A/N: Disclaimer in the first two chapters.
… So I've been gone a while… sorry about that. Just, don't expect updates to be often. Honestly, I don't really know how I did this chapter.
Chapter 15: The Maze
Cal looks at Emmy with worried green eyes. Emmy looks away from Cal, feeling guilty. She had asked these three to come along on a possibly very dangerous mission. She didn't want them getting hurt or kidnapped… or worse. Milo puts a hand on her shoulder, and Cal does the same.
"It's okay, we're here for you," Milo says with a kind smile. Emmy smiles back.
"And besides, we signed up for this. You didn't make us," Cal adds.
"Milo made me," Marco says.
"Oh, shut up Marco!" Cal yells back at him. Emmy chuckles. Realizing how much she's missed these three over the years. It's strange to see them again after so long, but it also feels overdue.
"Thank you, guys. I wouldn't have gotten this far without you."
"Let's be honest, you'd be much farther along," Milo whispers into her ear.
She giggles slightly at how true that comment may be. And not because her companions were slow, but because more people meant more supplies needed. Plus Cal and Marco's bickering never helped anyone. Maybe that was what her and Max's bickering was like.
"Come on! Let's go!" Marco yells as he steps into the tunnel. He holds a flashlight and they all slowly follow him. Cal closes the door behind her, hoping no one will find them.
The four continue for a while. Not entirely sure where they were headed or what they were looking for.
"Hey, Callum," Marco says after a long time of silence.
"Shut up Marco," Cal huffs. She was not a big fan of her full name. Emmy looks over her shoulder at Marco.
"What do you want, Marco?"
"I want to know what we're really looking for," he replies. "I mean, I get that it's a red diamond, or whatever. But how are we supposed to find it in all these tunnels?"
"By searching the tunnels."
Marco groans in frustration but says nothing more. They have small snippets of conversation as they continue through the dark tunnels. Emmy relies fully on her memory to guide them. She's regretting bringing Cal, Marco, and Milo along. Their blind faith in her might turn into something terrible. She can only hope she hasn't gotten them lost as they push onward.
Suddenly a loud sound echoes through the tunnels. The four look around at each other, scared. They search for a sign of someone else. Hearing whispers they approach slowly. Emmy recognizes the voices.
"I went to find a donut but there's too much traffic, so I decided to come this way instead," they hear a male voice say.
Marco notices the look of recognition on Emmy's face.
"Who is he?" he asks as a loud 'what?' is asked from the direction they heard the voice. "Correction; who are they?"
"My brother and sister," Emmy replies. The others nod as they make their way towards the voices.
"Even though you're afraid of the dark and tunnels and rats?" the girl asks.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm a great guy, yeah."
"I think that's giving you too much credit, Max," Emmy says as she and her group turn the corner.
"Emmy?" Tess asks in confusion.
"Hi, Tess," Emmy greets. She looks to the ground and scratches the back of her head shamefully. "Sorry for, uh, disappearing on you guys."
"At least your safe," Tess shrugs and pulls Emmy into a hug. Which she gladly accepts.
"Who are you guys? Wait, we know Cal, never mind. Who are you two?" Max asks, pointing to the two boys.
"I'm Marco, that's Milo."
"Okay," Tess says, "How did you guys get down here?"
"There's another entrance. Where the red diamond is on the map," Emmy explains. "I memorized it the night I left. We haven't found anything. Have you?"
Tess pulls out her phone. "I think I found something different. Some weird numbers were painted on the walls." She shows everyone the painted numbers she found.
"I saw the nine," Max points to her phone. "What do you think they mean?"
"No idea."
"Maybe someone back at the house will have a guess," Emmy suggests. looks at her with confused expressions. "Someone like Sal. He might have some theories."
"Oh, yeah."
"We have to find the diamond first!" Tess argues.
"Well, let's at least go back to the nine. The talkies work there," Max says.
"Go back?" Tess asks.
Max nods and holds up the string he has. He pulls it to him and then it ends. The string is cut.
"Well, that certainly isn't good news," Marco comments.
