Chapter 13: Gone Too Deep!
TWO DAYS LATER!
Detective Costar and Detective McCormick had just left the San Francisco International Airport and is now driving a rented car to their next location. Thanks to Simon Seville they received a surprise lead to a unique hideout that this society called the Illuminati use. During the past ten years from when they first started on this case they were able uncover leads to more clues about the existence of this secret club. Unfortunately, the clues were not enough to fully put a clamp on the society of what is now suppose to be, not only the richest, but also the most powerful people on earth.
The detective's latest investigation is about to take them to a most unlikely of all places. Costar parks the car at Pier 39. They both get out of the automobile and walk towards a small boat they rented. Costar and McCormick will use this boat to get to the famous Alcatraz Prison located in the San Francisco Bay. The clue that lead them here came from the video that Simon showed them. It caught some members of the secret society going through a hidden door located on the Island. This was enough to make the detectives curious as to what these people were really up too and why they choose Alcatraz for their meeting place.
The sun is starting to go down and the last tour boat is now leaving the Island. Soon all will be quiet on the once active prison, perfect for two investigating detectives to sneak in and check the place out. McCormick and Costar waited till it became really dark before jumping in their rented boat and started to head out in the Bay. They circled the Bay for a bit before docking the boat by the Island.
After the boat is fully secure on the dock Costar and McCormick then start to walk up the stairs up toward the lighthouse. From there the detectives retraced the footsteps of the one that took the video. This took them towards the old Warden's house. The building is now very much hollow, basically only the walls stood.barely. It is because of the age of the wood and the punishment it received caused by the salty air all the years it spent on this Island. McCormick and Costar wasted no time they started to check everywhere for anything that would possibly open a hidden door.
McCormick and Costar searched for fifteen minutes with little luck. "Sigh! Where is it?" Whined McCormick.
"I don't know, but I'm starting to feel that we might have been seeing things from that video." Costar said as he whipped a few beads of sweat from his forehead. He then shone the flashlight towards his partner to see where she was and how she was fairing up. That was when he noticed something behind her. "Wait! What's that behind you?"
"Huh?" McCormick quickly turned around to see what Costar was sounding so excited about. She shone her flashlight on the same spot her partner is and started seeing what he's seeing. "Oh. It's just an old light switch from the 40's looks like." She turns back to her partner and raises an eyebrow. "I doubt it works, this building doesn't look like it will stand much longer anyway."
"Maybe. But isn't that the rocky wall that was in that video?"
McCormick looked at the whole area more carefully and realized that Costar had a point. "You don't suppose that this light switch could be the 'key'?"
"It couldn't hurt." Costar shrugged.
"Guess not." She said when she walked up to an old light switch near the back door and slowly reached up to it to turned it 'on'. No lights came on, but part of the rocky wall of the Island beside them begins to move. Before them is now is a secret doorway.
Costar and McCormick stepped up to the entrance and shined their flashlights in the darkness. It didn't really help much. The light could only tell that it is a narrow corridor, and that it appeared to gradually spiral downward. Only one thing to do, Costar gave a wary smile and turned to his female chipmunk partner. "Ladies first!" He said.
McCormick made a grim face and glared up at her partner. "Oh, thank you. You're such a gentlemen." She says with such sarcasm.
Slowly they both made their way in the darkness, with McCormick taking up the lead. "Good thing neither of us are claustrophobic." McCormick points out the tight space between the walls.
"Uh, yeah." Costar said then gulped down a huge lump in his throat. "Good thing."
"I wonder how far this corridor goes?" The chipmunk detective asks.
"Don't know, but some more light would be nice." Costar states.
Just then a torch that hung on the wall just in front of them lights up. Both Costar and McCormick nearly jump out of their skin. They look at each other as if the other might know what is going on. "Ok." Costar says nervously.
"Defiantly, this case is getting mighty interesting." McCormick comments.
"Hmmm? Wish I had a dollar anytime you said that." Costar muttered.
"Hey, there are lit torches all the rest of the way down." McCormick says, missing Costar's comment entirely.
"Say, McCormick.are you getting one of your usual 'funny feelings' about all of this?"
"Yes, I am. But what choice do we have?"
