Trigger Kids

Chapter 5

Short update. I'm lazy.

Maya xx

The incessant banging drives me awake, alerting my senses to the here and now.

"FBI, open up!"

"What?" I cry, falling out of bed in a tangle of sheets. I scramble to get to my feet, to sort my mind into thoughts.

There's macaroni tipped on the floor.

"This is your last warning, Miss Price. Open the door or we will use force," the drill-sergeant-sounding man outside, bellows. I fling myself towards the door in shock, fumbling for the lock and yanking it violently open. A gust of wind blows back my long hair, raising goose bumps on my arms and legs. There, before me, are two beefy men in black. The older one of the pair with salt and pepper hair flips me his identification.

"Agent Calder from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This is Agent Somers. We'd like you to accompany us back to headquarters, Miss Price."

"E-Excuse me?" I stammer disbelievingly.

"Miss Price," Agent Somers says, removing his sunglasses. "We'd like you to accompany us for questioning."

"Questioning? I haven't done anything wrong!"

"At this stage that is clear," agrees Agent Calder in his drill-sergeant tone.

"Is this some sort of joke?!"

"Afraid not, Miss Price," says Agent Somers empathetically. "Please, go inside and pack a bag of your belongings. You have ten minutes."

"I'm not doing anything unless someone tells me what's going on!" I shout.

"We can do this the easy way- "Calder begins, reaching into his pant pocket for a pair of handcuffs.

"India," the younger FBI Agent addresses me personally, stepping in front of his partner. "You are aware of the crisis on board NK-191, correct?"

"Yes," I frown. "What's happened?"

"We have rights to believe your roommate, Sebastian Harvey, has ties to the group responsible for the hostage."

"Messiah's? What? No! His brother was on that flight- "

"Miss Price, I think you better accompany us back to headquarters."

"Sebastian isn't involved in any of this!" I find myself yelling. "I told you, his brother was on that flight; they're victims in all of this!"

"We do have the right to detain you, Miss Price, so I suggest you comply with our instructions. Go back inside, back yourself a bag of essentials, and we'll escort you to headquarters for a brief questioning," says Somers sternly.

Fear, for better lack of discrepancy, clutches my spine. I move slowly, so slowly it's as if my entire existence has been recorded on a slow motion camera. I try blinking to regain focus as I turn back into the cabin, sweeping the main room from left to right. This isn't happening, I try to tell myself. This is just a bad dream and when you wake up everything will be back to normal.

There'll be no hostage crisis on board a craft in the Alpine Mountains. There'll be no FBI men at my doorstep, asking me to accompany them for questioning. And Sebastian will be right here; ready to make me laugh, or blush, or cause me to forget my name.

But I never do wake up.

Before long I'm seated in the back of a sleek, black SUV, on my way to FBI headquarters. Agent Calder sits up front in the passenger seat next to the driver, and Agent Somers sits beside me. I'm clutching onto my duffel bag, chewing harshly on my bottom lip.

The car takes forty-five minutes at least to reach its destination, which happens to be a private runway. To my bewilderment, a jet sits on the landing strip.

"I hope you don't mind taking the long route, Miss Price. Our Californian headquarters would have served well for proximity, however, there are security factors at risk here and I'm afraid our West Coast intel has been breached. Washington is the safest option right now."

I turn to look at Agent Somers who has just told me all this. "D.C?"

"Uh-huh, ever been?" he grins genuinely.

"No," I whisper, just as my side door is opened. I flinch as another  one of the 'Suits' offers his hand, but take it gently, as I step onto the runway. Behind me, there's another black SUV which must have trailed us here, I realise. Agent Calder gets out of the car, making up one of the seven 'Suits' close by.

"Follow me," he orders, taking me by the crook of the elbow and leading me towards the jet. The Suits walk briskly to keep up, glancing around the barren runway and rolling landscape. Their suspicious habit is beginning to make me nervous as Agent Calder and I near the jet. Suddenly a set of steps lower to the ground, and Calder ushers me up them, wind blowing my hair wildly. The pilot doesn't glance up from checking his controls as I clamber on board, taking in the interior. Tan, leather upholstery covers the wide seats; a drinks tray is set up between two opposite facing seats.

"Get comfy," Calder plonks me down in a seat. "It's a long trip to the capital."

Somers and one other Suits joins us on the jet before the pilot starts up the craft.

"You ever flown before?" Somers asks me over the start-up of the engines, raising his glass of scotch.

"Once," I say quietly.

"There's nothing like flying, I reckon," he grins, tipping back some of the drink with a satisfied hiss.