Backpack on back, group surrounding me, Italy in front of me. Everything was perfect. Walking out of the airport I smiled as I took a deep breath in. I don’t know why, but I just felt really good about this place. We walked to the curb and waited for the limo Headmistress Morgan had ordered to arrive. I sat on a bench.

“Ok Jerry. We’re here!” I said stepping off the train and taking a seat on the bench.

“What do we do now?” He asked sitting next to me.

“We devise a strategy.” I said simply.

“Well, Mastermind. What do you have in mind?” He asked looking at me.

“Option one, we can stay at a hotel and stake out from there.” I said bored.

“Or…?” He asked knowing I had something better.

“Or we use a little contact I have and stay there for a little, while using a government computer to access whatever we need.” I said smiling.

“Ok. Lead the way.” He said getting up and throwing his bag over his shoulder.

“Yay!” I said before getting a taxi. We got in.

“Address.” The taxi man asked.

“21042 Via Panicale.” I said reading off my phone. I sat in the car and waited as we drove to the place.

“Snow, come on. We’re going.” Ty said snapping me out of the flashback. I grabbed my bag and got into the back of the limo.

“Address.” The drive said. Headmistress Morgan opened her mouth, but I cut her off.

“21042 Via Panicale.” I said quickly. The driver began to drive and everyone in the car looked at me.

“How…?” Jess asked slowly.

“I had a flashback. Jerry and I got off the train station and got into a taxi and that is the address I told the taxi driver. So wherever that is, is where we’re going.” I said simply. They averted their eyes. Soon enough we arrived at the place where I said. It was a small building squished in between other buildings. If the driver wasn’t perfect and I hadn’t been keeping an eye out for it we would’ve by passed it. The car came to a complete stop and we got out of the car. I walked ahead while Headmistress Morgan paid for the limo. As I walked up the steps I noticed a keypad. I stared at it for a bit.

“You know you can just have someone buzz you in Ela.” Jade said seriously.

“Shh!” I said holding a finger to her. I slowly touched the keypad, hoping for something. Anything.

9583

I typed in those number and surely enough the door unlocked and I was able to open it. We slowly walked in, unsure of what was going to happen. After checking the first room, which was a living room type of area, it came up empty.

“Hello. Anyone home?” I yelled slightly throughout the house.

“Ela?” I heard someone call back from a different room.

“Yea! It’s me.” I yelled back.

“Hold on, I’ll be out in a minute.” The voice yelled back. I knew this voice I just couldn’t match it to a face right now. Soon enough out walked a shirtless male. He turned around. Reed?

“Ela!” He said happily before running to me, picking me up and twirling me around. “You’re here!” He said putting me down. He placed hands on both my shoulders and gripped them. “I was so worried about you. You’d think after everything you would be able to pick up a phone and call me so I knew you were ok.” He said before bringing me back into a hug.

“Sorry.” I whispered into his hug.

“And Jerry! My man!” He said before bro hugging Jerry.

“Hey guys.” He addressed the rest of the group. “Jess, lovely to see you as always. I swear you get more beautiful each time.” He said before kissing her cheek. “Welcome to my humble abode. Please come in, have a seat. My home is your home, Ela and Jerry should know. Sit, sit.” He said pushing us into the living room.

“What brings you guys here?” Reed asked taking a seat.

“We have a problem.” I said slowly.

“That’s exactly what you said to me when you got here 5 months ago.” Reed said with a slight smirk. “What’s up buttercup?” He asked getting serious.

“Ok… here’s the thing. 5 months ago I set out on a mission to find answers about my father, myself, and other things. Well, I ended up in a boarding school in Spain without any memories of the past 5 months. I have no clue what happened, where I went or who I was with. I got a package a little while ago with the sent address coming from Florence. I came here and as soon as I landed I remembered this address, your address. When I arrived, your pin number just popped into my head. And now here we are. I’m hoping you can tell us what you know.” I said looking up at him.

