The Assassin's Shadow

Chapter 25

The next few days was a flurry of activity as people arrived at the house, many staying at hotels and some staying at the house in spare rooms or in sleeping bags. Tom had explained my plan to everyone by this point and the most frequent response I had gotten was doubt. Usually they thought I was too young and wouldn’t stand a chance against Cody, sometimes they flat out said I was laying a trap and still worked for the Revolution.

At first the person most vocal to Tom against my plan was Ky. He had been irrationally upset with me when I had told him the entirety of my plan. When he had asked me in a harsh voice what idiot I planned to use as an assassin, I had given him a flat look and said, maybe a little too bluntly, “Me, duh.”.

That had not gone over well.

Ky had yelled at me for a good half hour after that until Tom had intervened, but after that first day Ky had changed his views. I think Tom, Logan, and Janet all had a talk with him because now he was the one who defended me against their claims, telling them about the time I had fought them all in the forest after running to show that I was strong enough and saying that I had stepped in front of a bullet for him. Of course this act didn’t impress many of them seeing as I obviously had healed hours after getting shot.

We had been at it for days and had only convinced around half of the people there of my plan, the other half rallying around Diana and Conner. Logan had managed to convince Missy that my plan was good, which had surprised me greatly. It still wasn’t enough, though. I had found myself sitting at the counter in the kitchen as people congregated at the table talking in hushed tones and every once in a while shooting me wary looks. I played with the sandwich I was eating, not particularly hungry but finding that I preferred having something to distract me.

I could see out of the corner of my eye as Logan came and sat by me, making me take a bite out of my sandwich so I wouldn’t be obligated to talk to him. He glanced over at the group of people who briefly stopped talking as they saw him before their voices picked up again in even more heated whispers.

“Ignore them.” he told me.

“I can’t afford too.” I whispered to myself as I raked my eyes over the number of people. “Why did you believe me?”  I asked him, turning in his direction. 

“Tom.” Logan shrugged. “He can read minds and he hasn’t been wrong about a person yet, why the hell wouldn’t I trust him?”

“Then why don’t they trust me?”

“A lot of people here have been traumatized by the Revolution, we’ve never had a person who’s escaped from them before. The general opinion on them is so low that even with Tom’s approval they can’t help but hate you.”

I nodded and frowned. “Do you think you can get everyone in the living room? I need to talk to them.”

“Do you think that’s a good idea?” Logan asked.

I sighed. “It’s our only option. We need to act fast or people will get tired of waiting around and begin to leave.”

Logan nodded slowly and clapped me on the shoulder before getting up and talking to people. I closed my eyes briefly to gather my thoughts, rubbing my temples with my fingers. When I had gathered my thoughts I pushed my chair back and got up, heading for the living room where everyone was beginning to stream in.

The window shades were pulled down as always and I went to go stand in front of the fireplace so that everyone was facing me. Tom came over and put a hand on my shoulder as if to reassure me and I gave him a small smile. Everyone had gathered and the room was filled to the brim with people, some having to stand in the doorways and out into the hall.