The Underground Palace

Chapter Five - Fire Starter

'Oliver?'

'Alex?'

Amazed, Oliver watched Alex enter the room and quickly close the door behind her. 

'I thought...' Alex began, but stopped.  What did she think?  She knew deep down the dream last night was real, so why was she so shocked to see Oliver right here, alive and more real than ever?

'I am sorry,' Oliver blurted out.

'For what?' asked Alex.  She swept her eyes over the room and saw a wooden chair, bed covers tossed and tangled on the floor and a sink and toilet fitted into the far corner of the room.  Overall the room was the same size of the building she had just entered, it must be a container or trailer of some sort.  Maybe every building in the compound was like that.

'For the boy who you were worried about, in that dream...' 

Alex wished Oliver hadn't said that.  Within seconds words which she had spoken to Glen only yesterday echoed around her mind and refused to go away: 'Glen, just face it.  In the matter of seconds you're going to be dead.'  No way would Glen ever forgive her.  It was her fault!  If she hadn't of said those words ... then what?  He wouldn't have been taken? 

'It is not your fault,' whispered Oliver, his thick Asian accent made his words difficult to interpret.  He could barely speak English.  Alex shook her head with frustration and quickly wiped away the forming tears.

'I was there!  I could have done something!  Stopped them from taking him!' she yelled.

'You were there when he was taken?'

'Yes!' she screamed and quickly turned away to wipe away the now falling tears.

'Why did they not take you?' he asked.  Alex looked back at the boy confused.  It was true, she supposed, even her mother said that she was supposed to be taken.

'I don't know,' Alex began, then stopped in mid thought.  The moment those men had entered Glen's bedroom her instinct had told her that they only wanted Glen.  She looked away from Oliver and changed the subject.  'What about you?  Did they try?'  Oliver's face immediately filled with grief and his eyes looked down at the floor as he remembered what had happened.

'Yes.  No.  They did, but just for a minute though.'  Oliver slowly backed away and sat himself down at the end of his bed.  'They came to Guntur's farm, but I started running before they arrived.  I ran into the woods and hours later when I came out, they caught me.  I was taken to their car, but another car, a red one, pulled up.   They were the good guys and they fought and won.  They put me to sleep and four days ago I woke up here.'  Four days ago?  That must have been Christmas Eve, Alex realised.  Why would anyone do that to him?  Alex's mother had said her father could explain everything, could give her all the answers.  But Alex knew there was no way she was going to crawl to her father and beg for answers.  No.  She was going to find the answers herself.  Glen had always said she was stubborn and perhaps he was right.

'What do they want from us?' she asked, hoping Oliver might know more than she did.  A small smile appeared on Oliver's thin lips.

You mean, you do not know?' he asked.   Puzzled, Alex shook her head.

'No, I don't,' she whispered.

'I thought it was going to be the other way round-'

'What do you mean?' asked Alex.

'Richard,' spat Oliver, aiming as much hatred as he could towards the name, '-he explained to me that you were his daughter.'  Oliver looked up and searched for Alex's eyes.  They were dark green, so dark they were almost brown.  Oliver knew someone else who also had those eyes.  'You look like him,' he added.  Alex didn't know what to say, was it a compliment?