10.
Sam and Alex linked arms as they watched their blond friend crouching beside the cold chains. It was disturbing no matter who thought of it: that a friend had been held there for months.
Yes, months. The cave was left in a hurry and displayed many key proofs that someone had been living there (whether willingly or not). A mattress, used and re-read books, even small sculptures fashioned with random instruments, including other rocks. Clover smiled at these. Blaine had hidden his passion for sculpting from her for the longest time, embarrassed because he thought himself so poor at it, and that it was so strange. Noneness of course, but he had hidden it (quite adorably) all the same. Pathetic hiding places too. The back of the closet, inside a few socks … definitely not master spy skill hiding techniques. Though Clover loved to snoop, she'd found them accidentally when he'd asked her to bring her some fresh socks. The first morning she had ever spent with him.
Damn. Clover felt a tear finally spill over, too heavy to blink anymore. If they saw, Sam and Alex said nothing of it. Alex had let go of her friend and begun to explore the cave, turning the tragic atmosphere into one of super spying. Sam gave Clover's shoulder a brief pat before she too turned to investigate. Blaine had been living here for months. How? It was time to know.
The strangest thing was the mattress and its sheets. The cave was above water, but the only known path had been through that dark and previously unknown underwater cavernous path. There were even a few items unexpected for a cave room, a prison cave room at that: dumbells, empty protein powder boxes and even a small TV with DVD player. Like, weird.
"Why do you think whoever got him let Blaine have all of this stuff?" Alex wondered, noticing that the protein powder still had much time before its expiration. "Who would want their prisoner to bulk up? Or Stay bulk for that matter?"
"Good question." Sam muttered, eyeing the TV set. She knelt beside it and began playing with it here and there. "This is certainly working. I understand books, but TV?"
Clover was still beside the mattress and abandoned chains. She didn't want to touch either, but leaving them felt impossible also.
"Yeah," she finally added. 'Whoever got Blaine defo wanted him alive. And based on what there is here to keep him distracted, they also wanted him sane."
"Not sane enough though,' Sam answered pulling out a few cords from the TV and showing them to the spies. Clover reluctantly pulled herself away from the cold bed and came to see what Sam was trying to show them.
"With a few pulls and rearrangements," Sam continued, demonstrating her thought process, "Blaine could have found a connection."
"You mean," Clover cried, "to like the internet!"
"WHAT?"
"Yes." A few moments of silence, a few taps on the TV's touch screen, and the redhead found herself on WOOHP's help center page. "Blaine's way too good a spy to not have noticed this."
"Not to mention," Clover added, staring at the wires Sam had just played with, "What exactly was done to him that his captors wouldn't even worry about him trying something with all this."
They heard a brief ring and Jerry's face appeared on the screen.
"I received a call saying this distress signal was coming from where you girls are supposed to be. What is the meaning of this?"
Clover walked back to the abandoned bed and chains as Sam informed Jerry of her findings. As he processed this, the old man began looking about the cave, as surprised as any of the girls of the strange prison Blaine was kept in.
"But like," Alex added innocently, "where did he even go for the bathroom?"
Sam, Clover and Jerry looked at the second floor opening, a smaller hole barely big enough for a baby to splash in. Clover felt another tear roll down her face and Alex said nothing.
"Well," Jerry coughed to break the heartbreaking silence, "Whoever has him took great lengths to make sure he was at least comfortable. Any reason why he didn't progressively use those dumbbells to break the chains? It would have taken some time, but work nonetheless."
"Probably for the same reason he didn't manipulate this TV set to try and access WOOHP," Sam sighed. "Only what, we have no idea yet."
Alex grabbed the dumbbell and began swinging it around, judging its weight and power.
"Yeah," she said. "This is a good one. It could have broken the chains with repeated pounding. Do we know if he was kept on watch while in the cave? I guess yeah, since he disappeared from here like an hour after being discovered."
"Yeah," Sam repeated as she glanced around the room again, "But what kind of surveillance? I don't spot any cameros. Microphones? Alex start looking for microphones. Or micro cameras for that matter." Alex slipped on her heat sensing infrared sunglasses and began pacing around as Sam returned to Jerry. "Do you have any records of this TV being used as a communication device other than now?"
A few tapes on the keyboard but Jerry only shook his head. "Nothing. It seems only you've used it in such a way."
"This is too weird." Clover noticed her redheaded friend place her fingers just below her lower lip, a heartwarming nostalgic sign of deep thought and doubt.
But it wasn't time to reminisce. Not now. Would it ever be? It had always broken Clover's heart, each time she tried to look back on it happily. Walking out of WOOHP had also meant walking away from her friends. An action, though Clover wouldn't regret it, still made her sad. Secrets do no good, and their WOOHP life was a secret.
She shifted on the mattress, tracing the rough material with her gloved fingers. How had this happened? What had they done to Blainey that he couldn't even of the simplest ways to escape?
She shuddered at the thought: What had they done to Blaine?
Something felt strange under her fingers. It was rougher, more solid than the clumsily made quilt. Clover crouched back beside the mattress, rummaging between the sheets.
"Bingo." She smiled, pulling out a white sheet. An envelop.
Alex approached the scene. "Why is there an envelop in his mattress?"
"It's a clue duh!" Sam cried out as she abandoned the TV post and rushed to the girls. No one tried to snatch it away from Clover though, an act she appreciated. She was staring at it, afraid of what they might find when opened.
'Come on Clover," Alex smiled, placing her hand on her worried friend's arm, "I'm sure it's a clue like Sam said if anything. If it was Blaine's distress message, he wouldn't have left it to be found so obviously."
"That means it's a message from whoever has him Alex! That is just so much worse!"
