The Pendants and the Mystery of the Wozniak Five Part I

by Stephanie Steele

  "Isn't someone going to see us?" Valie asked worriedly.

  “This is where he told us to wait,” Phaedra said. Reaching to the back of her jeans, she pulled out a gun and held it tightly in her hand.

  Valie looked at Carson to see if he was as surprised as she was.

  He wasn't.

  They continued to wait...and wait. It felt like an eternity, but in reality, according to Phaedra's watch, it had only been a half an hour.

  “Where is he?” Carson said, clearly annoyed.

  “I don't know...but I think we should go in.” Valie turned to Carson, he looked skeptical. “Let's go,” she said, before her brain could really process what she was committing to.

  They ran to the side of the mansion. Phaedra ran first, with the gun protectively to her side. There was a hole in the siding, where Phaedra and Jackson had gone in last time. Phaedra pulled back one of the pieces of wood, and one-by-one, climbed inside.

  Valie crawled in, tumbling in and landing on concrete, just barely catching herself. They were in a small room, with no inside light, cobwebs in the corner, and the whole room was musty. There was a thin layer of dust in the air. Valie couldn't help but feel like her lungs were becoming coated.

  “Okay,” Phaedra said. “We're here for Trent and the pendant. Nothing else. Valie, there are vents in here large enough to crawl through, that's where you start.

  She nodded.

  “Carson, once we leave this room, go left, I'll go right. This place is even bigger in the inside. Keep an eye out, be quiet, and meet me back in this room in 20 minutes.”

  Valie had to accept help from Carson and Phaedra to get into the vent. She pulled off the steel grate and handed it to Carson. They pushed her in. Phaedra stood on her tiptoes, gently put the cover back on, and brought her finger to her lips to remind Valie to be quiet.

  Valie had to turn herself into an uncomfortable ball in order to turn around, but once she did, she started to crawl, trying to be light on her knees. She had never been claustrophobic, but if she started to think about the tiny space, she knew she would start to have a problem. There was enough room for her to crawl on her hands and knees, her back brushed against the top, but not enough to really slow her down.

  It was so dark in the vents and that made her think of all of the awful things that could be lurking up there. Like spiders, snakes, random bugs, spiders, maybe bats, or spiders.

  Valie finally came to another vent where she could see into a room. There was only a large circular table and a fireplace in there. The floor was cement with a couple of old throw rugs on the floor. No one was in there, she kept going. Soon after, she came to another vent. She could see a hallway with several doors, but no people. She continued to crawl, her knees starting to feel sore. She went a little farther and that's when she saw her.

  Maddy.

  Valie covered her mouth quickly to ensure that no one would be able to hear her breathing. Maddy was sitting on a mattress, with her knees held close to her chest. She looked so scared and small. She was whimpering with her head down, rocking back and forth.

  Valie felt an intense surge of intense remorse, she bit down on her lip to keep herself from crying. As mad as she had been at her, Valie wanted to crawl down and help her.

  "Maddy!" Valie whispered, "over here!" She stuck her finger through one of the holes and wiggled it. Maddy's head popped up.

  "Who's there?"

  "It's Valie, come over here!"

  Maddy quickly jumped to her feet, looked around in the air, and then saw Valie's wriggling finger.

  She ran to the vent. She was too close, because Valie couldn't see her, she was too short.

  “Back up a little!” Valie hissed.

  She did. “Valie! They found me, not even an hour after you left me, they found me!”

  "Maddy, it's okay, we're going to get you out of here."

  She started to cry, "I don't know what happened, I was just walking, trying to find some...where and they found me."

  "It's okay, we're going to get you out.”

  "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you, Valie. Please believe me. I now know why I didn't tell you. It's because I've never belonged to anything in my whole life, I've never had any real friends. No one has ever accepted me and I felt like for the first time, I was accepted, that I had friends. I didn't know how to turn my back on it."

  It was definitely not the time for that, Valie knew.

  "Maddy, it's okay. We're going to get you out."

