There was a seriousness to Agent Garrison's voice that that made me shudder. Her voice was deep, almost like a man's voice. I was under the spell of her authority. My dad always thought me to respect my elders and always listen to the voice of wisdom. Agent Garrison had a voice that could command a thousand armies. If I were under integration, I wouldn't last a minute. I would be spilling the beans. She could drag the deepest darkest secrets locked deep within from my soul with a single word. If she told me to jump off a bridge, I would probably do it.
"I want to be able to rely on you, Adam. If I can't rely on you, we've no use for you. You might become a problem. The CIA doesn't like problems." I didn't like where this was heading. "What use can I be to the CIA, I'm just a kid." " I know you're scared, but I'm your best chance of getting through this. If all goes to plan then you can go back to living your ordinary life." I was too scared at this stage, not to trust her. "What do you need me to do?" "I need you to sit tight and wait for my instructions." I was slightly confused by what she was asking of me. "What about school?" I stood there with the phone to my ear for what felt like ages before I realised she'd hung up the phone.
I couldn't take days off school. The last thing my father needed was a call from the inspector. I sat through my first classed in a daze. A million different things were going through my mind. Mrs Dawson, the English teacher, the only young and attractive teacher we had at this school, could've taken her clothes off and I never would've noticed. Eve was probably trying to get my attention. When I snapped out of it, I couldn't remember walking to the canteen. "Are you alright? You seem really out of it. Even more so than usual." I felt bad. Eve had gotten a new hair cut and I failed to say anything. "You got a new hair cut. It suits you. You look like a girl," I said as Eve burst out laughing. "I don't know. I feel kind of stupid." I didn't like it when Eve put herself down. She was a beautiful girl, with the most beautiful green eyes, that lit up the room. "Do you want to meet up after school? I could do with a friendly chat," I asked.
The rest of the day went by in a haze before the bell released me from the intrusive thoughts that plagued my mind all day. I wandered down the hall like a ghost haunting the corridors. Sometimes it felt nice to be in a place where no one knows you exist. I was alone with my pain and the demons that followed me. People walked by, and the only thing that made me real was the air between us.
Eve was waiting for me under the bleachers by the football pitch. It was me and Eve's favourite place to hang out when social normality got too much to bear. It's funny, I've known Eve for so long now and I still don't know anything about her. She never talked about her family. Sometimes I thought she was an orphan, and she was too embarrassed to say. She got defensive when I offered to walk her home, likes she was hiding something. I didn't push her because she was entitled to her secrets.
"What's up with you? You're walking around the place like your lost." I never had to explain myself to Eve. It was strange, it's was like she could read my mind and tell me what was bothering me. "I feel trapped, and I don't know what to do." "Has this anything got to do with Aishling? If you want I can track her down and kick her ass." "This might sound a bit crazy, but I think she is dead." Eve looked at me as if I was crazy. "She's ghosting you, that's what girls do, I'm afraid." I wanted to tell Eve so bad, but I couldn't drag her into this. "I don't know how I know. You have to trust me." "I think you're overreacting. If she was dead, wouldn't there be some news about it?" Even if I told Eve the truth she wouldn't believe me, I hardly believe it myself. "Will you promise me something? If something happens to me, will you tell my dad I loved him?" Eve laughed so hard she snorted. "You need to go home and have a cold shower or something. Aishling is playing a number on you."
I sat listening to the old clock on the wall of my bedroom, counting down my eventual demise. Each tick of the second hand intensified the beating of my heart. If I hadn't known better, I would think I was about to have a heart attack. I sat praying that Eve was right, and this was all in my head, but the terrier I was feeling was all too real. As the hours passed, I was beginning to think this was all a cruel joke. My fear turned to anger and was I wishing Aishling was dead. "How could you do something like this to someone if you loved them?" I thought to myself. My anger was boiling over, and all I wanted to do was scream. I stared at the phone and willed it to burst into a million pieces and just as I was about to shut it off Agent Garrison's phone number lit up the phone.
I answered the phone to the usual ominous pause. "How stupid do you think I am? I know this is you, Aishling. You need to go and get some help." I was waiting for Aishling to start laughing and release me from this nightmare. "What were you doing under the bleachers after school today?" I felt a lump rise from the pit of my stomach. The anger I was feeling got replaced by crippling panic. "I don't know what you mean." "Who was that girl you were with? I told you we were watching." Now I didn't know what to think. How could she have known, unless they were watching me? "It was a friend from school, that's all. "Did you tell her anything about us?" " No! I swear to God, she knows nothing." I was starting to feel trapped again. I missed the sense of calm, and control my anger brought me. "Do I need to remind you how serious this is? We can't have any loose ends. You don't want to be a loose end." This was the point I knew my life wasn't going to be the same again. Not only were the lives of the nation at stake but the lives of my friends and family. "I swear Eve knows nothing about this. She's a close friend, that's all. You have my full attention. Whatever you want me to do, I will do it."
There was another nerve-shattering pause down the phone. Agent Garrison held my fate in her hands, she owned me and she knew it. "That's all I wanted to hear. My team and I have been talking, and we've decided to ease you into this. We don't need you to kill anyone, yet." I felt some bit of relief. I felt like I had dodged a bullet. "What do you want me to do?" "We want you to follow Aishlings stepdad. We need to know his movements. Do you think you can manage that?" "Yeah sure, I can do that." "Good! And one more thing. You don't say a word to anyone about this."
Suddenly the world seemed darker. I pictured Aishlings dad as some monster figure that sulked around in the shadows of society trying to pass himself as a human being. I was finally going to be the knight in shining armour that Aishling wanted me to be. Only this time Aishling wasn't going to be in an ivory tower, but a hole in the ground, not fit for a princess. If only I did something earlier than this would all be a dream and I would be living a fairytale. Instead, I'm trapped in a nightmare I can't wake from.
I sat in my room, wondering if my mother was watching all this. I sat wishing she would come through my bedroom door and put all this to bed for me. Agent Garrison, wouldn't stand a chance against my mother. All I wanted to do was hug her, and as the tears rolled down my eyes I began to smell my mothers favourite perfume. A calming sense washed over me, and I felt safe, for the first time in years. It was then I knew my mother was watching over me.