Chapter 16: The First Mission

The girls got off the sofa, and together with Adrian approached the director, which prompted Sam to do the same. Elena presented to them the tablet. It had a text written on the surface, but the letters were small, which combined with the fact that she was the one holding it, made it impossible to read.

„It's a simple mission. You need to go to a certain address and bring the man who lives there into one of our safe houses. Adrian will drive you there. This person might not want to cooperate, but he will soon find himself in danger, so you have to convince him. He is a private detective who is investigating an incident, that led to the death of his employer's son. If you tell him you have information about the incident, he should at least hear you out. If necessary, lie through your teeth, but convince him to go with you. You could say you have photos taken during the incident, and you want to sell them to him. I'll text you the address and some details," at the end, her attention shifted to Adrian. „We wasted enough time with this mission, so you should go."

Sam opened his mouth to ask some questions, but then the hand of the blonde rested on his shoulder. „Let's not waste any time. We can talk in the car," he said making the teenager nod.

„Let's go," Isabella threw.

In such a way all four headed for the elevator, where the strange too-perfect man brought them back to the party. They left the club through the back door, where on a small parking the staff kept their vehicles.

One belonged to Adrian. It was a grey van, which had its age. They all boarded it. Rose and Isabella opted to sit at the back, leaving Sam the option to either join them or sit next to the driver. Although he preferred the first option for the company, he had plenty of questions to ask, which combined with Adrian's gesture back underground made him believe that he could provide some answers.

„Ask out. I might not know anywhere near what the director does, but I've been here the longest," the blonde said with an encouraging smile. He turned the keys making the engine roar, only to check his phone, as he received several messages.

He read through them carefully, before grabbing the wheel and driving out of the parking spot, and then on the street.

At first, Sam patiently waited, but when they started to move, he began talking. „Are we going to kidnap somebody?"

„Hopefully not. There is a chance we will be able to convince the guy to come with us, but if not… If we want to pass the mission we might need to use force," Adrian explained.

„How does the director know if we can persuade him?" Rose asked from the back seat. „Have she met this person? Or you?"

„Nope, but if there was no option to convince him, the director wouldn't mention it. She would say straight up that we need to snatch him from his apartment," Adrian retorted.

„You seem to trust Elena a lot," Isabella pointed out. Her voice was dry. „What did she write to you?"

Looking through the rear mirror, Sam could see that she sat with her arms crossed on her impressive chest while looking through the window.

„No. I don't trust her more than any of you do, but I know how the missions work," Adrian informed. „As for the text we have the address, the name of our target, and a few sentences about this incident. I actually heard about it, so it's nothing I didn't already know. I'll do the talking."

„Explain," Sam urged. „About the mission, and about the incident."

„The missions come from two sources. They are either an outcome of intel gathering by the inquisitors, or straight from the oracle. This one seems to be the second option, as the director knew some interesting details," he explained. „About the guy, not the incident. As for the incident, it was quite a hot topic. A gang fight in the middle of the street. Few people got hurt, and one high school student died."

„Oracle?" all three asked at the same time, ignoring the intel about the incident.

This erected a chuckle from Adrian's mouth. „I once had a drink with Ezekiel. He told me a thing or two. There is a very special person in the church. They call her the oracle. She can see glimpses of the future. Her visions are not always correct, only very often. Since the director mentioned that it might be hard to convince this man, it means it's possible, and the oracle saw this possibility."

„So he talks?" Isabella snorted. „I thought he could only stare menacingly."

Adrian shook his head. „Don't make fun of him. He used to be a paladin. He is incredibly strong. It's better to not make fun of guys like him."

„Inquisitors? Paladin?" Sam asked.

„Didn't Elena talk to you about the ranks in the church?" Adrian briefly glanced at him, only to shift back to the road ahead.

„Just that I will have to prove myself as an acolyte to learn more about the church," Sam shrugged.

This caused Adrian to sigh deeply. „There are three ranks of the novitiate. Acolyte, Neophyte, and the Initiate. If you go through them, you can become a disciple. Then you learn more about the church. It's to make sure only believers know about the inner workings and locations of the church facilities. We all are acolytes. After disciple, you have adepts. The director is an adept. They either do proper missions for the church, not the errands we will have to run for a while, or run their own church cells just like Elena does. After that, you have either hierophants or paladins, and that's all I've learned from Ezekiel."

„So he outranks the director?" Rose asked, although she already knew the answer.

„Seems like he does," Adrian shrugged. „But he doesn't strike me as the type to lead people. He is a soldier."

