Runaway (The Knight Society #1)

By the time I emerged, squeaky clean, from my room all the fuss had died down. Mother and Father had retreated to another part of the Institute and upon my entrance to the Common’s Room silence descended so quickly it was as if someone had pressed a mute button. Summoning the past two years, I put on my ‘don’t give a fuck’ attitude like a shield and took a seat. Eventually the conversation picked up again but it took a full minute of my silent eating for them to realise I wasn’t about to stab something right this very second.

Two plates clattered onto the table in front of me and I looked up to see Ed and Avery slip into their seats. Avery slumped over in his seat, rested his head against the table and let out a loud, frustrated groan. For a moment all I could do was stare at him in confusion before directing my confusion at Ed. He looked equally disgruntled as he picked at his food with uncharacteristic disinterest.

“Uh what’s up guys?” I asked and they both huffed unhappily. Amused I raised an eyebrow and waited for them to answer. Ed cleared his throat and began to pick at his chicken bone with a vengeance.

“We just found out the Victoria has a crush on Drake.” He mumbled and Avery let out another agonized groan. Letting out a soft laugh I shook my head.

“I’m surprised it took you guy’s this long to realise.” Avery’s head shot up and Ed frowned at me.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sighing at the blindness of men I leaned back in my chair.

“You just have to look at the way she looks at him to know she’s got it bad.” I said, grinning when Avery dropped his head back on the table with a loud thud. Ed’s viciously stabbed at a carrot.

“But why of all the people on this planet, did she have to pick Drake!?” Avery asked, his head still pressed tightly to the table. Rolling my eyes at the dramatics I gave them both a pitying smile.

“It’s quite simple if you think about it.” I said and both of them gave me blank looks. Sighing I tried to explain it to them. “Drake is an attractive, older guy that her brother doesn’t like. In other words a bad boy.” Both of them looked like they wanted to object but I continued on before they could speak up. “To a rebellious eleven year old that’s like a bowl of candy. Irresistible.” Ed gave me a pained look and Avery looked like I had just told him I’d killed his dog. Laughing I reached over and gave him a consoling pat on the hand.

“Cheer up, baby birds have got to leave the nest sometime.” He glared at me murderously.

“Not at eleven! And certainly not with a person like– Drake.” He spat out the last word. The doors to the Common’s Room swung open and a puffy eyed Victoria came in. Chin held defiantly she glared at Ed and Avery before going to get a plate of food. Pain and guilt crossed both of the guy’s faces and I narrowed my gaze at both of them.

“What did you do?” they shared a guilty look before glancing at me sheepishly.

“We might have forbidden her to have any future contact with Drake.” Ed mumbled. Feminine outrage rose in me and I pinned them both a withering look.

“You what?” I asked and they squirmed. Shifting uncomfortably in his chair Avery winced when he met my gaze.

“It was a mistake.” He said and I scoffed.

“Damn right it was a mistake.” Glancing over my shoulder I watched as Victoria made her way over to the free seat next to Drake and with a mutinous glare in our direction slammed her plate down and took the seat. Drake looked momentarily confused before shrugging and continuing eating. Glancing back at the boys I saw the disbelief on their faces.

“And now you have to deal with the consequences.” I muttered.

After dinner I went to the Training Room with Avery and Ed and practiced throwing knives. We took turns aiming for a target and as the evening dragged on our shots got more and more creative. I had just attempted to throw a knife whilst dangling upside down on the balcony rail. The knife missed the target completely but for the first time in a while I didn’t care that it wasn’t dead centre. Instead I just joined in Ed and Avery’s laughter and let myself enjoy the moment. Pulling myself up I made my way down the stairs still chuckling slightly and watched Ed try to throw a knife whilst doing a handstand. He didn’t hit centre but it was damn near close.

Over the past hour I had learned Ed had an affinity for throwing knives and could hit just about any target. Of course I had only learned this after I had taken part in and lost a bet. The winner won a favour that could be cashed in at any time. He had spent the last hour taunting me with possibilities of what he would use it for. Avery was just in the process of preparing for a particularly difficult shot (throwing whilst doing a backflip) when loud voices from outside caught our attention. From the sound of it they were arguing and getting closer.

