Hacker (Book 1)

Veronica Chapter 29

I settle in the seat right next to Sebastian before we start to pull out. He plops down in the pilots seat next to me settling in.

Turning to me he says, "Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," I reply uncertainly.

"All right then, let's lift off," he says starting the plane, and lifting us off the ground.

We fly out of the hangar, and rise higher and higher into the early morning sky as it surrounds us. It's then when I make the mistake of looking down to the ground. My stomach immediately starts to spin, and my heart rate accelerates. I grip the bottom of my seats, turning my knuckles white. I try to control my breaths.

"Are you okay?" He asks turning his head in my direction with concern.

"Ye-Yeah, I'm just n-not a fan of heights," I say my voice shaking.

"Wow, and I thought you we're fearless," he says with a chuckle.

"I'm so fla-flattered that you think th- that about me, b-b-but I'm serious I-I don't like heights," I say my hands shaking.

"You're serious," he asks.

"You think I'm joking," I shriek starting to panic.

"Just calm down," he says soothingly.

"How, how can I calm down?" I demand.

"Look at me," he says.

I tear my eyes away from the ground that looms miles below me, and gaze towards him. His eyes are beautiful and filled with concern as he speaks to me in his warm, comforting voice, "Just breathe. Take a deep breath and look at me okay. I won't let anything happen to you okay." For some reason it feels like he isn't just talking about the height, it's like he is talking about something more than that.

"How can you be sure," I ask my voice sounding frail and weak.

"Some things you just know, and I will die before I let anything happen to you," as he spoke those words I knew he wasn't talking about just the height, and I could tell that he meant those words.

"That's a bit of an exaggeration don't you think," I say trying to lighten the very serious mood that just drifted in.

"No, it's not," he says. "If you want you can go sit back there if you don't want to be up here."

"It's alright, I feel a lot better now," I say as I look at him.

We sit in silence for a little while just watching the sky shift it's colors from the vibrant sunrise to the beautiful blue that coats the sky like paint. I try to refrain from looking down, but every once in a while I forget and that nerve wracking fear comes over me like a tidal wave, washing away all my common sense, but then all I have to do is look towards Sebastian and the sea of fear suddenly becomes calm.

"So are you ready for this?" He asks after a while.

"Sure," I reply.

"Sure?" He asks with one eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, sure. I mean I'm nervous as can be, but how bad could it be?" I say more reassuring myself than him.

"I was terrified for my first mission," he says.

"You were?"

"Of course! I was fifteen going undercover in one of the last standing towns trying to steal a document from their museum, how could I not be scared," he explained.

"How did you deal with it?" I ask glancing toward him.

"Well, I don't really know how I dealt with it, it's more of how it happened. I was terrified before I was about to enact my plan, but the moment it started it just felt right."