As the conversation came to an end, an awkward silence overtook the car. Sam barely knew them, so the fact that he was supposed to clear some kind of strange mission with them made it hard for him to speak. He had many questions but was unsure how to voice them. He didn't want to come out as a fool for asking about things they couldn't know, or about something obvious, which would be even worse.

Then there was the fact that they seemed to be fine even if the mission was to kidnap somebody. That worried him, but he couldn't voice those worries, because he felt that he needed the church to find out more about what was going on. 

Besides, by smashing his head into the door, while checking the strange bracelet, he already made himself look like an idiot.

„It's here," Adrian informed, pulling over on the side of the road, in front of an apartment building.

It was old, which made it look a bit out of place, as the nearby street sheltered many fancy establishments with electronics, clothes, and jewelry.

„It's our first mission, so probably plenty of things won't go our way. If this guy flips, just stand behind me," said the blonde, opening the door.

Rose seemed thankful for his offer. Sam had similar feelings, as getting stabbed by some random guy in some random flat, was the last thing on his list of desirable outcomes at the moment. Only Isabela had a different idea, as she snorted.

„What are we going to tell him?" Sam asked. Standing in front of the apartment complex made him worry more about the mission, as he barely knew anything.

„We basically have to bullshit him into our car and get him to a location. I know some basics, so I think I can do it. I'll follow Elena's advice and tell him I have photos of the incident in my flat. This should be enough. Just let me do the talking, and you nod. The more he thinks we are just a bunch of kids, looking for an easy payday, the better," speaking those words he looked at Isabella, who was the only one obviously out of place in her fancy uniform.

She looked like a student from a prestigious high school, not a rough street kid who tried to hustle out of a tough background. She immediately understood that, so she took off her jacket, and wrapped it around her waist, obscuring decently her short skirt. Then she threw all her hair on one side, using the side mirror of the van to check if the outcome was acceptable, then unbuttoned her shirt, creating a deep cleavage, enough for her white bra to show.

Adrian watched it surprised but didn't even pretend not to stare, but when Sam glanced, he immediately brocked the teenager's eyes. „Stop staring you perv," he said.

Laughter burst from Rose's mouth, but she quickly covered her lips with her hand stopping herself. Isabella gave Adrien an annoyed glare, before heading to the apartment complex entrance. Now she looked like one of the cheap pretty bitches, who tried to look glamorous.

„Do you have a chewing gum?" She asked.

Without a word, Adrien pulled some out of his pocket and then gave it to her. With this little detail, her look was completed.

„It should be the fourth floor. Flat number twenty," he muttered, tearing his gaze away to look at the building, up toward the higher floors, then went in to check if it was possible to get in without having to call somebody to open the door for them. They followed him.

„Damn it," he murmured when the lock didn't yield even after a hard jerk of the door handle.

Sam immediately approached the entry phone, standing right next to his tall companion. He pressed the button linked to the last flat, earning curious glances from others.

„Yes?" a female voice asked through the speaker after a moment.

„Hello? A delivery guy here. I have a package for flat number sixteen, but the button doesn't seem to work, would you mind opening it for me? I need a signature."

There was no response, only the buzzing sound that announced that the lock had been turned off. Adrian immediately opened it, letting them all in. Ahead awaited two staircases. One led to the basement, and the other up the building floors.

„Good idea," Rose praised with a smile.

„You got lucky. If that woman had some brain cells she would recognize it's too late for a package delivery. You should have gone with food," Isabella pointed out with a dry voice.

„Doesn't matter. We got in, didn't we?" Adrian argued. „Good thinking," he patted Sam on the shoulder, before rushing up the stairs.

He jumped three at a time, forcing the rest to put some effort into chasing after him. In such a way, in no time, they appeared on the right floor. They emerged from the staircase in the middle of the corridor, which went to their left and right. A stench of mold and a mix of two different kinds of music, pouring outside from two other apartments, greeted them. One glance told them what the numbering scheme was, so they headed straight to the correct door.

It was brown, old, and in need of some renovation.

It was Isabella who got there first, but she froze with her hand raised to knock. „Do you hear two voices?" she asked with a frowned brow.

There was indeed some voice coming from inside, but due to the music, it was hard to say if one person was speaking or more. That is before the voice stopped coming out at all.

„Only one way to find out. Step back," said Adrian, as he pushed his way to the door, forcing the girl to step away.

She glared at him but didn't protest. He knocked firmly. For a second or two, they didn't hear anything coming from inside the flat.

„Who is it?" then a voice asked.