Lily sat modestly on the couch as the three boys stared at her, waiting for an explanation about her presence at their dorm in the middle of the night.
“Hm… So… Can I start?” she asked in an awkward tone. The boys nodded.
“I got a text from Elsie. It says SOS. It’s an emergency message, isn’t it?”
“When did you receive it?” Stan asked.
“A few hours ago. But I can’t reach her anymore. Her grandmother doesn’t know where she is. I’m worried. Elsie usually tells me her whereabouts.”
“That means she’s still alive,” Theo uttered. Stan nudged his elbow.
“What do you mean? Is she in danger? Do you know what happened?”
Cade cleared his throat. “Oh. Ugh. It’s nothing serious. Don’t think about it.”
“I heard you talking about saving someone. I thought you were playing a game. Was it about her?” Lily’s fingers trembled on her lap.
“Whatever it is, you shouldn’t get involved,” Theo said.
Lily’s eyes were swollen with tears.
“Hey, hey,” Cade said, while holding her hands. “It’s okay. We will find her. I will make sure that she will come back safely.” It was the first time she heard him talk with ease and gentleness in his voice. “I will do whatever it takes. I promise you that, Lily.”
Cade studied her face. “Come on. Show me that cute little smile.” Lily sniffed and wiped her tears away.
Stan and Theo looked at each other with puzzled expressions.
“But I want to help. I can’t just sit here while she is missing. Elsie is my best friend,” Lily said.
“That’s the best thing you can do for now,” Theo said. “This is a dangerous mission. We can’t save you in the process of saving her. You look clumsy and weak.”
Cade pierced a death glare at him. Theo shrugged with a comical face. Cade shifted back to Lily and caressed her hair. “What he means is that Elsie wouldn’t want you to risk your life for her. The three of us would be fine. Please trust me.”
Lily looked into his eyes. There was tenderness in her gaze. “How can I when you are fragile?” Cade was fazed. Theo’s mouth opened in awe as if he was watching a romantic scene. “This is where you grab some popcorn,” he whispered to Stan.
“I’ve seen you getting hurt in school and acting tough in front of people, Curt.”
“I am tough,” Cade said.
“No, you’re not. You don’t want to look like a fool. That’s different from being tough.”
“Then let me be tough for Elsie this time. And for you too.”
Stan crossed his arms. “I can let her help. Honestly, we need more power.”
“Are you crazy?” Cade exclaimed.
“Don’t get in a fluster, Curt. It’s a simple task. It’s not that harmful.”
“What if she gets hurt? Would you take responsibility?”
“That’s your duty. I will take care of Elsie. Something you failed to do,” Stan said in a firm voice. Those few words stopped Cade’s protest.
“Lily. You will be our watch out. You will stay a few meters from the area. Hide somewhere. It could be behind a tree or bushes. Use your common sense. Call us when someone enters the laboratory after we infiltrate it. Got that?”
Lily nodded.
***
At exactly nine in the evening, Stan, Cade, Theo, and Lily stood observing the laboratory.
The night was deep, and the silence was spine-chilling. They left all their inhibitions at home and kept their mission in mind.
“Remember, kill if you must. Tonight, we are not mere high schoolers. We came to save Elsie… by hook or by crook,” Stan said, burning with desire.
Lily hid behind a gigantic tree while the boys went to their individual tasks. She breathed in and out, rubbing her palms together. I can do this. This is for Elsie. I am a big girl now. There’s no time to cry.
Theo entered first. He waited for three minutes before beating up the guard and stealing his uniform. Theo cut the man’s thumb easily, covered the blood, and put it in his pocket. He proceeded to the stockroom. He was taken aback when two men wearing lab gowns greeted him.
“Have you had dinner yet?”
Theo shook his head.
“Go on.”
Theo pretended to check the freezer.
“Wait. Who’s guarding outside?”
Theo was frozen, searching for the right words to say that would not raise suspicion.
“Take it easy. He will go back there as soon as possible. Isn’t that right?”
Theo faced them. “Yes.” He forced a manly voice.
The scientist glanced at his watch. “I should feed her.”
‘Feed her?’ Theo thought.
The scientist opened some canned goods and slices of cucumber and placed them on a small plate.
“Wait,” Theo said. “Let me do it. Focus on your experiments.”
The scientist pondered for a while. “Alright. We are really busy.” He tapped Theo’s shoulder and stepped out. “And oh.” Theo gulped when the scientist looked at him from head to foot. “You need a smaller size of the uniform.” Theo nodded.
When everything was clear, he stood at the interrogation room. His heart was pumping faster as he was imagining Elsie in a shabby room, hands locked with chains, and skin covered with bruises. That was what the media disseminated for the past months. Theo exhaled and pressed the bloody thumb on the scanner.
Theo felt the cold temperature inside the interrogation room. All he could see was white—so clean that it felt like he was in heaven. The two guards in the corner immediately caught his attention. They had bulky bodies, standing still like a statue.
The next thing he saw was Elsie, sitting on a white, metallic recliner designed by the scientist. There were tubes planted on her head as she lay unconscious. Monitors were detecting her brainwave and the neurons in her brain. Images of DNA and RNA were playing on the other screens like some video games he used to play.
His eyes flickered when the bodyguards approached him.
“You may leave,” the bodyguard said while the other one got the plate from him. They began to eat the food together.
“What about her?” Theo asked and glanced at Elsie.
