Agent Academy II: Danger Games

Prologue

Loz’s story

Loz and Lou froze as the light of Martin Lovelle’s knife flickered in their eyes. The huge raging smile and the wild fire in his eyes as he came closer made them back away. “You can’t escape!” he said. “Oh…yes…” Lou started. “We…CAN!!!” finished Loz. And they ran. They whizzed through the parking lot, skidding across the ground, and jumped into Loz’s dad’s car and slammed the doors. “DRIVE, NOW!!!!” screamed Loz. “What’s the matter?!?!?!?” asked her dad worried. “Martin Lovelle’s trying to kill us!!” Lou shrieked. Anthony slammed his foot down on the accelerator and drove as fast as he could. Loz looked back through the glass at the back of the car, Martin was on the chase. “Ohmygod, HE’S GAINING ON US!!!!” yelled Loz. The wheels of the car screeched as Anthony, sped round the corners. The other cars on the round honked loudly and aggressively at Anthony as he drove, Loz stuck her head out of the window and yelled “SHUT UP!!!!!!” That was a bad idea, because the engine behind them roared as Martin got faster.

Then the car slowed and blended in with the fog of traffic. “Come on, COME ON!” shouted Anthony at the cars and hammered the honk. “Right, that’s it, I’m not waiting in this,” said Loz determinedly “come on, let’s go”. She pushed the car door open, and everyone in the car just stared. “Well, do you wanna live or not!?” she snapped. Lou unlocked her seat belt and made her way out as well. So did Carol and Anthony too, after a while of persuasion.

Their house was just a few blocks away, but they ran as fast as they could, shoving people out of their way and pulling each other along. When they got to the street, they leapt over the gate, ran across the path, flung the door open, and leaned back on it and it smashed shut. Anthony clicked the lock shut, and they ran upstairs and locked themselves in the master bedroom. “Everything is going to be ok…” Anthony muttered “…it’s going to be ok…” “DAD!” yelled Loz “You muttering like that is stressing me out, please just shut up!!!!” “Ok, sorry…” he said quietly.

The house grew silent, when Loz thought she heard moving downstairs. Loz listened closer, and she heard the sloshing of water in a bottle, and the splashing of it being spread. And then Loz heard, a small noise…like…a lighter being set. There was silence again, and Loz sniffed the air. There was a strong scent of smoke! And Loz peered at the doorway, and it was leaking through the gap under the door. “OHMYGOD, THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE!!!” screamed Loz. Anthony pushed the heavy window up and pointed for their escape.

They worked together and tied all the duvets and bed sheets together to make a long escape rope. They threw it down and tied the end to the bed post. Anthony went down first, then Lou, and Carol was meant to go next, but she couldn’t will herself to do it. “Dad!” Loz shouted down, “I’m going to have to go through the house!!! Mom can’t do it!” Anthony’s face flashed a sudden worried look. “Ok,” he replied, “but be careful!!” Loz nodded.

She turned to her mom, “Mom, the only way to get out of here is to go through the fire,” she said “can you do this?” “I’ll try” Carol replied, and took Loz’s hand. Loz grabbed the key to the room, turned it, and the door creaked open. “COME ON!” she coughed, and ran straight out into the cloud of grey smoke. She looked back to check if her mom was still there, thankfully she was.

Loz and Carol stumbled down the staircase, and Loz fell into the wall. Her legs went dead and her upper body crashed to the ground. Loz staggered across the floor in pain, dragging Carol along with her. She reached up for the door, and pulled down the handle, but it wouldn’t open. As she looked around, she saw a glimpse of a small hammer tucked away in a corner. She yanked it out, and bashed the door handle with it as hard as she could, until the door showed a tiny crack of day light. She heaved Carol up and they got out of the house as quickly as they could, letting the fire brigade sort out the mess behind them.

Lou ran over to Loz and threw her arms around her. “I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!” she cried “I thought I’d be back on my own, and not have a sister. But you’re alive, you’re alive!!” “Yeah,” puffed Loz “I am. Can you get off my a minute? I need to breathe”. Loz breathed steadily, and then said “At least we’re all alive now”. But in front of them, the family watched their house and memories crumble down into dust.

