Hi everyone! Sorry for the late post, I was busy (reading) this morning, and it slipped my mind. But here it is now! There is a different font in part of this chapter, and there is supposed to be two but it only let me do one so it's a bit confusing, but hopefully it will make sense. I'm going to try to write a lot this week, I didn't get much done the past few weeks - I've had a lot of school work - but I will try. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy, and have a good week :)
Chapter Eleven
Formulating Plans
C.I.A. Winter resort
Montreal Quebec
December 31
2130 hours
Erica and I walked back to the chalet, and instead of going in the front door, we climbed up the back well and into Erica's room. It was much different than hers back at school. The walls were bare, just like they were when we came, her bed was made, and the floor was clear of clothes. No throw pillows were visible, but I assumed she had them somewhere. As for tea pots, there was one on her bedside table, along with two teacups. It somewhat bothered me how her personal personality was drastically different from her outside personality. We both went to the door that led to the hall, and listened for any signs of noise. I couldn't hear anything, but Erica could. She opened the door slowly, and then crept out into the hall. A few seconds later, her hand appeared through the crack between the door and the wall, ushering me out. I slipped out after her, and into the dark hallway. I could hear faint talking coming from one of the bedrooms, and music playing downstairs. Eric had disappeared from the hallway, but I saw her faintly stepping into my room. I followed suit. Once in my room, She closed the door and turned on the light.
"Get the blinds," she said, as she ran around doing stuff that Erica usually does.
I went to both of the windows and closed the blinds. I didn't see why it was necessary, but I did it either way. Erica pulled the chair out from my desk and sat down. I sat on my unmade bed. I hadn't seen the point in making beds since I was little. 8 at least. My room was surprisingly clean. I had taken the time last night to clean up my clothes - including washing them - and my paperwork was all shoved inside my desk and out of the way.
"You have a plan?" I asked her.
"I do. It still needs your touch, but so far I've formulated it pretty well," she replied.
"My touch?"
"Your ideas. Anyways, here's the plan.
"Tonight, at midnight, you and I meet at the place where the protest took place. From there, we make our way to the headquarters,"
I noticed she wasn't bothering to be discreet with her plans. But I also noticed she had slipped a piece of paper into my hand as she spoke.
"Now add in your touch. It can be anything," She continued.
"Um… We can tell everyone our plans," I replied. I had no idea what I was saying.
"And why? Then everyone would know what we were doing. That wouldn't be too helpful,"
"Then let me think for a bit,"
"Go ahead. Come tell me your plans before midnight,"
With that, she got up from the chair and left the room. I glanced at the clock hanging above the door, without really needing to, and found it was almost 9pm. I put the paper on my bed-side table, and then put on my pyjamas.
I turned off the over-head light, and then turned on my lamp. I got under the thick, read and black plaid blanket on my bed, and then unfolded the piece of paper. I recognised Erica's neat print, and her curt words. Then I started to read.
Nevermind the stuff I said out loud. If you had the brain power to figure out what I was doing, you would know that was just a red herring for anyone who might have been listening. Here's the actual plan:
At 2200 hours tonight, come to my room. I don't want you going to the destination alone. I can trust myself to fight off anyone who randomly attacks me, but you and I both know we can't exactly trust you to do that. Back to the point, from my room we will set out on the same path that we used to get here. (I'm going to get descriptive here, so if you let this paper fall into anyone's hands, I will kill you, or I won't even have to if the enemy knows where you are going to be.) I will bring two clothes and chloroform, and I will take out any guards I come by. I will infiltrate the building alone, and after 10 minutes I'll come back and get you. From there we go with the flow. Whatever comes at us, we will face. If you have any questions or suggestions, slip this paper - with your writing on the back - under my door, and I will reply.
I finished reading, and then got back out of bed to get a pen from my desk. I had a heaping amount of questions, but I had to limit it to the most important. I quickly scribbled them out, and I didn't care about the way my handwriting looked. She'd get the gist.
1. What will I do when we get to the destination?
2. What happens if someone attempts to kill me when you are gone?
3. I think you can add in something about what happens to the stuff we find inside.
I crept to my door, and then slipped out into the hallway. The music downstairs had been turned off, and I couldn't hear much noise in the house other than the vents and someone brushing their teeth with an electric toothbrush. Erica's room was across the hall and down two doors from mine. I stepped across the carpet, praying the floor beneath me didn't creak. I was just about at her door when the sound of the toothbrush stopped, and I knew someone was going to emerge from the bathroom any second. Without thinking, I quickly knocked on her door, and then whispered 'Erica!', and waited to see if she was going to come. But she didn't. The door at the end of the hall opened, and Sophia came out. In the dim light, I could tell she was crying. I pressed up against the wall as flat as I could. She sniffed, and then flicked off the light. She walked passed me, and I had to go even closer to the wall. I could smell her minty breath, which meant she was inches away from me. I held my breath, hoping she wouldn't hear me.
After several minutes of staying silent, I told myself the coast was clear. She had entered her bedroom, and I could hear her moving around. I knocked quickly on Erica's door again.
"For heaven's sake Ben, I said slip it under the door!" Came her exasperated voice from inside the room. Then she opened the door and stuck her hand out. I put the note between her fingers, and then she closed the door again. Suddenly, a thought struck me. It might not have been Erica in the room. Yes, it was her voice that had spoken, but it isn't too hard to get somebody's voice and use a voice changer. I didn't hesitate for fear of letting Erica down. I opened the door a crack, and peeked in. Erica was standing at the door glaring at me.