“Her?” The bodyguard pulled a syringe from his pocket and injected it into Elsie’s arm, pressing the blue liquid inside her.
“Any more questions?” The guard said in a bold, threatening tone.
Theo returned to the stockroom and called his friends over the phone, almost whispering.
“Confirmed. Elsie is in the interrogation room. She’s alive, but unconscious. Two guards are with her. Heavyweights.”
“Lure them. Curt, take care of the scientists. Gather any necessary information about them. I’ll go and get her. Lily, you can use the arrows I gave you when things get worse.”
“I hear you.”
“Alright.”
“Roger that.”
Theo braced himself and walked back to the interrogation room. He stood like a brave warrior, stiffening his shoulders in front of them. The guards stared at him, perplexed.
“I… I’m your e-enemy,” Theo uttered with eyes unsettling.
The guards were still analyzing his foolishness.
“I… I can prove it to you. Look.” Theo pulled the thumb from his pocket and dangled it. “This is your friend’s thumb. I knocked him off to get here and used his fingerprint to enter.”
The guards instantly ran after him.
“Shit.” Theo dropped the thumb to the floor and hurried away. “I promise he’s alive! Don’t kill me, please!”
When they were gone, Stan appeared. He found the thumb and pressed it to the scanner. He paused, studying Elsie’s condition—the tube on her head, the monitors all around her, and her calm face. Stan gently pulled out each of the tubes and carried her.
As they were coming to get Elsie’s motorbike parked outside, she opened her eyes. Her vision was blurry, but she was familiar with Stan’s pointed nose.
“Stan?” she uttered in her most lifeless voice.
Stan glanced at her face. “Can I get your number?”
Stan sat on the motorbike and gently assisted her behind him, clasping her hands around his waist. “Hold on tight. I can’t let you fall.”
Amidst the chase, Cade successfully cut off the laboratory’s power supply. Theo rushed to the car where Lily was waiting.
“Where’s Curt?” she asked.
“Maybe he’s still inside.”
“You left him? What if he gets killed?” Lily bit her fingernails.
“We’ll wait for him, don’t worry.”
“Oh my gosh!” Lily blurted when the guards came running towards them. She searched for the bow and arrows Stan lent her while her fingers trembled in panic. Without enough time to focus on her target, Lily released the arrow one after another. The guards fell down as the arrow hit them on their legs.
Lily’s jaw dropped. “Did I just hit them?”
“Yup,” Theo replied.
“Oh my God.” Lily shook his shoulders in delight. “I did it!”
“Good job.”
“Wait.” Lily’s enthusiasm faded. “I hurt them? With my bare hands?” A glimpse of guilt crossed her face.
“Yes. With your little fingers.”
“Oh my gosh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it.” She bit her fingernails once more. “What do I do?”
“He’s here.”
Cade was panting as he sat in the back seat. “Bloody hell. Who shot those big guys?”
“She’s right here,” Theo said and raised Lily’s left hand.
“I’m sorry, okay? I have never hurt anyone so bad in my entire life.” Her voice cracked, welcoming tears in her eyes.
“You did great, Lily. I’m proud of you. You saved Elsie,” Cade said.
“Are we done? Buckle up,” Theo said and drove as fast as he could.
“Would Elsie be okay?” Lily asked.
“Speaking of. I think there’s something going on. More than we know,” Theo said.
“What do you mean?”
“With all the tubes stuck on her head and the blue substance injected into her, I think she’s being experimented on.”
“So that’s the reason they kept her alive. I wonder what the experiment is all about,” Cade said.
“You got some information?”
“I took some photos of the documents I found. I haven’t scanned them.”
“What about Elsie? Is she alright?” Lily asked.
“She’s probably with Stan by now. Why don’t you call him?”
“The two of you blocked me. If you can’t remember.”
“Use my phone,” Theo said and tossed his phone at him.
“Why did you block Curt? Did something terrible happen between the three of you?” Lily asked.
“Stan would be insulted if he hears that word. Terrible is a light word to describe it. Something revolting happened.”
“Come to think of it, I haven’t seen the three of you together on the campus.”
“He used to be with his best budd, Luke,” Theo said in a sarcastic tone.
“Why don’t you confess every detail to her, Theo? And let’s call it quits,” Cade replied in the same tone as his. The phone rang on the other line.
“Hello.”
“This is Robertson. Is she okay?”
“She is.”
“Where are you?”
“At a hotel. I figured she is not safe anywhere else, especially in her own home.”
“What about her grandma?”
“Let’s fix all loose ends tomorrow. We can’t solve things overnight.”
“Okay. Are you going to stay with her tonight?”
“Temporarily.”
Cade thought for a few seconds.
“Why? Are you bothered? Do you want to take care of her instead?”
“No. You do that. It seems like you’re better than me in that aspect.”
“Maybe it reflects the concern we have for her. Don’t get worked up. The respect I have for her is beyond my principles.”
“I didn’t question your intentions. I know she is safe with you.”
“As she should.”
The car stopped at the boy’s dormitory.
“Thank God, we’re here. I can now rest in peace. I never missed my bed this much,” Theo said.
“What about Lily?” Cade asked.
“Oh. I forgot. Drive her home, man. I’m outta here,” Theo said and left them.
Cade transferred to the driver’s seat.
“Are you alright?” he asked as soon as he closed the door. Lily nodded, but fright was still visible on her face.
“You’ll arrive home safely. That I can promise you."