THE COVENANT (Volume one) Cloaks & Daggers

Chapter two

                                                                                 Double duties

As the cab came to a stop the driver said "Ma'am, we have arrived" in his Spanish accent. "thank you" she said as she opened the car door and stepped out. She approached the door and was stopped by the guard "Your ID ma'am?" "oh yes it's right here" She pulled out the fake ID that Xavier had made for her and handed it to the security guard. "What kind of a fancy mall is this?" she asked herself. The security guard scanned it for a while and raised an eyebrow jokingly, which made Leia nervous. "Alrighty, ma'am, you're good to go. Thank you for cooperating," he said with a chuckle. Leia sighed silently. "Thank you," she replied, taking back her ID "Have a great night," the man said as he opened the door for her.

 Inside the mall was crowded, it was a weekend. People were cheering, talking loudly, and laughing. It was unlike anything Leia had ever seen. She tried her best to avoid bumping into people as she headed to the specific café Xavier had told her to go to.
 Inside the café was much more silent, the tables and chairs were so neatly placed "Now this is more like it" she said with a smile. She wandered around for a bit, but then something caught her eye. She spotted a man who appeared to be around her age, sitting alone. She approached him, thinking to herself, "I could sit here until I spot this 'Connor' guy." "Hey, are you expecting anyone?" he looked up from his phone. "Oh, no, I'm not expecting anyone." "Do you mind if I sit here?" "No, not at all, go ahead." Leia sat down and made herself comfortable. The man then asked her, "Not much of an extrovert?" "Oh, not really, why'd you ask?" he smiled. "I saw you come out of the crowd like you saw your man rizz up another girl," he said with a giggle. "Oh, you saw that?" she said, feeling embarrassed. "Yeah." "Want something to drink?" "Oh, yes, please." "Do you prefer coffee or...?" "I'll take... a soda." "Great! Coke or what?" "Yeah, I'll take a coke." The man headed over to the desk and put in an order. He came back and the two started conversing, it was awkward for Leia because she didn't know him but she needed to act casual.

  The waitress came over and placed two glasses of soda on their table "Enjoy your drinks" said the waitress "Thank you" they both replied. "so what's your name?" asked Leia "Oh my name is Connor" he replied with a smile. Leia felt her insides tighten, it always happens when she meets her target. "I'm Lydia," she said trying to hide her shock "Nice to meet you, Lydia," said Connor. And just as he was about to take a sip of his drink, his phone started ringing "I'm so sorry, I need to take this call" he said as he stood up and walked out of the café. "Now is my chance," Leia thought to herself. She made sure no one was watching then carefully poured a drug powder into his drink and stirred it. Connor came back a few minutes later, "I'm back" he said. Leia and Connor started sipping on their drinks. All of a sudden, two men started yelling, "Leia put her cup down, "what's going on?" she asked "Billy, he's always getting into fights" Connor replied, "who's Billy?" she asked "Billy is that waiter over there, we went to together, he's a bit hot-headed". Leia continued watching the fight, hoping Connor would pick up the drink, but she didn't want to watch him do it because she'd catch herself staring and she didn't want to blow her cover.
 After the fight had been separated, Leia went back to drinking her beverage and conversing with Connor, she was patiently waiting for that drug to kick in. Even though she didn't know him she was starting to like the conversation they were having, it felt like she was talking to herself. Halfway through their conversation though, she started to feel a bit dizzy. Connor could tell. "are you ok?" he asked, he seemed genuinely concerned. "yeah.. I'm just starting to feel a little light-headed," she said, "oh no" said Connor, Leia stared at her glass for a second, and her face changed, "YOU!" she said in a shocked tone. Connor looked confused "Me?" "Don't play dumb you-" she was about to say something offensive but stopped when she noticed Connor starting to smile. "it took you long enough," he said, "how did you do it?" she asked. "you didn't seriously believe that fight Was real did you?" he asked "It was staged" Leia said "I knew you put something in my drink" Leia's vision started blurring, "so while you were busy watching that fight-" "You switched the drinks" said Leia, finally realizing. "look who's finally catching on" said Connor, and that was the last thing Leia heard before completely blacking out.

Leia slowly regained consciousness in a pitch-black room, disoriented and struggling to make sense of her surroundings. She felt the cold metal of handcuffs restraining her to a chair, and as she attempted to adjust her eyes to the darkness, a blinding white light suddenly flashed before her. "Where am I?" she demanded, her voice echoing in the space. A shadowy figure emerged from the darkness, a man with a menacing black mask concealing his face. "Hello, Leia," he greeted her with an unsettling calmness. "How do you know my name?" Leia's voice quivered with fear and confusion. Ignoring her question, the man continued, "I have some questions for you. If you don't cooperate, things are going to get ugly." Leia's heart raced as she defiantly replied, "Ask all you want. I'm not saying anything." Connor stood stoically by the door, "don't make things harder than they need to be" He said in an icy tone. "shut up Connor I wasn't talking to you!" Leia was extremely enraged, she couldn't believe she'd fallen into his trap. The masked man began Interrogating her.
 Two grueling hours went by and Leia still didn't give him an answer, the man did all sorts of things to her, cutting her beating her, and shocking her. "LIST ME THE NAMES!" Leia's weak voice strained "No!" the man was silent, he was fed up with her resistance, so he ordered Connor to plug in a machine. He hesitated "Sir are you sure about this?" "I SAID NOW CONNOR!" said the man as he walked towards Leia and placed a helmet on her "Let's see how much our little guest here will endure this" Connor sighed as he plugged in the machine "Now, for the last time before this machine completely fries your insides, list the names of the men you killed that day" "NO!" yelled Leia, she was afraid to die, but she was taught that its better to die for the right cause because they won't let you go in the end anyway. Leia clenched her teeth and shut her eyes, she was waiting for that zapping feeling, but instead, she heard a gunshot!