  "Please hurry, I'm scared and they took my inhaler. I've never been without it before...what do I do?"

  "Just try and stay calm, Maddy. Don't upset yourself, right?"

  She had to be scared and Valie understood why. Not only was she asthmatic without an inhaler, she was trapped in a room by a man who wanted her and a lot of other people dead. Still, as terrible as it sounded, Valie wondered why they were keeping her alive.

  “This room is so filthy, I can feel all the dirt, all over!”

  Valie stopped herself from rolling her eyes. She pushed on the vent, but the cover wasn't coming off. Maddy reached up in an attempt to help, but it was too high for her.

  “Maybe, maybe I can pull the bed over so I can stand on it.”

  Valie tried pushing on the vent again, but it was bolted too well.

  “I'll come back for you.”

  “No, don't leave me!” Maddy pleaded.

  “I'll be right back, I have to get help.”

  Valie started to turn away.

  "I saw Trent. He's hurt, but he's okay," Maddy whispered after her.

  Valie felt as if her heart stopped and she turned back to Maddy. "What? You saw him? He's okay?"

  She sniffled and nodded.

  "Stay here and don't try and leave this room, okay?"

  "But..."

  "Just breathe!" Valie said to her. Then, as she turned to scurry away, she said it softly to herself too. She had to find Carson.

  Valie wasn't being quiet as she should've as she crawled back. She kept slipping, frantically looking into each vent she came across, not really processing anything that was in the rooms, she was just looking for people.

  She finally found Carson. Unbeknownst to her, she had somehow gone full circle and ended up in the room they started in.

  Carson was already back in there, carving a piece of wood with his Swiss Army Knife.

  Valie kicked the cover to the vent off and tried to gracefully climb out, but it didn't work, she spun down landing on her side and rolled over onto her back with a groan. Carson helped her to her feet. Valie explained in heavy breaths that she found Maddy, Maddy said that she saw Trent and Trent was okay.

  At first, Carson didn't say anything. He didn't look relieved, happy, or sad--his face was completely void of any expression.

  "What?" Valie asked.

  He shook his head. "I'll go find him. Go back to Maddy and wait for me to come and find you guys."

  "What? No! I'm going to find my cousin. You go to Maddy and keep her calm before she gives herself an attack and get her out of that room!" Valie started to walk away from him, but he grabbed her arm.

  "No."

  She pulled it back, "Excuse me?"

  "I can't do this if I don't know you're safe. I can't let you go one way, when I know the other is safer. I can't."

  "Neither way is safe, Carson. We're in a freakin' mansion that's owned by some crazy man who wants to kill us."

  "Go back to Maddy."

  "No!" Valie yelled, not caring that she was being loud enough for someone else to hear her. They looked at each other. Valie felt it, and as mad as she was at him for what he did, she felt love for him. Something in that moment that didn't make sense, but she felt it.

  Valie put her hand to Carson's chest, he put his hand over hers. Valie looked up at him, “I have to see Trent before it's too late.”

  Valie took a step towards Carson, slowly leaning in to kiss him, but he turned his head away and took a step back.

&n
bsp; “Valie, I--”

  Valie stepped back, her face went red. “Don't,” she said, “Just, don't.” She turned and left the room, feeling not only embarrassed, but confused and angry. Everything she had allowed herself to feel for Carson, he had ruined in an instant. She didn't have time to think about it. She ran down the cement hallway. Pieces were chipped off the wall, chunks of cement were laying on the ground, and there were weeds coming up between the cracks.

  Valie came to a set of winding stairs. The entire place smelled like a basement and it was freezing in there. She could go up the stairs or down a hallway to the right or the one to the left. For some reason, she thought of something her uncle once said to her, "when nothing goes right, go left."

