GLASS NERVE | alex rider

Four.

( tw : n/a )

CHAPTER FOUR
DEATHSHEAD

It had been a long few days since Ian died.

Of course Alex disappeared from school, trapped in his period of mourning, and with him gone, Tom and Bella's friendship sat dangerously on the rocks. They were close, it wasn't like they were both friends with Alex but not each other. They hung out when Alex wasn't around, quite often actually. But for some reason, it seemed like the Bella Tom knew had simply disappeared.

In the three days she showed up to school, she didn't speak, even when she was called on. She seemed distant and distracted, by whatever there was for someone like her to he distracted by. She wasn't completing her homework, she was late to school, and she even skipped a few classes.

Whoever that was eating lunch with Tom, was not Belladonna Devin.

Bella had answered Alex whenever he called her, but all his texts went unanswered and more than often, completely unread. Neither her or James answered the door when Tom came knocking, a discovery he relayed to Alex.

For Alex, who lived just down the road, noticed that the lights in their house were turned off more often than not. The house was a smart home, armed with motion detector lights that only stayed on when there was constant movement within the room. Even on their slow days, the lights were still on. Bella had to travel through many rooms to get from her bedroom to the kitchen or to the studio downstairs. Even if they weren't getting around much inside, they had the cat, he'd trigger at least one light.

"She's been late everyday?" Alex asked Tom, who sat on his bed with a perfect view of the dark Devin household at the end of the block. He'd been there since the morning and no one came in or out. It was still.

"Since she came back on Wednesday. Jahid says she gets in halfway through first block at the exact same time everyday." Tom said and turned to Alex. "Best part is, it's not James dropping her off. Whoever's driving, is dropping her off and picking her up in a completely blacked out Suburban."

"That's just James' work vehicle." Alex explained. He was genuinely confused by James picking Bella up in his work car, but it wasn't out of the ordinary. He didn't like driving the large vehicle but perhaps he was trying to keep his Porsche in shape after hearing what happened to Ian. "NERVE supplies all their employees with those types of cars. It's not anything crazy."

"Slow down, NERVE? James works for NERVE?" Tom scoffed and threw his hands up. "No wonder they're rich. It's not like he works for some random company. He works for NERVE!"

"I just figured it out the other day." Alex recalled the folder of Bella's medical records on her counter. "Her doctor left a folder of her medical stuff on the table and it had NERVE Technology and Research printed across the front. Turns out James works for NERVE which means they're provided private healthcare."

"That's insane. Our Bella is connected to the biggest tech company in the world."

"But that still doesn't explain everything that's happened." Alex sighed, finally flipping over his phone to see if Bella texted him back. She didn't. She didn't even open them. "Has she told you anything?"