"Home seems to be a good option."
McCormick stops and turns up to her partner and shines the flashlight in his face. "We have come way too far to back down now. Thanks to Simon's help we are now here, one of the best-kept secret meeting spots of the Illuminati. We are so close in exposing these 'monsters' for who they really are."
"I know, but."
"We will proceed with caution, like we always do in our investigations, Costar." With that said, McCormick turns back around and heads further down the corridor.
"I just wish I knew where this particular investigation is headed?" Costar mutters as he follows his partner.
Finally, the two detectives make it at the other end of the corridor and find themselves, now, in a hallway filled with many shadows that leads to a room at the end of it. Carefully they carried on down the hallway and entered the room. Inside was not what they expected. The room looked quite fancy with a long wooden table made with Red Oak in the middle. Around the table sat twenty chairs made with the same type of wood and red velvet seat covers that looked cushioned. There is a logo symbol that is in a circle shape. Inside the circle has a pyramid shape with an eye in the tip of it that appeared to be floating from the rest of the pyramid. On the top of the image it says "Annuit Coeptis" on the bottom it says "Novus Ordo Seclorum". On the bottom of the pyramid itself says "MDDCCLXXV". Each of these sayings basically means 'World Domination'. The landscape of the image appears to be some sort of field and hills in the background. It also has a few small clumps of grass in front of the pyramid. These symbols are seen on the large red sashes hanging from the wall. The sashes are evenly spaced with touches in the space between each pair of sashes. The same symbol that is shown on each sash is also seen on each backing of the chairs around the table. The scene looked like something right out of a palace of 'Old' England. Only this place is underneath a prison Island and not in a castle. There is barely any light except for the torches.
"Wow, no wonder this place was not included in the tour brochure!" Costar said.
"It defiantly looks like a meeting spot for some pretty high and important 'members'." McCormick adds.
"Very nice." Costar admits.
"I'll just take a few pictures then we will get out of here." McCormick explained as she took out her mini camera and started flashing some shots around the room. She especially took pictures at the Illuminati symbols on the sashes hanging on the walls.
"Good idea!" Her partner agreed as he started to do some snooping of his own for deeper clues on what exactly what kind of meetings go on in a place like this. He realizes that there are many secret caverns in the prison as well. "Hmmm, I wondered why there are many closed off areas from the tourist." He thought out loud. "Hey, McCormick, come take some pictures of these blueprints!"
McCormick comes by with her mini camera and starts flashing a few shots on the prints, as well as some documents left on the same table. When she was done she looked up at her partner and smiled approvingly.
After when they gathered enough evidence they start to head back out through the dark hallway. That is when they noticed a man standing at the entrance back up the narrow corridor.
"We are federal agents!" Costar cried out as he pulled up his gun and pointed it at man. McCormick started doing the same move. "Please raise your hands and step into the light.we are armed!" Costar demands.
To their surprise the man started laughing as he slowly raised his hands and began to step forward into the light so the detectives could see him more clearly. In the light the detectives could tell he was most likely very rich just by how he is dressed. The strange man wore a well-designed suit made with the highest quality materials. By his appearance he looked to be in his mid 50's to his late 60's and had a very evil and mistrusting look in his eyes. His hair had many silver streaks, but still maintained it's original black color around the back of it. "I'm afraid, detectives, your investigation has come to an end!" He announced calmly.
"You!" McCormick screeched. She instantly recognized the man and is shocked to see him alive. "You are on of those Founders from the Island, aren't you?"
"Indeed I am. In fact, I was in charge of that entire organization." The man then frowned and glared at the two detectives. "That is until you two stuck your noses where they didn't belong." He then slowly put down his hands and walked ever so uncomfortably closer to the two detectives.
"Hold it right there!" Costar yelled. "Don't come another step closer!" The man then stopped and looked down at the two detectives with an evil grin. "Get your hands back up to where we can see them!" Costar yells again.
"How is it that you are alive.you and the other children drank that poison! You're supposed to be dead!" McCormick could not believe that she is seeing him here. It's like she is seeing a ghost or something.
"Ah, but my 'kind' are not effected by that poison." The man bluntly answered.
"You're 'kind'?" Costar questioned.
