What next?

11- Facetime calls get dark

I dropped my popcorn.

"Alright, who the hell spilled their coffee this time?" I heard Mr. Sun Visor shout.

"Well sorry for wanting to have a nice warm drink while I'm working, Caleb," a girl behind a desk spat. Her tone wasn't far from what I expected, given she had vine tattoos coiling around her arms and legs.

"Well sorry Ivy," Mr. Sun Visor- Caleb started in a mocking tone, "for wanting to see our mutts when they're in the Red Mill! Now, get the screens back up."

And after some mad scramble around the desks, a few select screens lit back up. The screen with Finchy and Quetch was still black, and Mere was nowhere to be seen. Oak and Cross were the only recognizable figures. They were standing near a corner and were arguing, of course. It seemed like they were trying to decide where to go and Oak was being stubborn.

Cross started backing up, gesturing at Oak as if she were coaxing a puppy to follow her. Oak stood with her feet planted and glared at Cross, who made it halfway down the hall before Oak stumbled backwards, and appeared on another screen. A guard had yanked her back around the corner by her ponytail, and in one swift motion managed to wrap one arm around her, not letting go of her hair, holding a knife in his free hand. Cross had started into a mad dash to where Oak had disappeared, but didn't get there before the guard attempted to slit the trapped girl's throat. Oak ducked down, and the blade missed her neck and skimmed the back of her head. The guard went to take another swipe, his grip on Oak already slipping, and stopped, startled from Cross' sudden appearance. Taking advantage of his momentary distraction, Oak managed to turn his own blade on her captor. The blade went clean through the man's heart.

She ducked out of the way of the body that had now started collapsing, nearly running into an open-mouthed Cross. There was black starting pool around the body, and it matched colour of spots staining the walls and the colour of a line forming on the back of Oak's head, tinting her light hair... and the colour covering her hands. Oak paused to look from her hands, which were shaking, to the mess made in the hall, to Cross. I saw her say something, push past the taller girl, and shake out her hands.

"Did she just..." Piper's voice was faint beside me.

Your friend's a murderer, Nayo's voice echoed. I ignored it. With things most people would consider appalling, it never really sets in for me. Maybe being oblivious to devastation is why I'm always so cheery.

"Alright. That's enough. Get them out of there." Caleb said, his chin resting on his hand as he watched.

"Newsflash, we aren't gonna risk the team for five useless mutts," Ivy commented, scowling in her swivel chair.

"Yeah, leave them. They are the allies of a certain murderous child roaming the lake this very minute," Josh said, glaring at Piper beside me.

"Agreed. The benefits of rescuing them are limited in contrast to keeping the team safe-" Another anonymous voice from the nest of computer people said. They need to stop using big words.

"Aren't they supposed to be trained for this?" Piper asked, standing up. "If they're too wimpy to go in, what kind of shitty training program did they go through?"

"They are not 'wimpy'. It's just that we don't want more people stuck in the base of our enemy..." Caleb explained, though what Piper had said seemed to annoy him.

"Oh boo hoo! Well I don't want my friends sold! I've already gone through..." I cut myself off, and changed what I was going to say. "I don't want them tortured and stuff, as much as they deserve it."

"Thanks," Piper muttered, half smiling. I was just grateful she didn't say anything about my little slip-up.

"We got another screen up," someone called. The screen that had originally held Quetch and Finchy started to show black and white fuzz, like an old television that couldn't find the right channel. Instead of showing the much-anticipated scene of... I'm not sure what I wanted to see, but it wasn't a sign taped to the lens of the camera saying "Facetime me: Jasonthebadass@fighterguys.ah".