The Cardinal

Chapter 5

Sasha

"Hunter, listen to me before trying to stop me."

"Ok, I am listening. I really wonder what you have to say. I hope you will be able to persuade me that you are not out of your mind. "

I sigh in annoyance. He refuses to admit that two banished people aren't enough to take down a government and reach my parents' secret file. We cannot both keep an eye on the current actions of the Cardinal and dedicate our whole time to decode my parents' heritage. Even though we now have computers and internet connection, it is still unbelievably difficult to take down the security system of the server and reach to the files that my parents hid in the archive under cover. We still don't know for sure whether they hid it there or not. However, I have no idea about where they could call a heaven if not their workspace.

"Look, I am pretty sure that there are a lot of people studying at that Academy just because they have no other choice if they want a decent life. I think I could just sneak into the campus as a mole. I would take the exam and act like a regular technology student or a new recruit. If I could reach out to them during my time in Academy, we would have more companions."

"That brilliant plan of yours is too risky. Let's assume that you have found these people. How can we know if they are not spies of the Cardinal who is in the campus to detect rebels? I know that it is barely possible to change the system on our own. However, our main concern at the moment is not initiating a rebel but finding the message your parents left."

"Hunter, you are, at the moment, not capable of thinking out of the box. We both know that with the equipment you have now, you will be able to trace the hints and get a hold of the secret location of the message. As much as I want to honor my parents' heritage and take their revenge, I want to change things. I desire to help others -well to take my revenge as well."

I close my eyes and murmur the word "please".

Hunter is surprised to see that I am pleading. I hardly ever use the words "please" or "thank you". He finally hunches his back in defeat. I knew I could break him. As common sense slowly kicks in to his thick head, he looks up at me. I can see the gears functioning in his mind.

"We have to get started creating your new ID. I hope you don't have any criminal record by the way. Because if you have, good luck explaining how a dead girl is able to join the Phoenixes on her second death anniversary since they will get your fingerprints as soon as you step foot on the Academy."

I nod in enthusiasm. Then he adds "I almost forgot to tell about the part where we are going to give you a makeover"

***

(Hunter's POV)

The bell on top of the door rings and I peek up from my desk behind the counter. I decide to get up and check who has come. As a precaution, I take my gun from the drawer and slowly get up from the chair behind the desk.

There is a girl standing at the door. She is about to faint. Her clothes are covered in blood and she is wet from head to toe. Her breaths are unsteady. She tries to walk towards me but traps over her own food and ends up on the floor. As her eyelids close, the last thing she says are incoherent but I catch the words "decent" and "hope". I used to be a decent guy, if that is what she was trying to ask. However, I'm not sure I am what she was hoping to get while entering my bar. I'm damaged far beyond repairing to believe in a hopeful future and fairy tales. I will try to help her though. She looks so petite and fragile, I can't help but wonder about her story. Moreover, she is wearing high-quality clothes and shoes -just like the ones I used to wear a few years ago.

'She probably fled the Cardinal and passed the River to get to the Riverdown. But why would she leave the Cardinal behind in the first place? Is she a criminal?' I reason. These are none of my business though. I should take her to the Health Center and forget about her anyways.

I look at her once again. Her expression is restless even though she is sleeping. Even if she is a serial killer, I feel like I should save her on my own without getting her in trouble by delivering her to the Health Center in which she would probably be interrogated after waking up. I will not drop her off at a center. I get my phone and text an old friend of mine who used to be a Nursing student at the Academy.

Loraine, please get to my place as soon as possible. I need you ASAP.

I chastise myself, 'Fuck me and gentle heart. It is going to be the end of me some day'.

...

After a while the girl wakes up. Her eyes adopts to the dim lighting of the back room of the bar. For a moment, her face is void of any expression than everything probably dawns up on her judging from the fear that emerged from nothing in her blue eyes.

"Good morning, Miss Mystery. Or should I have said good night. Whatever, it doesn't matter. What matters is who you are and what the fuck are you doing at my place?"

She tries to sit but I stop her since her wound is freshly stitched and her body isn't ready to enforce the orders of her brain. She flinches under my touch. I retreat immediately and raise my hands defensively.

"Woah, woah woah! Calm down champ. I have no intention of hurting you. I am just curious to why a Cardinal girl is in a bar in Riverdown?"

She relaxes a bit but squints her eyes suspiciously.

"How did you understand where I am from?"

"I concluded that you either stole or actually own the clothes you are wearing at the moment. Judging from your current reaction, I vote in favor of my second assumption. So tell me champ what is your story."

She is still hesitant so I decide to get the lead and start the conversation.

"Alright, alright. I'm gonna start first. By the way know that you're special. You are about to become one of the rare people that actually know about my past. You are lucky that I'm a sucker for a possibly interesting story like yours.

I used to study Computer Science in the Academy. That's how I easily detected where you are from, actually. Then I got expelled. I'm going to skip the worrywart details that ended up with me getting banished. But, in a nutshell, I hacked the school's server and got caught during the process. Bummer, right? I was just trying to change my exam grade but after seeing the amount of security walls preserving the information, I got curious. Keep in mind that I tend to get myself in huge trouble when I get intrigued. Just like now. Anyways I continued searching after I was expelled by using my personal computer in my house and discovered that all servers of the city were connected to the one at the Academy and once you take control of that one, you had access to all databases.

So I contacted my close friends from the Academy and shared my findings with them. They agreed to help me. Those bastards. We swore to never snitch each other. However, they didn't take their vows a s serious as I took them. One of them gave me away. I almost got into jail but since my mother is a senior official, she hated the idea of me staining our family name by being an official criminal. She managed to convince the leaders to banish me instead in the end. She put some dough in my pocket and shipped me off to the Riverdown. I bought myself a computer here. Then, I did some black market tradings and saved enough money to set up this bar."

When I am done I look down to check her reaction. Her blue eyes are wide open, her lips are twitched in appreciation and she nods unwittingly as if her brain is still processing what I have told her. Then she takes a deep breath and says:

"I'm Sasha Valeron. Nice to meet you, umm -" I complete her sentence "Hunter Cohen."

"Well, you raised the bar for interesting stories but mine mustn't grumble, I suppose. So brace yourself Cohen."