Red {Wolf Rebellion I}

Chapter 3~Dark Scenarios~

This chapter is dedicated to the awesome @_constellations_ for the motivation to keep writing!

You can get into some pretty dark scenarios pretty quickly.

-Mark Zandi

Chapter 3~Dark Scenarios~

We arrived at the Scenario training room a few minutes early. My earlier nervousness returned full force, my contacts burning a hole in my pocket. I had a sinking suspicion that Crimson was going to single me out to start.

"You okay?" Adam touched my shoulder lightly.

I shook off my unease. I could handle whatever Crimson threw at me. I was one of the best junior agents for a reason. "Fine, why?" I sent him a small smile as we approached the small set of bleachers against the back wall.

"You look a bit off today." He shook his head as soon as the words were out of his mouth. "Stupid. Of course you're a bit stressed. Sorry."

"I'm okay, Adam. Nothing some sleep won't fix." I sat down in the third row, tugging Adam with me. Other agents were now beginning to show up, and fill in the spaces surrounding us.

My eyes looked out over the room. The size of a small gym, with the Scen screen set up against the opposite wall. A single red cot took up the middle, along with the equipment needed to attach an agent to a Scenario. The remote that controlled the settings would be with Crimson.

Adam nudged my shoulder. "Who do you think that is?"

My eyes followed his gaze to the door. Claret, Crimson, and some agent I'd never seen before, were talking too quietly to hear. "Don't know, maybe some rookie? Or a new transfer?" I half-squinted, trying to see if I could recognize him. His short gold-blonde hair did seem familiar. As if feeling that someone was watching him, he looked up.

His green eyes locked onto mine immediately, and I froze. I suddenly felt like I was standing in front of him, the way his eyes held mine, as if he was searching for something. I couldn't look away, it was like I was deer caught in the headlights as danger hurtled toward me.

He smirked.

Something niggled in the back of my head, something important. Just as I struggled to remember, it slipped away in the blink of an eye, there one second, gone the next. I continued to stare at the stranger, hoping to dredge up a long forgotten memory, something-

"-earth to Ruby." I suddenly registered that Adam was trying to get my attention. My eyes flickered back to him, that strange feeling suddenly gone.

"Sorry, what?" I asked.

He studied me a moment, then looked back at the new agent with a groan. "Please tell me you don't already have a crush on him." His tone was only partly teasing.

I focused back on him, blinking rapidly. "What? No! I don't even know the guy, I just had this weird sense of déjà vu."

He frowned, studying the new guy for a minute. "Never seen him before, though his face does seem a tad déjà vu-ish. If you look at him long enough-"

The rest of what he was going to say was cut off by Claret making an announcement. "Junior agents, I'd like you to meet senior agent Carmine. He will be joining us from our California branch for the next six months." She paused, and a sudden tingle shot up my spine.

My head jerked up, and my eyes locked with his-Carmine's-again. He was staring straight at me, not even bothering trying to hide it. His mouth lifted in a one-sided smirk and I looked away sharply, blood rising in my cheeks. He was so openly staring at me, so why was I the one that felt like a kid caught with their hand in the cookie jar? I didn't like this feeling of not knowing, that he knew something I didn't.