The Strays

Chapter Four

I paced around the room as I waited for my programme to finish loading. I'd inputted old data about the police station, the most logical place for Delilah to be holding Leo, and cross-referenced it with data I'd recently acquired, to find the most efficient course of action for getting in, then out, without raising too much suspicion.

"You still do that thing when you're anxious, walking up and down repeatedly as though some answer would fall out of the sky. You used to do it before exams like you had something to worry about, you always aced them, it's just strange because you were the only person I knew who could make anxious pacing look cool." Drew remarked, leaning in my doorway. I quickly dragged him into the room and slammed the door shut to make sure nobody saw him. "You didn't expect me to get in, did you?"

"Honestly, no, but I guess I could use your help if it's still on the table, because if you can get in here, you can help me get to Leo."

"If you've got a plan, I'd love to hear it."

"That makes two of us, Drew. You have a lot of explaining to do, Indie, starting with why a Hellraiser Lieutenant is in your room?" Linc insisted, catching both me and Drew off guard as he walked into the room. Clearly, neither of us had heard him coming.

Drew gave me a look I knew all too well and before I could stop him, he had a hand firmly over Linc's mouth as he restrained him.

I watched in dismay as Drew knocked my brand-new housemate out, throwing his limp body onto my bed, where he proceeded to tie him up with scraggly bits of material that were lying around. 

"Was that honestly necessary? He's just a kid, hardly a threat."

"We're all just kids Indie, you seem to forget that. I did what I had to. Linc would've gone straight to Ty, then we'd both be locked up in the basement and Leo would be screwed." Drew defensively argued.

"I wouldn't have snitched. I’m here to talk to Indie about Liberty. That’s why Mac’s planning to turn Leo over to the Elites, I'm almost certain of it. I heard chatter that they were looking for him, and something didn’t feel right. I was sifting through the traps in the service tunnel. They'd been disarmed. This was the first place I checked in case you’d done a runner, but seeing you here caught me off guard." Linc moaned groggily as he addressed Drew. Now please untie me so we can talk like civilised humans?"

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "I can't let him do that, you know too much. You should have just listened when I said stay out of my business."

Linc shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not too adept at following orders and you didn't exactly say that, just that we were going to have words about invasion of privacy, which didn't happen because you retreated here instead."

"What do we do with him? We don't have much time to save Leo." Drew sighed.

"The way I see it, we have two options. We can either trust Linc with our secret and let him go before somebody notices he's missing, or we keep him tied up, take him to a part of The Paragon where he won't ever be found; leave him there for the rats." I sighed.

"There's another option here. I am coming with you guys to bring Leo home. He's my friend as well, you know, and with Indie's injuries, you're going to need the help."

Drew seemed genuinely interested in Linc's offer. "It's a two-man job. If we let you go, are you about to do something stupid?"

"Probably. You know what I’m like. I’ve never been one for listening to orders." Linc said innocently enough. "But I won't put the mission in jeopardy if that's what you're worried about."