Reborn Heart of Steel

Everything started in one more rather shabby motel room. The early morning sun comes through the dirty curtains and blinds. I was sitting on the bed with my legs tucked in a lotus position, papers and maps around me: my vision was blurry from tiredness. Chase and Alessandro were on the floor, with their laptops, where they carried on their tireless investigation on the remaining properties owned by The Raven. There we worked for days without sleep; only just a few naps, attitude and fear kept us going. What was left over from the Raven’s last word was repeated in my head and pushed us on despite aching muscles and fatigue. Finally, I woke up from my daze and tried to look at the documents laid in front of me. “Well, but we know he has boosted personal protection on all the important properties. He cannot be invincible though. There must be a loophole. Alessandro agreed softly; he kept doing whatever he was doing at his computer. “There are some computations that I want to work out on patterns of guards’ shift changes; that might give us a crack in somewhere. ” Chase grumbled and yawned, the joint protest reaching heraldic crescendooes. “But, that too may be a problem. The Raven is going to anticipate after the last few blows we gave him. ” I was going to say something when we heard a loud knock at the door, obviously the sound had jolted all of us. We only looked at each other and our faces were filled with panic as we tried to think of something intelligent to say. Had The Raven and its raven located us? Were we about to be arrested? Chase gestured to us not to speak as he slowly made his way to the door, putting his eye to the keyhole. He released tension from his shoulder, but he tensed and his face tensed. His hand came up to us, and he breathed, “It’s Agent Harris. ” My stomach dropped. Agent Harris had played a role in the preliminary investigation that pinpointed The Raven for apprehension. He had dismissed my participation right from the onset of the trial and only considered me as a rebellious teen nuisance and not a material witness. Why was he on the receiving end of this nasty viral video? I understood Chase, so after a short moment, I nodded at him. Turning the handle, he discovered that it was Agent Harris the man was very tall and looked quite serious. The eye of the FBI moved around the room and darted down to our scruffy look and the disorderly state of papers and other electronics on the table. “Miss Brianne,” he said, looking at me straight in the eye, “We need to talk”. I got up from the chair and attempted to imitate a demeanor which I sorely lacked at the moment. ‘Agent Harris! What do you want here?’ He moved about the room and shut the door. ‘I expect you know that is really why I’m here, Brianne. ‘ Or should I say, the Firestarter. ‘ My face went cold at the tone the agent had just used and what had been said. How did he know? We’d been so meticulous in making sure our backs were covered at all times. Chase got up and went to stand nearer to me, his body heat radiating closeness to me. ‘I have no idea what you are referring to,’ I replied more calmly than I thought I could manage. Agent Harris’s expression hardened. ‘Don’t act stupid on me, Brianne’…warehouse, a casino and a strip club? You’ve been a busy woman. ‘ Alessandro, who was seated on the floor, interjected. “You can’t prove anything. ” Looking at him, the agent said: ‘Perhaps not yet; however, it cannot be long now. ‘ ‘Can you just imagine the risks that you have taken?’ I raised my chin high, more in offense than anything else. “We have got our plan well worked out, don’t we? The Raven-” ‘You think The Raven is not interested in you,’ Agent Harris snapped, his tone as cold as ice. ‘He is a criminal who needs to be caught by the police or any other authority and not a group of teenagers. ‘ Chase looked nervously by my side. “To be honest with you, sir”, it was unprofessional to say, “law enforcement has not done such a good job in containing him. ” Agent Harris’s eyes narrowed. ‘Well, I guess arson and vigilantism are the solutions. Oh boys, you have no idea how deep you are into this. ‘ I can not stay calm anymore ‘We are the only ones who are taking any action. The Raven threatened me and my family. What should we have done, just wait for him to come after us’. ‘You were to rely on the system,’ Agent Harris pointed out, his tone becoming slightly less aggressive. “I understand that you have a very difficult story, Brianne But this is not how you should go on. ” I just shook my head-which, all of a sudden, I could hardly see through because of the frustrated tears welling up in them. “The system was an utter disappointment to us. It allowed The Raven to carry on with his business. It did not shield us. ” Agent Harris whistled softly and shaking his head, he ruffled through his gray hair. ‘I know you’re angry. But what you are doing… it’s very dangerous not for you, but for people around you. The Raven is not the man whom it is possible to provoke. ‘ “We know the risks,” Alessandro said, standing from the table to come over and join us. “We’ve accepted them. ” The agent proceeded to glance through the company formally and addressed each of us, more or less annoyed and worried. ‘Stand down, all of you. ‘ This is your last chance, OK? Let it go! Get your hands off it and step away before it’s too late. ‘ Chase’s arm rested around my lower back and I could feel his unspoken encouragement. “And if we don’t?” When Agent Harris heard what she had to say, he had the face that suggested he Does Not Like It. “Then I will have to take you in for arrest,” he said, “Arson, destruction of property, interfering with a federal investigation you’ll be spending some serious time behind bars. ” There were no sounds as others tried to let the reality of what he had just said settle in. For a second I wavered I was afraid. Was it possible that we were ready to lose it all our futures, our liberty for this crusade against The Raven? But then I thought of what we’ve been through, of the horror The Raven put us and so many other people through. Bastard! I recalled the pleasure which we used to get from watching his empire going up in flames, and it was all for the cause. I adjusted my posture, and stared directly at Agent Harris. “Thank you Agent Harris, We understand your concern, but we can’t stop now, we are too far into this. ” The agent’s expression darkened. “You are wrong, Brianne,” he said, “dead wrong, and if you go on as you are you’re going to lose everything, everything you have and everything you are. ”Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“Maybe,” I conceded. ‘But it’s our mistake to make. ‘ Finally, it was Agent Harris who turned to look at us for what could have been minutes as he tried to come to a decision. Finally, he said, producing a business card from his pocket: ‘Since you refuse to listen, when all this goes wrong and it will dial this number it is a direct line to me I can’t assure you that I could help but, I hope you won’t have to use it anytime soon because……” He tossed a card in front of me roughly.