Betrayed ✔️

Chapter 22: "Silvertongue"

ADA

HUMANITY IS SO hypocritical.

Myself included.

Most of my life, I have been dying to talk to someone about what happened. But no one ever seemed to want to listen, so I stayed quiet. But now someone wants to listen, I don't want to talk.

I mean, where do I even start?

Carter told me to start at the end, but is there even an end to this tragedy? Do I start with my...feelings? Do I even have the right to any at this point?

"I suppose I could talk about the present," I said, testing out the words.

I glanced at the man beside me. It's strange. I could easily sell his soul for a piece of pie- and I don't even like pie- yet the thought of anything bad happening to him made me mildly uncomfortable. It was something I felt with Kayden when he was alive. Or even Ezra.

"Has Ezra ever told you how we met?" I asked.

"No, not really."

I grinned, drumming my fingers against my lap. "It's a really funny story, actually. You see, I nearly killed him."

It sucked being at the bottom of the hierarchy.

See, when Chief Wright told me about the Agency, I never imagined that it would be filled with a bunch of petty kids.

Actually no, that's not entirely true. I've known seven-year-olds who are less petty than some of the Agents and Analysts.

I was determined to prove and earn my place there. A glimmer of hope that died with Izzy sparked inside of me again.

Unfortunately, my rose-tinted glasses shattered on the very first day.

"Here, Analyst Wilson," a young woman mocked, placing a huge stack of files on my desk. Her friends sniggered and glanced at each other. "You need to sort these files out quickly."

"This isn't part of my workload," I said without looking up. I had been through too much to be scared by a bunch of brainless parasites.

The woman scoffed and pushed the pile closer to me. "It is now!"

"You're not a Chief. I don't have to listen to you."

"Yes you do," she snapped, drawing to her full height and attempting to intimidate me. "Because we're Special!"

"I hate to break it to you, but I'm pretty sure that's what all parents say to their kids."

Several people laughed, but fell quiet at the woman's glare.

"No, that's not what I meant," she said through gritted teeth. She continued to ramble on about how dignified her position was- which served as very effective white noise.

"I get it," I finally cut through after completing the mammoth task. "You guys are special snowflakes. Now can ya leave me alone?"

I stood up and began walking away, careful to never expose my back to them. Diane said only a fool would leave their most vulnerable part exposed.

A hand clamped down on my shoulder and a voice spoke up. "What's going on–"

After I escaped from that place, I hated physical contact of any kind. Still do, actually, but not as much as back then. I used to scrub my skin raw in the shower to try and get rid of that disgusting feeling of bugs crawling all over me.

So what happened next was purely instinctual.

I whirled around and jabbed my pen in Ezra. I was aiming for the throat, but thanks to Ezra's quick reflexes and height, I only pierced through his shoulder.

He was taken to the emergency room and, obviously, made full recovery. I was terrified that I would be kicked out within the first week- which would have been really lame- but Ezra didn't press charges.

A week later, I received a note on my desk asking to go out for a cup of coffee. Ezra showed me around the Agency and even gave me advice on how to deal with the idiots. He was honestly the first person I trusted in the outside world.

"And that's basically it," I finished with a soft smile. "That's how I met Ezra Grey- the stupid bastard who got me into this mess."

Carter chuckled. "Yeah...I remember him saying something about that a few times but I never got the full details."

I shifted into a more comfortable position and felt my heart stop as I heard the rustling of paper come from my chest. The fear melted away when I remembered I'd found a bunch of documents down my bra when running away from the axe wielding sociopaths.

I fished them out and smoothed them over on my knee, squinting to read the words.

"What's that?" Carter asked.

I shrugged and yawned, the last few days taking their toll on me. "Dunno... must've been important for me to take...it."

Carter smiled and I was struck by how pretty his blue eyes were. "Sleep, Ada. I'll wake you up in a bit."

I hummed sleepily and reclined the chair back. Normally, I would be very worried if I didn't know where I was going. But strangely, I...trusted Carter? Or, at the very least, trusted him enough to not turn the car around and hand me over to Keres.

Something tugged at the back of my hazy brain, demanding to be heard. I pushed it back and turned on my side. But the feeling didn't go away. There was...something important I had to tell Carter. What was it?

After my run-in with Keres, my nerves were frayed and my thoughts were a jumbled knot in my mind that I couldn't untangle.

"Carter." I reached out and tapped his arm. "Hit me."

"Sorry?"

"Hit...me." My words were slurred and my tongue felt heavy in my mouth. Panic flared inside of me. This was no ordinary sleepiness.

"I'm not going to hit you."

I tried to scowl, but my facial muscles were almost paralysed and it came out as a slight downward tilt of the lips. "The...Academy...is...stupid."

Carter swatted my arm. "Don't say that!"

I couldn't feel the part he hit me. The surroundings blurred into a myriad of colours and my tongue felt like it was made of lead in my mouth. "C-Carter–" My voice failed me. I couldn't breathe.

"Wilson? What's wrong? Come on, talk to me."

"P-pull over," I choked out. "Get...my...phone."

Shockingly, he did as I asked. My body convulsed and I shivered, even though the heating was on full blast. Sweat soaked through my shirt and I clutched the papers in my hands tightly.

"Who- who should I call?" Carter's face appeared above me, face scrunched up in desperation.

"Silvertongue," I managed to force out. "Call...Silvertongue."

And then I blacked out. 

******

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Stay safe and thanks for reading :)