Sleeper

Some Humans are born with special sets of skills. I was one of those people. I’m only 10 years old but I have the ability to tell how dangerous a person is just by looking at them. I got this trait from my father who used his ability to detect terrorists and drug cartels for secret services that even I do not know. It is understood I will go into this line of work. My skill works like this. A child would register on a scale of 1 to 10 as a 1. A teenager with a knife a 4, a highly trained soldier with an assault rifle an 8, a terrorist would be a 9. I have never encountered any one above a 5 which is good for me. However the new girl in school just registered a 10.

I make it through to lunchtime and call my dad. I tell him what I saw. He asks over and over again if I’m sure. I tell him repeatedly that I am, and ask him if he’s ever been mistaken. His answer was no, we don’t make mistakes. He asks me to tail her carefully until he got there. Unfortunately he was abroad and so I was on my own for a couple of days at least.

I start hovering in the hallway and find her locker. I wait until she’s in class and jimmy it open. Nothing in there out of the ordinary. Books, gym clothes, mobile phone. Bingo. I put it straight in my pocket and close the locker door. I can put it back once I’ve checked it out but I didn’t want to be caught doing it in the hallway. I head for the boys toilets. The phone doesn’t have a lock on it and it was easy to check over her text messages. Mum asking what she wanted for dinner, telling her she will be late home from work and another letting her know her aunt was coming for the weekend. A few messages from friends. Meet at the mall later, fancy coming cinema and I can’t believe you fancy him? Not sure who 'Him' is, but there was nothing there that set alarm bells ringing. I check her photos. A few selfies, family photo and a picture of who I can only assume was 'him'. A boy who looked to be about 11 or 12, taken without him knowing. I send everything in there to my phone just in case, including the music files in case there’s anything encrypted in them. I open up her social media. I find a few interesting facts, dad has new job and she has been forced to move. The last entries were her friends saying goodbye and to keep in touch and it doesn’t look like she has been on it much since she got here. I copy the link to my phone so I’m able to open it later and have a proper read of everything. Thank you dad for showing me all of this. I put the phone back in my pocket and head out.

It hadn’t occurred to me how long I had been in the toilets and the bell rings as I leave, filling the corridors with students. By the time I make it to the girls locker, she’s stood with it open but talking to another pupil beside her. I’m going to have to use sleight of hand. My palms get sweaty as I have never been good at this no matter how many times I practice. I rub them on my jeans and head over. Time to introduce myself.

'Hi' I say leaning into her locker sliding the phone to the back. She instantly looks at where I placed my hand, sees the phone and relaxes a little.

She tries a smile but it seems fake. 'Hi', I’m Leigh.

I notice the lie in her eyes. She just lied about her own name. 'Aiden' I offer.

She seems disinterested and tries to close the locker door forcing me to move. 'I’m heading to this new arcade place after school, I wondered if you wanted to come?' I ask

That same fake smile again. 'I’m already going, Shawn already asked me. But maybe I’ll see you there?' she mutters as she walks off to join her new friends.

I skip the rest of school and explain things to my mum. She doesn’t have the same skills as Dad and I but is a trained shooter and can hit a target with her eyes closed. Together we make a very dangerous family. She helps me load up all the details I got from Leighs' phone and I notice her social media doesn’t offer a second name. Maybe I can get it from the school records? Even with mum looking over it and dad video calling us every 5 minutes gives us no further leads. He asks again if I’m sure I read a 10. I’m 100% positive it was a 10. By the time he arrives back home I’m well into my second class. Math. He peers through the window and the second I spot him he nods. We both knows it will look suspicious if he comes in or if I get pulled from class. And besides I need to get to the office to check the records. It was time to misbehave. I start small throwing paper air planes, talking loudly, popping bubbles with my gum. I get my first warning. I continue talking loudly and ask people round me for the answers to the questions. Strike 2. Here’s the big one. I swear at the teacher for giving me 2 strikes. And I’m out. Sent to the principal’s office.

My dad meets me on my way down the corridors. 'Don’t worry, I’ll get you out of whatever detention you just got. I feel this is a lot bigger than you or me. But did you really have to curse at him?'

I shrugged and headed to the office. Principal was out but the receptionist in front was moody and wouldn’t let anybody in. Dad to the rescue. He marched straight up to her and demanded he take her to a room just down the hall as he was the substitute teacher for that class. It was far enough for the receptionist to not see what I were doing but close enough for a signal if I was about to get caught. Id only ever done one other job with my dad but I loved every minute of playing spy.

It didn’t take long to find the files. They hadn’t been put into a cabinet yet and were sat in a tray on the desk. I picked them up and shoved them into my bag and was back out the door within seconds. I sat in the chair by the reception desk and leaned forward for my dad to see me. I just looked like I was being nosy when the principal came in with dad and the receptionist in tow. He was very good at telling lies, well it was part of his job wasn’t it. He managed to convince the receptionist she was crazy and he never said he was a substitute she must have thought it. He told the principal I was not rude but the teacher was because I took him from class and we were sent on our way. I gave dad the files and headed back to class. Leigh had saw the whole rebel act and started whispering straight away.

'I didn’t see you at the arcade yesterday.'

I shrugged. 'Grounded' I replied

She nodded gave me that odd side grin and carried on.

I went home at lunchtime and dad passed me the file. 'I’ve not read it yet' he said.

I went into my full operation mode, calling out facts and mum and dad started to pin them on the board. Date of Birth, Country of origin. Full Name. I stopped. Pursell. Her last name was Pursell.

'I don’t understand' mum said, but dad had got it.

'Her name is Leigh Pursell' I offered. If you say it quick enough its sleeper cell.'

'No' mum said, 'it can’t be that obvious can it?'

'Yes' dad replied 'Some sleeper cells don’t know what they are until they are triggered. This girls a ticking time bomb and she doesn’t know it. That’s why she’s registered a 10.'

'What do we do?' I fretted

'We start digging. We don’t know what word will trigger her so we need to find out where she grew up and who trained her.'

'She grew up in Russia' I claimed. I saw it on her social media. She hasn’t used it since.'

'That’s a good start son, what else do you have?' dad praised

'She came here because her dad got a new job.'

'Let’s look into that' mum says. She clicks away on her laptop and pulled up the family photos I had downloaded. I looked at the properly for the first time.

'No way!' I blurted and point 'That’s our Principal'

'Okay, are there any big events within the school coming up shortly?' he quizzed quickly

I shook my head.

'School trips? Visits?'

'Wait, a few students with good attendance have been selected to go to the White House' I recall

'That’s it' Dad jumps from his chair and rings who ever on earth his boss is. He’s on the phone for almost half an hour giving details whilst I pace up and down.

The next day was Saturday so I didn’t have school to keep me busy. I helped write up a report of everything we had found with dad - the first time I had done this and when I was sat watching television the doorbell rang. Dad answered the door and 2 men in suits spoke to him briefly. H

e nodded closed the door and turned to me.

'Your principal has been killed and the sleeper cell disarmed. The president was indeed the target. They would like you to check out this school next’ he handed me a file ‘Your principal has many children all over the world. You ready to go undercover?’