Julius stood in front of the mirror, staring in disgust at the uniform; his father's was much better than this.

"Alex, are you sure you're OK?" Jack asked him, entering the room without his permission.

"I'm fine," he answered, trying not to snap at the woman. But studying her look, he realized he wasn't very successful, but could anyone blame him? Ever since he arrived everyone has been pestering him non-stop, he couldn't think for himself for a minute before he was interrupted in a vain attempt of showing worry, he was starting to think he did Alex a favour by killing him.

"If you're sure," she said, leaving him alone, finally, although he knew that in 5 minutes someone would find am excuse to bother him again

He opened his hand, revealing the little piece of paper. 'Mrs. T. Jones,' it read, along with the contact information. If Julius didn't know any better, he would think this was Alex's bank account manager or something like that, but he knew that name, and it was precisely the person he wanted to reach.

He grabbed Alex's phone that was sitting on the desk and pocketed it along with the paper. Not even the phone that Julius had in Point Blanc was the real one; everything had been a well-built lie, and now Julius had to suffer the consequences

That brought him to his next problem: he didn't know the passcode, and no matter how much his father's research was perfected, it was impossible to replicate fingerprints, so unlocking like that was out of the question.

With a book bag in his hand, he made his way outside, where Tom was already waiting for him.

No matter how much he hated the boy, he kind of needed him right now because, once again, he had no idea where the damn school was located. Not that he had plans on actually attending class, but he should know where the actual building was. He couldn't pretend to be Alex rider and not know where he went to school.

Of course, once again Tom tried to make small talk, but Julius was focused on something else. He had taken the phone out of his pocket, continuing to try to guess the six-digit code, before the phone blocked once again.

"What are you doing?" Tom asked, noisily as ever. But then Julius had an idea. Surely Tom knew the passcode; if these last few days had been proof, the boy seemed to be glued to Alex. So he should know a simple piece of information like a passcode, although he couldn't directly ask; that would seem weird.

"Nothing," he said, pausing and then shaking his head. "It's stupid," he said, pocketing his phone, hoping that the other boy caught the bait.

"No, what's the matter? You can tell me," Tom asked, stopping in front of him.

Julius looked down like he was ashamed. "I don't remember the passcode from my phone."

"What?" Tom asked. 'Shit,' had he hoped for too much. "I thought you had healed from your concussion."

"I don't know, I forgot some things, I guess."

"Shit, you should have told the doctor," Tom said, and Julius could see that he was getting more worried by the second.

"It's fine, it's normal to forget some things," Julius said, brushing him off.

"It's 746931, your passcode," Tom said before continuing walking.

Julius fought the urge to smirk. So predictable. He smiled victoriously as the phone finally unlocked.

"Yeah, thanks, I'm so stupid," he responded.

"You're not stupid, mate. If it was me, I would still be crying on a hospital bed."

'No, you would have been dead, like your friend Alex,' he thought.

Finally, the school was in view, with several children chatting outside.

"Right," he responded. "I've got a call to make. I'll meet you in class."

"There isn't much class today, mate. We're pretty much all focused on the dance," the boy informed him. 'Seriously, didn't this guy understand nothing?'

"Yeah, I'll find you then," he said, already turning his back, before he remembered that he wanted to hear his call.

He found an empty corner before taking out the piece of paper and dialling the number that was stamped on it.

The phone rang twice before a woman's voice answered.

"Jones."

"Hello, this is Alex Rider," he said formally, the way his father had taught him how to answer a call, after all this woman was supposed to be his superior...not for long.

"Alex? Do you need anything?" she asked.

"I was calling about the debrief," he said.

"I was hoping to give you some time to recover," she said, making Julius clench the phone with his hand. 'Seriously, why was everyone so difficult?'

"I'm fine. I was hoping to get it done as soon as possible," he insisted.

"Alright," she paused. "We'll meet today after you get out of school. I'll text you the address."

"I could do it now."

