In the Name of Order

Chapter 23: Truth

"What the hell was that?" I scream at Saint, pushing my soaking-wet hair out of my face as we walk on the shores of the lake.

"We're at my house now. You'll hear what you need to, but we should hurry. Your father will be sending people after us. You need to hear this first, Willow, and if you want to go back, I'll take you there myself."

I follow Saint up the stairs of his house and, seeing as he doesn't bother wiping his shoes on the mat placed outside, I don't either; walking into his home after he unlocks the door. He walks over to a shelf and starts digging through it, throwing random objects to the ground as he does so.

I take this time to look around his house. There are no paintings on the wall, but he does have some picture frames placed on a table in the middle of this room. I think of going closer to see the people in it but fear he may judge my curiosity.

The walls are beige and the paint on them is peeling, showing Saint does not take care of his house very well. Perhaps he hasn't been here for some time. It is likely seeing as he has been in the Purus compound with me for a while now and seeing as he is—or rather was—a volunteer. He could have mainly been living in the Purus compounds.

"Here it is," Saint says.

He holds up a tape recorder, one of an older model that I have never seen before, in his left hand and walks to his beige couch. I follow Saint and decide to sit on the coffee table facing him, seeing as the other couch is on the far end of this parlour.

"You need to listen, Willow."

Saint presses the play button on the tape recorder, and I listen closely as familiar voices fill the room.

"You know what to do, Mathea."

"Yes, Dad. We've been through this."

"Let's run through the mission again."

"Mum is talking to Aunt Ankah about getting Willow help from the Purus."

"Your mother should not find out that you know. We only need their connections to get inside peacefully."

"Yes, dad, I know. Once we're in the Purus compound, I'll see Saint. He'll help me find the records I need for this infiltration. Saint will later escape with Willow, Mum, Aunt Ankah and Topaz."

"The most important?"

"The most important person is Willow. She needs to leave before the Purus take her Gift away. The Gifted Program will cure her without taking her Gift away, but they only agreed to help her if I succeed in this mission since a lot of resources are needed to help Willow. Also, the Foster government is working on establishing a law to imprison Gifted who accept the cure. We can't risk that."

"What must you do, Mathea?"

"I must stay in the Purus compound to complete my mission. I will memorise their passwords, all their codes, information on all their members and information on their compounds. We'll be relocated to a different Purus compound after everyone escapes, but I shouldn't worry; you have people there. I'll keep in contact with you through them just like I will through Saint."

"What is your mission in the new compound?"

"The same as before; I will memorise their passwords, all their codes, information on all their members and their compounds. If they isolate me, because they can't trust me; I'll leak information about the Gifted Program to gain their trust. If that fails, the people you stationed there will help get me everything I need to memorize."