Briar Preparatory Academy

Instructions

Colleen POV

I walk down the hall after my encounter with Celeste. She's been looking at my file. That little nosy brat. I need to call Jasper. He'll know what to do about this.

I've never understood why he hates the Academy. I've only been with him for about a year, but even since I met him, he spends the majority of his time and devotion to causing the downfall of the Academy. He refuses to tell any of his coworkers the real reason.

I have to call him and tell him that some of the students are on to me. This could ruin everything we've worked for. I grab my cell and check it for bugs and viruses, conducting a deep and in-depth search before placing the call. The conversations we have are so confidential; I can't risk anyone hearing it. It could ruin everything...

I dial his phone and nervously bite the inside of my lip. He picks up on the second ring.

"Hello?" He says casually. His voice sounds calm and even, causal and normal. But that's his cover. I know better.

"Jasper it's me." I hiss into the phone.

"Colleen. What's new at snob school?" He says with a snort. I notice that my name drawls out of his mouth like a snake.

"I'm serious. It's Celeste. She's been searching me and my file. She knows that I've had a run in with the FBI. She doesn't know what happened; only that it did. She has no idea I am connected with you and no idea about what's coming." I tell him quickly. I hear a loud sigh on the other end of the line.

"When I'm done with her, she's going to wish she had kept her nose out of other people's business." He says menacingly. I smile to myself. That will be a hard lesson to learn and a painful one if Jasper is teaching.

"I managed to track her on the laptop. I downloaded that spyware protection on my computer." I tell him.

"Which software did you download?" He asks me.

"Well I downloaded the program where I get an alert on my phone and my computer when anyone searches my name in a search box anywhere on any browser. I can track their action and their laptop as long as they are looking at my files and my name. But the second they close out or delete my name, I lose access to their computer." I explain.

"Very good. Very good." He replies.

"So what now?" I ask him carefully.

"Colleen, it's time. I need you to move on with the plan." He tells me.

"When specifically?" I ask.

"Tomorrow night." He says, drawing out the word, as if it takes lots of thought and intuition.

"Tomorrow night." I repeat, furrowing my eyebrows. He's never been one to hesitate.

A silence passes on the line; we both comprehend what needs to be done.

"Do you have everything ready, planned out, and set?" He asks me.

"Of course." I breathe a sigh of relief. I'm so glad I had the forethought to set up everything ahead of time. I didn't know exactly when he wanted me to start and take action. I am ready.

"Okay then. You will take action tomorrow night. Make sure it works." He says.

"I won't fail you." I tell him, wanting to make him proud.

"You had better not." He says threateningly. My heart skips a beat, and comes up in my throat. I hate it when he sends those small and subtle threats.

"Celeste has no idea what's coming her way. I promise." I say, in a desperate attempt to divert the threats onto Celeste. He can make her pay. She can be the proverbial punching bag.

He laughs a dark and scary laugh on the other end of the line. "She's going to pay. Don't you worry." He says.

"I need to go. I need to get ready. Talk to you later?" He says to me.

"Of course. I love yo-" I am cut off as the line goes dead. He hung up on me. I let out a huge sigh. He never really is one for showing affection. I set the phone down on the table and sit down on my desk chair in my room. Celeste wants to know how I got hired here; she wants to know what my run in with the FBI includes. I smile as I think about how well thought out mine and Jasper's plan is. I know that Professor Lockharte didn't see the mark on my file, I made sure of that. I got hired here quickly for one reason and one reason only.

I graduated from here.

I look down at my right wrist, which, like every student, bares the symbol of the owl, the school's crest. After years of attempted removal, the tattoo is fading from my wrist, but the symbol is still visible. These people are the next generation of Briar students, and I am their legacy.

That is how I know the halls of the school so well. It wasn't pure coincidence that I ran into her in the hall. It wasn't a coincidence that I haven't gotten lost since coming here. As for what I learned in the school...It's been incredibly helpful in working alongside Jasper Vegas against the FBI and CIA.

We all have our secret pasts and secret histories. That's what our cover is for. It's not as much to live as... but more so to hide behind.