I shrugged off the unease about the job as I walked on humming my song.
My name is Becky and soon you'll know more about me.
I just walked in when the landlady came over asking when I was going to complete the rent that she didn't accept part payment and she had given me a moth if I couldn't complete it I'll have to move out.
I stared at my mum on the bed and I knew she's supposed to be in the hospital because all the nurse could do was care for her like she was a vegetable and I needed more money to get her out there.
I was in a foul mood already so I went to bed that night with everything weighing on me.
Next morning…
I woke up as usual. I had that dream again.
I was just too tired to react. I got up to check on my mum when I noticed her breath was so faint and her body seemed cold. In that instant it felt like my world was crashing as I ran to my room . I picked my phone dialing nurse Sarah
" hello aunty please can you hurry over, something's wrong with my mum" my breath ragged. I couldn't loss my mum. I quickly brought a bowl and warm water trying to clean her body as aunty Sarah rushed in.
"She'll be fine Becky calm down" was all she told me as I stood there while she checked her temperature and other things I just stood there as different thoughts ran through my mind.
"Becky we need to talk"
Aunt Sarah's voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
"What is it?" I asked her eager to know what was wrong with my mum but she told me she was slipping into a coma and might pass from there as her feverish condition is increasing but she already gave her injection to bring it down .
It dawned on me that this was beyond nurse Sarah. I had to get my mum to the hospital.
I walked to my room to get dressed. I just wanted to take her there and maybe I could pay a deposit later but I remembered their initial rejection when I first got here saying no deposit, no treatment that the ward was full.
I saw the flyer I hesitated but I was already at the cross road there was nothing I could do I dialed the number nervously
It went through it was a man "Hello"
"Are you still hiring more people" I caught my feeble voice asking.
"Yes,come to the address" the man at the other end answered me as I quickly thanked him and ended the call.
I begged aunty Sarah to stay some extra hours and look after my mum so that I'm going out for a while as I quickly put on my face cap, I can't let them reject me thinking I was just a blonde girl, what could I possibly know as men usually said.
I took a taxi as I described the place for the driver who looked at me like it was an abandoned area.
When we got to the building I got down.it didn't look like a company at all from the outside, just a skyscraper with mirrored glass rising into the sky, sharp and perfect like it had been carved out of ice. No sign. No logo. Just a pair of revolving doors that whispered open the second I approached, as if they'd been waiting.
Inside, the air smelled faintly of steel and something chemical, clean enough to burn my nose. The floor gleamed black, polished to a reflection that made me feel like I was walking on water. People in suits moved with crisp precision, eyes forward, not a smile among them.
Security cameras were in every corner of the building I could turn. red dots blinking like watchful eyes. I had counted three guards before I even reached the reception desk, all of them too tall, too still, too quiet.
The woman at the front desk looked professional hair pinned back, expression blank, her voice flat when she spoke. "Welcome, Miss Becky. We've been expecting you."
"Me" I asked like a dummy as I chucked nervously while she walked me to an office where I met few people outside it seems they all came for the job.
I sat down for about thirty minutes before they finally called my name.
I walked in feeling nervous.
Behind the desk sat a man.
He raised his head as I entered, he looked tall and strict, yet nothing about him felt forced. His suit was cut sharp but not flashy, his tie loosened just enough to make him look approachable. Dark hair swept neatly back from a strong brow, eyes a shade too intense to be ordinary. He had the kind of face that could belong to a rich CEO or a movie star.
"Miss Becky ," he said, his voice smooth, steady, carrying an authority that filled the room without needing to raise it. "Sit.I've got questions for you."
"Tell me do you believe you can do the job?"
"I… I can try," I said, hating how small my voice sounded.
He leaned forward. "Trying won't be enough. You'll have to live it and perfect it because no mistakes you can't be found as an undercover agent. If you want this, you'll go in as a student. A transfer. No one will question it. But you must remember something." His eyes narrowed, piercing into mine. "Most of the people in that university have something to hide."
I frowned, confused. "Students? What could they possibly have to hide?"
He didn't answer. He just slid a folder toward me, thick and heavy.
I stared at it, then back at him. My throat felt tight. "If I… if I do this, I need half the payment upfront."
His brow lifted.
"My mum," I blurted. My nails dug into my palms as I forced the words out. "She's in the hospital. They won't start treating her unless I pay. If I do this job, I need enough to put her there properly first. Please."
For a second, the air stretched thin between us. His face didn't move, didn't change, but I could feel him looking at me as if he could see my soul. He didn't understand how much this offer meant to me and how far I'd go for this. Then, finally, he gave the smallest nod.
"You'll have what you need," he said simply. "But after that, you can't back out ."
I ran home eager as I thanked aunty Sarah i quickly book a taxi that took me and my mum to the hospital and nurse Sarah followed us I want to pay the deposit while I gave nurse Sarah some money.
"Can you please take care of my mum for me? I got scholarships in atlas city" I lied . Well technically it wasn't a lie since I was going to a university tho .
I would visit on weekends by train.
I quickly got home and packed a few of my things and a picture of me and my mum.
I arrived yesterday evening but haven't settled in any dorm. I stayed at the house that was provided.
The next morning, I walked onto campus with the folder tucked under my arm. Everything about it looked normal enough. students were laughing, rushing to class, the smell of coffee and cut grass. But his words haunted me, clinging to my ears: most of them have something to hide.
I stopped near an old stone fountain, flipping through the papers again trying to navigate my way to the office. When I ended up here I had split with the other four people that got the job. One came as a teacher, the other three were students with just two females and the other not so friendly girl.
.A new ID card with my picture. A schedule already filled in. Rules typed in bold: No questions. No deviations. No trust.
That was when the chill hit me. The kind of cold that crawled over your skin before your mind even registered it.
I looked up and froze.
At the edge of the treeline stood a wolf. Not just any wolf. This one was huge, its coat black as ink, eyes burning gold in the daylight. It wasn't snarling. It wasn't moving. It was just staring straight at me, like it had been waiting.
My breath hitched. No one else noticed. Students walked past, chatting, scrolling their phones, completely blind to the beast watching me.
The wolf tilted its head, and for a heartbeat I could've sworn the look in its eyes wasn't wild at all. It was calculating..
My knees gave out. The folder slipped from my grip, papers scattering across the stones. I didn't pick them up. I turned and ran, heart pounding against my ribs, too afraid to glance back.
And when I finally did… the wolf was gone.