Chapter one

Loz’s diary

April 1st

St April Fools’ Day

Hey. April Fools’ Day, huh? You could say that again. I guess somebody thought it’d be funny to set our house on fire if that’s the case. It seems so funny my head is falling off!

Recently, there have been a lot of changes in my life, here’s a list of them:

• We have to find a new house.
• Our school is relocating sharing with another academy.
• We’re having a new head teacher.
• I have discovered I have a sister, which is Lou.
• My little brother Dylan has fully recovered from cancer, and is moving into school with us.

I’m just a little worried about how Dylan’s going to settle in, with him being a first year, and also the fact that he’s so fragile, but I guess we’ll have to see. Over and out.

-Loz.

Lou’s story

The car screeched to a stop in front of dull grey building. Out of the car stepped Lou, her sister Loz, and her younger brother Dylan. “Fun” muttered Lou under her breath, walking to the trunk and yanking out her heavy suitcases. Loz came from behind her and gathered hers and Dylan’s. There was a buzz of conversation and fast actions surrounding them in the large parking lot from the large, loud crowds of school kids. They obviously weren’t here early this time.

Lou’s eyes swiveled over to Dylan. Over the half term break, she’d gotten to know Dylan really well. He was just like Loz. Just as sensitive, stubborn, but just as caring and generous as her, and Lou learnt his good side and his bad side. His anger wasn’t as bad as his sister’s, but it had a limit. A limit nobody wanted to push. And also the fact that worried Lou was that, just like Loz, he wasn’t a people person. So the amount of kids here made Lou feel scared for Dylan.

Somebody from the crowd yelled “SHE’S HERE!!!” Everyone in the lot tossed there heads over to a long, black limo. There was silence throughout the lot. The first person who came out was the limo driver. Who then opened the long black door, for a woman. She was short, plump, and ugly. Her greasy, black hair was tied back in a small bun out of her wrinkly face. She had a giant mole on her cheek and the jowls on her chin moved around so much it looks as if she had little people living off her. Her short legs clomped on the floor as she took effort-filled steps forward out of her limo.

“Well what are you all doing standing there? Get inside” she said, her jowls in full quiver. Everyone suddenly started talking and moving again. Bodies of her soon-to-be fellow students barged and pushed past her. “Right,” said Carol, “I’ll be off now. I love you. Have fun, behave. Take care of Dylan”. “Will do” said Lou saluting. Loz just raised her eyebrows, as if to say ‘You think I wouldn’t?’. Mom rolled her eyes and got back in the car and drove off.

“This should be good” said Loz sighing.

They stepped inside the large, but gloomy and dull school and followed the large mob that was queuing at this random door. Lou was pondering through her thoughts about what was inside the room the door kept hidden. And what could be so important about it?

Soon enough it was Lou’s turn to go in. She hesitated a little, but approached the room. The door swung open as she got slightly closer. Someone was already in there, welcoming her in. She slowly walked in, and felt the brush of somebody behind her, shutting the door shut.

“Louise McCarty?” said a voice.

“Whitefield” Lou corrected “I’ve just learned that I’m Loz and Dylan’s sister”.

Lou sensed the person nodding in the darkness. Lou edged closer.

Suddenly a bright light shone down over a wooden chair. “Come sit down Lou” said the voice. So she did. Her eyes narrowed in the bright light, so she couldn’t see exactly who the person was. “This won’t hurt a bit” said the person, and then all senses of hearing and sight disappeared from Lou. And she was completely senseless. She felt like she was curled up in the corner of a tiny room. Her legs bunched up against her chest, her arms wrapped around her knees, keeping her legs close.

When she got her senses back, she worriedly was out of the room in a flash. What just happened in there? She thought. Lou backed up against the wall, and held her forehead. She rested for a while to wait for Loz and Dylan. She felt fine. Like nothing had happened. What did they do to her in there?

Sooner or later, Loz and Dylan both came out of the room.

“What’s up with that?” said Dylan.

“What did they just do to me???” said Loz.

“I don’t know,” replied Lou, “I guess we’ll find out somehow. Come on; let’s get to our first class. Good luck Dylan be careful”. He gave Lou the wise nod and headed to his class.

