Visible Ghosts

33

Sang POV

Zane comes out of the office yelling my anime just as Axel and I finish discussing what he found last night, or more specifically didn't find.

"Where's the russian?" My brother asks before opening the fridge door.

"Sent him out to get food, he was hovering." I answer, shuffling on the couch to make room for Zane who came back with another cup of coffee and water for me. "What's Victor doing?"

He shrugs, "Told him to go wild, just not breaking into locked files." He points to the water in my hand, "that was actually for him but I'm lazy." I go to stand and he points an accusing finger at me. "Don't you dare, you need it more than he does, I'll check on Vic in an hour."

Axel looks between the two of us with a pensive gaze, "You think I can take a nap somewhere?"

"First bedroom upstairs is a spare room, make yourself comfortable." I tell him, snuggling down further into the couch, a book pulled up onto my new phone.

"Thanks." Axel pulls himself up and quietly makes his way up the stairs.

I begin reading on my phone as Zane watches random videos on his phone at a volume louder than necessary, boys. After a few chapters, I feel my eyes getting heavy and rest the phone on my stomach and close my eyes. Axel had the right idea getting a quick nap in, my mind wanders as I listen to the house. If I block out Zane, I can faintly hear Victor clicking away in the office. It's soothing. Until I hear a small yelp.

My eyes open and wait a moment to listen if there's another yell. When nothing happens I start to unbundle myself from the blankets I cocooned into when Victor opens the office door and comes to sit on the living room floor, his face is pale and he won't look towards me.

"Did you find anything from the camera feed?" Zane asks.

Victor clears his throat, "Someone messed with the feed, I pieced together a full video from other CCTV feeds but they've all been modified."

Zane grunts still absorbed in his phone, we sit in silence as Victor taps his fingers erratically against his thigh. Finally he glances up and catches me watching him. "What's the Minotaur mission?" He blurts, then his whole face flushes and he looks away.

"Huh?" I respond confused, meanwhile Zane starts laughing.

"I forgot I named that mission that, that building fucking sucked"

"What mission" Victor and I both question. Victor casts me a confused look and I shrug. Zane names the missions in only a way he can understand.

"The fight club one with the animal cages" Zane says, sitting up and putting his phone in his pocket.

"Oh yeah that one was awful, they had starved those poor animals half to death then forced them to fight to the death" The mission hits my memory full force, the absolute applying conditions that those animals had to endure was heartbreaking. What human beings are capable of is atrocious.

Victor speaks but so quietly I have to strain to hear, "I saw the video footage of you going through the halls," he pauses "It was terrifying."

I share a look with my brother, that mission was particularly brutal. Not one that many people in the academy ever hear of, let alone go on.

Zane breaks our connection to address Victor, "I'm sorry that it upset you but there's a part of the academy that deals with those types of things and that was standard operating procedure."

"I - I get it." Victor stutters, "I just can't believe it. How old were you?"

"17" We answer in sync, it was one of the first black listed missions Zane and I ever did together.