There are three men in SSA uniforms standing outside in the hallway as I walk out I freeze, my hands immediately going to the bottom of my shirt, pulling it down “We’ve got her.” One of the men said, into a walkie-talkie. Before I stop myself, I turn around and bolt the other way, my bare feet hitting the hard cold floor with every step. I hear the thumps of three sets of hard, heavy shoes, and then I hear a click. I stop dead and turn around. One of the men is holding a loaded gun, pointed at my heart. My breaths are heavy and my heart speeds up. “Please don’t shoot..” I mutter, putting my hands in the air. I did that when I was found eating chocolate with Tash by my dad, and he started yelling. The man holding the gun put it away and went behind me, grabbing my wrists in a firm grasp, as though I’d try to run away. The other two stood by my side as if they were escorting me. I’m taken to a dark car, and the men get in. One drives and the other two sandwich me in the middle. Are they watching me? I cross my legs, feeling very self-conscious. We arrive after a good 45 minutes. Both men on my sides grab my upper arms and drag me into a building, and before we go in I see the illuminating sign: SECRET SOCIETY ASSOCIATION, I gasp slightly, I didn’t get to write my will, they didn’t let me say goodbye. No, no, no. I won’t let her kill me, I will fight her. We’re enemies now. The past is the past. Even thinking the words hurt but I know they are true. The guys take me into a huge dark room, and sit me on a chair, tying my hands behind me. They flick the lights on, and for a moment I think I’m going to faint. There she is. The girl I spent my entire childhood with. The girl I wasted my childhood on. “Grace!! Oh, I’ve been waiting so long to finally see you!” See me? Kill me is a better statement. “What?” is everything I can force out without exploding, and I take a deep breath. “You sent my best friend to go against his entire school so you could get me in here, and kill me?” She frowns a little then smiles, “Well, I couldn’t tell him I only wanted to see you. You know, catch up.” Why was she so happy? It doesn’t make sense. “Let me go.” I snapped at him, my nostrils flaring in rage. “You can’t do this to me. I’ve sent you letters, tried to contact you in so many ways, and you get back to me after years by making my best friend hate me, then you’re sending your little servants to kidnap me? Smooth. Real smooth.” I stand up and duck as I swing my hands that are connected to the chair, over my head, the chair swung over my head and hit Tash, who yelped and fell limp. The men in black both slapped their hands to their gun pouch, but I swing the chair at them too. I grab a knife that was in one of the men’s pockets and cut the rope binding me to the chair. I grab a gun, and sprint to the other side of the room, as Tash starts mumbling. I turn the doorknob, but it’s locked. “Son of a gun!” I yell, sending a bullet through the door, and opening it. I run out into a hallway, immediately I regret this. There are men in SSA uniforms, and I recognize one. Ally’s dad. Ryan Catross. She has a photo of him on her nightstand, and this man is a perfect image. Stopping to think about this was a mistake- one of the men grab me from behind, snatching the gun out of my hand. I retreat, knowing I’m probably going to be expelled, might as well be good, so there’s no more evidence against me. I’m taken to a white room that has one chair, and I smirk at the déjà vu. Unfortunately, Ally’s dad remembers too and he makes sure the chair is hooked to the ground. He pulls up a chair in front of me and sits down. “Name? I hesitate. “Grace.”, “Last Name?”, “Taylor.” “School?” “....HBSS” “Excuse me?” I shutter, “HBSS. Harkin Brooke Smuggling sand Spy”, he looks at me as if I pointed out the obvious. “Who are your friends?” Then I realize it. He wants to know about Ally. “She’s good. Strong, beautiful.” I tell him, and he sighs. “I made a mistake, sending her off like that.” and I nodded, “Yes, you did.” He looked slightly shocked that I said that, “Is she good? Skilled?” I sighed, sympathy taking over me, “She’s the best. Top in our year.” He smiled, and breathed a soft sigh. “Has she found her brother?” He asked, and my face goes pale. “Brother? She’s an only child..” I raised an eyebrow in concern and bite my lip. “She has a brother, not much age difference.” He said, and I raised both eyebrows. “She’s an only child. There are no records of a brother.” I say, choosing each word carefully. “No, she’s not. You can’t tell her about this though.” I let out a noise between a laugh and a verbal eye roll. “Sure, I’m going to be stuck here, and she’ll notice, when I get back she’ll ask me what happened. What do I say? Oh, I had a lovely little chat with your dad.” I roll my eyes for real and wiggle my hands, trying to get free. “I’ll let you go if you promise not to tell her.” he said, and I stop to stare at him. “Sounds great- what do I tell all of those guards? Oh, yeah Ryan let me out, no biggie.” I roll my eyes and lean back. “I’ll tell them you aren’t a threat.” “Don’t lie to them.” “Are you a threat?” “No.” I sigh, and nod. “Fine. Untie me.” He stands up and hesitantly goes behind me. “Hurry up, or I will flip this chair over.” I scoff, as he unties me, and grabs my upper arm firmly. “Hey!” I yelp as he drags me out. He holds a firm grip on my upper arm as we walk outside. I’m sure I’ll have bruises where his fingers are digging into me. He throws me outside, my knees hit the pavement and I feel the skiing tear. I hear the clump of Ryan’s feet retreating on the pavement, and the big metal doors creak open and then slam shut. I turn around and shake my head. “Yes, please leave, I definitely know where to go,” I mutter, and stand up and brush my knees off. I look around, there are lots of trees, but it’s not a forest. “Alright, let’s look for landmar- Oh.” I stop mid-sentence and look up at the bright red sign that has the words “Harkin Brooke Smuggling and Spy up ahead” I make sure nobody saw my stupidity, and start following in the direction that the sign pointed. I end up in a narrow street that will end up in a dead-end somewhere up the road, but since I’m already lost, I follow it. “Uh, hello? Is anybody here?” I say in a loud voice, and I hear shuffling in a small corner.