The Bro Code

Interviews, Illusions, and Ideas

10: Hannibal: Interviews, Illusions, and Ideas

A/N this chapter is dedicated to my brother, James Crowley, for inspiring me to write this book.

Amir landed the plane in Bergen, Norway, after one more hour of flying. The compromised bomber was escorted off by the undercover RCMP, and when we stepped out of the cockpit a round of applause and cheers greeted us, while people thanked us for saving them and shook our hands as they filed off the plane.

The police and ambulance were already there, parked on the runway. No one was hurt, except Shiny-Head who had burns on his thighs, but a nurse kept making a fuss about Harold's cheek cut. She wanted to give him stitches, but he negotiated her into giving him just a bandage.

Amir and I were interrogated, and I ended up telling the reporter the whole story since Amir was asleep during lots of it. We were told that we were given a complimentary hotel room in a four star hotel and were promised awards for our chivalry.

By the time the excitement died down I was beaming. Cloud 9 was taken in taxis with tinted windows to our hotel. Our room was big, it had three queen-sized beds in it. Harold and I were to share a bed, Amir and Yoshi were to share a bed, and Bram and Bryan to the last bed. Gabe ended up having to sleep across the foot of mine, and Alfie and Chris had to sleep on a comforter on the floor. They didn't complain though, because that meant they could be right next to the outlet to charge their phones while they played with them.

The day was still young, though. It was just 1 o'clock in the afternoon, so we decided to explore the streets of Bergen.

We walked down a cobblestone road,  with colourful townhouses with peaked roofs on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other. Yoshi spotted an optical illusions shop across a courtyard, and I didn't want to leave him alone so I agreed to go with him. Bram, Bryan, and Harold went to go find a Starbucks, and Amir, Alfie, and Christopher went to go seek pretty European chicks, no doubt.

Gabe ended up following me and Yoshi into the odd shop. Yoshi immediately became engrossed with a picture book about optical illusions, while Gabe sat on a bench on his phone and I wandered down the crowded aisles.

I stopped in front of a mirror which made me look like a pear. It was one of those mirrors that were at Carnivals, the kind that distorted you. I smoothed down my hair and scraped off a bit of the hispanic terrorist's dried blood on my chin when a girl appeared in the mirror behind me.

I whipped around, but no one was there. I observed the strange shop with paranoia, then slowly turned back to the mirror.

A traingle with an eye in the middle of it was drawn on the glass with eyeliner.

I backed away from the mirror, and once I was out of it's sight I sprinted down the aisle. I grabbed Yoshi by the waist and hoisted him in the air, then grabbed Gabe by his arm and dragged him out of the store.

Once we were out in the newly falling snow, Gabe pulled his arm away. "What the hell was that?" He asked.

I panted, then said, "the... The thing! The Illuminati! They're following us!"

Gabe rolled his eyes. "Dude, you're paranoid. I get it. But the Illuminati isn't in Norway, they're in Israel. Chill."

I set Yoshi down on the icy cobblestone. "No. I was looking in a mirror and a girl just appeared behind me. Then when I looked behind me she wasn't there, and when I looked back at the mirror the Illuminati's symbol was drawn on it!"

Something dawned on me then. "Dude, what if those terrorists on the plane were out to get us? What if they were sent by the Illuminati to put an end to our mission to save James?"

Yoshi nodded in approval of my theory.

Gabe seemed unconvinced, but I could tell he was starting to believe me. Finally, he said, "let's find the rest of them."

____

We sat around a table at a Starbucks on Neumanns Gate 25 street, Alfie, Christopher, and Amir across from me, Yoshi, and Gabe, Bram and Bryan at either end. Harold was grabbing us coffees. I recounted what happened in the optical illusions store, and everyone seemed thoroughly creeped out about it.

"So they're following us," said Amir after I'd finished.

"That's what I think," I said.

"But why?" Asked Bryan, "what do we have that they want?"

Harold came back and handed us all our drinks. Yoshi whispered something to Amir and Amir translated it into, "Yosh says they want our knowledge. We know that they are real, so they want to terminate that information. They can't risk us telling the whole world about them."

That made sense. I wrapped my hands around my coffee, the thought of someone trying to kill all of us sending a shiver up my spine.

"We have to cancel the mission," said Gabe, "or all of us will get our heads blown off."

"Are you kidding me?" Said Amir, "if we cancel the mission and go back to our homes we'll be sitting ducks! It'll be way easier for them to find us and kill us then, and the truth will be brought to our graves. No, we need to stay on the move."

I thought as much.

"So are we gonna spend the night here?" I asked. I wanted just one night here, but since they already knew we were in Bergen it seemed safer to travel elsewhere right away.

"Hell no." Said Amir, and then turned to Bram, "we're going to the Netherlands."