Estranged [Completed]

Recruited

Kalei returned to SWORDE. Stepping over the threshold again, the knot in her gut pleaded with her to turn and run the other way. This was a bad idea, and she knew it. She was never a good liar, she was never particularly good at being stealthy, and now she was going to be a spy in the home of a murderer? She could feel her hands shaking. Kalei clenched them into fists. She had to do this. It was a necessary evil if she wanted to take down SWORDE.

A new person was at the front desk, a young woman with storm clouds on her fingernails. She was happy to escort Kalei to Erit, stepping out from behind the desk and leading the way with a warm smile. She didn't even ask Kalei for her name.

The warm welcome set Kalei further on edge. She expected she was being led to an ambush. Down one of these halls, a door would open and she would find herself overwhelmed by hungry Estranged, and they would drag her away to— Kalei stopped her imagination from carrying the nightmare further. They wouldn't ambush her. Surely, they wouldn't? She remembered what Franklin had said; someone in SWORDE wanted her to become a Warden. It must be someone with some pull in the organization. She remembered how sincere Erit had been when he had offered her a chance to become a recruit. Could he be that person? Or was he a puppet for someone else's agenda?

They arrived at the conference room. Kalei recognized it as the same room from her last visit. The woman smiled and left Kalei with a warm "Best of luck." Kalei wondered why the woman thought she needed luck. What did this training involve?

Kalei swallowed back her concerns and opened the door. She was surprised to find Erit and the old woman exactly as she had left them, sitting at the end of the table, working away at their lessons. Did they ever sleep? Then it occurred to Kalei, she couldn't remember the last time she had slept since becoming Estranged...

The boy looked up from his work and said, "Ah, you're back. Always a pleasure to see you. Have you changed your mind about becoming a Recruit?"

Kalei paused. This was it. Time for the lies to start. Time to become a SWORDE Recruit. She swallowed hard, trying to mask her nerves with a more cheerful tone as she answered, "Yeah, I did."

"Excellent! Come. Have a seat." He indicated the seat to his right with a smile and a light pat of his hand on the wood of the table.

As Kalei moved to take her seat, someone came to the door. It was the man from the foyer— the one who'd pinned her when she attacked the murderer. "Hey! What do you think you're doing?" he demanded, walking up to Kalei, still fully uniformed and holding a helmet in one hand.

Kalei remembered her first week at the police academy. Lesson one: don't show weakness. She plopped down into her chair and looked up into his face as she crossed her arms. "I'm a Recruit," she replied stiffly. "I hear you people are in short supply of 'em."

The boy said, "Walker, this has been approved. Now would you kindly leave us to our lessons?"

Walker replied, "Was approved, and then the girl refused and took off. I don't think that—"

"Walker," the boy interrupted again, retaining his mild-mannered tone. "If you have a problem with this, I suggest you take it up with Terin. You have no business here."

"Erit, you know better than I do that—"

"Walker." A slight edge crept into Erit's voice. "Go."

Walker shut his mouth and scowled at Erit, then turned and left.

When he was gone, Kalei asked, "Who's Terin?" 

Let the spy work begin, she thought to herself.

The boy replied, "The Director. You may recognize him by the flowers in his nails."

"Ah." Kalei regretted becoming a mole already. She preferred to keep her demons anonymous.