I push the passcode in, and much to everyone's relief (especially Damon's) the door unlocks! I try pulling the door, but upon realisation I push it.
And that's when everything starts to go weird again.
Sounds of helicopters wings slicing through the air fill my ears. My vision starts to go blurry and I lean on the side of the wall as I lose my sense of balance. I realise this is the unpleasant situation that happened to me a couple of times before. I wonder if the others can feel it too.
But before I can ask everything's back to normal again. I'm on my own two feet and feel like it too – my vision's back to normal and I can stand without feeling like I'm falling down.
I cautiously look around to the others to examine their facial expressions but instead notice that we've changed our surroundings. We're still in a narrow corridor but when I look back, the door is gone. The corridor branches off into two different corridors at the front and the back, like we're in some sort of maze.
"It is a maze, Alessia," says Mrs Renee. It takes me a while to realise.
"Right," I say. Looking around at everyone now, I ask, "So what now? Do we just...walk around or..."
"I think there might be guards," says Drew. "Actually, I'm sure there's guards," he says, while looking at Mrs Renee. She nods.
"I think," she says, "we need to make sure we do two things. Stick together and realise what we're here for. Which is..."
"Finding Mrs Mitzeegh and the kids, and what happened to them?" My tone of voice makes it sound more like a question rather than a statement.
She nods. "Yeah, I think that'll cover pretty much everything."
15.
"Um, excuse me? Mr, um, Mr Frasier?"
The man turns a full 360 to face the boy now standing in front of him. Infamously known as the sinister boy in the black cloak, he finds it amusing how that same imposing 15-year-old stood in front of him now, face full of terror.
"Yes?" He slowly lifts the volume of his voice.
Without hesitation the boy speaks. "They're here, sir."
It takes the man a minute to figure out what he means. But when he does, the sides of his mouth curve upwards into a smile, a smile that signifies the success in his plan.
"Excellent."
∞
"Anyone have any idea where anything is?"
I'm a pretty patient person in life, you know. I can wait for things I really want and sometimes even things I really need. But as of today, the conspiracy has already taken what little patience I had left, and that is why I'm asking this question in total exasperation, even though it has only been 15 seconds until our last conversation.
"We'll find something, Alessia," says Damon, but not in his regular confident voice. I try to glance backwards just to catch a glimpse of his face, and all I see is anxiety.
He looks like he's about to do something he never wanted to do.
The thought takes me by surprise. It's a very slap-in-the-face kind of thought. I've mentioned this before, but what if these people we're trusting – what if we're making the wrong decision?
My brain tries to ponder on this thought a little more, but I force it away into the depths of my mind. There's no turning back now.
"Guys!" says Damon, but this time his voice doesn't catch me by surprise at all. In fact, no one is surprised. The answer this time is right in front of our faces.
A giant door with giant writing stands in front of us. A dim light illuminates the area surrounding the entrance and the text, which reads, 'Soul Extractions.' The fact that's it's so obvious strikes me at first, but seeing as door is open by a fraction, I step forward and gently push the door open.
It takes a while for my eyes to adjust to the sudden change in brightness. The room is swallowed in pitch black darkness, so I can't see a thing. I can't even sense any movement, not even my own. As I turn around to face the rest of my team, I notice Damon slowly closing the door.
He's outside.
"Damon," I softly call, but he mouths a sorry and slams the door shut. There's a click.
I sense someone grab my arm. I think it's Jessie.
"Alessia," she says. It's actually Mrs Renee.
And that's when my stomach sinks, as I come to terms with the terrible realisation.
I open my mouth to say something, but Jessie interrupts. "I think I've found a light switch," she announces, her voice reverberating off the metal walls. I hear another click. Some dim lights start to flicker but at the end some of them stay on, giving the once blind room some light.
I audibly gasp at the sight before me, and I can hear Mrs Renee's breathing hitch beside me.
A whole row of school kids, bound and gagged, are before us. Some are sleeping, their heads hanging in dangerous angles, while some lay awake, eyes as wide as saucers. No one is trying to escape or break free...at least, not in this point in time.
"What is this!" Drew steps forward towards them to stand next to me and Mrs Renee. Jada slowly trudges forward.
"Ooooooh, Drew, what a surprise!"
A high pitched, sickly sweet voice comes from the right side of the room. There stands Mackenzie, clad a white shirt, black pencil skirt and heels to match. The scraping of her shoes against the metal concrete makes me shudder.
A teenage boy, who I just realise isn't bound like the other ones, groans as he reaches forward and grabs Mackenzie's calf with both hands. She grimaces and kicks him, the spike of her heel stabbing the boy's stomach. He doubles over.
"I work for them now," she says, still coming towards us. "What better way to get out of a bad situation than to just comply with your enemy, eh?"
