The Candles

2

Compared to other missions, Logan didn't receive as much information as he thought, although he did spend the next three days in Ava's company, reading files for Kendall's friends while sipping hot chocolate in Jane's office.

They were given three days of intense survival lessons in the forest for the possible treks they would go on. They learned about the Australian Outback, its creatures and bugs, as well as ways to get water if they ever got lost.

He and Ava were given a full day to pack and they were excused from their classes.

Logan was woken up by his alarm at four in the morning. He crawled out of his bed and made his way to the bathroom for a quick shower. He then proceeded to grabbing a croissant and a bottle of orange juice from the dining hall, hauling his heavy bag over his shoulder and walking towards the campus parking.

It was still completely dark outside and there were only three other people on the parking lot. Jane Gauthier and Ava Walker stood outside a white Ford Escape. The driver was listening to music inside the car when the three of them climbed inside.

"Edmonton International Airport, is that right?" he asked, lowering the volume of the rock music.

"Yes," Jane said, closing the door to the passenger side behind her. Logan felt awkward sitting so close to Ava and he quickly put in his earbuds so he didn't have to talk to her. Logan wasn't antisocial or anything, on the contrary, he was good at making friends, but conversations were always uncomfortable to start with Ava. Logan closed his eyes to get back the sleep he was missing. As a sixteen year old, he slept more than the average adult.

Usually, the trip to Edmonton from Sandy Lake would've lasted three hours, but with JAYES' special government plate, the driver was able to cut down to two hours without getting pulled over.

Logan woke up from a light sleep as the car stopped in front of the airport's entrance. He helped get all the gear out of the car's trunk and the three of them checked in. As they settled into their uncomfortable economy class seats, a baby started wailing a few aisles down.

Logan found himself sitting next to a sick man who kept coughing into a dirty handkerchief for the next three hours. The next flight lasted fifteen hours. But it was better sitting next to Ava than next to a coughing dude for that long. Neither of them talked to each other during the whole flight.

After the plane landed in Australia and the exhausted trio made it past customs with their fake passports, they boarded one last plane to Whyalla. Four hours later, they left the airport and picked up a car from ASIS. They arrived to the house one hour later. By this point, Logan didn't know how he was still standing.

ASIS had already prepared a house for them, with a nice backyard and a tiny circular pool. Logan didn't care enough to visit the rest of the house. Ava had already picked a room and they both left the biggest one to Jane so he was stuck with a bedroom barely bigger than a walk-in closet. Thankfully, the bed was already made.

The trip had lasted about twenty three hours without counting layover time, which would've made the trip last thirty hours in total. Logan didn't look forward to the trip back as he crashed on his bed and fell asleep instantly.

It had been two in the morning when they'd finally arrived. Logan woke up at four in the afternoon. Ava had just woken up and Jane had finished making some sandwiches for the agents.

As they sat around the pool eating the sandwiches, Jane started talking about the mission.

"We've managed to place you in the same classes as your targets. Logan, you'll be in year 10 with Riley and Ava, you'll be in year 9 with Aileen."