Define Valentine- sequel to Define Spy (semi-long hiatus)

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

My hands were frozen against the dry wood that would be lucky if rain turned it damp. They tingled with the slightest bit of nerve, but I wasn't sure that it was from the thin air. The wind blew strands of my hair as they tickled my cheeks annoyingly, hiding parts of our bland yet composed backyard from my eyes. The trees liked to shudder teasingly, a grim trick to where they usually stood bare and bloodless. I let my elbows sink down into the wooden railing, glaring mindlessly at the three pictures lined beneath my fingertips.

I was completely awestruck that Anonymous left the pictures without any clue of photo-shop. They happened to even look real, which was what scared me the most. But I couldn't stop studying them. I couldn't bring myself to give up and admit that they were indeed real-because they were definitely not.

My finger scrolled over the flimsy photograph in a frictionless movement, ignoring only the photo of a false couple. I froze right as I turned to the next one, the one of Parker's intimidating stance. I was abruptly granted with the same someone's presence.

A foolish creak did not make me twitch; instead, I was poised with a mannequin posture. A sudden flock of birds pierced through the sky unsparingly, and I silently brought the pictures down by my lap.

"I could do without a lecture today, so please do not baby-talk me." I roll my eyes slightly.

"Guess I'll have to save the one in mind for later." the dry humor lingered through the air, and Cameron was suddenly by my side. His eyes were not on me, but on the opaque landscape.

My shoulders tense up at his presence. "I thought you were Parker," We were a good distance away from each other, so I let my shoulders relax. But the reminder of a specious wind still rushed against my face, turning my cheeks a deep shade of crimson.

"You know, you didn't have to accept the mission." Cameron points out, his bottom lip curled in concern.

"Well, I did." I say to him bluntly, my voice so smooth that I had even brought on the will to convince myself. "A mission's a mission, after all."

It became quiet as I did not mind the content silence that had been freely granted. I had, indeed, willingly accepted the broad assignment that Mr. Collins proposed. With that and no other hesitations, I bid goodbye to my team and my boss while trying to solemnly drive back to the house. If I had known that my teammates had followed, I would have turned on the alarm.

"But missions are never quite alike." Cameron points out after a long period of deep thought-I wonder what he's thinking about-but I don't know how to respond. Why had Cameron chose to speak with me now, of all times? I had a few ideas. Why had he bothered to care now after the era of avoidance following the end of the mission? I had no ideas.

The door opens with a sour rush that brings me to pull back a couple of inches unintentionally. I can feel my chest thrust back heavily as Cameron and I both face the curtain of a warm gust unwelcome to the outside. Parker's scarred hand rested on the doorknob predominantly, his face the color of days old snow. The warm breeze diminished as a cold front has pushed in, and goose bumps prickled on our bare shoulders. If it weren't for Cameron's speaking, I would've almost forgot he was still there.

"Don't forget," Cameron whispers, "we leave tomorrow." he brushes past us as my brother joins me out on the balcony. It becomes silent again.

Parker's eyes travel down to the pictures hiding between my hands, but he does not try to pry them from me with a cheeky smile that he usually has. He frowns, and then looks up the gray sky. He doesn't sheepishly grin, or wiggle his eyebrows like the mocking brother I knew. I can tell that Parker is sadly shocked of our newly assigned mission, even if he doesn't want to admit it.