"You won't know until you open it. We can do it if you want."
"Come on Alex," Sam smiled, "Give her some time."
Clover wanted to say something, but she footnoted it for later. Sam, though she had made the worst decisions ever in their high school years when it came to guys, had never had much time for Clover's slight obsession with them. (Maybe because Sam had such little experience, she was much more gullible?) Anyway .. Scam had definitevly brought out something new in the team's leader. More empathy? Though that could be dangerous for a spy .. who knew.
Clover shook her head. No, it was no time to try and distract herself from reality. Also, she was SO not about to accept Scam so easily!
Speaking of which, the screen, still alive with Jerry's face began to ring.
"A call from Scam," Jerry mused, "I'm putting him through."
The screen split in images, leaving Tim Scam's face to take over the right side of it. Clover grimaced at seeing his face so large.
"Tim!" Sam cried out, "What's going on?"
"We lost contact with you as you were getting out onto dry land. (Wouldn't call it dry exactly, Alex was heard muttering). I decided to try through Jerry. What is going on? Why is there a TV screen in a hidden cave?"
"We'll 411 you later Scam," Clover sighed. "Right now we have like more important things to do!" At this, she turned and walked to screen to ensure Jerry and Scam had a ful of view of the envelop. (It disgusted her, but Scam was part of the team. He would have to be kept aware.)
"Again," Sam murmured to herself, "Strange. With a few rewired cables I could connect from this TV. But our mics stopped working the second we stepped in. What is going on?"
"Maybe," Alex said, clearly growing impatient at the time it was taking her friends to open the envelop. "WE WILL KNOW WHEN WE OPEN THE DAMN LETTER!"
They stared at her for a silent moment. Alex merely shrugged and stuck out her tongue, pleased to have finally gotten their attention. Clover smiled at how wonderful Alex was before finally tearing away the envelop. It was a letter.
"Hello Spies. So glad that you have FINALLY found us. It took you long enough I must say. Not up to your usual speed and gusto.
I guess Terrence was right after all. You are most definitevly losing your touch. Pity. I enjoyed fighting and defeating you time and time again.
As you might have guessed, I have your dear friend Blaine. Does that upset you Clover? Does it bother you that I took your love the same why you took MINE! Make sure to hurry and find him, it has been years and I am growing so bored of looking after him. But I am nice. I want to kill you all together. Aren't I just so kind? As you may know, I am a romantic at heart.
Here are a few clues to finding me. US. I so enjoy the hunt before the kill. I guess it's just my WILD SIDE! Clue n*1. Do you like it? Second clue:
It a step. If you will. In their native language at least. In ours? No clue. Ha! But I love it there. As you three. Fashion is the key.
After a step, there is a laugh. A nice laugh.
There, you have everything. Tick tock goes the clock spies. Fashion waits for no one. I tire of waiting. Blaine? He tires. Easily. I wonder what might happen to him?
Ciao."
The group stared at the letter, Clover still unsure of what she just read.
"This," she concluded, "Is this stupidest, most lame and least thought out riddle I have ever hear of."
"Yeah!" Sam exclaimed, probably horrified at the cheapness of it. "I can't believe she would so ruin the greatest attributes of literature like this."
Clover nodded, patting her friend empathetically. "Like major ew."
"She? Ew? Literature? Ladies would you care to explain what is happening?" Jerry, Scam and even Alex still looked puzzled.
"Duh," Clover yawned, "Sam is talking about how much our NOT so mysterious kidnaper sucks at writing, not to mention writing riddles. Or clues. Or whatever."
Sam nodded fervently, "She sucks!"
"WHO IS THE SHE!" Scam yelled out, annoyed of being clueless. Something, Clover remarked with a smirk, something that must happen to him quite often."
"Tim," Sam barked, making all jump, "I do not like that tone!"
To Clover's utter astonishment, Tim sat back a hung his head, actually ashamed of his behavior, or embarrassed that Sam was scolding him. Either way, it was quite amazing.
"Jerry," Clover sighed, "Just send us back the jet. We need to shake our booties Outtah here. Blaine is not here. We'll look around some more and regroup back to the ship. WHERE the plane will be waiting I am sure."
'What do you mean Blaine isn't here anymore?" Scam asked.
Too easy. Clover stepped back from the screen and displayed her arms wide, dramatic purposes of course. "Look around Scam. I'm sure even an idiot like you can tell Blaine is no longer in this cave!"
Scam said nothing as Sam was still eyeing him angrily, his face growing red with annoyance nonetheless.
'Girls,' Jerry sighed. Alex had just let out a cry out. Her epiphany. After reading the letter herself, it seemed too obvious. This annoyed the men greatly. "Please just tell me who you think the villain is, and why you came to such an easy conclusion?"
'Duh Jer," Clover smiled as the girls laughed, linked arms. Pressing a button on their X powders, it was UPWATI time again. "Wild Style? Fashion waits for no one? Mentioning of Terrence? This is soooooo that Helga diva behind it."
They had checked all corners of the cave before finally, none happier than the other to leave the terrible and trying prison of Blaine. It was a laugh to hear from that old psycho again, but all couldn't stop wondering: what did they do to Blaine? All evidence led to something impairing him. But what?
XXxxXX
Hey all! I'm back. (ish) Let's hope I go faster with the updates this time, though no promises.
HELGA is back(aH)! Note, she uses US : not working alone. LAMOS? Maybe ... maybe not.
What do you think of Sam and Scam? Clearly he is overprotective, which rather annoys her. DUH she's a master spy!
What do you think happened to Blaine? We shall know this and more in the following chapters!
As always, please read, comment and follow !