Spy School Out West

Chapter 23

Yay, now we've established TWO creepy adults who like kids a little bit too much (remember that Joshua's an adult, Erica is not, and Walter Crowe... also did weird stuff to minors). 

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Ben's POV 

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Joshua Hallal's house 
Paris, France 
August 3 
1000 hours 
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Watching Erica kiss Joshua was sickening. 

I could see the pain on her face as she did it, and the pure, primal sadist on Joshua's. Joshua seemed to pay no mind to the fact that he was hostaging his kiss, and was being quite passionate. Erica was just laying there with her eyes squeezed tight like she was holding back tears, which might have been the case. 

I was used to Erica taking no crap from anyone, ever, no matter what. Watching her being forced into submission like this made me feel weak all over. Every breath was slow and pained and my heart was beating a tempo as it sunk to my knees. I was shaking so badly that Mike had to come over and steady me, holding my shoulder and murmuring distinctly un-Mike things like "it's going to be alright" and "it'll be over soon" and "everything will be okay." 

The rest of my friends were all watching the scene play out, shell-shocked. None of them moved; it was their first time seeing anything like this and they simply didn't know what to do. The only exception was Balto, who appeared oddly sympathetic. She was still horrified, but this was something she was clearly familiar with. It made me wonder what else she'd seen that she hadn't told us about. I knew Erica would be relying on her a lot after this, whether either of them realized it or not. 

Catherine and Alexander also looked like they needed someone to come over and steady them. They were simply frozen in shock. If Joshua registered this at all, he showed no remorse and simply kissed her harder. I almost doubled over and vomited right then and there. 

They stayed like that for a total of three minutes and fifteen seconds, before Joshua pulled away, gasping. 

"How was that?" he asked once they both had their breath back. 

Erica said nothing and turned her head away again. "What?" Joshua demanded, smiling patronizingly at her. 

"You know what," Erica replied coldly. "I gave you what you wanted." 

Joshua shook his head, still smiling. "You're an enigma, Erica Hale." 

"Don't act like that was any good," Erica snapped as Joshua climbed off of her. Her upper arms were black and blue where he'd pinned her down. 

"Why, was Ripley better?" Joshua joked as they both stood up. 

"Yes, actually," Erica said. "He also never forced me to kiss him in exchange for my life." With that, she sprang at the thugs again, starting with Daymond, the one who'd held her at gunpoint for the kiss. 

I felt like I'd stood up too fast, but in a good way. This was the relief I'd been hoping for, and it felt well-deserved. For one thing, Erica appeared to have taken no harm from their kiss, at least not yet. She might not have processed it. For another, she'd proceeded to call me a better kisser than Joshua when I was certain he'd had a lot more experience. Granted, she was rather biased, but it still meant a lot coming from her. 

Erica did off with the first thug, knocking him unconscious in seconds, before moving onto the others. Mine quickly lunged for me, still clutching his gun, and grabbed my shoulder with a sweaty paw the size of a baseball glove. "Stop or I'll shoot him!" He yelled to Erica. 

I went limp instantly. It was a technique I'd been taught at school that had been specially devised for me. My Advanced Self-Preservation instructor, Professor Simon, knew that in this situation, I had very little actual skill, so I was to confuse my captor by simply closing my eyes and flopping in their grasp. It was called the Confused Sardine.