Sitting Ducks

Chapter Eleven: 21

"Here you go Elise. L, or Mr. Patel, will be here shortly." Henry set a plate in front of me. I continued staring at the blue wall. He sighed.

"I really am sorry Elise. I had orders not to tell you, I would have lost my job." I continued to stare. He placed a mug in my hand.

"I made my famous hot cocoa. Whenever Alexis is down, I make it for her. Elise, I'm here for quite a while. I'm staying two doors down. If you need me, just page. I'm number three. Mr. Patel is number one." He put a pager on the tray.

"I'll see you tomorrow." He left and shut the door. I looked down at the soup, and pushed it away. I took a sip of the hot chocolate, it was actually really good.

Looking around the room, I stood up and stood on the balcony. I looked down at the garden, but it was an illusion. There were guards everywhere, and I could see cameras. Hands wrapped around my waist.

"It would be prettier if the flowers were in bloom." Tyler whispered in my ear. I tried to flinch away, but he held me tight.

"Don't move. I hate it when you go. I never got to spend any time with you alone. Jared was always in the way." We stayed there, frozen for a little bit.

"How could you Ty. All that running, it was a setup. Why didn't you just take Hannah and Collin the second you found them. Why wait for us, and why let us run for so long?" I turned, and walked away. Setting down the mug down, I faced him.

"I think you know why Lise. Hey why didn't you tell me your real name?" I ignored the question.

"You were testing us. Let me guess, you where finding out the tricks of the trade. How did you become head of BrickStone anyways, you're only twenty six." He smiled, an unnerving one at that.

"My dad owned it, then handed it to me. Henry's cocoa is really good, mind if I take it?" I shrugged, and he took a sip.

"That really hits the spot. Oh don't look so glum Lise, you could be a lab rat. You know, Hannah's allergic to peanuts." I lunged at him, but he easily stepped aside. I ran into the wall.

"Calm down Elise." Was he serious?

"Calm down, Calm down! That's what everyone says. My brother is probably dead. I don't know where the hell Jared is, and I've just been betrayed by one of the people I thought of as family!" I shouted, then sat down on the bed.

"Better?" He asked sarcastically. I was going to kill him, and he knew

"You hurt me, and Hannah gets a nice peanut butter sandwich." Tyler said, looking annoyed. I hesitated.

"So what's going to happen to me now? You've got me here, you've got everyone except Jared. So what now?" He hesitated.

"You don't have to do anything until I get Mark. So rest your pretty little head, and maybe hang out with Henry. I have a lot of paperwork to catch up on." He started to leave.

"Oh and Silver, if I hear that you've caused any trouble while I'm gone, Hannah will be eating peanut butter from a jar." He slammed the door and I was left to my own devices. I decided to page Henry.

"Hey Elise, I'll be up in five." He answered immediately. I laid on the bed, and thought.

Everything had just happened so quickly. Hannah, Collin and Emily weren't dead, but they were lab rats. They had already been tested on. Jared would hopefully make it to Kent, he had his passport and money on him. And Tyler?

I didn't really have a word to describe my feelings towards him. When we were running, I felt like we had a chance to be normal. There never was one. He had played his cards great, I had never thought of him. He had probably re-routed the call I had made to L, to make it sound like he was at my house. And of course, he had changed his voice on the train.