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Seeing Hugo triggers memories of Lu. My fiercely overprotective friend. One of the only people that I could call on when I needed someone to be with. She was only six at the time, but I remember her loyalty so vividly. I can’t imagine that their relationship would have grown any closer from the moment she found out about Hugo tasering me.
“It seems,” Hugo’s face turns cold once more as he goes up to Albert. “We have a slight issue.”
“A slight issue with what, Hugo? Just spit it out.” He sounds annoyed as if he has better things to do than be bothered by running and maintaining a company.
“With Black Opps.”
Albert perks up at that, “Magnificent! They have one job, and they can’t even keep that going for them. What happened this time? Please tell me it isn’t too bad; I really don’t want to have to get involved again. Can’t they see I have better things to do?”
“Well, sir. We have recovered some footage just before the cameras were shut off of Annabelle and a few others breaking in on level 110.” Hugo rocks back and forth on his heels as if wishing he would fall through the floor.
“Did they take anything?” Albert’s voice is alert, scared. It is crazy how someone can go from being so stern to fearful in a matter of seconds. “I knew I couldn’t trust her.” He murmurs so only I can hear. I wonder if that is intentional, or that’s just how he whispers.
“Nothing material. It seems-” Travis’ son gulps. “However, we saw them carry away two black bags big enough to carry a body each. And-”
“Jasper?” Albert’s voice falters as if his son is the only thing in the world that matters to him. Maybe there is a slight twinge of humanity still left inside.
“I sent search crews out to find him, but they have all come back without results. The last place he was reportedly spotted was with his-” he pauses as if he has just eaten something particularly unsavoury, “friend Tyler on level 110. But no one has seen the pair of them since.”
That’s when all hell breaks loose.
Chapter 13 - Emerson Clarke
Ihave never seen anyone move with such speed and agility in my entire life. He quite literally jumps out of his chair and bounds over his desk, knocking over papers and his perfectly ordered stationary as he goes and flies out the door. Before I even have time to register how in the world he did that, I am right on his heels.
He stops abruptly and I almost crash into him. “Where do you think you’re going?” He demands, turning around to scowl at me.
“Where do you think?” I snap back at him. When he doesn’t move, I push past him and head in the direction he was travelling, “Why are you stopping? Those guys could have already taken Jasper by now, we don’t have time to sit and chit chat!”
“No, you’re not coming. Stay here and Travis will look after you.” He says urgently. For a moment I wonder whether it’s because he doesn’t want me to get hurt, then I realise he needs me, and if I die, he can’t get what he wants.
“I don’t need a babysitter. I’m coming with you, and you can’t stop me.” I say. In reality, there are a million things that he can do to stop me, none of which will end well for me. But, for some odd reason I am convinced that he will let me go with him.
He walks back in front of me and turns down a mysteriously dark corridor. “No. Just no. I need you to stay here,” he stops to face me again.
“No, you really need me. Hugo said that they were carrying two black bags. If it turns out that it is Jasper and his friend, and they are unconscious, how do you expect to break them out of there? You think that you are going to carry them yourself?”
“I’m not going to break them out. Black Opps and I work together and there has to be a reasonable explanation for this. There will be no carrying people out unconscious. It will be a civil discussion, and everyone will return back here awake and unharmed.”
“I’m great at civil discussions.” he laughs at my lie and turns back around and dismisses the conversation with a wave of his hand. I follow in his tracks.
He goes up to a glass door and puts his hand on it. After a moment, the door swings wide open and he briskly walks through. It immediately shuts behind him. I stare in amazement until he asks bluntly, “Are you coming or what?” I rush over to the door. Before I could put my hand on the glass, Albert reaches through the door and grabs my wrist, “I wouldn’t if I were you.” I don’t know what he means by that or how in the world he put his hand through solid glass, but he puts his hand on the other side of the door and it swings open for me. I walk through and the door shuts behind me before I even have time to wonder how it happened.
The small room that we have walked into instantly jerks forward and, right before I fall and lose my balance, a chair comes out from the wall. I sit on it before I fall over. The moving room takes us forwards, backwards and down in every direction possible. It’s like an elevator, only a thousand times worse. I steady my breathing and try to focus all of my energy on the question I ask Albert. “Who are these people?”
“Black Opps.” Albert says, not looking directly into my eyes. Although he is trying to compose himself, I can tell that this is affecting him. Or maybe that’s just me overthinking his usual standoff-ish manner, thinking that he might actually care about his son’s wellbeing.
“And what do they want with Jasper and the other kid?”
“Tyler,” he interrupts. “The other boy’s name is Tyler. Jasper’s best friend.” I don’t know why he told me, or why he remembers, or why he cares, but I don’t question it too much. The more he talks, especially when Jasper is the subject, the more I begin to think he might have a heart. It seems almost impossible that the same person that hurled over his desk and is running into the unknown to save his son, is the same person who has starved thousands because they did not conform to his ‘perfect’ pattern of society. “Emerson, I don’t know. If anything, I would expect that they would take you, not…him.” He chokes up, and I almost feel sorry for him. Almost.
“It’s okay,” I say with false sympathy. It’s not that I don’t want it to be okay, because I will storm into this building with all guns blazing to help get Jasper and his friend out of there. I owe it to Jasper to help him after he helped me get to Albert. Plus, there could be the perfect opportunity between now and when we get back for me to escape. Albert will be distracted with Jasper and Tyler and won’t be thinking about me. It will be the perfect chance to run away.
He gives a small smile and I regret the slightest bit of comfort that I gave him. He thought I was being serious. I don’t want to comfort him. I don’t want to reassure him that everything is going to be alright. He was never there telling me it was going to be okay every time he sent me into The Cuffs. He was the one inflicting that pain remorselessly.
The room stops abruptly. Albert gets up, puts his hand on the door and it swings open for him. I get up and quickly run past before the door closes on me. The door groans loudly but, with a quick tap by Albert, it stops and closes again.
I follow him out to a garage. As he presses his hand to the door of a large black car, the driver’s door opens upwards. He gets in and presses a button inside to open the other door for me to get in.