"Alex, go to school. We will meet this afternoon," she said, not giving him time to answer before hanging up the call.

"BITCH," he yelled, throwing the phone to the ground, breathing heavily.

'Calm down, Julius. This is not the way your father taught you to act.'

He took a deep breath before going to grab his now cracked phone off the ground.

As he turned around, he saw a boy his age dressed in the same uniform as him looking at him strangely, probably for witnessing his mild fit of rage.

"What are you looking at?" he exclaimed before entering the school grounds. He didn't care if he supposedly knew the kid, a small pawn in his game wouldn't sacrifice his checkmate.

One thing was for certain: if he was going to have to wait until later to find where his family was, he would cause some damage to Alex's reputation.

Sure, he was already dead, but it would bring him great satisfaction to make more people hate Alex Rider as much as he did.

He walked through the hallways of the pathetic school, trying to find his first victim.

"Alex," someone called him from behind, making him turn around. It was a girl. "Did you get my card?" she asked.

Oh, he could figure out who this was: Aisha. He could remember Tom mentioning her; it was Alex's little crush. He smirked; she was his perfect first victim.

"Aisha," he said out loud.

"So, I was wondering if you'd like to go to the prom with me?" she invited, trying to smile in a way that Julius only guessed was to try to attract him.

"With you?" he asked, with a smirk on his face.

"Yeah," she said, with confidence. She probably thought that he couldn't believe that she was asking him out, but he would crush her little fantasy in the next few seconds.

"And why would I want to go with you?" he asked, taking a step forward, watching as her whole confidence went down the drain.

"What?" she asked, confused. Seriously, had no one ever rejected her in her life?

"I mean, look at you. Do you think I want that? You're nothing but dirt on my feet; you're insignificant."

She looked at him shocked, with tears already threatening to fall out of her eyes. "I thought you liked me?"

Julius scoffed. "Like you? What is there to like? You're nothing more than a bitch in heat," he spat out before turning around, looking for his next target. Behind him, he heard rapid footsteps going in the opposite direction. He let out a genuine smile; this was being more fun than he imagined.

Mrs. Jones hung up the phone with a frown on her face.

"Who was it?" Crawley asked next to her, noticing the look on her face.

"Alex," she responded, still looking at the phone displaying the contact information.

"What did he want?"

"To do the debrief," she responded, tuning in his direction.

"What's wrong with that?"

She shook her head. "It's weird. When I brought him home, he was insisting on doing it, even before he saw Jack. And now he calls with a weird formality." She paused. "I don't know."

"He's a teenager," Crawley stated, as if that answered everything.

Alex closed his eyes as Ian entered the room, his boots stepping over the debris loudly.

'He's not real,' Alex thought over and over again in his head, hoping that it would go away.

"It's your fault, Alex," Ian stated, voice echoing in the dark room.

"What?" Alex muttered, opening his eyes. Ian was in front of him, dressed in the same clothes he was wearing the last time Alex saw him.

"It's your fault I'm dead."

Alex shook his head, ignoring the pain it brought him. "No."

"You were the one who told me about Point Blanc. If you hadn't, I wouldn't have gotten killed."

Alex knew it was true; if he had kept his comments to himself, Ian wouldn't be dead, and he wouldn't be dying.

"I didn't know," he pleaded. He didn't know, how could he have known.

"You're pathetic. After everything I taught you, and you're just going to give up," Ian took a step closer; Alex could almost feel him. "Get up, Alex."

"I can't, my leg."

"That is nothing. If you killed me, at least finish my job properly. Get up, Alex."

"Shut up," Alex muttered, closing his eyes, urging the figure to go away.

"Get up," Ian said louder, almost screaming in his ear.

"SHUT UP," Alex yelled out, throwing a piece of debris towards Ian, it hit the wall, breaking into million pieces.

Once again, there was silence in the room, only Alex's heavy breathing was heard.

He had to get out of here, he couldn't do this.