Ruined...

Calista Raven, a young professional detective who works in the largest organization is assigned with an operation to eliminate the unknown Mafia, Phantom Order.

"Double-Crossed by Trust"

“I don’t know how to explain this all to you…”

“After all, what did I do so terribly to deserve this?”

“It has been three years since this tragic incident happened but, since it’s essential to inform you all about it, I can gather the courage; I just hope I am clear enough”.

My name is Calista Raven, from the age 10, I loved martial arts and crime dramas. My dream was to become a detective, so I applied to the agency named “Cerberus Corps” which was the largest organization of top-class spies and luckily, I was selected.  Our goal was to protect the Government and keep all the crucial information specific and preserved. I was a member of the highest-ranked club so I was mostly assigned to greater issues that were to create more than an impact on the country. It was never such a big deal for me but the sudden changes in one of my missions greatly impacted my mental state, forever…

My Leader “Marcella Fox’’ assigned me a mission, maybe one of the hardest ones in all. She called me into her office and said:

“Listen up Raven, I know you are exhausted after the operation I assigned you last week but this one is way too important to be given to any other agent or to be ignored for some while”

*Sighs* “May I ask what it is?’’ I said.

She handed me some documents and said:

“The government has given us one more operation to complete as quickly as possible, you might have heard of the Phantom Order, the secretive mafia that kills politicians’’

“Of course I have but his identity is still unknown, right?’’ I asked.

“Yes, it is and I want you to track his moves and eliminate him, he’s a major threat to everyone now. The last time he was spotted at Times Square Street, masked,  with his companions but it was useless as he left as quickly as he arrived’’ she said.

“I will start working on it tomorrow morning, now if you would excuse me’’ I said, leaving the office towards my home as it was too late.

In the morning, I swiftly did my chores, had my breakfast, and got on my laptop to search for the Mafia’s last movements.

As I was scrolling through some news articles I came across a page that shared the pictures of the masked mafia and his victims. I felt a sudden shiver in my body;

“Have I ever seen him somewhere before? I don’t think so, we’ve never met’’ I thought to myself.

I looked at the watch, it was 9 in the morning, I didn’t want to get late so I left for the office.

When I reached the office, Marcella was already there.  She looked at me and signalled for me to wait in her office.

About half an hour later, she came back to her office and gave me a cold look that immediately hinted to me that something was wrong.

“We have just found out that the next victim of Phantom Order would be President Grimshaw Algernon,” Marcella said.

“Wait, how do you know that?”. I asked her with all my concern.

“ What the hell you mean by that, Raven? Don’t you know He always shares a mysterious note with agencies to warn them?”

 I suddenly remembered about it, 

*Laughing at myself* “Sorry, I was such an idiot to forget about an important thing like that” I told her in a rattled voice.

“Shut up Raven this is not a joke!” She said as she banged the table vigorously.

I went silent, “This isn’t right, it’s pretty rare to see her mad”. I thought to myself. She continued herself:

“ He has given us a warning note, Mr. Algernon knows about it and we have to protect him no matter what happens. He has a confession to make during a main occasion tonight-”

I cut off her voice and asked “ Can’t that occasion be postponed or something? It’s about his life now”

“No, it’s not possible. Half of the chief generals and ministers will reach there tonight, if we delay it, it will create an awful impression on others which is a disrespect. Got it? Now get ready with the forces and all necessary pieces of equipment and reach the place at 7 sharp”. 

She provided me with the location and I left her office to get ready for that night’s occasion.

I reached there earlier than 7 pm. The occasion was held in a grand palace. When I got inside, my jaw dropped to see all the beauty that decorated the place. It was beautified with colourful design lights, luxurious cars, varieties of delicious starters, different kinds of exceptional plants, ambient music, and a sweet smell of flowers that was relaxing me with every moment. 

“I think the guests are already here, where’s Mr.Algernon?” I thought to myself.

All of a sudden I heard the noise of a car, I turned around to see the president getting out of it and everyone gathering around to welcome him. The jeeps of the army also followed him behind and surrounded him. He was wearing a butler suit with a bow tie and each of the pearls of his coat shone brightly as he walked along the pathway.

“That dress doesn’t even suit him well, he’s coming off his age now,” I thought to myself and accidentally made eye contact with him, to my surprise, he smiled at me and  walked up to me, 

“I assume you are my agent of the night?” he asked

“Certainly, I am sir. I will be keeping a close eye on the event tonight” I sincerely answered him.

He smiled at me again and left.

The forces and I took our positions, noticing every single move of everyone. We charged the duties of 6 Armed guards with rifles around the president at each move while the rest of us hid in different spots.

After an hour or so, a Mustang stopped by the palace gate and a tall young man came out of it in a casual suit followed by 2 guards. We all were alerted and started watching him curiously when one of the soldiers told me:

“I think he is that mafia, he’s also got two guards with him. We should eliminate him right now-”

“Wait! Tell everyone to stay still and don’t make any move, we can’t say if he is the mafia or someone else. A single mistake can ruin the whole plan and besides if he’s the one where is his mask?’’ I said.

“Fine then, I will” He said and he silently left.

I looked back at that man again, an uncomfortable feeling got into me and I started to feel nervous. After talking to the president for a  while, that man intensively turned around and walked back to the gate of the palace where his car was still parked. I knew something was off with that guy so I  told one of the soldiers to follow him silently but somehow that man got to know he was being watched and when he noticed the soldier hiding behind the wall, he panicked and got into his car quickly. It was when I got sure that he was hiding something. I told the soldiers to stay alert, ran down the pathway, got on my bike and chased him across the silent street. He tried shooting me quite a few times which I dodged perfectly. The chase continued until we reached the edge of a hill and he was left with no option to surrender.

He got out of the car slowly and started grinning at me,
“Haha! You fell for it!” He said laughing.

“What on earth are you talking about? You are arrested, put up your hands! Right-”

Before my sentence was completed, a man appeared from the bushes in front of me.

“Raven, the shadows have brought us together at last.” the man said as he emerged from the darkness into the light. 

He was wearing a dark suit, butler shoes, a fedora hat, an expensive watch embellished with real diamonds and other accessories in another hand, a long trench coat and of course; a masquerade mask which covered his whole face.

I was astonished by his elegant dress and what surprised me more was that he knew my name even though it was the first time I had met him.

Ignoring everything that happened just then, I shouted:

“Shut up! Phantom Order and let’s just get down to business”

“Not yet”, he calmly said and took out a switch from his inner pocket and before I could do anything to stop him, he pressed it.

This was part 1 of the story.