Mission Impossible

Chapter 42~ The Ghost Is Out of The Bag

HARRY'S POV

  "Agent Styles, this isn't the time nor the place," Director Rain leaned and and told me. "Now go back to the school and wait for me before you make an even bigger mess."

  I hesitantly nodded and walked away from the funeral, my hands in my pockets and my head hung low as I made my way back to Clara's school. As I walked, I wondered what Rain would tell everyone at the funeral. Certainly not the truth, but which version of the off-spun truth? Would it be that I thought I saw an intruder in our private reception? Or that I was racked by my partner's death, and couldn't stand to be there a second longer?

  I walked through the large gates slowly, hearing a creak as I pushed them open. My dress shoes made a calming noise as they hit the cobblestone driveway, and it was the only sound I could hear. Even as I walked towards the front doors, I still couldn't hear the rustling of life inside the doors. When I pushed those open as well, what I saw surprised me. Nothing. No one going to class, no one getting ready for any missions. I heard footsteps coming up one of the hallways and turned to see a man in a lab coat coming down the hallway.

  "Excuse me, where is everyone?" I asked him. He looked up from his notepad and gave me a look over. "Agent Styles, from Greyswood," I explained. When I spoke he relaxed.

  "Agent Walker's funeral. A majority of the girls just left to attend. Popular girl," he said with a sad grin as he continued on his way. I watched him leave and stood in the silence after the echo of his shoes faded away. Not knowing where to go without Clara to lead me, I went to one of the only places I was familiar with in this large school. I lightly jogged up the stairs, and kept going until I reached the floor. A few doors down and I turned, facing my destination. Clara's room.

  I trailed my hand along the door and rested my head upon it. I didn't realize how long I had been standing there until I heard a noise behind me.

  "I thought I'd find you here," Director Rain's voice spoke behind me. She had startled me, but I didn't show it as I slowly raised my head from the door and looked at her, my hand trailing slowly after. "You really loved her didn't you?" Rain asked me. My jaw tensed and my heart skipped a beat at her words. I found myself not being able to confirm nor deny.

  "We need to talk," was all I said. The director nodded and I followed her back down to her office. The wooden doors opened and I stepped inside. I gazed around at all the books and the red walls and remembered the first time I had been inside this office. After Clara escaped from Greyswood, the General and I had taken a short field trip to our sister school. We went inside here, I got Clara's room number, snuck out of the office and the rest, as they say, was history.

  "Feeling nastolgic?" Rain interupted my train of thought.

  "Yeah, well nastolgias a bitch," I said, finally sitting down across from Rain. We stared at each other for a moment before she spoke.

  "I miss her too, Harry," she began to speak. "But insisting she is alive is going to make getting over this so much harder," she told me what I already knew. "You need to let her go."

  "I won't," I told her, and I felt like something was clawing at my throat "I can't."

  "Yes you can, Harry. It's going to be hard but you're strong. You can do this," Rain tried to comfort me. I cleared my throat. Rain wasn't understanding me. I needed to make it clear this wasn't all in my head.

  "Director I don't need to get over this because Clara isn't-,"  I began to explain before she cut me off, her voice pitched.

  "Agent Styles," she said, grabbing my attention. "Clara Walker is dead," she said, her voice breaking.

  "Really?" I asked, standing up and knocking my chair down to the ground. "Where's her body then?" I challenged.

  "She was burnt in a fire, there is no body-," Rain started to repeat the news we had all been given.

  "Oh yeah, that's real convenient for someone who wants to fake their own death, isn't it?" Rain stood up to join me.

  "And why would she do that, huh? Why would she fake her death?"

  "She wouldn't! Clara is being held hostage," I revealed.

  "You need to calm the conspiracy theories inside your head, Styles. Clara was the best, if someone were to take her and fake her death, they would have to be completely off the grid, they'd have to be-," she paused in her rant.

  "They'd have to be dead," I finished. Rain stared at me, still not convinced but not knowing what else to say. "Know any dead people who'd want Clara gone? Because I have a few in mind."

   Rain shook her head, finally deciding once and for all I was crazy. "Harry you can't do this to yourself. You can't blame yourself, this isn't your fault."

  "What are you talking about?" I questioned, not even beginning to understand where Rain was coming from.

  "I know right now you're probably blaming yourself for what happened to Clara because you brought her to London, but you can't do that. It wasn't your fault the fire started. It wasn't anyone's, it was an accident. No one was out to kill Clara." She sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than me.

  "Really? No one in this whole entire world wanted a U.S. spy dead? An assassin dead?" I challenged.

  "How did you know about that?" Rain quickly asked me, concerned about a security breech at a time like this.

  "The same way I know Clara's alive," I said, ready to spit it out and probably get arrested for treason.

  "And how's that?" Rain gave in, anger so clear in her voice I thought she might explode.

  "Zayn's not dead."