Spy School: Broken Bonds

Chapter 2: ...Or does it?

Washington DC, USA

The Academy of Espionage

Friday Night

2300 Hours

I closed the door quietly and ran across the pavement, careful to avoid all security cameras. Once I got to the shed, I opened up the secret pathway and hopped into the tunnels. They were darker than I remembered, the corners looking as black as the night. I heard some talking in the distance. There were 2 guards blocking the ATM exit, so I pulled out some chloroform and snuck behind them.

I took out the first guard before they knew what was even happening, but the second one tried to fight back. He throwed a punch at my ribs, but I ducked and swept his legs. He tried to get up, but I smothered him with chloroform before he could do anything. He was knocked out cold.

I had gotten better at fighting these last couple of weeks. Erica and I had gone out to the shooting range a couple of hours a day and helped me shoot a gun. She also has set up a couple of sanctioned fights between me and some classmates for me to practice on. I got beat up for the first couple of days, but I eventually was able to beat Tina Foosher (the top of my self-preservation class, no Erica, but still).

I snuck my way through the tunnels until I got to the ATM exit. I typed in the code as the walls started to move. I stepped outside and breathed in the fresh air. "Ahh, this is nice" I said being brought back to reality "Ben! Get yourself over here NOW! You have 2 minutes" Murray screeched into my ear. His voice was insufferable, but I trudged through it. I ran to the local arcade; It was the brightest thing in the area. I went around to the back of the building and got in a car that was waiting for me.

"Ben, what took you so long" Murray said while gobbling down some bacon. "There were guards I had to take out" I said monotony. "Come on old pal, don't act like that. We can still have fun." Classic Murray, always trying to be my friend. Although, he might mean it this time. "How?" "How about we play some games before we discuss our plan, deal?" I might as well make the best of this I thought. "Deal."

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Erica's POV

I woke up with a blistering headache, probably from sleeping on the couch with Ben. Ben? Where is he? "Ben, hello" I called out. No answer. I looked around the room and saw that it was about 2 O'clock in the morning. "This is the second time this week" I said out loud, annoyed. I woke up Monday to find Ben gone. He came back 5 minutes later and said he was using the bathroom, but I didn't believe it. What if he's sneaking off to see someone else? What if he abandoned me. Erica, shut up. Ben would never do anything like that. Ben would never hurt you. Just go to sleep and ask in the morning. So I went to sleep, not wanting to ask myself these questions. Hoping that they would answer themselves.

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Ben's POV

I woke up with the sun glistening in my eyes in through the open blinds. I groaned as I got up and closed them, and noticed Erica was gone. Her wheelchair was parked in the bathroom door, so I started brewing some coffee for her. I wanted to not think about last night, but it was all my mind could think about. I couldn't really recall what had happened and I tried to make sense of it. We drove from the arcade to...somewhere? I went to sleep halfway through, I think. Next thing I know, I was playing COD with Murray. Then we went to a control room where we started discussing things. I tried to remember what we said, but I kept drawing a blank. All I know is that after the meeting I was drugged and brought back here. This is bad, but it's for Erica. Just focus on that.

"Hey Ben" I heard Erica grumble, pulling me from my inner monologue. "Do we have any Aspirin, my heads killing me." "No, but I could grab some from the office." "That would be great, thanks." "Here's your coffee" I said as I placed it on the bathroom counter, careful to reach in but not enter. "I'm not naked you know; you can come in" Erica said playfully. "Just want to respect your privacy" I said while walking out the door. It was a nice day, the breeze feeling just right. I walked into the office and went up to the counter. Behind them I could see that part of the wall was destroyed, probably from my little mortar incident. "What will it be now Ripley?" Sharline (The front desk worker) asked in a stereo typical old person's voice. I had gotten into a lot of gun accidents at school in the past year, so me and Sharline had gotten use to my regular visits. "Another miss-fire I presume." "Actually, Erica has a headache and needs some Aspirin." "Alright, you know the drill, fill out this form before you go." So I filled out the form and headed out. Besides for the dread of me having to confront my actions, everything was great. Ring, Ring "Good morning Mike" I said into the phone. "You still coming over." "Yeah, I even convinced Erica into joining." "Really, that's a first, is around 12 good?" "Yeah, sounds great, bye."

I walked happily into the dorm, forgetting about last night, until Erica brought it up. "Here you go" I said, passing her a bottle of Aspirin. "Thanks, but Ben. We need to talk." I instantly tensed up and bursted into a cold sweat. "About what" I managed to utter out. "It's not about our relationship, don't worry. But where were you last night." I was sweating bullets now, luckily I was turned away from Erica. So I wiped my drenched forehead and sat down next to her on the couch. Now I need an excuse, and fast. Her birthday!!! That will be perfect. "It's a surprise!!" I said hugging her, trying to avoid eye contact. Once I pulled away, I could tell she was skeptical but didn't push it any further. "So when are we going over to Mike's." "In about 30 minutes, is that good." "30 minutes!!! How is that going to be enough time to get dressed!!" Erica said frantically. "You'll be fine, you already look amazing." Erica just looked at me and smiled. "You're the best" she said under her breath as she came in for a hug.

I hope you guys like this chapter. It took me a while, IDK why, but it did. I wanted this chapter to immerse you into the world and get you to really understand what's happening before we jump into action. Next chapter all you Spy School Berica fans will love, and I promise chapter 4 will hop right into a mission for all you action fans. Have a great day. 😀