The letters were printed intricately on an old book with a font as otherworldly as its plot. Each word was steady, but they seemed to be dancing in his eyes. It had been three minutes since Stan was staring at a fantasy novel, but nothing was absorbing his brain.
“Could it be my lack of sleep?” He thought as he tilted his head. A while ago, he checked Elsie’s room, but she wasn’t there. It was the second day of her absence and it gave him an unfamiliar feeling. What is she up to?
Stan held his new bookmark, a piece of paper with Elsie’s name and address written on it. His penmanship made the words classy, like a touch from a calligrapher. He used his connections as the campus president to have it.
Stan rubbed his finger in between the syllables of her name, admiring the smooth curves of the alphabet. Why would I go there? It’s not like she’s in a critical condition. I can’t be paranoid about her truancy.
But why didn’t she tell me?
You’re not her diary. You don’t get to know everything she does.
Stan smelled the delicate pages of the book. It granted him the faint scent of vanilla. Just what I need. As he closed his eyes, his mind played images of her—the illuminating lights beaming through the strands of her hair, her striking steel-blue eyes, and her smile as rare as four petal clover.
A knock from the door made him stiffen. Theo must’ve arrived from his training. He was lucky enough to stay in the Martial Arts club after his involvement with the gang fight and the cops. Though he wasn’t the president of the club anymore, being part of it was a battle he had won against Mr. Thomas’ complaint.
Stan wondered why the door was closed after the knock. Theo would usually dash off and piss him.
He heard another knock. That’s odd.
He walked to the door and was frozen when he saw an uninvited guest. A face that left a blemish in his memory and a scar on his heart.
“Stan—” Cade uttered. Stan looked from side to side and said, “Did I hear something?”
Cade held on to the edge of the door, stopping him from shutting it. “You can see me, Stan. You can’t ignore me forever.”
Stan gazed at him with his cold, gray eyes, a blizzard that cut through his chest. “I can and I will.”
“This isn’t about you, Stan. It’s about Elsie.”
Stan’s facial features became soft. He arched the narrow distance between his brows. “What about her?”
Cade dropped his hand. “The day that we’ve been dreading has come.”
“Tell me in detail.”
“The last time I called Elsie over the phone, someone was chasing after her. I followed the GPS on her phone and located where they kept her. It was in a remote area. A laboratory. I am certain it was the mafia group dad talked about. The Doom Association.”
“How many days has it been since she’s gone?”
“Today is the third day.”
“Three days?” Stan grabbed Cade’s collar, his fingers wanting to crush the fabric of his clothes. “You let her stay there for three days? And you’re telling me now?”
“I-I tried to tell Theo… but he didn’t listen.”
“Of course. Even I wouldn’t listen to you after what you did,” Stan replied, unmerciful.
“I don’t know what to do, Stan. You are the only person I know who can help me.” Stan finally loosened his grip on Cade’s collar. “Tell me what you saw.”
***
Theo arrived at the dormitory late at night. He was whistling with his left hand in his pocket. He kept on glancing at the plastic bag in his right hand, excited to devour everything in it. Theo bought Korean Kimbap seaweed rice rolls served in Japanese-style hand rolls, a la carte beef, and caviar selections.
“Stan is gonna love this,” he thought as he opened the door.
Theo’s smile vanished when he saw Cade sitting on the couch. “What are you doing here? How dare you set foot in our room without our permission? Stan is going to rip off your eyes if he sees you.”
“I let him in,” Stan said, coming from the shower. He was wiping his wet hair when he saw the plastic bag in Theo’s hand. “Is that for dinner?” Stan snatched the food from his hand and opened it. “Looks yummy.”
Theo looked at Stan in disbelief. “What is going on?” He shifted to Cade. “Why am I seeing this dip shit with you?”
“Let’s talk about it after dinner,” Stan replied while preparing the food on the table.
Cade shoved the seaweed rice rolls in his mouth without a second thought. The nutty sesame oil splattered around his lips as he licked the tip of his fingers, enjoying the traces of oily marinated mackerel. Cade closed his eyes while savoring the spicy tuna salad, a perfect match for the potato chips.
Theo was glaring at him the entire time.
“Have you not eaten for decades?” Stan commented.
“You mean something as good as this? Hell yes.”
“Uninhibited dickhead,” Theo uttered.
Stan cleaned up the table after dinner, and the three of them sat face to face.
“So what’s the deal?” Theo asked.
Stan displayed a straight face. “Elsie is in the hands of the mafia group. The Doom Association.”
Theo was silent as he tried to ingest the distressing information in his brain.
“I did my research on The Doom Association. They became the most dangerous mafia in London after they murdered the entire clan of The Viper Tribe that used to own the spot. We know Elsie is the only survivor,” Stan added.
“When did they abduct her?” Theo asked.
“Two days ago,” Cade uttered.
“What makes you think she’s still alive by now?”
“For some reason, I could feel she’s alive,” Cade said.
“So you are relying on your guts? That’s not how it works, Cade. You choose to believe that she’s breathing because you couldn’t take responsibility if something bad happens to her.”
“If only you lowered your pride and let me talk, we could’ve faced the problem earlier.”
“You are blaming this on me?”
Stan pushed the bridge of his glasses. “Stop it,” he said in an authoritative tone, “No problem would be solved if you keep on squabbling.”
Theo loosened up.
“The more logical way to view the reason why Elsie must be alive is the fact that they abducted her. If they wanted her dead, they should’ve killed her on the spot considering the area in which they caught her. But they keep her in the laboratory,” Stan looked at Cade, “Right?”
Cade nodded.
“It could be worse, Stan. They could’ve tortured her or starved her to death,” Theo said.
“I wish not,” Cade said.
“She won’t give up easily. I believe in her,” Stan said.
“Any leads about the boss?” Theo asked.
“Nothing. The members are unidentified.”
“Then what do we have that can help us save her?”
“This,” Cade said and placed a black paper on the table. There were white lines and figures on it. “This is the blueprint of the place.”
Cade pointed to the left side of the laboratory. “They have some sort of experiments in these rooms. I don’t know what they are up to.” Cade pointed to the right side. “This is the stockroom. I haven’t entered the other rooms yet. But there’s something strange about the Interrogation Room. That eerie feeling in Horror movies that makes you want to go there.”
“There are CCTV cameras outside. The security is tight. I’m sure they know by now that I went there. Their security will get even tighter. We can’t go there without a solid plan,” Cade added.
“This place is still a mystery. Let’s expect them to not go easy on us. This isn’t something basic like calculus and physics, the subjects we can chill about,” Stan deliberated. He stared grimly into thin air. “Kill if you must.”
“There will be a power interruption tomorrow night. It’s the best time for us to infiltrate them,” Cade said.
“They are prepared enough to keep a generator. We must cut their power source at all costs before we proceed,” Stan said.
“Count me in!”
The boys looked at one another when they heard a tiny voice.
“Did you hear that?” Theo whispered. Cade nodded. They turned their heads to the open window. The wind was blowing swiftly, pushing the curtains inside. The chills suddenly lingered in their bodies.
They almost leaped when they heard a thud outside. Slowly, they crept towards the window and peeked outside. Their gaze dropped. There was a shadow moving on the ground. Cade got a flashlight and directed it to the object.
“Lily?”
Lily covered her eyes as the light blinded her.
“Ouch,” she uttered while rubbing her hands on her butt. She fell together with the ladder.
“What are you doing here?”
“Do you know what time is it? It’s eight o’clock.”
“Are you a thief?”
Lily splattered an awkward smile, trying to conceal her shame.