"Oh, yes. We are quite the 'unique' type of individuals, indeed."
"What are you talking about? Who are you?" McCormick asked.
The man let out a chuckle before answering. "Well, you know me as Mr. Grafton. But the question you should be asking isn't 'who', but rather, 'what'."
"What?" Costar gave a confused look towards the man.
"Ah, you will find out real soon, my dear detectives." Grafton's grin became wider now. Before the detectives realized, men in strange burgundy- brown hooded cloaks had surround them. "I'm sorry this has to come to this.I was beginning to like you two!" Grafton cocks his head to one side and lets out a sigh. But then he smiles again as he realized his power of control over this situation.
What are you talking about?" McCormick asked with a nervous tone as she noticed that these other strangers seemed to just come right out of the shadows.
"You see, detectives, you have come all this way.for nothing!" Grafton shrugs.
"I beg to differ.I think we found some pretty hard evidence to link you to all the kidnappings and murders of all the innocent children that could put you and this little organization away for life!" Costar threatened not really taking account of who or what these people are capable of doing.
Again, the man starts to laugh in a villainous way. "I don't think you understand what you are up against here?"
"I have a pretty good idea.you're the Illuminati.right?" Costar snapped.
The man didn't say anything, but gave them an evil grin that gave the detectives shivers up along their spins. "This investigation.is over, dear detectives!"
Somehow the room became even smaller as the circle of mysterious men walked ever so slowly surrounding the two detectives in an even more uncomfortable position. They were not sure what was happening, but one thing was for sure, they did not like where this was headed.
***********
THE NEXT DAY, IN THE AFTERNOON! NATHAN'S AUTO SHOP!
Simon has decided to work for Nathan (Tom's Dad) again this summer. He just recently came back from his break. Now he is working on the inventory for the shop. Simon walked down the isles and jotted down what kind of auto parts that were still in stock and what needed to be ordered. As he was doing so, he was also listening to the radio. Usually he doesn't need music to help him focus, but it sure did help the time go by faster.
"That was 'Go all the Way' by the Raspberries." Came the D.J. as soon as the song was over. "This news just came in, and quite frankly I find this a bit disturbing. Two bodies were found in the river of the San Francisco Bay. One was a male human, and the other a female chipmunk. Both appeared to be in their mid-thirties. No names had been released at this time. Nor the information on how they died. Some reports, however, indicated that they had been attacked by some kind of large animal."
The news had Simon so shocked that he had dropped his pen. He knew right away who those two bodies were, and how they died. His stomach felt like a huge knot just formed. He could not focus on his job at hand anymore. 'How could I be so stupid?' Simon began to think to himself. "I led them into a trap." He whispered.
"You led whom into a trap?" Nathan asked as he walked up towards Simon.
"Huh?" Simon looked over to his boss with a pale look on his face.
"You're ok, son?" Nathan asked as he noticed the scared look in his young employee.
"Yea.yea, I-I'm ok!" Simon replied nervously as he slowly picked up his pen from the floor.
"Are you sure?"
"Ah, yea."
"Well, alright." Nathan said. He wasn't too sure if things would be ok with Simon just by look at him, but decided to shrug it off, anyway. 'If he wants to talk about he'll let me know.' Nathan thought. He then remembered the real reason why he wanted to see Simon in the first place. "By the way, Simon, this came for you while you were on your break!" He said as he handed Simon an envelope with his name on it.
"W-w-what's this?" Simon asked nervously as he accepted the envelope.
"Don't know, but the person that delivered it seemed a little much on the cold side if you ask me?"
Simon began to shake as Nathan left him alone with the envelope in his hand. For a moment Simon was not sure if he should read the note inside, he had a sinking feeling on who had sent him it in the first place.
Reluctantly, Simon finally opens it and reads the note:
'This is your first and final warning! End your plan to expose us, or you will join the two detectives!'
---------
Simon couldn't stop shaking. His intuition was right.the Illuminati had made their threat clear to him. Would it be too late to back down now? All of this was just too uncertain. Simon thought about his friends, and all the other innocent children victimized from that Island. It was then that Simon found his courage again. He decided not to back down from his promise to his friends and go ahead with the mission, regardless of what the outcome may be. Simon made a grim _expression as he crumpled up the paper in his hand and threw it hard to the ground. "Never again!" He growled.