"It's me, now go away," she said sharply, and then closed the door. I groaned in spite of my own stupidity. Why would Erica have someone else in her room? And she definitely wouldn't have let anyone in without her consent.
I walked back to my room, and sat down at my desk. I turned on the computer stationed there, and looked up CROATION headquarters.
I don't know what I was expecting, because obviously there was nothing there. I heaved a sigh, and then decided I could do homework to pass the time. We didn't have much homework, but we did have wilderness activities, like identifying different poisonous plants. On the walk our cabin took, we noticed that most of the plants hibernate, and lose their leaves, and look like every other plant. I had been the one to find poison oak. Mom had made me do plant tracing while in Florida so we knew where we could walk or not. So, I started typing down characteristics about the plant. It wasn't long after that I saw something move out of my peripheral. Erica had slipped the paper back under my door. I scrambled up to get it, and then sat back down at my desk. With the shortest answers possible, she had replied at the end of my question.
1. What will I do when we get to the destination? Stand flat against the wall of the building.
2. What happens if someone attempts to kill me when you are gone? Fight them.
3. I think you can add in something about what happens to the stuff we find inside. No, I can't.
I wasn't going to be able to get through to her. So I let it pass. I just scribbled down one last thing.
So tonight at 2200 hours i will be in your room. Btw i will need refreshers in my utility belt I'm almost out of a few things. From there we will go down to the croatoan headquarters and while you get to investigate i have to stand still against a wall for 10 minutes. And then we get to infiltrate the building. Pls tell me i can do more than stand still the whole time.
I didn't pay attention to punctuation or proper spelling. I turned off all the lights in my room, and then went back into the hall. This time, I did exactly what Erica has asked me to do. I just slipped the note under her door. Then I walked away, and hoped I hadn't screwed up. Once back in my room, I took my phone out of my bag, and texted Zoe. I had nothing better to do with my time. When she didn't reply, I texted Mike. When Mike didn't answer, I retreated to the most boring thing I could do. Read a textbook.
I had never felt time drag so long. One second, I look up at the clock, and see that it is 9:10. I look up a bit later and it's 9:11. Erica had seemingly forgotten to give me back the note. I literally had nothing to do. I spent half an hour lying on my floor staring through the crack in between the floor and the door, hoping that I would see Erica. But no. There was no movement.
At 9:45, I put on my spy gear, consisting of tight black head to toe clothes and my utility belt. I hadn't replenished my belt in a few months.
At 5 minutes to 10, I left my room, scanning it completely to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything. Then, I headed to Erica's. Her door was propped open a bit, so slowly I opened it, and went in. Erica was crouched on the windowsill, and from the light of the moon I could only see her silhouette. C'était tellement sinistre. It was super creepy.
"Close the door," Erica whispered.
She stepped down from the window, and turned to face me. She looked half in her own world, but she worked her way back to the time she was actually in. Once I had the door closed, she handed me a small bag. The contents filled my utility belt, and so I was prepared. When the clock hit 10 pm exactly, Erica and I left. We grappled down the back wall, and then We made our way back through the town. It was eerily quiet with no one around, and our footsteps were echoing as we ran along the streets.
When we arrived at the park where the protest had taken place, I had second thoughts about coming. We were a good distance from our chalet, and we were right out in the open. Here, we could see the freeway clearly, and they could probably see us.
The last stranglers who had stayed around after the protest were climbing into their cars and driving away.
"Stay in the shadows. Make your way to the side of the building," Erica whispered under her breath to me.
We were crouched behind a bush, looking for a prime opportunity to advance.
"Why are you telling me this now?" I asked, looking over at her.
"In the case where either of us are attacked, at least one of us has to continue with the plan," And then she sprang. Before I knew what was happening, we were tearing across the field, running like our lives were at stake. And then suddenly, the building loomed in front of us.
"Good luck Ben," Erica said, taking my hand in hers and squeezing it.
? ゚メᆪ?
Erica and I looked just like the shadows of the building. Both in our sleek black spy outfits and utility belts loaded. We stayed pressed up against the wall until we heard the last of the viewers drive away. Erica slipped a chloroform cloth into my hand, and then she darted past me towards the entrance. I stuck to the plan. I stayed as still as possible, and held my breath as long as I could before letting it out and taking another breath. I kept my hand curled protectively around the cloth. Five minutes passed, and I knew Erica would be getting back any second. Ten minutes passed, and I started to worry. Erica wasn't back yet. Thirty minutes passed, and I had lost the feeling in my legs, and I was winded from not breathing properly. I knew I had to go find Erica. She should have been back by now.
I kept my gun in its pocket, not wanting to touch it. I had a profound hatred for guns, and I wouldn't use it unless absolutely necessary.
I couldn't see well in the dark, but I trusted that no one was around. I shuffled along the wall, until the corner was behind me. There were two lights hanging over the door, but not enough to illuminate everything around it. There was nothing there that surprised me, only a body of one of the guards lying on the ground. Erica must have chloroformed them. The door to the building was wide open, and beyond it was dark and sketchy, and I didn't feel like going in. But I knew I had to. I stepped over the body, and then into the building. I was a few steps into the hallway when I got the thought that I had missed something. I glanced back at the body on the ground. It gave me a weird feeling. I walk back to it. I knelt next to it, and then rolled it over onto its back.
The person had long, dark hair, although I couldn't tell the color in the lighting. She was small, and dressed all in black. Her face looked comfortable, but I knew she wasn't.
I gasped at who it was.
The girl on the ground was Erica Hale.