“Come on, let’s go” said Loz. And off they went.

Loz’s story

The school day dragged by slowly, and soon enough, classes were over. So Loz and Lou made there way back to their dorm which they had been show as soon as they got there, to have a rest from an exhausting day. Loz walked in and there were several other girls in there. PEOPLE. Her worst nightmare. And they were people she didn’t know.

“Hey guys,” said one girl, she had dark red hair, and it didn’t look as if it had been dyed “I’m Cas, short for Cassandra”.

“Nice to meet you Cas, I’m Lou” said Lou. There were four other girls in our dorm too. The two looked like twins, and then there was one with purple hair. The twins were whispering things in each other’s ears and the purple-haired one was sat on her bed listening to her iPod with her headphones in.

“Um, these are the twins, Scarlet and Crimson, specifically named for there hair and eyes. Scarlet doesn’t really…talk to anybody. And umm, she goes on about this guy called ‘K’, who she’s destined to meet soon. I don’t know what she means by that, but I guess we’ll soon find out” said Cas.

“No one will know who K is except for Scarlet, Cas!” piped Crimson. She leapt up and skipped forward towards them. “Hi there!” she said in her hyper, high-pitched voice “Nice to meet you!”

Scarlet just sat there hanging her head and said nothing. “Oh,” said Cas in sudden realization, “and this is Cezza”. She pointed to the purple-haired girl. “Yo Cezza!” she called. Cezza said nothing.

“CEZZA!!!”

Still nothing.

“Hang on just a sec” Cas said to them. She grabbed her pillow and lobbed it hard in Cezza’s face. That got her up.

“WHAT!?” she said loudly. “New roomies!” snapped Cas. Cezza’s eyes swiveled to Loz and Lou. “Oh hey guys,” said Cezza, “nice of you to join us. Pick a bed, any bed. Not mine. Or Scarlet’s. And hope we get along for time’s sake”.

Loz laughed under her breath at that statement, and Cezza smiled slightly.

Suddenly the door made loud click sound and then there was silence. Cezza’s smile disappeared, and she sat back down on her bed. Loz stared at Lou with a worried expression.
“Err, guys, what was that?” asked Lou. “The door locks,” said Cas, “they lock us in our rooms every night”.

“What?!” Loz and Lou both chimed.

“They shouldn’t be allowed to do that” Lou continued.

“We know,” Cas said “but those are the rules around here. Even if the headmistress is new”.

“No, guys, you don’t understand. Loz physically can’t be in these conditions!” Lou complained. “Neither can Scarlet,” interrupted Crimson, “but that’s the way it’s gotta be. Scarlet got used to it after a while, but she still doesn’t like it”. Scarlet tugged at Crimson’s shirt to keep her quiet. She was at once. Loz couldn’t take this anymore, she rushed to the door, pushed the handle down over and over to try and get it to open. Loz slid down and scrunched herself into a ball, holding her head in her knees. Her breathing quickened and she felt like everything was moving in closer, specifically the walls. Everyone seemed so giant. “Loz…” said Lou “are you ok?” Loz couldn’t answer. “Oh no…” Lou threw her hands to her mouth. “Cas!” Lou cried, “Try and help us out, I think she’s having a panic attack!!!”

Cas’s eyes widened and she moved abruptly. Cas bashed the door with her fists and yelled “LET US OUT! WE’VE GOT SOMEBODY CLAUSTROPHOBIC IN HERE AND SHE’S HAVING A PANIC ATTACK!!” Nobody answered though. “Hold on guys” Cezza contributed. She grabbed a long thin hairpin from the table and knelt down at the door lock; she twisted and turned it until it cracked. Loz got up and flung the door open as fast as she could and ran outside, Lou and Cas following her. Suddenly from around the corner, a tall, lanky boy with an afro came round the corner and grabbed Loz and Lou by the shoulders. He smirked at them and said “Look what we have here. Didn’t you know it’s against the rules to bust out of your rooms when we lock them?” “We’re sorry, it’s just my sister here, was having a panic attack, because she’s claustrophobic. I hope you understand…” said Lou with a quivering lip. “Oh, yeah, I do. But as you were breaking the rules, I’m afraid there’s going to have to be severe punishment” he said. “Back off Isaac” said Cezza approaching the door. “Cezza, it’s been a while, how you doing?” Isaac asked. “Don’t push me Isaac, because you know what will happen” said Cezza with an expressionless face.

