Chapter Text
September 15th
1520 hours
I walk inside and Trixie drags me to her room.
She shows me the dress Mom dropped off.
I put it on.
Well, it’s not itchy.
It’s a shimmery black that almost looks like the night sky; it just covers my knees and shows some of the scars right below my neck.
“Can you cover up the scares?” I ask Trixie.
“Of course. I’ll show you how if you want.” She says
“Thanks.” I say “This whole makeup thing is new to me. I only know how to use it to disguise myself.”
“Spy school must have had some interesting classes.” Trixie says.
For the next twenty minutes Trixie shows me how to hide scars with makeup.
“I usually use this for pimples but it works for this too.” She says.
I try applying it and manage to do it.
“Perfect.” Trixie says. “How did you get these scars?”
I tell her the stories behind my scars and she listens fascinated while she puts on makeup.
Two hours later she’s finally done with my makeup.
I ate a quick dinner.
“Erica, Mike’s parents giving me a ride to the dance see you there!” Ben calls from down stairs
“Now it’s time for hair.” Trixie says.
“We have half an hour until the dance starts.” I say
“Well you might be fashionably late.” She says.
Trixie does my hair and then she finds me a pair of shoes from her closet (lucky our feet are the same size.) and lets me borrow a necklace.
“Thank you, I don't know what I would have done without you.” I say and give Trixie a hug.
“No problem.” Trixie says.
Mom drives Trixie and I to the school (Trixie and Mike are coming despite going to different schools) and we walk to the gym.
The lights are barely on and multi-colored spotlights shine around the gym.
The entire school’s here dancing.
I walk over to Ben.
“Would you like to dance?” I ask
“Actually I’m waiting for someone.” Ben says
“I know.” I say
“Erica is that you?” Ben asks
“Yes.” I say
“You look incredible.” Ben says
“Thanks, so would you like to dance?” I ask
“I’d love to dance.” Ben says.
A romantic song plays and we step onto the dance floor.
“I don’t know how to dance to this.” Ben says
“I’ll lead.” I say.
I show him the dance and he manages to not step on my feet.
“How are you taller?” Ben asks
“I’m wearing high heels.” I say “But if a bad guy shows up you're going to be the one chasing them.”
Ben laughs a bit.
“You’d still be faster than me even in high heels.” He says.
“Maybe.” I say.
We danced for a bit just enjoying the moment.
Then suddenly the power shuts off. The room goes pitch black.
“Is this supposed to happen?” I ask
“No.” Ben whispers. I grab the two guns I bought and hand one to Ben.
“You're going to trust me with this when I can’t see a thing?” Ben asks
“Got any better ideas?” I ask all business.
“No.” Ben says.
“Whatever you do, don't let go of my hand.” I say. Someone grabs me and puts their hand over my mouth before I can yell for help. I squeeze Ben’s hand and get pulled away. I hear a door open and we keep walking. I blink a few times hoping this will help my eyes adjust but there isn’t any light so I might as well have just closed my eyes for all I can see. I get shoved into a closet and someone grabs my gun then they duct tape my wrists and ankles. Suddenly the lights go back on and my eyes water a bit at the sudden brightness then they adjust and I’m able to see that my kidnapper is Joshua Hallal. I open my mouth to scream for help but Joshua sticks what I’m hoping isn’t a dirty sock into my mouth.
“I don’t want to hurt you.” Joshua says. I glare at him. And spit whatever he stuffed into my mouth out.
“Then why did you tie me up?” I ask
“So you couldn’t escape. And don’t even think about using your phone.” he says and pats me down.
“I didn’t bring my phone.” I say “Obviously that was a mistake.”
“You actually didn’t bring anything to help you escape if you got captured?” Joshua asks.
“I thought you were in prison.” I say
“I’m not.” he says and runs his fingers through my hair. I kick him in the chest with my tied up feet. He crashes into the wall. He slowly stands up.
“I forgot how strong you are.” He says. His nose is bleeding but he doesn’t seem to notice.
“It’s nice to see you again. I've missed you.” He says
“I hate you.” I say.
“This is because of Ben isn’t it?” Joshua asks
“No, this is because you tried to kill me.” I say.
“It wasn’t personal.” Joshua says
“Well it sure felt like it.” I say. “Ben’s going to find me. And when he does I’ll tell him you're out of prison.” Joshua puts duct tape over my mouth. And leaves. a minute later I hear Ben calling my name.
“Erica! Erica!” he yells. I try to make as much noise as possible by banging my feet against the door. He hears me and opens the closet door.
“Erica! You're okay!” Ben yells looking relieved. He quickly unties me and peels the tape off my mouth.
