Reborn Heart of Steel

The next day seemed to be the longest a day had ever been and time seemed to move at a snail’s pace. Classes felt like hours and every conversation in the hallway felt like a sin to be punished. When the last bell had sounded, my nerves jangled, I was all ready to burst with the information I had received and the prospects that the future held in store. Chase and Alessandro were waiting for me at my locker, and their jaws were clenched in the same resolute look I must have worn. As we walked towards Chase’s car, neither of us had said much; the magnitude of what we were about to do was apparent. “Is everyone on the same page with what we are going to do?” I asked Chase as he backed out of the parking lot of school. Still, Alessandro had nodded at this from the backseat. Crystal. We act in unity, tell him what we’ve discovered and persuade him that we are more helpful than harm. “But what if he does not take the bait?” I asked Chase, turning round to check his face in the rear-view mirror. I forgot to breathe and stood up straight, preparing myself for whatever trouble the day may bring. “Then we do what we have to do,” I repeated, or “With or without his approval. ” The drive to the local FBI field office was rather strained, each of us stuck in our own head. Recalling the conversation with my mother that I had last night, I was trying to find something else in her worn-out words and her terror-stricken eyes. These were Chase’s and Alessandro’s glimpses of the puzzle the mystery stirs different types of crime going on a daily basis thanks to the Phoenix Organization and the new players coming into town. Alone, even the best of them probably does not signify much. But side by side, they described a rather grim picture of The Ravens’ plans becoming operational. What you don’t know can never harm you. I wish I had just been Lucy, the young girl who was always bullied and knew nothing about The Phoenix Organization and their leader, The Raven, who is hell-bent on making my life a living hell. When we arrived in the parking lot of the Police Station, I had a second thought. Were we wrong? Can we just leave this to the experts and let them get on with it? But I quickly recalled that The Raven had written me a letter with unsubtle warnings about the people I care for. Well, no, we could not just sit and twiddle our thumbs for events to unfold. We had to act. “Ready?” Chase asked, as he ejected and killed the engine.

Alessandro and I just agreed and proceeded into the building. The lobby was rather cold and utilitarian with beige paint on the walls and some worn out chairs which were placed in a waiting area. A sleepy looking security contractor gave a nod for us to walk past what appeared to be a metal detector, then gestured at a line of lifts. “Fourth floor,” he grunted. “Agent Harris is expecting you.” We did not say anything to one another in the elevator, but the atmosphere was charged with electricity. I stood up and as soon as the doors opened, a business-like woman in a formal business suit rushed towards us. ‘Miss Brianne?’ she said, her little eyes shifting back and forth between us triplets. As soon as I signaled okay she said, “I am Agent Chen. Come with me,” and led us to the door. She took us through a hot corridor with a number of similar doors and came to a halt at the door which was one of the last ones in the hallway. She rapped the door once before moving it open, and she beckoned us in. The office was compact, and as a result, clean, with a large substantive desk and papers scattered on it. Agent Harris looked up as we entered and, after taking in both of us, looked more troubled than I had ever seen him. “Miss Brianne,” he said and stepped forward to shake hands with us. “Alessandro, Chase. Good day. Have you been planning to have a seat?” We sat down in the chairs in front of him, and his businesslike demeanor suddenly made me feel like a rather callow college student. Agent Harris leaned back and looked at me and then, at Alice, his eyes narrowed a bit. “I heard you have some things that you want to tell me,” he said in a tone that was as controlled as could be. I looked at Chase and Alessandro and drew my strength from them. Finally, after some time, I was ready and so started to talk as I breathed in. I shared all of this with Agent Harris, including the letter from The Raven containing our worries about him and the morsels of information we had. When I was talking, I noticed that the facial expression of the agent was gradually becoming more and more hostile, and the deepening furrows on his forehead were telling me this. When I did, there was an ensuing silence in the office. Agent Harris slumped back in his chair with only my face to stare down. Turns out, I am grateful for the tip,” he said at last, in sorrow, “but I trust you will realize that what has just gone is something far too perilous for the untrained eye to get involved in. I was overwhelmed by the impulse to get a little angry. With due respect, Agent Harris, we are already in this up to our necks. The Raven to me ensured that with the letter. “I get your point,” Harris said quietly but as if computed, which further angered all of us. ‘But the best thing you can do right now is to stand down and let us deal with it as we have the training and equipment that you don’t. ‘ “Handle it?” Alessandro exclaimed, glaring at both of us “As if you ‘dealt’ with it when he fled a maximum security mental hospital? Or as if you ‘dealt’ with it when he almost murdered Brianne.”

This to you but-” ‘Upset doesn’t begin to cover it’, Chase interrupted him, feeling a connection with me and grabbing my hand. ‘This isn’t just some case for us. This is our lives. Our families. We cannot just sit back and wait for you to come to your senses in the end. ‘ I could sense that Harris was reaching the end of his tether. “I get it,” he muttered stiffly. ‘But the fact remains that you are teenagers,’ said Haris ‘You are not professional police or detectives and being involved in this case can be fatal for all of you and spoil the work of all of us. ‘ ‘We’re already in danger,’ I said, taking a forward position, stretching my hands on the table. ‘With The Raven out there plotting, who knows what for every second we’re endangered,’ I said, ‘At least we’re doing something about it. ‘ The cubicle was, as far as Harris was concerned, utterly and completely frustrating and Harris sighed, pinching the bridge of his nostrils to show just how much. ‘Miss Brianne, I realize that you wish to do something. But you have to rely on us. We have sources we suspect, orders we have put through, proceedings I cannot disclose. Your impulsiveness might compromise everything we have planned for. ‘ These remarks of his somehow brought about in my breast a glow of all the sunshine. It is all nice and quiet: ‘Well, do you have a plan then? Are you near to catching him?’ The agent’s expression shut down. :In my capacity I am unable to talk about live cases, but I can guarantee that everything is being done to arrest The Raven and dismantle his cartel. It hardly lasted some seconds, and the usual disappointment followed to bring the curtain down. The usual vague placebo words, the usual triumphant attitude. ‘I was sick of it. ‘ ‘You can’t do that,’ said I, not unkindly but firmly. ‘We are here as a courtesy, ready to help you,’ the man said, ‘but if you are not going to listen to us, if you are not going to provide straight answers, then we will do it ourselves. ‘