. And it was all thanks to Lucy.
And while she was friends with Norrie, she wasn't as close to the older girl as she was to Lucy, though there wasn't a reason for it. She liked Norrie, they just never clicked like her and Lucy. Though the three of them shared a dorm room and it was nice. Jacobs could almost be her home all thanks to Lucy and Norrie.
They were currently relaxing before bed, Lucy and Elizabeth on Elizabeth's bed while Norrie was on her own. Elizabeth was laying on her back with her head hanging on the bed, half listening to Norrie and Lucy as thoughts about her name swirled through her mind.
As time away from her mother continued, Elizabeth started to hate her first name; too many bad memories attached to it. She sat up after a minute, light chestnut hair falling into her eyes causing her to huff as she pushed it out of her face.
"You alright?" Lucy asked, her brown eyes meeting Elizabeth's.
She nodded. "I don't want to be called Elizabeth anymore," she blurted out bluntly.
Lucy's eyes widened but she nodded. "Alright, what shall we call you then?"
Elizabeth paused, she didn't think about that. "Um," she said. "I didn't really think about that."
"Okay," Lucy said. "We could go with Liz, Eliza, Lizzie, Beth, or El?"
Elizabeth hesitated. They were good nicknames but it wasn't what she was looking for. At seeing her hesitation, Lucy's eyebrows furrowed. "Or not," she said, glancing over at Norrie for help.
Norrie hummed. "You could go with Ziggy? I used to have a great grandma called that whose full name was Elizabeth."
Elizabeth perked up, brown eyes meeting Norrie's as she smiled. "Yeah, I love that," she said. "Ziggy...thank you."
Lucy smiled. "Of course, anything for our friend."
