In The Shadows

Chapter Twenty Five

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The mission has been terminated. Return back to the base.

"Let's go." Crystal shot up, instantly checking her surroundings. I slowly stood up next to her.

We were leaving? What about our mission? I couldn't believe that we would just have to quit at the drop of a hat.

"What about the rest of our mission? We just leave it and quit?" My voice was coming out sassier than I had anticipated. But I couldn't understand why we couldn't just continue to do what we had come to do. We were so close.
"Their position was compromised."

"Yeah but ours wasn't, so we shouldn't take the chance to leave. What if there's something crucial to the mission that we could be missing?"

I heard it before I felt it. It was like a whip, cracking across my face and echoing along the stone in the back of the alley. Then I felt it, pricks of pain where each of her five fingers and palm had struck. It spread like fire, a hot flame that ignited in my cheek and spread to my entire face, heating it to a burning red. My mouth opened and closed like a fish, I had no idea what to say.

"Let me get one thing clear: you will not under any circumstances question my authority again. I have been here way longer than you, and as a result, I am superior to you. I make the decisions, you follow them. You do not question them." Her voice spit knives and I flinched at her words, sinking back as they cut into me.
"I-I'm sorry," I stuttered. "I was just-"

"You were just following orders," She finished for me, her voice low and authoritative. I nodded quickly, submissive and quiet. I still didn't understand why, though. Why was it such a big deal? What happened that triggered her to become so fired up so quickly?

"Let's go," she ordered again. "Keep your head down and blend in." I didn't say a word as I followed her cold footsteps down the alley. The streets were quiet, only a few groups of people here and there, walking home and chatting. The moon shone from above, winking off the windows, and bathing Crystal and I in a pale light.

Crystal's reaction to my protest kept nagging me. I wanted to ask her what happened so badly. If something bad had happened, then why were Mason and I out here without all of the information? Whatever happened, was it Crystal's fault? Was I also unsafe? Paranoid filled questions racked my brain, something just didn't feel right.

Crystal and I reached the end of the main road, our shoes scruffing against the road as we came to a halt. She beckoned me over to the side of an abandoned building. Our base and meeting place was a rundown shack about a half mile down the road. We waited one second, listening for anything suspicious before Crystal peeked around the corner to check for any visible warnings. I waited anxiously, my back up against the brick, checking all around us.

"Come on," Crystal whispered, and we both peeled ourselves from the wall. Keeping on high alert, we jogged slowly down the dirt road that bordered the edge of town. With the town on our right and woods on our left, we stayed quiet in hopes of maintaining our nonexistent profile.

When the base was in sight, Crystal beckoned me into the woods, saying, "Let's observe from a distance to make sure it's safe before going inside."

I silently nod and follow her through the trees, keeping low near the bushes. My breathing is heavy from the jog and I breathe slowly, trying to slow down my heart rate. Wow, I really should have exercised more.