TWO DAYS LATER!
Detective Costar and Detective McCormick had just left the San Francisco International Airport and is now driving a rented car to their next location. Thanks to Simon Seville they received a surprise lead to a unique hideout that this society called the Illuminati use. During the past ten years from when they first started on this case they were able uncover leads to more clues about the existence of this secret club. Unfortunately, the clues were not enough to fully put a clamp on the society of what is now suppose to be, not only the richest, but also the most powerful people on earth.
The detective's latest investigation is about to take them to a most unlikely of all places. Costar parks the car at Pier 39. They both get out of the automobile and walk towards a small boat they rented. Costar and McCormick will use this boat to get to the famous Alcatraz Prison located in the San Francisco Bay. The clue that lead them here came from the video that Simon showed them. It caught some members of the secret society going through a hidden door located on the Island. This was enough to make the detectives curious as to what these people were really up too and why they choose Alcatraz for their meeting place.
The sun is starting to go down and the last tour boat is now leaving the Island. Soon all will be quiet on the once active prison, perfect for two investigating detectives to sneak in and check the place out. McCormick and Costar waited till it became really dark before jumping in their rented boat and started to head out in the Bay. They circled the Bay for a bit before docking the boat by the Island.
After the boat is fully secure on the dock Costar and McCormick then start to walk up the stairs up toward the lighthouse. From there the detectives retraced the footsteps of the one that took the video. This took them towards the old Warden's house. The building is now very much hollow, basically only the walls stood.barely. It is because of the age of the wood and the punishment it received caused by the salty air all the years it spent on this Island. McCormick and Costar wasted no time they started to check everywhere for anything that would possibly open a hidden door.
McCormick and Costar searched for fifteen minutes with little luck. "Sigh! Where is it?" Whined McCormick.
"I don't know, but I'm starting to feel that we might have been seeing things from that video." Costar said as he whipped a few beads of sweat from his forehead. He then shone the flashlight towards his partner to see where she was and how she was fairing up. That was when he noticed something behind her. "Wait! What's that behind you?"
"Huh?" McCormick quickly turned around to see what Costar was sounding so excited about. She shone her flashlight on the same spot her partner is and started seeing what he's seeing. "Oh. It's just an old light switch from the 40's looks like." She turns back to her partner and raises an eyebrow. "I doubt it works, this building doesn't look like it will stand much longer anyway."
"Maybe. But isn't that the rocky wall that was in that video?"
McCormick looked at the whole area more carefully and realized that Costar had a point. "You don't suppose that this light switch could be the 'key'?"
"It couldn't hurt." Costar shrugged.
"Guess not." She said when she walked up to an old light switch near the back door and slowly reached up to it to turned it 'on'. No lights came on, but part of the rocky wall of the Island beside them begins to move. Before them is now is a secret doorway.
Costar and McCormick stepped up to the entrance and shined their flashlights in the darkness. It didn't really help much. The light could only tell that it is a narrow corridor, and that it appeared to gradually spiral downward. Only one thing to do, Costar gave a wary smile and turned to his female chipmunk partner. "Ladies first!" He said.
McCormick made a grim face and glared up at her partner. "Oh, thank you. You're such a gentlemen." She says with such sarcasm.
Slowly they both made their way in the darkness, with McCormick taking up the lead. "Good thing neither of us are claustrophobic." McCormick points out the tight space between the walls.
"Uh, yeah." Costar said then gulped down a huge lump in his throat. "Good thing."
"I wonder how far this corridor goes?" The chipmunk detective asks.
"Don't know, but some more light would be nice." Costar states.
Just then a torch that hung on the wall just in front of them lights up. Both Costar and McCormick nearly jump out of their skin. They look at each other as if the other might know what is going on. "Ok." Costar says nervously.
"Defiantly, this case is getting mighty interesting." McCormick comments.
"Hmmm? Wish I had a dollar anytime you said that." Costar muttered.
"Hey, there are lit torches all the rest of the way down." McCormick says, missing Costar's comment entirely.