Something tugged on my sleeve and I looked up to see Ed raise a finger to his lips and then point at the balcony. Giving him a nod, I followed both him and Avery up to the balcony, where we lay down and hid in the shadows. Inching forward I peeked over through the bars to see people enter the room one after the other. Pierre, Uncle Jack, Mother and Father, Krug, Zach, Charles, Trish and Carrol. What on earth could this be about?

“You can’t honestly believe there is more to this than just mere coincidence?” Zach asked Pierre. Carrol rounded on Zach, her face alight with frustration.

“Are you trying to say that two instances where mongrels have been able to get onto our grounds isn’t cause for worry?” She asked incredulously.

“No, all I’m saying is that at this point in time all you have is conjecture. So a couple of mongrels have managed to slip past our defences. It doesn’t mean there’s some kind of mongrel uprising on the horizon!” He said. My parents who had been standing off to the side watching the exchange stepped forward to interject.

“It’s not just here that this has been occurring.” Father said, his low voice demanding no argument. Zach looked momentarily taken aback before rallying quite impressively under my father’s stern gaze.

“Even if that’s the case it still doesn’t mean there’s any cause for panic. They probably just got lucky! Or the Knight’s on duty were slacking. It was bound to happen at some point.” My father’s eyebrow rose imperiously and I knew Zach was in for it.

“This is not just a case of pure luck or mere coincidence.” He said, his icy tone causing Zach to tense. “Over the past several months there have been dozens of these cases popping up around the globe to similar effect, however this Institute is the only one that we have heard of mongrels actually being able to enter the building.” My father shot Pierre a scalding look as if this was somehow his fault and I felt my ire rise. Nonplussed he continued.

“My wife and I are set to go examine another of these cases in Rio however after extensive investigation we have concluded that someone has somehow has discovered a way to control the mongrels.” His statement was met with silence and my mind whirred. Control the mongrels? If someone had found a way to do that the results could be catastrophic. They could have a personal army of bloodthirsty monsters at their beck and call. A shiver ran down my spine at the thought and I glanced over and traded shocked looks with Avery and Ed. From Uncle John’s and Pierre’s lack of reaction it was clear the both of them had already been briefed on the situation and I silently wondered why Uncle John hadn’t told me about it. After letting that sink in my father turned to face Pierre.

“We suggest you up your security measures in case another attack occurs, which at the moment seems highly likely.” He said and Pierre gave him a grave nod.

“And will you and your wife be departing for Rio now?” he asked and I scooted closer, eager to hear their answer.

“Yes. If anything happens contact us immediately.” He turned on his heel and him and my mother strode towards the door.

“And what about Jack?” Uncle John called out. They both froze and my mother turned around slowly.

“It seems our daughter has decided to stay here for the time being. After this issue with the mongrels has been resolved we will be back to deal with that.” She said and the air left my lungs in a relieved sigh. For once they had actually listened to what I had said. My lips curled in triumph and I resisted from shouting out my victory. Without another word my parents strode from the room, the door closing loudly behind them.

“You can come out now kids.” Uncle John called out and I heaved a sigh. Should have known I couldn’t hide from him. Standing up we brushed off our clothes and peered over the balcony. Everyone looked up at us in surprise. Trotting down the stairs we walked over to the group and joined their circle.

“So what’s the plan?” I asked, breaking the silence. Pierre heaved a long suffering sigh and I felt kind of bad for him but there was no way in hell I was staying out of this. The others looked at me in unease judging whether or not I was old enough to be in on their secrets. I wanted to scoff at their apprehension. I had just as much field experience as they did if not more for some. Frankly it was insulting and I stared them down.

“Right now it seems all we can do is double the amount of Knights on patrol and keep watch for any more trouble.” Krug said and I could see his frustration at not being able to help in any other way. Pierre shot him a disparaging look but I gave him a grateful nod and turned to Uncle John.