“Well, you came here with Jerry. I opened my home to you. You guys stayed here for a couple weeks. I wasn’t here much I took some classes at a local university. All I remember was you guys saying you had a problem and needed a place to stay so of course I let you stay. I have no idea what you guys did. One day you guys got up and left. You thanked me for everything and said you guys had to leave but you’d call me soon to let me know everything was ok. I never got that call.” He said simply.

“Ok. Umm… do you remember anything else? Anything at all?” I asked desperately.

“No. Nothing. I’ll let you know if I do. In the mean time, let me show you guys to your rooms.” Reed said standing up.

“Reed, that won’t be necessary.” Headmistress Morgan said politely.

“Nonsense. We have plenty of room here and my dad’s back home in Washington. No one’s here but me and the occasional check up of my security guards. It gets kind of lonely here. You guys are staying.” Reed said convincingly. “Now follow me.” He said walking out of the room. I was the first to stand up and follow him. “There are eight of you and ten bedrooms. Each of you can have your own room.” He said walking up some stairs. When we got to the top he stopped. “All the way down that way to the right is my room. Every other room is open. The third floor is my dad’s.” He said before turning around to face us. “You guys can freshen up a bit and I’ll take you guys out to dinner in about half an hour.” He said before slipping into his room.

“Find a room.” I said shrugging before walking into the one across from Reed’s.

“Mind if I share a room with you?” Ty asked leaning against the door.

“Not at all.” I said smiling. I threw my bag on the chair near the window. I’m glad I picked the room at the end of the hallway. Rooms without windows make me claustrophobic. Ty walked up to e and wrapped his arms around my waist. He leaned down and placed his lips on mine. His thumb rubbed circles on my side while our lips moved together. My arms wrapped around his neck as I pulled him closer to myself. I pulled away. “Maybe we shouldn’t be sharing a room. Two teenagers of opposite sex sharing a room…” I said drifting off.

“I can control myself.” He replied simply.

“I wasn’t talking about you.” I said winking before wiggling out of his grip. I walked over to my bag. Slipping off my sweatpants I folded them neatly and placed them back in m bag. “You should probably start getting dressed babe.” I said throwing him a quick smile over my shoulder.

“I think I may have forgotten how to get dressed, so I’m gonna watch how you do it.” He replied causing me to laugh. After getting dressed into a simple pair of  Jeans and an white sweater with black combat boots. I sat on the bed and waited for Tyler to finish getting ready. Once he was he sat next to me and pulled me into him.

“We’ve only been here for a little while, but I can see this place is doing you some good.” He said rubbing my arm.

“I told you it would be. This is the place Tyler. The place I’m going to find my answers.” I said seriously.

“I know. And whatever you need. Whatever you need, I’m here for you.” He said before kissing the top of my head.

“I know.” I replied nodding. “Let’s go get dinner.” I said before getting up.

“Come on! Answer the door!” I whispered bobbing up and down slightly while waiting for the door to open.

“Are you sure we can even trust this person?” Jerry asked crossing his arms.

“I’m sure. I know this kid. I do. We can trust him.” I said seriously.

“Ok. If you say so.” He replied looking at me. The door opened revealing a shocked Reed.

“Surprise.” I said smiling.

“Ela!” He said before bringing me in for a hug.

“Hey!” I said hugging him back.

“Come in. Come in.” He said ushering us in. We followed him into a living room. “Have a seat.” He said pointing to the couches in front of us. He said in a chair waiting for us to sit. Jerry and I sat on a couch.

“So not to sound rude of anything, but why are you here?” He asked looking at us.

“We have a problem.” I said slowly.

“Ok… what kind of problem?” Reed asked leaning closer to us.

“A big ass problem.” Jerry added.

