I woke up at dawn, and sat up in bed. It was the middle of spring, when the snow was almost fully but not quite melted, and the trees were just starting to come alive again. I swung my legs out from under the covers and set them down in my boots, made from soft leather. I stood up and heard the old floorboards creak slightly. I walked lightly over to the bathroom, and gazed into the mirror, as I had every single morning for the past two years. The face that looked back at me had not changed overnight; same pale skin, icy blue eyes with black circles of sleeplessness under them, the tightly pursed lips, the small white scar just above my right eyebrow, and the curtain of black hair that draped to my shoulders.

I washed my face with cold water, seeing as that was the only water available in the tiny cottage I lived in, all by myself. This might seem weird, especially for a 17 year-old girl, but my life was anything but ordinary; what with me being a former spy that got framed for a betrayal she had no part in, and forced to disappear off the radar and lie low for who knows how long. I went to the hole in the floor, and climbed down the ladder. I grabbed my coat from beside the door, and went out to the shore of the lake to check my snares. I was lucky today; three big trout had gotten caught, which meant I could save one for myself and sell the other two in town. I turned to go back to my cottage, but my instincts suddenly told me that something was off. My eyes flitted around, but there was no one in sight. I walked to my cottage, as if I was oblivious, but as I neared the house, my hand strayed to the dagger at my waist. I threw open the door. A figure stood about 3 feet from the door. He had his back to me, so it was simple enough for me to grab him and put my dagger to his throat.

“Not one move,” I growled. “What are you doing here?” I pressed the point of my dagger closer to his throat.

“Woah, careful,” he said gently, and slowly raised his hands to show that he wasn’t armed. “Alice, it’s me.”

My shock got the better of me, and I stepped back. The guy turned around to face me. He had messy blond hair, and twinkling green eyes. He was about 3 inches taller than me, which meant I had to look up a bit to make eye contact with him.

“Connor?” I whispered, choking on his name. “Wha-what are you doing here?”

He reached out to touch my shoulder, but I flinched and stepped away. The hurt in his eyes made me regret it, but my shock wore off a little, and I found my voice.

“You better have an explanation for this.” I spit out, putting as much venom in my words as possible. I walked over to the small dining table that was in the room, and sat down, putting my feet on the table. “We had an agreement you wouldn’t lead them here. Hell, I never should have told you the way to this safehouse in the first place! How many of them are there, ready to shoot at the slightest movement?”

“None,” he said, walking over and sitting down across from me. “I came alone. The Scorpion doesn’t know I’m here.”

I flinched when he said the name of the spy organization we had worked for together, 2 years ago. God, it felt like it was just yesterday that Connor and I were there, surrounded by fire and enemies who wanted nothing more than to kill us. Maybe that was because I appeared in the same situation, every single night, in my nightmares.

“I take it you didn’t leave then,” I muttered, looking down at the ground. A part of me wondered why Connor stayed, but that was soon answered.

“I didn’t have much of a choice.” he said bitterly. “Unlike somebody, my mom didn’t leave me a note that led to a convenient safe house out in the middle of nowhere. And I thought that since I didn’t have a massive bounty on my head, I would go back.”

I felt a twinge of panic. “You were there,” I said, trying to keep my voice from trembling. “You know I wasn’t the one that leaked that info.”

“I know. But they don’t, and that’s the problem…” he trailed off. I looked up, and saw his eyes on me.

“What?” I snapped. “Why are you staring at me?”

“You know, you kissed me once,” Connor said, his face thoughtful. “But now you seem bent on hating me.”

I grit my teeth. “I thought we were going to die that night! Why the hell would you bring that up now? Besides, we had an agreement. How do you know that they haven’t followed you here?”

“I was careful,” he spat, now getting angry himself. “And I guess, now that our lives aren’t in direct danger, it’s different, isn’t it? You don’t care anymore.”

I turned away, trying not to let my tears fall. “Why? Why did you come?” I whispered.

Connor looked away, not meeting my eyes. “I need help,” he said. “They’re back.”

My breath caught in my chest. Oh god… not them. Anyone but them. Suddenly, I’m 15 again, stuck in the middle of the blazing inferno, with no hope of escape. Connor is beside me, his face streaked with soot and grime, his expression serious. I can’t hear anything but the gunshots over the roaring of the flames. Suddenly, an idea comes to me. I dig the paper out of my jacket pocket, hoping that it was still intact after so many years. I breathe a sigh of relief when I see that it’s the same and hasn’t been damaged.

“Alice!” Suddenly I’m back in the present. Connor was holding my shoulders, his face full of concern. “You alright?”

“Y-yeah,” I mumbled. “I’m fine.” And I realized that no matter how much I was mad at Connor, and no matter how terrified I was of the past, I had to stop them. More lives couldn’t be torn apart because I had been too scared to fight back; and if I died trying to defeat them, then I would go down fighting.

“I’ll help you.” I said, gritting my teeth. “When do we leave?”



Author's Note: Hey, thanks for reading! I hope you liked the first chapter! I'll try my best to update every Sunday, since I'm also writing my other book, "Of Gods and Monsters" right now. If you're a Percy Jackson fan, check it out! Here's the link: https://www.hogwartsishere.com/library/book/14899/