Emmy tries to think. "I could try to navigate it from memory."
"I don't think you see the whole problem, Emmy," Milo says. "The string was cut. Somebody else is in here."
"How can you be sure?" Max asks. "It could've caught on something and ripped."
"It's too clean to be a rip," Tess informs him.
Max's face grows increasingly worried. As does everyone else's faces. They look around at each other, all unsure of their next step.
As the group tries to figure out what to do next, leave or find the diamond, bickering ensues. Tess is so dead set on finding the diamond that she convinces everyone that it is the number one priority. Even though Max doesn't like it, especially since they're lost, he agrees. Not wanting to be left alone in the tunnels.
Then Saganash comes along. In the whole cape and hood get-up. Demanding the map.
"You know what people do in movies?" Max asks. "Run." And they all start running.
"Give me the map," Emmy whispers to Tess as they run. She does as Emmy tells her, not wanting to argue while running. Emmy quickly makes eye contact with Milo, who nods in understanding. Without any of their group noticing, Emmy passes the map along to Milo.
They round a corner and stay in the nook, catching their breath. Saganash runs the other way, losing them in the process.
"We need to get out of here now," Max says.
"Yeah," Tess finally agrees. They look at Emmy, who's still panting.
"What?" she asks.
"How do we get out?" Tess yells, annoyed.
"I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know?" Cal asks.
"I mean I don't know. I lost where we are with all of the running and other stuff."
Marco lets out a long, exasperated sigh.
"So now we really are lost?" Max asks, freaking out a little bit more with each word.
Emmy just shrugs and nods. No other answer.
"We have the option of left and right since going back isn't a great idea with that guy back there," Marco points out.
"Heads we go right, tails left," Max says as he digs a coin out of his pocket.
"You're literally flipping a coin!" Tess yells.
"Shh, you don't want that guy to find us, do you?" Milo asks. He peeks his head out of their hiding place for a second, making sure Saganash isn't there.
"Anyone got a better idea?"
After no one says anything Max flips the coin. It lands on tails and they all scramble left. Feet stomping voices echoing off the walls. They quiet down the farther away they get.
"Do you think we're going in circles?" Tess asks.
"Maybe," Cal says.
A sudden crackle comes from Tess' walkie-talkie. "Max, Tess… can you…" It continues to cut out, but Tess, Max, and Emmy recognize it. Tess hands it to Max.
"Could that be Simone?" Max asks hopefully.
"Maybe," Tess replies.
"Simone. Hello?" Max says into the walkie-talkie. "Are you there? We're lost."
Nothing comes back through the walkie-talkie. Marco leans over to Emmy.
"Are they talking about police officer Simone?" he asks.
She nods. "Yeah, why?"
"No reason at all." He stands straight, blank-faced. Milo looks at his brother with a mischievous grin.
"He got into some trouble with Simone a few months back. Nothing too serious," Milo informs her. She smiles in understanding and turns back to Max with the walkie-talkie.
"Could this day get any worse?" he asks himself. Just then, Saganash comes up behind Tess, he's looking for something.
"Stay back," the distorted voice says as he holds Tess. "Where's the map, Tess?"
"I-I don't have it."
"You don't have it?" Max asks, concerned.
"I told her to give it to me," Emmy says, stepping forward. "But I don't have it either."
"It's hidden, and you'll never find it," Milo nods. Cal and Marco look shocked to hear him say that. They know something that Tess, Max, and Saganash don't know. No one ever finds Milo's hiding places.
Saganash releases Tess and runs off. Everyone goes to her aid, making sure she's okay.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine," she says. "So where is the map?" she asks Emmy.
"Milo?"
Milo takes the map from the back of his hoodie. "Why would I leave it anywhere in the tunnels we could get lost in?" he asks, handing Tess the map.
Simone's voice starts coming through the walkie-talkie again. They all crowd around it as Max informs Simone of what Saganash almost did. She keeps a calm, steady voice and instructs them to do the same.
The group waits for further instructions, unsure of what's going on with everyone else.
