Espion | Book One

Thirty Three.

 All eyes, as slow as molasses, shifted to look at Anna. She was staring at Jessi, staring into his eyes as she tried making sense of all she heard. But every time his words played over in her head, her head pounded, the pain behind her eyes growing exponentially.

Frowning slightly, she leaned forward, cocked her ear. "What was that?"

Jessi was way ahead of her. He was scanning the letter again, his lips moving rapidly as he rushed through the letter again. The air grew tense with waiting as everyone waited for him to confirm what they had just heard. He paused, his eyes boring into the final full stop of the letter. Slowly, they rose to meet Anna's. "Annabelle..."

"Give me that." Not waiting for him to hand it to her, she snatched out of his hands. Her eyes ran over the letter, reading it, absorbing the words. "He couldn't be talking about me, could he?"

"Are there any other Annabelle's at the NPA?" Dan asked tentatively.

She shook her head. "Just me." Setting the letter aside, she shoved her hand into the box, bringing out one of the tapes. Right now, the mission, Thomas, Angela ... everything else was in the back of her head.

The tape felt cool under her fingertips, as cool as the chill that shot through her when she read the words on front. 'Test Subject #28 – Gabrielle Trainor - 0'. Gulping, Anna's hands began to shake. Her mind whirred madly, her eyes darted everywhere. Her life flashed before her eyes, questions she never before thought of shouting in her head. It felt as if a wave just descended onto her head, washing her in the lie that was her life. Never had she ever thought about why she couldn't remember anything before she was twelve, but now that was the first thing she wondered about. She never wondered how she was able to see something once and could emulate it to near perfection, but that thought joined the others just as impatiently. She never pondered about her mentality, the one that made her wake up at six on the dot, go through the day like robot. Now she wondered why she never thought of it before.

Clutching the tape, she looked down at it. She didn't know what it would reveal and suddenly she felt something else she never felt before. Fear. She was afraid to confirm Benoit Beaumont's words. She was afraid to find out that it was really true. That she was really once a Gabrielle Trainor. That she was really taken from her family. Brought unwittingly into this life she never asked for. Could it really be true?

No one spoke as she rose to her feet. She walked over to the TV, her movements as smooth as ever as she pushed the tape into the VCR. Everyone moved out of her way when she stepped backwards, stepping over the coffee table and sinking into the the couch.

She waited for the video to pop up, revealing a thin lipped man bring the camera very close to his face.

"Test subject hunting number 28. We're currently at the Eiffel Tower. Since the other test subjects were failures, I've decided to pick someone who lived on a non-French diet. The Eiffel Tower is the best place for tourists to come."

The camera turned away from his overly excited face to the horde of people milling around the tourist attraction. Almost instantaneously, the camera zoomed in on a family buying eclairs from a nearby stand.

"Here is a Caucasian family. Adult woman looks to be mother, dark haired, quite tall. She looks to be in her late thirties. Too old to be a viable test subject." The camera shifted to the man standing beside her. "Adult man looks to be father. Judging by the fond way he speaks to the woman, they are married or in a loving relationship. Blond hair, pale skin. Also looks to be in late thirties."

The camera pointed downwards, on a young boy. "Child. Has the mother's dark hair but the father's pale skin. Looks no older than five years old. From previous tests subject, such a young age is not suitable."