"Say, McCormick.are you getting one of your usual 'funny feelings' about all of this?"
"Yes, I am. But what choice do we have?"
"Home seems to be a good option."
McCormick stops and turns up to her partner and shines the flashlight in his face. "We have come way too far to back down now. Thanks to Simon's help we are now here, one of the best-kept secret meeting spots of the Illuminati. We are so close in exposing these 'monsters' for who they really are."
"I know, but."
"We will proceed with caution, like we always do in our investigations, Costar." With that said, McCormick turns back around and heads further down the corridor.
"I just wish I knew where this particular investigation is headed?" Costar mutters as he follows his partner.
Finally, the two detectives make it at the other end of the corridor and find themselves, now, in a hallway filled with many shadows that leads to a room at the end of it. Carefully they carried on down the hallway and entered the room. Inside was not what they expected. The room looked quite fancy with a long wooden table made with Red Oak in the middle. Around the table sat twenty chairs made with the same type of wood and red velvet seat covers that looked cushioned. There is a logo symbol that is in a circle shape. Inside the circle has a pyramid shape with an eye in the tip of it that appeared to be floating from the rest of the pyramid. On the top of the image it says "Annuit Coeptis" on the bottom it says "Novus Ordo Seclorum". On the bottom of the pyramid itself says "MDDCCLXXV". Each of these sayings basically means 'World Domination'. The landscape of the image appears to be some sort of field and hills in the background. It also has a few small clumps of grass in front of the pyramid. These symbols are seen on the large red sashes hanging from the wall. The sashes are evenly spaced with touches in the space between each pair of sashes. The same symbol that is shown on each sash is also seen on each backing of the chairs around the table. The scene looked like something right out of a palace of 'Old' England. Only this place is underneath a prison Island and not in a castle. There is barely any light except for the torches.
"Wow, no wonder this place was not included in the tour brochure!" Costar said.
"It defiantly looks like a meeting spot for some pretty high and important 'members'." McCormick adds.
"Very nice." Costar admits.
"I'll just take a few pictures then we will get out of here." McCormick explained as she took out her mini camera and started flashing some shots around the room. She especially took pictures at the Illuminati symbols on the sashes hanging on the walls.
"Good idea!" Her partner agreed as he started to do some snooping of his own for deeper clues on what exactly what kind of meetings go on in a place like this. He realizes that there are many secret caverns in the prison as well. "Hmmm, I wondered why there are many closed off areas from the tourist." He thought out loud. "Hey, McCormick, come take some pictures of these blueprints!"
McCormick comes by with her mini camera and starts flashing a few shots on the prints, as well as some documents left on the same table. When she was done she looked up at her partner and smiled approvingly.
After when they gathered enough evidence they start to head back out through the dark hallway. That is when they noticed a man standing at the entrance back up the narrow corridor.
"We are federal agents!" Costar cried out as he pulled up his gun and pointed it at man. McCormick started doing the same move. "Please raise your hands and step into the light.we are armed!" Costar demands.
To their surprise the man started laughing as he slowly raised his hands and began to step forward into the light so the detectives could see him more clearly. In the light the detectives could tell he was most likely very rich just by how he is dressed. The strange man wore a well-designed suit made with the highest quality materials. By his appearance he looked to be in his mid 50's to his late 60's and had a very evil and mistrusting look in his eyes. His hair had many silver streaks, but still maintained it's original black color around the back of it. "I'm afraid, detectives, your investigation has come to an end!" He announced calmly.
"You!" McCormick screeched. She instantly recognized the man and is shocked to see him alive. "You are on of those Founders from the Island, aren't you?"
"Indeed I am. In fact, I was in charge of that entire organization." The man then frowned and glared at the two detectives. "That is until you two stuck your noses where they didn't belong." He then slowly put down his hands and walked ever so uncomfortably closer to the two detectives.
"Hold it right there!" Costar yelled. "Don't come another step closer!" The man then stopped and looked down at the two detectives with an evil grin. "Get your hands back up to where we can see them!" Costar yells again.
"How is it that you are alive.you and the other children drank that poison! You're supposed to be dead!" McCormick could not believe that she is seeing him here. It's like she is seeing a ghost or something.