“Ooh, I’m real scared Cez!”

“You should be. Now. You were going to leave my friends alone?”

“I’m afraid, under the orders of Miss Brockman, I have been told to punish these three girls”. Lou gulped. Punishment. Lou was curiously wondering how bad that would be. “Fine” said Cezza miserably.

“Come with me girls” said Isaac turning around.

They followed him and not a word was said.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Loz’s story

Loz woke up from her bed that morning feeling drowsy and lost. Her sight was blurry and she felt dizzy and light-headed. “Where am I?” she mumbled. She lifted her hand to her head to steady herself, as she leaned on the other arm to raise herself up.

“Morning Loz!” boomed a voice in her ear that suddenly made her jump. “WHOA!” she screamed falling back. Loz rubbed her eyes to clear her vision, and in front of her were a group of girls she’d never met before.

“You ok?” said this one girl, who had long maroon colored hair, and blue eyes. A pair of twins came closer into her face as she tried to back away, Loz’s face twitched as the amount of people came closer into her personal space. “Do you think she had it rough last night? What do you think Isaac did to her?” asked another girl with natural dark red hair and violet eyes, the question was directed at the first girl. Then another girl’s head loomed over the crowd, she had purple hair and brown eyes, she said “Yo Loz, what’s the matter?” Loz gasped. “How do you know my name??” she stuttered.

The twins with the red hair (and one with green highlights) laughed to themselves and the one with the green highlights said “We’re your friends!” The maroon haired girl said “And I’m your sister!!” Sister!? “But I don’t have a sister…what are you talking about…?” Loz mumbled. “Is this some sort of joke?” said her so-called sister.

“No. Seriously, I don’t know you. At all. And I don’t even know what I’m doing here”.

Then her sister burst into tears, and hid her face in her hands. “What did I do?” Loz asked. “DON’T SPEAK TO ME!” snapped her sister “YOU’VE ONLY JUST FOUND OUT THAT I’M YOUR SISTER, AND YOU DECIDE TO TAKE A JOKE TOO FAR AND TRY TO FORGET THAT YOU EVEN KNOW ME!!!!”

“But I don’t remember any of you! I’ve never met you before in my life!!!”

“Right,” said the girl with the natural dark red hair, “let me break it down for you. You are Loz Whitefield; your sister is Lou Whitefield. I am Cas Cetters, the girl here with the purple hair is Cezza Blaze, and the twins are Scarlet and Crimson Harper. Does that narrow it down?”

Loz flicked through her brain for a few seconds and nodded at Cas. “Very good Loz,” said Cas sarcastically, “now, what do you remember?”

“Well…” she said “the only thing I do remember is the guy with the afro, he was letting me come back here, and then I sort of just crashed down on my bed and here we are”.

“So you don’t remember your parents or your siblings?” piped Cezza.

“I have another sibling?!”

“YES.” Said Lou “One who has just left the hospital, and just recovered from cancer!”

“Oh…”

To be honest, Loz could only vaguely remember her parents. Her mom mostly, more than her dad.

“Do you remember your boyfriend?” said Scarlet, the one that finally spoke that morning.

“I HAVE A BOYFRIEND?!”

“JAMES ANDERSON!!!” they all yelled.

Oh my GOD, thought Loz.

“Lift your palm to your face,” said Crimson, “or I will do it for you”. Loz decided to ignore that statement and carried on with the conversation. Lou grabbed Loz’s cell phone and swiped her finger across the screen until she found a picture of Loz and a boy with longish scruffy black hair and chocolate brown eyes. Loz was so confused. The people in the picture looked so happy together, but Loz couldn’t even remember who this guy was!!

Suddenly there was a knock at the door, Cezza rushed to it and opened it, and to their surprise it was James Anderson himself. “Er, she’s not quite ready yet,” said Cezza, “give us a few more minutes”. And Cezza shut the door.