"You're-horrifying, Mackenzie," Guess Jada was right when she said I couldn't insult anyone even if I tried. I could see Jada now – she looked like she was about to burst.
Mackenzie giggles as if I'd commented on her outfit or something. "Not all of us are dumb blondes, you know."
"You're right," I say. "You're just an exception."
Everyone looks at me in wonder and shock, as if to say, since when did Alessia get so savage? Even I impress myself.
Mackenzie herself looks a little taken aback, but then sneers. "Whatever. At least I'm not the one with traitors on my team."
Ouch. That's a hard one to rebut.
I turn around, thinking of Damon. Out of the corner of my vision I spot Jada, who's staring at Drew. He's staring at Mackenzie, a blank expression across his face. I look at Mrs Renee, who's staring at the ground in concentration.
"So, you know...?" Mrs Renee starts. Mackenzie gives us an exasperated look at begins.
"Look, I don't know too much. But I did use to date- I mean, have connections with...Damon." Jada turns to me and mouths 'she dates every boy'. "And his father is one of the bad guys – whatever they're called."
Mrs Renee mutters something inaudible. Mackenzie continues. "Soooo, this whole thing was set up, so we could finally capture you guys."
"It's not easy to capture the CSS," Mrs Renee says, her voice shaky but loud. "You haven't succeeded in almost three years."
"Well, back then you didn't have these new recruits," she says, staring coldly at me, Jada and then Jessie. "The more the merrier-ha, what a joke. They don't know the first thing about being part of the schism, let alone the CSS."
"Mackenzie, if this is some plan to get 'revenge' on the team because you were kicked ou-
"I quit!" She yells, face contorted in anger and disgust. By now my heart was pounding and my hands were starting to get clammy. All this information I was getting by the second was making me dizzy.
By impulse I blurt out, "Where's Mrs Mitzeegh?"
"Like I'd tell you," she spat. "She’s the least of your problems right now. You should just be focusing on getting out..."
From my left and right a whole army of men, dressed in all black, come out straight at us. We huddle together, but at no avail. They start grabbing at us and tying us up immediately. I want to fight back, but my muscles feel weak and powerless. My st
omach sinks as fear overtakes my body.
"...alive." She finishes. The lights turn off, leaving us in pitch black darkness again.
The last thing I hear is the sound of her heels loudly clacking against the floor, the sound growing quieter and quieter before fading away.
∞
"I can't believe this," she says. "I told them about Bob- heck, I told Alessia and Jessie, thinking that they knew why I was actually going. But you're telling me that they don't actually know?"
"Hey," Flynn gulps. "That's not my fault."
"You know what I mean," she sighs. "Look. I'll admit that I was being a bit careless when I made this deal-promise thing with you. I was just really desperate to get Bob back. I still am." She pauses. "There - I've confessed – now it's your turn to come clean."
He looks up, around, anywhere but towards her, in her eyes. He places his hands in his pockets, realising that they had been shaking for so long. "Um," he starts. His voice, so quiet and shaky, sounds even unfamiliar to him. "I'm sorry. I just can't tell you where I actually come from. All I can say is that I'm not actually part of the CSS – or, in other words, not part of the same side as the CSS."
An audible gasp leaves Shayleigh's mouth. "You're a..."
"Yeah,"
"But then why are you doing this?"
He steps forward, his hand outstretched.
"For you, Shayleigh."
For you.
The voice echoes around her head, as she tries to make sense of them. She eyes the hand suspiciously, but she finally makes her decision.
Placing her hands in her pockets in exasperation, she huffs, "I don't even know anymore. Just help me find the others."
Flynn's hand slowly comes down against his side. His heart fills with guilt as she watches her walk away.
"Shayleigh! Wait!" He calls out, running up after her. She doesn't slow down at all.
"Wait," he puffs. "I know where Bob is."
"Did I ask you to show me where Bob is?"
"No, but they're there as well."
She stops, slowly turning her head to face him. "Trust me," he says, and gives her the cheesiest grin possible. Shayleigh rolls her eyes. "No, really, Damon told me. He's the one who locked them inside there. He just texted me."
"Fine," she says, almost too fast. "Let's go."
16.
"I can't move," I groan. "It's getting hard to talk as well. Guys, what do we do?"
For the first time in a long time only silence answers my question. I take it that they already can't talk, or they just don't have an idea. I don't blame them. I wouldn't answer my question either.
"I can't even...think." A faint voice, which I identify as Jessie's, calls back. After that, all I hear are the sounds of sudden shuffling and people breathing heavily.
Is this how I'm going to die?
Every second that passes I grow weaker and weaker. Suddenly I feel numb, and beside myself. My body feels like it's no longer under my control. I struggle to at least keep my eyes open, but my eyelids feel heavy. Too heavy.