  So, she went left. It was as good of a guess as any. Valie ran as fast as she could, eventually coming to a steel door, which seemed out of place when everything else was wooden or cement. She pulled on the steel handle and started to kick it, but it wasn't budging. Valie pulled leaning her body weight backwards and crouching down, but it did nothing. She looked around, picked up one of the chunks of cement that had fallen from the wall and lifted it over her head, bringing it down hard on the handle. It didn't do anything, not even making a dent.

  “Crap!” She turned back around and sprinted down the hallway, still clutching the cement piece in her arms. She came around a corner and collided with someone, letting out her loudest blood-curdling scream.

  “Shhh!” It was Phaedra. She grabbed Valie by the arms.

  “You scared me!”

  Phaedra shushed her again and grabbed her hand, “He's waiting for you.”

  “What?” Valie dropped her cement piece.

  “Vincent...he's waiting for you. He cleared out the mansion so we can get Trent out of here, but they'll be back soon.”

  “Wh—Trent's okay?”

  “Yes, I'll get to Trent. Vincent is waiting for you.” She looked behind her, “Down this hall, at the end, go left. You'll come to a door.” She grabbed Valie's hand and pressed the gun into it, “If he tries to hurt you...don't hesitate. Protect yourself, okay?”

  Valie nodded. Phaedra laid her hand gently on her cheek. “It's going to be okay,” then turned and left.

  Chapter 21

  Valie did as Phaedra said. She walked down the hall and went left. There was only one door and she slowly opened it, not sure what to expect, but to her surprise, she was back outside.

  She stepped out into the cool air. The sun was covered by thick gray clouds, the door slammed shut behind her, she whirled around and he was there.

  Valie recognized him right away. Vincent. He was still handsome like he had been in the picture, the same black hair that touched his shoulders, dark eyes and a defined face. He had aged, of course, expression lines around his eyes and frown lines around his mouth. He was wearing a black trench coat. By appearances, he exuded darkness, but Valie didn't feel threatened by him.

  “Vincent?” Valie asked in a smaller voice than she wanted.

  He nodded. She was hoping for something more. They stood there in silence. Valie wanted to ask him questions. He would have actual answers. Like where was her uncle? Why did they do this to them? Why does Magnus want them dead? How can she save Trent when his pendant is gone? But all that came out of her mouth was: "Why?"

  Why, what? Valie expected him to ask, but he didn't.

  "Prices had to be paid," he said solemnly. “I want you to follow me.”

  “I'm not going anywhere with you. I agreed to a conversation.”

  “Your cousin is safe. Phaedra will get him out of the castle, that's what you wanted isn't it?”

  “Why should I believe anything you say?”

  “You shouldn't. Follow me,” he said, then started to walk past her.

  Valie looked around, deciding on whether or not she should follow him. She took a breath and walked after him, still holding the gun tightly. Her insides were wound up, past the point of nervousness. She stayed a few feet behind him, preparing herself for anything. He walked with a steady, flowing gate down the hill.

  They came to a gravel driveway that was similar to the one they drove in on.

  There was a black Cadillac.

  “Get in,” he ordered.

  Valie looked around and thought back to Carson telling her that her bravery mixing with her stupidity was going to get her killed. Was this a perfect example of that? She really didn't want Carson to be right.

  “Why?” She asked. “Why can't we talk here?”

  “This is your last chance. Get in the car.”

  This was the man who Decker said betrayed their parents, he was with the people that were trying to kill The Wozniak Five.

  She got into the car.

  As soon as she sat and closed the door, he sped away, Valie put her hand on the dashboard to steady herself. He whipped the car around and raced down the driveway.

  Valie looked at the side of his face. It was expressionless.

  They came to a road and he drove even faster, whipping around corners and they were in a city. Valie was watching the turns and looking for buildings she would remember, so she could find her way back, if needed. She noticed that Vincent obviously wasn't concerned about getting pulled over because he was speeding and weaving in and out of traffic. For a second, Valie thought about jumping out of the car. Phaedra would've gotten to Trent by now, but she was curious, what did this man want from her? She wasn't getting a read on him, nothing was screaming “good” or “bad.”

