Barcrow's: Codename K9

Chapter thirty - Fair play

The sound of voices gently woke Celeste. For a while she just continued to sleep half-asleep but as the seconds went by she started waking up properly.

I wanna sleep. Go awa~y. So annoying. Messing with people's heads. She turned and threw her arm on her head. Oww~! Why does everything hu~rt?

'Oh she's waking up.'

No I'm not. Shut up.

'It didn't last all too long. How long has it been? Two hours?'

'So~, she'll be ok?'

'Well, we can't say for sure yet. The results still haven't arrived.'

'They said it was some sort of tranquilliser...'

'Mrhm... They lied. No tranquilliser has immediate effect unless it's an overdose which could kill the target.' Celeste said in a sleepy and annoyed voice. Perfect.

'They could have been trying to kill you.'

'Nah, they wanted me alive.'

'They could have been lying about that too.'

'Umum.' She shook her head. Those imbeciles wouldn't be capable of killing me. Not on purpose, that is.

'Then what was it?'

'Everything went quiet and dark, it was more like Hypovolemia.' What's she drinking?

'Ugh... And that means...?'

Tom answered. 'A decrease in blood due to dehydration. But that would be highly unusual, I mean is there anything that could cause that?'

'So there is someone pulling the strings.'

'Don't tell me. You know who attacked you?'

No answer.

'Sorry. That was a personal question. There's paper on the table.'

You know (no, you don't know) I could tell you if I wanted to, but since you're giving me a choice...

After a moment Luna sleepily got up and scribbled something down. 'Can we leave?' You seriously gave her hot chocolate to make her talk?

'And what if you collapse again?'

'I won't. Besides, I've got school tomorrow. I don't want to oversleep.'

Tom sighed and hung his head. 'At least take the mask off.'

She made for the door as she untied the ribbon and removed the mask. She put her hand on the doorknob and paused. 'Oh and... thanks.'

Ellie quickly put her mug down and ran after her. 'Thank you for everything. Bye.'

Tom smiled politely. 'Bye.'

As they left the room a scruffy looking kid almost ran into them. He was dirty and apparently quite rude as he didn't apologize and didn't knock.

He stormed into the room and shouted. 'Dad! Mom said dinner's ready.'

'How many times have I told you to knock? And don't shout.'

'Don't tell me what to do.'

The voices faded as they continued down the hall.

'...Where are we going?'

'I suppose you've been in the building before right? And since Zack said he'll bring your stuff over I'm going to suppose you've already been in their room. All the rooms are similar, ours is just a bit bigger 'cause there are six of us.'

'Six? Who are the others?'

'There's Tina, Abi, Debi, Olivia, Hinata and me. Abi's my sister. Tina's my half-sister, she was part of the mission we just finished. Tina is Hinata and Debi's half-sister. And Olivia's their half-sister. It... it's complicated.'

They walked on in silence.

'Is your ankle ok now?'

'It was "ok" all along. I'll tell you now, I don't play nice and I don't play fair. We're taking the stairs.'