Operation Holiday Cheer - A Spy School Story

Chapter 10: Horror and Confession

Hereford countryside

Herefordshire, UK

Date unknown

Time unknown

DISCLAIMER: Due to the dark nature of this part of the story (i.e., suicidal thoughts, self-harm - TRIGGER WARNING), I hope you are mature enough to read this. If you aren't, skip this chapter. You have been warned.

Catherine POV

I was having a rather peaceful dream: me, Alex, Erica, and for some reason, Ben were having a picnic together in what appeared to be the English countryside. Hereford, specifically. Ben and Alex were telling a story with their own added dramatic effects, while Erica and I looked on in amusement. I quickly realized there was something odd about this scene.

Alex looked a bit older, with a couple of wrinkles and gray streaks, looking middle-aged. There were also some new scars on his face. Somehow, that made him look even hotter.

Ben also looked older, perhaps in his mid-twenties. His face, neck, and arms were littered with scars.

'What happened to him?' I wondered.

Erica also looked like she was in her mid-twenties, and had scars, but not to the same degree as Ben.

Alex had just told a joke, which he and Ben were roaring with laughter about. Something about a bet that Cyrus was going to be objecting at a wedding?

Hold on. Whose wedding? Why would Cyrus object?

I suddenly felt an itch on my forehead.  I raised my left hand up to scratch it, but I stopped when I caught a glint of golden metal on my hand.

I noticed that Alexander had an identical golden glint on one of his fingers.

Then I looked at Erica, who was holding her hands up in mock exasperation at something Ben and Alex said. There was a silver band on her left hand, with a small, ice-blue diamond, the same color as the Hale eyes. Next to it was a ring made of steel and... was that the bottom section of a bullet casing?

I froze. 'Could this mean what I think it means?' I thought.

My musings were interrupted by a "click," a sound I know as second nature:

The sound of a handgun slide.

Catherine POV (Real Life)

My eyes snapped open, and I saw that Alex's did too. Ben wasn't between us. We briefly panicked, looking around the room, only to find him standing next to Alex's desk, looking at us in shock.

I wondered where the click came from when I saw what was in his hand: Alexander's sidearm..

My eyes widened as it became evident what was about to happen. Ben obviously wouldn't betray us, so that left one possibility as to what he was about to do...

'No... he wouldn't... shoot himself... would he?' I thought in fear. Ben then started to move the gun's muzzle towards his own head.

My heart stopped, and I didn't move. Luckily, Alex snapped out of his shock and lunged forward, quickly forcing Ben to drop the gun. I managed to react, unloading the magazine and ejecting the round from the chamber. I opened a drawer and placed the firearm inside, storing the ammunition in a separate drawer.

I turned back towards Ben, who was struggling to get away from Alex. Under normal circumstances, he probably could've done so, but Alex seemed to be on an adrenaline rush, with a mask of determination on his face as he restrained Ben. Like me, he was not willing to let Ben hurt himself.