  Not long after, they had left the city and came to the outskirts of the town. Vincent brought the car to a sudden, abrupt halt. Valie's body slammed into the dashboard.

  Vincent got out of the car in a swift motion and waved a hand at Valie to follow him.

  She did.

  They were in front of a locked gate that surrounded several warehouse-type buildings. On top of the fences was the twirly barbed-wire to prevent people from climbing over.

  “Where are we?”

  Vincent pulled out a key and the lock around the chain popped open. He pushed the fence open, and began walking towards the warehouse on the left, the smallest one. Valie followed him, looking around cautiously and curiously.

  He pulled out another key, this one heftier than the last. He used it to open the thick door in front of him. Vincent stepped inside and Valie carefully followed.

  With a loud whooshing sound, the lights came on after Vincent flipped a switch.

  It was a lab. A dozen stainless steel tables, a few that were tipped over, and rows of viles and beakers, burners, test tubes, various other bits of lab equipment that you might see in a high school science class.

  It looked as if no one had been in there in years.

  “Anything of value was taken long ago,” Vincent said, resting his hands on one of the tables.

  Glass crunched under Valie's feet. She spun in a slow circle, looking at all of the leftovers from the place that looked like it had once been very interesting.

  “Why did you bring me here?”

  Vincent looked around, “This is it. This is where you were created.”

  Valie felt a strange calmness spread over her. Almost like a protective hand laid itself gently on her shoulder. She was in the room where it all started. She stood there in disbelief, a million thoughts and questions racing through her head.

  “What happened to this place?”

  “The years.”

  He was starting to remind Valie of when she first met Phaedra, answering questions without really answering them.

  “Why did you bring me here?”

  “It's safer.”

  “Why did you want to talk to me? I mean...why me?”

  He looked at Valie with a steely expression and finally said, "The woman who was responsible for creating you, Marnie...she was a good woman."

  When he said her name, it sounded sorrowful, like he'd missed her. Valie wanted to hear everything.

  "I want you to understand that the only reason
I'm helping you is out of respect for Marnie. My loyalty is to Magnus and always will be.” Vincent had a very proper way of speaking, a sinister, proper way that is.

  Valie wanted to tell him that his reasoning didn't make sense, but she kept quiet. It wasn't the time.

  Vincent kept his head down as he spoke, leaning against the lab table. “Marnie, she was my...friend. She was the only one on the team that really respected me, the only one that was there for me, but...however much I cared about her, I hate Stanley Wozniak even more. This is about vengeance for me."

  “I...I, don't know what I'm supposed to say.”

  "We were just seven kids with too much power...much too much power. People died...it wasn't supposed to be that way, we wanted to create life, but it backfired, in a big, big way. This wasn't supposed to happen. None of this was supposed to happen. Of course, it did though. We were controlling life in a way that life was not meant to be controlled. When you mess with fate like that, you mess with everything and you lose. It was too much power. That kind of power does not belong to anyone.”

  Vincent picked up one of the broken beakers and a couple of its shattered pieces, “We created lives, but single-handedly destroyed each one we created. It's up to you to decide if what we left you is worth anything. Is it worth it to you? Is it something worth fighting for?”

  It was a question that wasn't meant to be answered.

  "What was the point of all of it? Why did you do this to us?”

  “Everyone had their own motivation. Every single person on that team had their own private reasons for it. Your mother, Marnie, was unable to have children and the only thing she'd ever wanted in life was to be a mother. The others had their own reasons, and in their minds, by creating these perfect children who would never have to deal with cancer, or deformities, you would never get sick, never suffer...”

  “It didn't really work out that way,” Valie snapped. “Your plans failed, each of you. There isn't a single one of us that hasn't suffered. Yeah, maybe we were lucky enough to never get sick, but we still suffered-- loss, heartache. We suffered having parents who turned into shells of the people they once were. And why?”

  Vincent tossed the beaker across the room, shattering it into even smaller pieces. “I can't tell you why.”