The Edge of Honour

Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14

Gorran's POV:

My head was throbbing, it felt as if it had been hit several times. However, the rest of my body was warm; it was more relaxed than I had been since I had learned of the truth. My body was swaddled with several layers of blankets and their warmth comforted me somewhat.

Slowly my eyelids rose and I stared unmoving at what I saw. I was in a small room with blue walls. The paint was chipped and huge pieces of it hung from the wall exposing the plaster work beneath. To my left, there was a large window over which hung a small red blind, blocking out the light that threatened to illuminate the room. Beneath the window stood a desk, I could see that many messages were written into it, making it appear old and unloved. The chair beneath was broken, one leg stood an inch higher than the rest and part of the back had cracked off and now stuck out at a dangerous angle. I stopped looking around the room as I remembered.

Then I suddenly remembered.

The man in the mask, he had come after me. He had been so close. I had truly believed that that was the end for me, but thankfully I was wrong. April had saved me but in doing so, she had had to kill the man. Despite what he had tried to do, I could not bear the fact that he would still have been alive if it were not for me. Did he have a family who would wonder what had happened to him?

April had placed his body in the boot of the car without any thought. Whether or not he had family, I knew that somewhere somebody must care for him and miss him. They would spend the rest of their lives searching for him, but to no avail. MI5 did not leave clues, he simply disappeared without a trace. We were taking the final chance of closure away from his loved ones.

Remembering the man did not help to allay my fears and the guilt that I was feeling. I was still in a strange room. I felt safe, but I could not understand why. April had told me that the training centre in Liverpool would be basic, but this was worse than I had ever expected. I knew that I had blacked out in the car with shock but that did not explain the pain in my head. It was as if my skull was being used as a drum kit at a rock concert.

There was only one way to find out where I was. I needed to speak to April, but something about the situation did not feel right to me. I tossed the blankets aside and left them fall to the ground. I edged my way cautiously towards the door as I tried to make as little noise as possible. A lot of people worked for MI5 and April had previously ordered that I talk to her before anybody else. I could not draw any unnecessary attention to my presence at the training facility.

My hand gripped the small silver handle tightly as I silently willed it to open. I could feel the beads of sweat collating on my palm as I took a deep breath. I pushed down slowly on the handle. The door creaked as it swung on its rusted hinges. I winced, wishing that I could silence it.

Slowly, I closed the door once more. There was a voice just outside, it sounded agitated and he spoke quietly. Something definitely was not right, I could feel it. Mentally, I had to be prepared for what I may encounter as I looked for April. She was the only person who I could trust, I had to treat everybody else like a potential threat for the time-being. They could have been sent to capture me just like the man had. I needed to be armed if I wanted to protect myself.

I searched the room hopelessly for anything that I could use as a weapon. Other than the desk, chair and bed it was bare and none of those things would be any use to me.

To the side of the bed, there was a door. It was on the back wall behind my head so I had not noticed it earlier. It was already slightly ajar so I pushed lightly on it to leave myself in.