The Edge of Honour

Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18

Gorran's POV:

We had been travelling for hours. I had barely noticed the magnificient scenery as we drove quickly past each breathtaking view. I knew that wherever Steve was taking me was even further away from the training centre than I had been previously. I desperately needed to sleep, my body longed to shut down, to become vacant from evident. I was thoroughly exhausted. The rocking motion of the car only increased my yearning for sleep.

Finally, the car pulled to a stop. I looked around in anticipation expecting to see a great building rising up in front of me, but there was nothing. A huge metal fence stood before us, barbed wire ran menacingly along the top of it. Its spikes poised as they waited patiently for an unwelcome intruder. Every few metres, there was a small sign that warned the public that the fence was electrified. Just being near it, made me feel uncomfortable; it was as if I was trespassing on someone else’s property. I wondered and admittedly hoped that we were at the wrong place.

“We are outside,” Matt said into his phone. He laughed slightly at the shocked expression on my face. I was too tired to admit to hide my horror at my new location. I could not believe that this was what I had given up my old life for. This was where I would spend at least the next few months, as I honed my skills and desperately tried to perfect my powers.

A tall, muscular man with a bald head and dark sunglasses appeared on the other side of the fence. I was transfixed by his stride- it was a regular even pace and he stepped with great purpose, it seemed as if he had military training. He turned his head to either side and stood still as two cars passed by us. Once there was no longer traffic or people in the area, I watched as he caught the edge of the solid fence with his bare hand and peeled it back. He walked sideways, continuing his strides as the fence slowly trailing behind him until there was enough room for the car to pass through. Only then did I realise that the signs had been a lie- there was no electric current. Infact the fence wasn't even real, it had appeared to be a light sheet as it was pulled across. Matt smiled back at him as we drove past the fence. With a final check of the area the man began to return the fence like object back to its original position.

Ahead of us there was a narrow road. The ditch had grown high on either side of it and stones and pebbles of every size formed the uneven driving surface. The car moved slowly up and down as we progressed over each bump; causing me to be bounced slightly in the back seat of the car.

As we approached the corner, I turned my head back to look the window. The man clicked the seamless looking fence back into place as if it had never been moved. He walked away from it and back into the small guard post where he had been before our arrival. There was no need for him to remain at the fence. Nobody would suspect that the fence wasn't real or that there was a building behind it, not to mind a world class training facility for the world's most elite secret agents and spies.

I turned my attention back in front of me and gasped at what I saw. The narrow dirt track had opened up into a huge driveway. The courtyard had been paved and men in suits were dotted throughout the area as they welcomed people and carried the bags of others.

“This is our stop,” April said as two men stood beside the car and opened each of our doors for us, I felt like royalty. The man bowed at me causing me to feel slightly uncomfortable with the unfamiliar gesture. Matt handed his keys to the man standing beside him. Slowly, almost painfully so we made our way up the five marble steps before reaching the towering archway.

Beyond that, there was a similar courtyard with an illuminated water feature at the centre. A statue of a glass tree was centrally placed in it, a soothing light lit it up from underneath. Rhythmically, it faded from blue, to green, to yellow, to orange and lastly to red. As it changed to yellow the edge of the outer circle was filled with thin jets of water shooting several feet into the air. When the tree became red, a smaller circle of jets that were closer to the tree sculpture flew further up into the air. I was mesmerized by the majesty and beauty of the colours and the movement of the water.