Alexander debated finding the nearest building and jumping off. Flavia, Adrian, and Nicholai were shouting back and forth, doing what was supposed to be bouncing ideas off each other but ended up in a heated debate. He made eye contact with Yan-Ting who seemed just as done. They'd argued against Yan-Ting moving around but the man had refused to lay down on a cot and do nothing. Adrian stuck to him like a glue, which Alexander found endearing while Yan-Ting claimed it was annoying. No amount of screaming was shutting the three of them up and so Alexander resorted to desperate measures. He lifted up his glass, which had previously held orange juice, and hurled it at the wall. It shattered, encasing the room in suffocating silence.
"If you're done fighting like children over a pack of crayons, we need to figure this out." He spoke calmly and the group mumbled their apologies.
"Za'Niyah said I knew why she wanted the project shut down and the government leaders murdered. I do not know but I have a suspicion that Gabrielle could lead us to a conclusion. Do you understand where I'm going with this?"
"You want to get Gabrielle before doing anything else." Murmured Flavia and he nodded.
"The government leaders have been on my ass because we haven't gone to the lab yet. I managed to make up an excuse about how something in the plans was wrong and you're working on it." He spoke towards Flavia, running a hand through his hair in frustration.
"We need to find out exactly what the hell is going on and the only way to do that is to get that woman." Flavia and Adrian seemed less than pleased with this solution but agreed nonetheless.
"We leave now. Pack whatever you need." said Alexander, leaving no room for discussion. He looked at Yan-Ting, about to open his mouth but the former beat him to it,
"There is no way in hell I'm staying here." He said, getting up and heading towards the door.
"Fine, pack a sedative then. I have a feeling this Gabrielle woman won't come willingly." They packed everything into the car, Flavia taking the wheel while Yan-Ting took the back of the van, laying down. Nicholai sat with Alexander in the middle row and Adrian sat shotgun, throwing directions at Flavia. It took them almost four hours to get to their destination, during which they stopped once because Nicholai and Adrian complained they were hungry. The restaurant was small and homey, making Alexander feel relieved that he'd opted for the group to wear casual clothes. Yan-Ting still seemed a little bit out of it but he managed to place his order with a minimal amount of stuttering. Alexander had almost left him back home but that would have created a whole other problem he didn't want to deal with. Their peacefully tense meal was interrupted by a homophobic slur thrown at them for wearing jewelry. Even in his hazy state of mind Yan-Ting seemed ready to punch the man and show him just how much his rings could hurt. However Alexander beat him to it but instead of going physical he simply stood up. He'd known the man in front of him was significantly shorter, maybe around five foot nine. Once Alexander was standing in front of the man, at around six foot one, he paled.
"Anything else you'd like to say?" He'd asked the man only for him to run away. Alexander had been in a good mood for the rest of the duration of the trip. That is, until they got to the house in question. They'd gotten into the sort of gated community with little problem, saying they were there to look at a house for sale.
"It looks so inconspicuos." Said Adrian, waving to an elderly woman who sat on the porch of a neighboring house.
"That's the point. No one would expect someone so valuable to the government to be hidden in plain sight." Spoke Yan-Ting, making his way out of the van.
"Flavia, disable any and all security measures." Said Alexander, pulling Adrian back from walking into a security camera's line of sight. She complained about having to work on the small monitor in the trunk part of the van but shut up when Alexander reminded her it was better than a laptop.
"We have a half hour window before the security measures pop back up." Said Flavia, hurrying out and towards the house. Nicholai picked the lock and they quickly went inside.
"Help me move the carpet." They all did as told, except for Yan-Ting who decided to explore the house. Alexander didn't chastise him since he was supposed to be doing minimal effort anyway.
"Well, thank god the man didn't lie to us." Muttered Nicholai.
"Just because he didn't lie about this doesn't mean he said the truth about everything else. Adrian, can you keep watch up here?" Alexander said, not even waiting for a response before lifting the hatch and starting down the stairs. The walls were gray, smooth, with a cold air surrounding them. There were far too many steps to count and Alexander couldn't help thinking that any kind of screams wouldn't be heard on the surface.
"This is creepy." Spoke Flavia helpfully, warily peeking by Alexander's arm at the gray hallway in front of them, which seemed to simply end. As they walked further, they realized that it did in fact end, but there was a dip in the right wall with a small control panel and window. It was impossible to see anything throught he glass as the room seemed pitch black. Flavia found a switch and turned on the light. There was a woman sitting on the bed in the corner of the room, wrists chained together. A table with straps dangling from the side was situated in the middle. Alexander guessed that the door in the other corner of the room led into a bathroom. She did nothing and simply looked at them with empty eyes. After a long stretch of uncomfortable silene Alexander decided this was an appropriate time to talk.
"What's your name?" He asked, the simple conversation starter sounding off considering the situation. The womancontinued to keep her mouth shut but her face nonetheless shifted into something resembling a sneer.
"Why the hell aren't you answering?" Asked Alexander, slowly growing frustrated. When there was once again a silence Nicholai decided to speak up.
"It doesn't matter if she answers or not it's obviously her." He said. Flavia decided to take a different approach.
"Look, we won't hurt you. We swear. All we need is for you to tell us some things." The woman kept staring at them intently, head twitching to the side every so often. Flavia opened the door and Nicholai and Alexander walked in, determined to take Gabrielle with them. They stopped half-way towards her when her eyes widened. She was staring wide-eyed at a spot on the wall behind them
YOU ARE READING
Blue Rose
Teen Fiction"We're all bad people. Some of us are just better at hiding it than others." After their parents' death, Alexander and the 7 other company heirs will have to continue what was started. But when it turns out that there is much more to their parents l...
