Chapter 11: Strange World
Meanwhile, in another place a couple miles away from the cul-de-sac's candy store, a three-story tower-like grey building; accompanied by grey pillars near the entrance doors, windows giving light on the second floor, and a glass gable roof covering the final floor up-top. The top floor currently was illuminated by the rather faint, yet noticeable light, revealing a very open area, a chair made of concrete embedded into the floor shaped like the throne of a ruler at the request of the owner of the building, along with its arm resting parts being extended.
Within said third floor resided someone covered with a brown robe used for sleeping, inside a personal room marked by a black door within the dark grey walls; the size of the room comparable to a apartment, with two queen-sized beds with grey sheets and covers, one of which was put up next to the wall, two windows above the beds, allowing airflow and sunlight to enter, a light at the top of the roof illuminating the entire room, a medium-sized TV in front of the two beds, a large bathroom, a desk splitting the beds by around 4 feet, a closet to the right of the TV with clothes belonging to an adult, a drawer to the left of the TV containing what appeared to be a teenage girl's clothes, and lastly a large bin for any trash.
Currently, on the desk, someone was busy looking up information for a certain person of interest; previous addresses, jobs, relatives, and onwards. Spending the last couple of days researching and getting assistance about said task has given him progress, but he is currently attempting to ensure he's gone to the right place. The person is then greeted by another person, a light-gold pony tail haired girl wearing a zipped up black jacket, blue jeans, white socks and dark grey shoes.
"What's the progress father?" asked the girl, standing next to her father.
"Are you absolutely certain you saw her that day you went to that restaurant?" responded the father.
"Yes." says the daughter, removing the blonde-ish hair from her head, revealing the true hair; long and loose, with the color of chestnut.
The daughter explains, "I saw her being accompanied by somebody else too. I couldn't tell if that was say, my sister, another daughter or little sister of hers, I guessed it was the second option, but yeah, trust me dad, it was her, doubtless."
The father turns himself to his daughter, and says, "Well done Cassie. Did you see anyone else?"
Cassie thinks for a quick minute, and says, "No, at least not of any importance. What's it matter anyway? Aren't we here just to get my sister back?"
"Remain calm, we shall have our revenge on Jane for splitting me from your sister." says Cassie's father, "But remember my daughter, keep this private from your mother, she cannot know about this."
Cassie, becoming curious, asks, "Why? What's the harm in it?"
Cassie's father, adopting a bitter expression, says, "Blair... has been, rather apprehensive about me recovering your sister from Jane. But it is completely wrong to let her rot in her hands."
He then slams his left hand on his before then continuing, "If only I had stood up for her then, she would've never fallen victim to Jane. I refuse to let her suffer with such a poor excuse for a mother, so until we recover your sister from Jane, we will do NOTHING else, NOTHING!"
Cassie then asks, "Dad, what if my sister doesn't want to-"
"Out of the question. We shall take her... no matter what or who it takes." responded her father, with Cassie noticing his hand turning into a fist.
She decides to take a seat on the edge of the bed, and ask, "Do you remember what my sister even looked like still?"
"Faintly, but it's been too many years." said her father. "I can only remember being forced to leave, Jane's horrible environment with not allowing me any room to assist your sister. Nevermind the fact that she'd attempt to use my own cash for her own personal things, I'd do everything in my power to help your sister. It meant nothing to Jane, as she does to me now."
Cassie felt rather overwhelmed with this information, but something about it is making her question aspects of what her father is saying. She decides to dismiss these thoughts for now, and tells her father, "That's just, awful. I'm sorry to hear that father."
"Let's not be sorry now." says her father, giving a hug to Cassie, which she returns, "Let's be better than Jane. That, I promise you we will be."
The two break the hug, and Cassie says, "Have you even managed to find where she's living? Her working at The Mandragora helps us, but we need some information."
The father gives Cassie a printed copy of a photo of Jane that originally had him in frame, but later edited it so that he would remain out of the picture, and Cassie can use it for a purpose he has in mind.
He explains, "You will go to people near this area, and ask if they have seen this woman. Try to ensure that they do not ask questions, merely reassure that they answer yes or no. This is obvious aswell, but avoid over excessive methods, we do not want to draw attention for the wrong reasons. Ensure as well that use a solution to make your face less recognizable. If you disobey what I told you, the consequences will be unforgiving. Understood?"
"Yes father, I understand." responded Cassie, although the mention of consequences gave her a feeling of unease due to her father's tone.
"Good. You have made me proud my daughter. Sleep now, for tomorrow you shall begin this process." stated her father, in which he resumes his work, while Cassie begins changing into her sleeping clothes.
While looking at more information, he thinks to himself, "Soon you'll learn and meet who your half-sister is... soon."
He is then broken out of his trance by Cassie, who asks him, "By the way, I know we've been here for only like 3 days, but is this the best place we have to stay?"
"Yes. Remember, this operation requires... extra help." responds her father, "The two... friends I invited onto this operation are currently downstairs, who I shall be heading downstairs to talk to. If I don't return, simply assume I have stayed down there, for the sake of not bothering you, my daughter."
Cassie nods her head, and says, "Ok then dad."
Her father then grabs his laptop, opens the room door, leaves and then locks it, leaving Cassie to turn off the light, and either watch TV or sleep. However, her mind was currently overrun by too many thoughts to allow to her to do either, as she stared blankly to the dark roof; pondering the possible circumstances of how her sister could react to her father's tactics.