“Right,” she said determinedly, “that right there is your boyfriend. I really don’t know what game your playing with us here, but you are going out there and you are talking to him, ok? I really couldn’t care less if you don’t remember him or anybody else”. Loz swallowed hard and nodded. She got dressed, brushed her teeth and did her hair as quickly as she could and slipped nervously out the door, where she was greeted by James.

“Hi” she said.

“Hey” he replied. He took her and her fingers twitched at the warmth at her cold shivering fingertips. James started talking about so many things that she didn’t even recognize and she was just starting to get a bit territorial of her space. Every time he approached her or tried to kiss her, she’d back off a little bit and look at him like she was scared.

In the end, James was actually quite fed up. He dropped his hands from her clutches and said with a miserable face “Loz! What is the matter with you!? You’ve been acting unusual all morning. What is up? Is it something I’ve done? Because if it is, please tell me”.

Loz’s mind was spinning and echoing with James’s voice. She couldn’t tell him the true thing, could she? But she couldn’t help it, and blurted it all out. “So,” she continued, “I don’t remember you at all. I’ve never met you in my life! I’m really sorry if I’ve hurt you, but that’s just how it is at the moment”.

James looked as if he was going to start crying, the tears started welling up one by one. “Are you breaking up with me?” he croaked. “…I guess…I am…” said Loz. “Ok then,” said James straightening his back and squaring his shoulders, “I’ll just go”. And he started to walk off ahead. Loz reached out for him, “I’m really sorry!” she cried, there was no response “JAMES!” But by then he was gone. Then it was Loz’s turn to start the waterworks. “Oh my God,” she murmured “what’ve I done? I’ve just broken his heart for no reason whatsoever, oh my God, I’m such an idiot!” She kicked her foot against the floor and then kicked the walls, which she then slid down and curled up in a corner and sobbed to herself.

“Are you ok?” said a small voice. Loz couldn’t see who it was at the time, because she had her head buried in her knees. She slowly lifted her head up, shifted her fringe from her eyes and saw a tall boy with a dark colored afro and brown eyes. “Yeah, I’m fine,” she answered him, “Don’t worry about me”.

“Do you want a hand up?”

She accepted it and thanked him. “I’ve never seen you around here before,” said the boy, “what’s your name?”

“Loz, you?”

“Isaac Lovelle”.

Why did that surname sound so familiar? She was sure she had heard it mentioned somewhere, she just wasn’t sure where.

“Oh, um, Whitefield is my last name” she added with a half-smile.

“Nice to meet you Loz, hopefully seeing you around in some of my classes”.

“Yeah, hopefully”.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

They were just sat in their dorms, staring into the bland nothingness of the walls, when her voice boomed through the tiny box in the corner of the ceiling. The headmistress, Miss Brockman, announced “I have decided to prove whether you are worthy of this school by inventing a competition which I have named the Danger Games. Twenty two competitors will be nominated at random and will be ordered to take part in fourteen challenges. Six will win and the others will be forced to leave. Please be warned, people die in this contest. But there is a strict rule against any killing of your opponents. I will begin the nomination momentarily”.

Loz sat and waited twiddling her thumbs, Scarlet sat with her head buried in Crimson’s shoulder, Cezza sat at the dressing table, tapping her fingers in a repetitive rhythm, Lou and Cas sat next to each other whispering things and looking at each other with worried expressions. “First nominee: Adeku Gu’antooth”. What sort of a name is that? Thought Loz. The naming went on “Craig Smith, Zidan Tribolt, Scarlet Harper, Crimson Harper…” The twins looked up in astonishment. This time, even Crimson wasn’t smiling. “Isaac Lovelle, Danny York, Cezza Blaze, Cas Cetters, Louise Whitefield, Loz Whitefield…”

“That’s our whole dorm against each other!” said Cas. “But remember six can win. If we all work hard, we can win together” said Loz.

“But we’re going to have to go against each other to work to that level” Cezza interrupted. Their hope sank and frowns clouded their faces. “Well, it’s been nice knowing you girls” said Cezza.