"Max, do you and Tess remember what you did after you turned at the nine?"
"Um," Max starts, but Tess takes hold of the walkie-talkie and begins explaining what she remembers doing.
"After the nine I turned left then left again. Then right."
And then it was the waiting game. To see if Simone could find them with what Tess thinks she did after the nine.
"Should we not be here anymore?" Marco asks.
"Are you crazy?" Cal responds. "Emmy's the one who committed the map to memory and she's lost. No way can any of us make it out of here without, uh, Simone, was it?"
"Yeah, Simone." Emmy nods. She looks around at the group, just realizing the strange reality of having two different foster family siblings around her.
She hears a clink, everyone turns. A flashlight appears, blinding them. It's Simone and Daniel, they've found the group.
"Hey!" Everyone who knows each other yells and hugs.
"Marco Veinlend?" Simone asks, pointing her flashlight at him. He waves awkwardly.
"Emmy!" Daniel cries out happily.
"Uh, Simone, he's a friend of mine," Emmy explains, gesturing to Marco as well as Cal and Milo.
"Why am I not surprised?" Simone asks with a chuckle. They all head back through the tunnels and over to the Hunter House. Emmy is engulfed with plenty of hugs after her disappearance, which they apparently forgot to tell Simone and Tim about. Whoops. And even after all of her time down there, Tess still wants to go back and find the red diamond. But every adult shuts it down telling her it's too risky. They are, however, much more valuable than any diamond.
"Actually," Sal begins, everyone looks at him expectantly. "I don't think the diamond is even down there."
"What? You think the map is bogus?"
"Not bogus, just a piece of the puzzle," Sal clarifies by saying, "Emmy was right with the other diamond marking a location." Emmy does a tiny little celebration in which Milo joins her with a few bad dance moves. Sal continues, "I think that the whole point of the map was to lead us to the numbers. What do they mean?"
Everyone contemplates the numbers on the screen. 59113. While pondering, Max and Daniel notice Simone and Tim, standing together. Max turns to Daniel apologetically, but he waves it off, accepting that he has to quit.
Then Gertrude gets a stroke of genius. Remembering how Cassandra did eventually get married in the end. To one of the sailors on Saganash's ship, who supposedly survived the shipwreck. With only that little more information, Sal realizes what the numbers are. Coordinates. He types them in, pinpointing an Island. Gertrude compliments them on how smart they all are.
The adults leave and soon after, Emmy is saying farewell to her own friends, who always feels more like family, but that can't be because she has the Hunters. The Hunters are her family now. Not the mismatched group she, Cal, Milo, and Marco is.
"So Emmy, what's your phone password?" Sal asks. "I couldn't figure it out for Hunter Cloud."
"Hunter Cloud?"
"A cloud that will connect everyone's phone's memory to share information more efficiently," Sal explains. "I got everyone else's password."
"Wait, how?" Tess asks. "I never even gave you my phone."
"Easy, since you did the year you were born. Max had his birthdate. Anika gave me her phone. Same with Daniel. His password is just password, though," Sal continues. "I couldn't figure out your's." He hands Emmy her phone.
"It just has to do with those three, actually," she says, pointing to the door her friends had just walked out of. "2348."
"How does that have to do with them?" Anika asks as Emmy hands her unlocked phone to Sal.
"The letters under the numbers. They're the alphabetical order of all our vowels in our names." Everyone looks at her, bewilderment spread across their faces. "Two has 'a' for Marco. Three has 'i' for Milo. Four has 'E' for Emmy. And eight has 'u' for Cal."
"Cal doesn't have a 'u'," Tess points out.
"Yeah, her full name is Callum."
Daniel rushes into the room abruptly. "I just saw Mr. Brule talking to Saganash!" He blurts out loudly.
A?N: Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed it.
One more thing, last month we marked the year for this story going… woo! Sorry, again. I might try to do better, but… I am already getting frustrated with the website I'm using to help make this. Don't know how long this will last. Also sorry about the whole one-shots idea thing… I don't really know what happened there.