“Joshua’s getting away.” I say
“He’s out of prison?” Ben asks.
“Yes.” I say “And he’s getting away.” I stood up and ran to the school’s front door. Look around but don’t see anything.
“He got away.” I say
“We’ll find him. For now, let's head back to the gym and try to have a good time. We can focus on finding him tomorrow.” Ben says.
“Okay.” I say. We head back to the gym and slow dance to another song. I rest my head on Ben’s shoulder.
“Thank you for being here for me.” I say.
“I’ll always be here if you need me.” Ben says. The song ends and I head to one of the tables for two and sit down. Ben sits next to me. I do my best to forget about Joshua and have a good time. I take the high heels off and dance with Ben until 2200 hours. I yawn. A lot.
“I think I’m going to go home.” I said
“I’ll walk you home.” Ben said. I grab the high heels and put them back on then I walk home with Ben. Mom and Trixie are sitting in the living room.
“How was it?” Mom asked. Witch was the point I finally lost it. I burst into tears and ran upstairs to my room. Mom Trixie and Ben all follow me.
“Are you okay?” Mom asks
“What happened?” Trixie asks, worried about me. Ben walks into my room and I wipe away my tears. Mom turns to Ben.
“What did you do?” she asks him in a menacing tone.
“I didn’t do anything.” Ben said
“Then why is Erica crying?” Mom asks
“Joshua kidnaped me.” I say. Mom turns to me shocked.
“I thought he was in jail.” Trixie said
“Not anymore.” I say “He got out.” Ben grabs a tissue box from my desk and hands it to me.
“Thanks.” I say.
“How did you escape?” Mom asks.
“I didn’t.” I started crying even more at my complete failure.
“I Found her in the janitor’s closet and untied her.” Ben says.
“Did Joshua hurt you?” Mom asked me. I shake my head.
“I think he likes me.” I say.
“He does.” Ben confirmed. “Last year when he was trying to blow up the president I mentioned you and he smiled in a way I had never seen before like he was thinking about you.” This makes me cry even harder. Because I start to think about the person I thought he was before he turned evil.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask Ben
“You were just realizing how evil he was and you seemed so upset I didn’t want to make you feel worse.” he says
“Well this is a real mess. I think I’ll make us all some tea.” Mom said and left to make some tea. Grandpa comes in and sees me crying. He glares at Ben and attacks him.
“I didn’t do anything!” Ben yells. It takes me a few seconds to realize why Grandpa looks like he’s trying to kill Ben.
“Grandpa! Stop, Don't hurt Ben!” I yell. Grandpa pauses.
“I said I’d hunt him down and kill him if he made you cry. Wasn’t the dance tonight? That’s why you're dressed up right?” He asks
“Ben’s the one who saved me from Joshua.” I say. Grandpa lets go of Ben’s neck. And Ben drops a few inches onto the floor. And takes some deep breaths.
“Joshua Hallal got out of prison?” Grandpa asks.
“Yes.” I say. Grandpa turns to Ben.
“How did you save my granddaughter from Joshua Hallal?” Grandpa asks Ben.
“He found where Joshua tied me up and left me.” I say
“Why weren't you able to escape on your own? And how did Joshua capture you in the first place?” Grandpa asks me. I look at the floor and a tear streams down my face.
“You dropped your guard.” Grandpa says. I stair at the floor for another minute and he walks out of my room. I start to cry all over again. Feeling like a complete failure. Mom comes back to my room and hands everyone a teacup full of chamomile tea. She also brought the tea pot. I stop crying and drink some tea. It makes me feel a little bit better. I put the tea cup on my night table and take the high heels off. That makes me feel a bit better too.
“Erica, how did you get blood on the heels?” Trixie asked me.
“I kicked Joshua into a wall. And his nose started bleeding.” I say. Almost smiling a little at the memory.
“Nice job he deserved it.” Trixie said.
“I just wish I’d kicked him harder.” I say
“We’ll hunt him down and make him pay.” Mom says
“I have a feeling he’s going to come to us.” I say.
“He does know where our school is and apparently how to get into it.” Ben says.
“I’ll get Alexander to pull you two out of that school immediately.” Mom says
“Thank you.” I said to Mom.
“We are all here for you if you need us.” Mom says. I smile and look up. I see my face in a mirror. I have black tear stains running down my face and my eyes are red and puffy.
“I didn’t use waterproof makeup. I didn’t think you’d need it.” Trixie says. Ben grabs my hand and looks into my eyes.
“Erica, you are amazing whether you're defeating bad guys or reading a book.” Ben says and then he kisses me. The kiss lasts about three seconds. I smile at Ben. Then I yawn. I rest my head on his shoulder and my eyes slowly close.