If I Die Young

48. Tall man

I trained with Kathryn the day after that, and the day after, and almost every day after that. Without Sergei here to pick up the slack she'd been doing the best she could as a teacher and helping shape us into the perfect little soldiers we were meant to be. By August, Elyse and Aurelia knew how to fight properly with their powers, and I was learning how to control my most uncontrollable aspect. Ladon preferred weapons, as did Iden, and the little girls had to train with knives because Sergei didn't feel comfortable giving them a gun. He still trained them to use it, but he didn't recommend it.

School started again; it was my junior year and I was about to turn seventeen this November. Everyone was starting to grow up a little bit more and more, with Daisy now riding the early morning bus for middle school and Brandon joining us as a sophomore now. I studied quietly, did my work, got straight A's, and everything seemed cool and collected on the outside. Ethan still had a class with me although I'm sure he tried everything he could to avoid it, but the fact that he ignored me and pretended like I never even meant anything to him stung. It stung like the bite of a blade.

I know it seems like everything's rushed, but believe me, there's nothing in the months between then and now that you haven't already seen before. Truth is they all went by in a blur to me as I fought to keep myself from collapsing. I was a dead star that was ready to implode, the weight of everything around me becoming far too much. Wake up, eat, go to school, go train, do homework, eat again, see Gal, go to sleep, repeat. Sure there were some days I didn't train or maybe Kathryn would come pick me up and we'd go out for ice cream, but the routine was the same. It was wearing down on me and I was having problems keeping up. I couldn't slow down though, not with everything around me seemingly speeding up. My birthday came and went and Everything came stuttering to a halt the day we were in town, staring at the screens on a TV from inside an electronics store.

"Sable? Elyse asked, her breath coming out in puffs of frost as she realized I'd stopped in my tracks.

"She's free."

On the screen was a news anchor broadcasting a new mugshot, one that was ragged and yet defiant at the same time. The girl in the photo held her head high as her picture was taken and practically stared out of the screen, inviting me to join her in battle as a soldier at her side. Her hair had grown out and her face was laced with dark black tattoos, all hieroglyphs that held ancient secrets within them. Agnes Byrnes was America's most wanted criminal now that she was on the run again, having been broken out of the facility early this morning and accompanied by former PASCI agent Sergei Yanovsky. A smile broke out of my face, my first real one in months, as I turned to Elyse and squealed.

"Sergei did it Elyse!" I cackled, leaning forward and wrapping my arms around her. Elyse squeezed me back just as tightly while we hopped around on the sidewalk, our joy unknown to the strangers who walked by.

"That's one to none, girly," she giggled, the biggest grin on her face I'd ever seen. She was a senior now, having barely changed since the first day that we'd met. Except now she no longer kept her happiness quiet, she wanted to scream it to the high heavens whenever she could.

We were suddenly distracted as a small caravan drove past us on the road, ones full of agents that would've shot us dead the moment they saw us if they knew who we were. They were driving through town a lot more often now, making the streets a little more dangerous but not completely impenetrable. The girls came out of the bathroom they'd gone into finally, rejoining us on the sidewalk with down-packed jackets and hats on their heads. December was cold and early this year, with snow littering the ground around us as we headed back to the playground so they could get some exercise.

"They're always so excited to come play out here," Elyse noted, taking a seat on the bench before tucking her hands beneath her arms, "I don't mind it, but I wish they'd pick warmer days to come out."