“In order for you to fully understand this we’re going to need to start from the very beginning. At the government party I told you about the whole spy thing. Well at that time we were attacked by the world’s most want evil terrorist group. They kill spies and other important people. They are called the Circle of Cavan. Originally we thought the were after Jess. But after other attacks we realized they were after me. They’ve always been after me. They took my dad and they tried to take me too. They’ve hurt everyone I care about. Well, I dated one of the highest standing members in the Circle because I thought he was a normal teen. I of all people should not underestimate the term ‘normal teenager’. Nonetheless I dated him anyways, for a while. Then he made this other guy I was talking to blow us a building. Anyways, now I know that I am a danger to everyone that I love and care about. So I left. I left to find answers to my unanswered questions. By the end of this summer I want to know where my dad is and why is the Circle after me. The last thing my dad sent me came from Florence. So I need to stay and look around Florence to see if I can find any clues of where he might be or where the Circles secret layer is hidden. I’m only going to be in Italy for a week 2 at the most. We have to keep moving. Soon enough the Circle is going to know I’m no longer safely locked away behind the secured walls of Gallagher Academy and they will come looking for me. I don’t want you to be caught up in that. At the party I said I did not want to drag you deeper into this mess than I already have, but I wouldn’t be coming to you if it wasn’t a life or death situation.” I said looking at him.

“And at the party I said if there is anything you need. I mean anything. Stay here as long as you need. Use anything in this house. What’s mine is yours. Anything that’ll keep you safe.” He said looking at me. Looking into his eyes I could tell he really wanted me to be safe.

“Thank you Reed! You have no idea how much this means to me!” I said getting up to hug him.

“It’s my pleasure.” He said hugging me back.

I woke up with a start. Sitting up I rubbed my face before pushing the hair out of my face.

“Ela…” Tyler mumbled from next to me.

“It’s ok babe. Go back to sleep.” I said running my fingers gently through his hair. Soon enough he was back to sleep. I laid back down and tried to do the same.

 “Thank you so much for everything Reed.” I said hugging him. Jerry was upstairs packing his bag.

“It was nothing. Anything for a friend.” He said patting my shoulder.

“Listen Reed. I need you to do me a favor. You can’t tell anyone anything that I told you or did this week. Do you understand?” I said seriously.

“Yea. I understand.” He replied nodding.

“Not even myself.” I added quickly.

“What? What are you talking about?” He asked confused.

“I mean, not even myself. If I get captured they’re going to change me. I know it. I’m not going to be the same person. They’re going to get into my head and make me into a completely different person. If I do come back the same then we’re going to need a safety word. A word that I can use to make you know I’m me.” I said sounding slightly paranoid.

“How about Counterintelligence? What I know is information to protect against espionage or yourself. Counterintelligence.” He said simply.

“That’s great. That’s really good.” I said nodding.

“Alright. I’m ready to go!” Jerry said walking down the stairs.

“Let’s get out of here.” I said smiling up at him. Reed walked us to the door.

“Thank you so, so much.” I said again, before hugging him.

“Everything’s going to work out.” He whispered in my ear.

“I hope so.” I whispered back before releasing him.

“Really, thanks bro.” Jerry said before hugging him.

“Anytime guys. Anytime. Call me when you guys are home safe, ok?” Reed said looking between us.

“Alright.” Jerry and I said in unison.

“Ok. See you guys later.” Reed said smiling before closing the door. We walked away.

“That’s if we make it home safely.” I whispered.

Second time that night I woke up. I looked over at the clock. It was 4:12. I rolled out of bed trying not to wake Tyler. I knew he needed the sleep. I walked out of the room and across the hall to Reed’s I opened the door to find him up on his computer.

“Hey, what’s up?” He asked closing his laptop and turning on the light.

“Counterintelligence.” I spat out.

“What?” He asked sitting up.

“Counterintelligence.” I said walking to his bed and sitting down.

“I thought you had no memories of the past 5 months.” He said looking at me.

