Secret Silver | hiatus

xi. Entry One

When we arrived at Jupiter, Silas was amazed at the sight in front of him. The cave was covered in vines, invisible to those who were just passing by. There was only one way in, and it was to move aside the deep vines in such a pattern that the entrance would become visible, followed by a lock that only those of Jupiter had the keys to.

Oliver and Maya were already at work. They had papers strewn across the ground, along with a giant map. Oliver was writing away on the old blackboard and Maya was studying a book closely, a pen in her mouth.

Both of their heads snapped up when they heard us walk in. They smiled, but their expressions fell when they saw Silas beside me. They shared a look and Maya walked over, forcing a smile onto her face.

"Can I speak to you?" She squeezed my arm a little too hard, her tone urgent. I sighed and followed her, knowing what she was going to say.

"What is he doing here?" She looked over her shoulder at Silas, who was standing awkwardly with his hands tied behind his back, kicking rocks at his feet.

"He won't leave me alone. I tried to leave him with Julia, but he got into the trunk of my car and followed me here," I admitted, realizing how stupid I sounded. Maya tried to keep a straight face, but I could see the amusement in her eyes. It died almost instantly when she finally understood my words.

"How could you let him do that? I—"

She was cut off by Oliver placing a hand on her shoulder. He gave her a look of disappointment, and looked at me apologetically.

"Maya, stop. Since when do we question each other? Especially Zara?"

He was right. The trust between us was unbreakable, but now it became apparent that the fall of the agency was taking a toll on Maya. On all of us. Maya squeezed her eyes shut, hints of regret in her contorted features.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, wrapping her arms around me, "It's just... this is hard."

I shook my head. "Not your fault. C'mon, we have work to do."

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01.05.2017

Zara, I never wanted this life for you.

I hope you know that. There are things that I never got a chance to tell you, and if you're reading this, it means that I'm probably gone.

Sometimes, things don't always work out the way we planned. Your life was never truly yours, and I'm sorry for that. However, I'm hoping that things will change after this.

I started noticing the signs years ago. The way that Harris would keep information from us, the Elite. The other agencies started reaching out to us, something no one's ever done before. They sent us information that made us question G.O.L.D.'s motives.

For years, we've been securing deadly weapons— chemical and nuclear —from other agencies, gangs, and governments. For the longest time, the other Elite and I thought that it was because they were going to misuse them.

We were wrong.

Governments of other countries know we exist. It would be naive to think that they don't; however, in this day, we are stronger than them, so they do not interfere with our affairs.

We've blindsided them.

I'm going to give you all of the information I can before we run out of time.

And when I run out of time, I hope that you carry on what I started.

Rebellion is an emblem of courage and strength, and you will wear it with such dignity that others will fear you.