“Are there any known mongrel hives nearby?” I asked. Mongrels tended to settle into large packs deep within unpopulated areas and bred like crazy. Usually every couple of months the Institutes would conduct a huge purge and raze the hives, but without a doubt a few months later the hive would pop up once again meaning the process would have to be repeated.

“There’s one not too far away. About two hours drive.” He said and then frowned. “Why?”

“Well the mongrels who have attacked here have had to come from somewhere and the best bet is the closest hive. So I suggest we go check the place out and look for anything out of the ordinary.” Everyone stared at me in stunned silence and I was tempted to shout that I could do more than just stab things with a sword.

“We could also set up some kind of video surveillance system whilst we’re there.” Avery said and I grinned.

“Brilliant! That way we won’t have to station permanent Knights there to keep watch.” Avery returned my grin. Zach crossed his arms and looked down his nose at the two of us.

“Hate to break up your little scheming here but why wouldn’t we just conduct a purge of the area and get rid of the problem.” I stared at him for a moment before I realised he wasn’t actually joking.

“Because killing all the mongrels won’t solve the problem it will only postpone it till the hive grows once again.” I said through gritted teeth. “Besides this way the mongrels will hopefully lead us back to the source of the issue; the person controlling them.” Zach gave an outraged sniff and I stared at him in confusion. “How the hell did you even become a Knight?” I genuinely asked and Krug covered a laugh with a cough. Colour flooded Zach’s face and he glared down at me.

“As I seem to recall I actually am a Knight. You on the other hand are just a runaway Knight in training.” I opened my mouth to tell him in no uncertain terms that Knight or not I would gladly be able to kick his arse into next week, when Uncle John put a restraining hand on my shoulder. I shut my hand with a snap and settled for glaring at Zach instead.

“Well I think that’s a great suggestion.” Uncle John said and the others mumbled their agreements. Uncle John turned his gaze to Avery. “Would you be able to set up this surveillance system?” he asked and Avery and Ed shared a knowing grin.

“Yeah Ed and I could have it done within an hour.” He said and I could see how the both of them were eager to get started immediately. Uncle John gave a satisfied nod.

“Good. We’ll start planning tomorrow morning but for now everyone should get some rest.” Everyone gratefully trudged out of the Training Room. I fell into step with Ed and Avery who were excitedly discussing what equipment they would use.

“I had no idea you guys were such tech genius’.” I said and they shot me cocky grins. Ed hooked his arm around my shoulders and squeezed tightly.

“You’re not the only one with beauty and brains.” He said. Laughing I nudged him.

“But seriously where’d you guys learn this stuff?” Avery gave a small shrug.

“Well after taking the compulsory tech class a couple of years ago we both got really into it. There was a guy that used to live here, Lucius Brunt, who was a genius at that stuff and in his spare time he taught us the tricks of the trade.”

“He sounds like a nice guy. What happened to him?” I asked. Ed’s grip tightened slightly and I frowned.

“No-one really knows. He just up and left one night, left all of his stuff behind too.” They both still obviously were hurt from someone they considered their mentor just disappearing without a trace. My gut clenched and I couldn’t help but draw comparisons between myself and this Lucius character. Both of us just disappeared one night without a word and I wondered who besides Uncle John and Aunty Jill who I’d hurt with my random departure.

“I’m surprised you weren’t totally into this tech stuff? Or at least forced to learn it?” Ed said interrupting my thoughts. Shrugging off my musings I gave him a sly grin.

“One of the only things my parents and I agreed on was the fact I was much better suited to the sword than a computer.” They both laughed. “Besides Thomas was the one who usually handled all that junk.” I smiled at the memories of Thomas spending hours toiling over the newest devices and tech. The way he’d pull apart the machines just to put them back together again in order to see how they worked. When I would ask him why he did it, he’d simply grin up at me and say ‘why not?’. Along with the joy the memories also came the sorrow that he was gone. It sliced through me and for a moment I forgot to breathe, but then that moment passed. I took a breath and continued walking. Only then realising that though the memory of Thomas still hurt, it hurt a tiny bit less than usual.