The Twenty Seven

Chapter 20

"Everyone's in position?" Nes calls up the stairs. "I'm about to make the call."

"Go ahead," Ty yells down. "We're ready."

Moving into the study, she picks up the phone. "One, two, seven, three, three." She starts the familiar code while trying to infuse the words with a sense of panic. "Nes. Calling for Crann."

"Three, nine, two, three. Jo. Are you alright, Prim?" Nes has to fight down a smile when she hears his voice through the phone. John -- Jo, now, she supposes -- was the youngest of the Nine. And the most anxious. He would blow the message out of proportion.

"The Adda is surrounding us," she says. "They keep torturing us with their minds; they told us they won't stop until we send you a message."

"A-- A message?" Jo asks. "Let me get a pen and paper." There's the sound of shuffling before his voice filters through again. "Go ahead!"

"Green, Indigo, Kangaroo, Anteater, Nightingale, Unicorn."

"That's it?" He asks. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know."

"Should we send the rest of the twenty seven--"

Nes cuts him off. "They said if we bring anyone here they'll kill us all. Just-- Just tell everyone you can about our--" Nes places the phone down, ending the call. She rushes out and up the stairs. Ty and Eira are waiting in the corners of the same room they'd kept Dr. Laghari in, while Es trails in behind her. "Phase two."

As Es ties her up, she fumbles a little. "Who'd you get?"

"John." Anticipating her next question, Nes nods. "I think he bought it."

"Then all we have left to do is wait," Ty says with a sigh. "The hardest part."

"If the mole gets the message, they'll hurry." Sam stands in the doorway. "Esmee, we need to leave. They could be here any minute. We don't want to break their immersion." She gives one last look at her friends before following him out. They join Owen in his room, sitting down in a circle on the floor and playing some card game he'd been trying to teach them.

"Do you think it'll be someone we know?" Ty asks. Though she's kept up an air of confidence, when Nes meets her eyes she can see the uncertainty.

"If it is, then we'll deal with it. Remember, whoever shows up might not be a bad person; they could have been blackmailed or manipulated. We don't know. We have to be prepared for anything."

A low hum fills the room, Eira and Ty moving closer to the walls while Nes begins to tug on her ropes. In the middle of the room, where they'd left the Cloch, a bright light flashes. Once the girls are able to see clearly again, a boy roughly the same age is left. Nes immediately stops struggling, her jaw going slack.

"Nic?" Ty calls, moving closer to the center. "What are you--"

A second low hum begins. Thinking quickly, Ty pulls him to the side until the light dies down once again. Another boy stands in the middle of the room. It's Nic who calls to him, confusion filling his voice. "Ic?"

Ty glances between the two of them. "We said no reinforcements." She can feel her heart beating in her throat. One of them is the mole.

Nic crosses his arms. "You thought I'd let you guys have all the fun?"

"That's foolish," Ic says, his posture mirroring Nic's. "You shouldn't be here. It's dangerous."

"Then why are you?" Nic shoots back.

"Because it's dangerous."

"I respect both of you," Nes says. "So I'm going to explain what's going on here." She calls over her shoulder into the hallway for the others to come in. Both Es and Sam rush into the room, freezing when they see Nic and Ic.