As I'm just about to blank out, I hear some loud footsteps, as if someone was running towards us. There's a click, and the dim lights are on again.
The lost energy starts to flow through my veins again. I jump up, no longer leaning against the walls and my eyes start to adjust to the lights. The heavy weight on my shoulder, which I now identify as Jessie's head, lifts off of me.
"Shayleigh!" I practically yell. "Flynn!"
"Good to see you, Alessia," he says, smirking his usual way. Without warning they leap forward and start to untie us. I can see Shayleigh's fingers shaking as she fumbles with my restraints.
"We have to get out of here. They saw us. They're after us."
"No," Flynn says, much to Shayleigh's annoyance. "We have to stay here. This room is perfectly safe. It's locked, and what's more we have an army just in case something does happen."
"Flynn," I said sternly. "This is serious."
"I'm afraid he's right, Alessia," Mrs Renee is dusting her jeans off as she stands up. "We're going to have to stay here."
"Oh…Okay," I say, a little reluctantly. Jada crawls over to Jessie and I and the three of us just huddle together, not saying a word.
"Shayleigh."
A weak, faint voice comes from across the room. I don't bother to look at first. It's a male voice, I know that, and it's probably one of her friends. But when I see Shayleigh's eyes starting to become glassy, I sit up and look down the hallway.
It's Bob.
"Oh Bob," she starts, her voice shaky already. "There you are."
Indeed, there he is. My mouth is left hanging agape when I see Bob. He's the only person I can see clearly from here, as one dim light is directly above him. He looks terrible. His eyes are bloodshot, his skin is speckled with red, blue and purple bruises and shiny from sweat. He looks like he's going to faint with exhaustion at any moment, but the sight of Shayleigh is the only thing keeping him alive.
Shayleigh walks over to him, which surprises me because I would expect her to run over to him, in desperation and happiness all at once. But she's surprisingly calm. She doesn't even hug him or anything, nor untie his restraints. The six of us stare at the two of them, staring intensely at each other, not saying a word or moving.
They're just staring at each other...crying.
Jessie looks at me, and then Jada, but we just reflect her expression. We don't know what to do either.
"Alessia." Mrs Renee calls out my name in the dim darkness. "What was this room called?"
"Um," I frown as I try and remember what was in those giant letters on the door.
"Soul extractions," I quickly say.
"I knew it." She hops back up onto her feet. "I know what's going on here." As soon as she announces it the whole row of kids start to shuffle uncomfortably but expectantly, eager to hear Mrs Renee. She looks down at them and shakes her head. "I can't say it here."
"But Alessia," she looks at me, and for some reason my stomach starts to churn when I see her face.
"Have you forgotten about someone?"
I frown a little at her. "What do you mean by that?"
"Someone was on our team, but now they aren't here, and it was you who they were relying on to remember them."
"Me?" My heart starts to pound. Who would put that much trust in me?
"But how do you know, Miss?" Jada asks the question that was on the tip of my tongue. I frantically nod in agreement.
Mrs Renee looks down and fixes her short curly hair. "I'm sorry if I sound a little upfront Alessia. I just...I just got a signal from someone I should've gotten rid of ages ago, and I'm just a little perplexed is all."
We all look at her for further explanation.
She sighs. "I can talk telepathically too."
Sure, that explains a lot.
"Ok, ok," I wave my arms around. "So, what this means is that there were originally – not counting Lucy and her mum – four people in the CSS. That's you, miss, Shayleigh, Drew and..."
"Someone else." Jessie finishes for me. "But who?"
"I don't know," I say, but as soon as I do a little flashback runs in my brain.
"Alright, class,"
The class starts to settle down slowly, all except for one boy in the row second from the front. His hand is up, and a twisted smile starts to form on his face.
At first Ms D pretends like she doesn't notice him, but he's a pretty hard person to ignore. She rolls her eyes, basically slams her elbows onto the lab bench and huffs, "Yes, Damon?"
"Alright miss, I've got a joke to share."
It'd be an understatement to say that Damon's science class were the only ones who enjoyed Damon's jokes the most. I didn't really pay attention to him – I mean, it was science, extension science, I needed to really concentrate to keep up – but sometimes I couldn't help but overhear.
As I drew the alphabet in cursive in the margins (my version of doodling), bored out of my mind this particular lesson,
I decided to listen in.
"...so, the three Mexican guys, I mean, not trying to be racist or anything, but their names were Pepe, Juan and Antonio..."
A couple of muffled giggles came from the girls behind me. I rolled my eyes.
"...and they were walking through a forest. Anyway, so they're all hungry and thirsty, and Juan spots a bacon tree from far away. Now, they all love their bacon, so they all run up to the tree. But Pepe gets shot!"
The Conspiracy Theory of June 17 Page 15