Agent Rogue

Chapter 10

Stay awake. Stay awake.Eyes wide. Head up. Legs moving. Stay... awake.

            The wound burned like a hot rod piercing my fragile skin; like every cell had been ignited and set off the others in a chain reaction, focussing on my shoulder. Ever since the train screeched to a halt at the north-western coastline, everything just burned.

            The pain had subsided slightly as I read through the book Barnes had brought me for the rest of the journey. I spared a thought for where the unexpected gift came from, then chose to toss it away, grateful for the distraction.

            But then we had to start walking again. And my body rejected the idea entirely.

            It was late afternoon, and a crisp breeze danced around the residential neighbourhood in the coastal town, taking crinkling amber leaves as tokens and sharing them generously around the parks and pavement with a whistle to accompany the plethora of bird calls. I trudged behind Barnes, ensuring that I could keep an eye on him as the two of us followed signs for the hotel Gabby had booked us a room for. We were close, I had imagined, but beads of sweat had begun racing down my forehead, my clothes choking me.

            "I think it's just a few more streets," said Barnes. "Not far." He squinted his eyes as the sun beamed down on him, casting a shadow along one side of his tanned face.
"Okay," I breathed. Not far. I could clean the wound at the hotel, grab a shower, get some rest and... I wobbled. It was a struggle, but I had to keep going. Stay awake. Stay awake.Keep moving.
"You're awfully slow today, Miss Knight," Barnes quipped, turning around to flash his signature grin. "Do you want me to carry you?"

            I had a witty reply armed on my lips, but no words left them as I opened my mouth. Warm air and a dry wheeze replaced the sentence, and I blinked as the street spun in a grey vortex as the train had done. It had happened before. I convinced myself that it would pass over and over again, telling myself to just wait for me to return to my normal self.

            But then everything darkened. The train compartment did not darken like this, nor was the water so heavy in my eyes that I could not form the words written on a road sign that stood less than ten feet away from me. I barely even noticed Barnes's nonplussed expression as he kept his eyes locked on me.

            "Agent?" he said.

            I held up a hand, signalling for him to carry on. I was fine, after all. I could carry on, even if my hand seemed to gain a few tonnes in weight for me just to hold it up for a second, and I could hear Barnes's muffled curses as I fell forward my face elbows and knees colliding with the pavement. I winced at the impact on my shoulder, though the rest of my body was numb to the pain that should have been caused by the fall.

            I blinked and almost gave in to the temptation of holding them shut. Don't you dare,I scolded myself.

            I had a job to do: an essential mission to complete for Alistair. It was significant. Scotty had died for this! I could not just give up at the sight of one obstacle. I had to force myself to my feet, find the hotel and shock myself back into action with a splash of water. A night of rest would have healed me up nicely. Stress had to have been the cause of the wound's flare up and sleeping would solve the issue. We had an entire day before the ferry left for London – that was more than enough time.

            My mind was convinced, while my body blatantly refused to budge. The last thing I saw before blacking out was a blurred face staring back at me, calling out my name as the sun shone behind him like a blinding spotlight.

***

Open eyes. Bright light. Blurred faces. Pain.

            Closing eyes. Dimming light. Darkened faces. Less pain.