Meanwhile, with Cassie's father, he is currently walking downstairs to head into the 2nd floor, where two bedrooms were split left and right by a hallway (coated in a dark grey color) not as open as the third floor, but nonetheless, and two of his friends currently were occupied in each. He first goes inside the room to the left of him; a single bedroom with a medium-sized TV, large bathroom, and a drawer next to the red-covered bed. Within the room, he witnesses his friend; his brown hair trimmed down to almost bald-fashion, donning a no-sleeve black shirt, which showed his notable muscle mass, grey shorts, and black shoes. currently lifting weights, which the friend then pauses to listen to him.
"Greetings boss, how might I help?" responded the friend, in a deep, somewhat demanding sounding voice.
"Ezekiel, how your progress?" asks Cassie's father.
"I am preparing as much as I can. What I wonder is, how exactly will Nolan work his way during this... plan you have?" responded Ezekiel.
"Nolan is rather tiresome, yes." explains Cassie's father, "But his technology prowess is unmatched, bar none. He might be insufferable, but he will pay off. I know he will."
"So long as he proves his worth, I guess I can presume it's fine." responded Ezekiel.
The father then turns to Ezekiel and tells him, "Also, thank you for still taking note of the surname for me, 'the boss'."
"That is what you are during this whole thing." says Ezekiel, "It is also what you told me and Nolan to call you aswell."
The two adults shake hands, as Ezekiel returns to working out, and the father leaves the room and enters the room directly in front of it. It's appearance differed in one aspect, lack of a TV, as the spot for a TV was instead occupied by a large desk, where the father spotted Nolan, wearing a blue cap on his head, blue long sleeved shirt, black pants, and sandals to boot.
Currently, he was working on something electronic related, with cheesy 80s pop music in the background. Although the father couldn't help but be annoyed by the music, he wondered what Nolan was working on.
"Oh, my oh my! Looks like the boss has come for an inspection, now haven't we?" said Nolan, in a silly tone.
"I am not interested In your cynical jokes, I am interested in results. Do you have any?" asked the father.
Nolan chuckles a bit, before then saying, "Why yes... I do boss! In addition to devices I've made before we arrived here, currently, I am working on a device which will help us detect where exactly this rather wondrous looking Jane of yours is located! The photo will be scanned by the device, and then it shall direct whoever uses it to wherever she lives!"
The father adopts an expression of interest, saying, "Well done. When will it be done?"
"Now now boss, you can't rush perfection!" says Nolan, adopting a smile, "But it shall be a while, as I have just began the process, oh how exciting!"
"Hmph. Make sure it doesn't take long, our time is anything but limitless." said the father.
Nolan giggles slightly before saying, "You'll just have to wait and see my friend, it's payoff will be enormously delicious!"
The father leaves the room, while annoyed, impressed by Nolan's progress towards their main objective. While he decides to go down to the first floor to work on something himself, Ezekiel, curious of Nolan's progress, visits his room, where he witnesses him still working on said device.
"Have you managed to present something to the boss to prove you haven't been wasting time?" asked Ezekiel.
Nolan laughs in a childish manner before saying, "Oh please Ezekiel, you my friend don't know much! I, as a matter of fact, have made very valuable progress, to the point where I believe I should be asking YOU the question you just asked me."
Ezekiel stared back with an annoyed expression, as Nolan smiles in a mocking way.
"Yes, I have. I must get myself ready for... whatever the boss has ready in mind." states Ezekiel. "It's tragic, the situation of his daughter, being stuck with Jane."
"Please!" says Nolan, "We will recuse that damsel in distress faster than you can do fifty push-ups!"
"Do not mock the situation Nolan, as the boss takes this seriously. The thing is, how much does he take it seriously...?" asked Ezekiel, putting his right hand to his chin in thought.
Nolan drops his quarter into the mix and says, "Well, he did say whatever it takes to get his daughter, didn't he my good chum? Which allows me even greater freedom! Haha!"
He pats Ezekiel on the left shoulder to take a look at what he has made to help the cause, and says, "Just think, I could make a device that can find someone in mere blinks of an eye!"
"You take care of that. For now, the boss told us that Cassie must first find out if she can get more information onto the whereabouts of Jane. Ensure that the device is ready by then, otherwise be concerned for yourself alone." responded Ezekiel.
Nolan's response was to simply laugh at him and say, "Have some of that thing they call confidence gentleman! After this, he'll want to see more, trust me, hehe!"
Ezekiel could only facepalm at Nolan's cockiness, but nevertheless, he hopes that he can truly deliver on his promises, and that Cassie can succeed in her personal objective. He decides to leave these thoughts for now, and leave Nolan's room to return to his own personal room.
Downstairs, Cassie's father is busy inspecting the weapons in the first floor, appearing as though it's meant for a giant feast; with a table long enough to occupy around 20 guests, fancy looking chairs surrounding it, a red sheet covering it, with a chandelier at the top of the room illuminating the whole brown floor. There are also windows around 4 feet tall, three on the left and right, and two on the entrance.
The weapons were hidden in a notably large box below the table. Within the box contained a notably large and heavy hammer that (thanks to Nolan) could change between the hammer shape and a normal stick tip, gauntlets that had two knives on each spanning 3 feet embedded into them, and several trap snares of notable size.
In the father's mind, he was all focused on the hammer, pondering the wonder of whether or not he'll be forced to use it in his own personal plan. As much as he doesn't want to, if someone even so much as does stands in his way to save his daughter, he'll be forced to handle it himself in more ways than one.