“I don’t. Sometimes I get these flashbacks. Things spark my memories and they just appear like I’m watching a movie. I remembered the conversation we had before I left. I need you to tell me what happened during the time I spent at your house. Please.” I said begging.

“You came and spent one week here. Just a week. You made a plan on the second day that you were going ‘rob a bank’. I allowed you to use my dad’s government computer to do some research and apparently you got what you were looking for. Records, sightings, locations. Anything and everything you could look up on the Circle. You got more and more scared that they were going to find you. I assured you that you were safe with me. You were telling me about some cases where the Circle ‘gave back’ one of the people they captured. You told me that they returned a completely different person. Either they were crazy or a heartless monster. You said that they either committed suicide or went missing again. One of the people who went missing was found working with the circle so you assumed that’s where all the missing people went. You were so paranoid that they were going to turn you into that. But you were so determined to find them. It became your mission. Then the day you left you were going to ‘rob the bank’ and leave. You were going to move throughout Italy and go to the places where people have been taken and where they’ve been found. You hoped that it would lead you somewhere. I don’t know what happened after that because you never called.” He replied shrugging.

“This makes no sense. None of this makes any sense. Why did I want to rob a bank? What did robbing a bank have anything to do with the Circle? I don’t understand!” I groaned frustrated before getting up and pacing around his room.

“I can’t answer those questions. You just said you were going to rob a bank. You didn’t tell me why. You didn’t tell me what it had to do with anything. You told me nothing but the name of the bank.” He said shrugging.

“What’s the name of the bank?” I asked before stopping and looking at him.

“Banca Monte Dei Paschi Di Siena.” He said simply.

“Repeat that?” I said getting closer to him.

“Banca Monte Dei Paschi Di Siena.” He repeated slower.

“Omg.” I whispered before pacing again. I wanted to rob the bank that I found a bankcard to in my wallet with a fake I.D. in it after I washed up on a beach. Did I have a bankcard before or after I tried to rob the bank?

“Do you know if I had a bankcard to this bank?” I asked looking at him.

“No. You’ve never even been to the bank before then. Hell you’ve never been to Italy before then.” He said with a slight laugh.

“Holy shit on crackers.” I said shaking my head.

“What?” He asked looking at me.

“Ok so when I woke up in the boarding school I had a wallet. In the wallet were a fake I.D. and a bankcard to that bank.” I said looking at him.

“Yea, so? Maybe instead of robbing the bank you opened a bank account.” He said simply.

“The thing is I checked how much money was in the account.” I said biting my lip.

“How much money was in the account?” He asked scooting closer to me.

“200 thousand four hundred fifty-six Euros and thirty-four cents.” I said slowly.

“Well damn.” He said leaning back.

“Yea.” I replied before sitting on his bed. We sat in silence for a while before I looked at him. “You wanna go for a run?” I asked simply.

“Sure. Why not?” He replied rolling out of his bed. Running into my room I quietly changed into my exercise clothes. I met Reed downstairs and we just started running. I followed him because he know the place better than I do. We ran down stone streets, over bridges, past fountains, and through some gardens. We ran until we saw the sun come up. Getting back to the house it was 5:43. We took a nearly two hour run. As I got back into my room Tyler was still sleeping. I grabbed some clothes and walked into the bathroom. Taking a long shower I got out and changed. When I got out Tyler wasn’t in the room. I walked downstairs and saw everyone in the living room. As I walked in they all looked up at me.

“So what now?” Jake asked leaning against the wall.

“We’re going to rob a bank.” I said looking at them.

Well we're finally starting to find out things about Ela's summer. Things are starting to piece themselves together. It's only a matter of time before she finds out what really happened to her over the summer. Speaking of that. I was wondering if you guys would want me to write a story about her summer. Like if you want a book of exactly what happened over the summer instead of little pieces. Anyways, requirements for next chapter 

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Let's see how much you guys want this new chapter. I love love love you guys and see you next time.