"Do you have any idea how dangerous it was for you two? Going to the manor at night and by yourselves, no less!" Emma castigated as soon as Red and Julia had stepped through the door. Breathing angrily, she paced along the floor in front of them and dug her fingers through her hair. "You were supposed to eat some frozen yogurt, but no! Instead, you go to the manor without telling me."
"But mom—"
"No buts!" She growled, startling Julia into silence as she tried to relax into the large metal beam behind her. Alas, she couldn't do that either, due to the roughly tied up rope that encircled Red and her, attaching them to said pole. Her mother had been so furious with their actions that she had threatened to tie the two up onto the beam and make them stand for hours.
Key word: threatened. Her father was the one who took her up on the offer and tied them there.
"I'm the one that gave Julia the copy of the code and told her about the manor. I'm the one that let her go there in the first place." Red explained as she stretched her jean cladded legs out as much she could. "I should be the only one to be punished, not Julia."
"That's bullshit!" Julia sputtered, twisting her body and head around to look at Red. "I gave you the idea to go and practically made you take me."
"You both will be punished." Aiden chimed in as he entered the room. "Only, you'll be standing for an hour, not four. What you found makes up for it."
"You figured it out?"
"It was pretty much done by the time you gave it to me," he stated, handing the piece of paper over to his wife. "It took me less than a minute to figure the rest out. It took more time to receive the finished product because the others had to look over your work." Julia narrowed her eyes at his comment.
"They didn't trust it?"
"Told you they wouldn't." Red sang, trying to shrug out of her leather jacket. The rope sealed her movements. "Prideful bastards, you know?"
"Language." Emma warned before her eyes scanned the letter carefully. Julia watched as her hand tightened considerably, wrinkling the paper before handing it to her father.
"What does it say?" Red and Julia questioned at the same time, wriggling around the ropes with impatience. Aiden walked over to the rebellious pair and held the paper out for them to read.
Dear Julia,
Happy Birthday. I see your family and comrades are desperately trying to prevent the inevitable. Unfortunately, I always get what I want.
Do you know what I want, Julia? I want you, but not just you. I want you and your family, first. I have some unfinished business with your parents, as well as the rest of Virtus. Should I kill you and make them watch? Or should I torture you instead? So many things to consider, yet such little time. I look forward to the day we meet with burning enthusiasm.
-S
P.S. Allow me to set a date for you and Matthew; he thinks fondly of you.
"Is this a joke?" Julia dead panned, shaking her head. "Booking a date? Is this guy serious?"
"I guess the obvious threats stuffed in that letter didn't bother you." Red pointed out, sighing. "Despite the postscript, this guy is serious. And deadly." She stared at Julia's parents carefully, biting her lip. "I thought you guys killed him that day...bullet to the chest, right?"
"We did," Aiden answered as Emma grabbed a knife off the table to cut at the rope, releasing Red and Julia from their punishment. "Blew the whole place up along with him, remember?"
YOU ARE READING
Manhunt
Teen Fiction(Previously known as Secrets and Codes) Young, agent-in-training Julia Evans finds herself being targeted by an enemy agency, throwing her into a multi-decade feud where she shouldn't belong. As time runs out, her very life hangs by a thread, where...