"Ah, but my 'kind' are not effected by that poison." The man bluntly answered.
"You're 'kind'?" Costar questioned.
"Oh, yes. We are quite the 'unique' type of individuals, indeed."
"What are you talking about? Who are you?" McCormick asked.
The man let out a chuckle before answering. "Well, you know me as Mr. Grafton. But the question you should be asking isn't 'who', but rather, 'what'."
"What?" Costar gave a confused look towards the man.
"Ah, you will find out real soon, my dear detectives." Grafton's grin became wider now. Before the detectives realized, men in strange burgundy- brown hooded cloaks had surround them. "I'm sorry this has to come to this.I was beginning to like you two!" Grafton cocks his head to one side and lets out a sigh. But then he smiles again as he realized his power of control over this situation.
What are you talking about?" McCormick asked with a nervous tone as she noticed that these other strangers seemed to just come right out of the shadows.
"You see, detectives, you have come all this way.for nothing!" Grafton shrugs.
"I beg to differ.I think we found some pretty hard evidence to link you to all the kidnappings and murders of all the innocent children that could put you and this little organization away for life!" Costar threatened not really taking account of who or what these people are capable of doing.
Again, the man starts to laugh in a villainous way. "I don't think you understand what you are up against here?"
"I have a pretty good idea.you're the Illuminati.right?" Costar snapped.
The man didn't say anything, but gave them an evil grin that gave the detectives shivers up along their spins. "This investigation.is over, dear detectives!"
Somehow the room became even smaller as the circle of mysterious men walked ever so slowly surrounding the two detectives in an even more uncomfortable position. They were not sure what was happening, but one thing was for sure, they did not like where this was headed.
***********
THE NEXT DAY, IN THE AFTERNOON! NATHAN'S AUTO SHOP!
Simon has decided to work for Nathan (Tom's Dad) again this summer. He just recently came back from his break. Now he is working on the inventory for the shop. Simon walked down the isles and jotted down what kind of auto parts that were still in stock and what needed to be ordered. As he was doing so, he was also listening to the radio. Usually he doesn't need music to help him focus, but it sure did help the time go by faster.
"That was 'Go all the Way' by the Raspberries." Came the D.J. as soon as the song was over. "This news just came in, and quite frankly I find this a bit disturbing. Two bodies were found in the river of the San Francisco Bay. One was a male human, and the other a female chipmunk. Both appeared to be in their mid-thirties. No names had been released at this time. Nor the information on how they died. Some reports, however, indicated that they had been attacked by some kind of large animal."
The news had Simon so shocked that he had dropped his pen. He knew right away who those two bodies were, and how they died. His stomach felt like a huge knot just formed. He could not focus on his job at hand anymore. 'How could I be so stupid?' Simon began to think to himself. "I led them into a trap." He whispered.
"You led whom into a trap?" Nathan asked as he walked up towards Simon.
"Huh?" Simon looked over to his boss with a pale look on his face.
"You're ok, son?" Nathan asked as he noticed the scared look in his young employee.
"Yea.yea, I-I'm ok!" Simon replied nervously as he slowly picked up his pen from the floor.
"Are you sure?"
"Ah, yea."
"Well, alright." Nathan said. He wasn't too sure if things would be ok with Simon just by look at him, but decided to shrug it off, anyway. 'If he wants to talk about he'll let me know.' Nathan thought. He then remembered the real reason why he wanted to see Simon in the first place. "By the way, Simon, this came for you while you were on your break!" He said as he handed Simon an envelope with his name on it.
"W-w-what's this?" Simon asked nervously as he accepted the envelope.
"Don't know, but the person that delivered it seemed a little much on the cold side if you ask me?"
Simon began to shake as Nathan left him alone with the envelope in his hand. For a moment Simon was not sure if he should read the note inside, he had a sinking feeling on who had sent him it in the first place.
Reluctantly, Simon finally opens it and reads the note:
'This is your first and final warning! End your plan to expose us, or you will join the two detectives!'
---------
Simon couldn't stop shaking. His intuition was right.the Illuminati had made their threat clear to him. Would it be too late to back down now? All of this was just too uncertain. Simon thought about his friends, and all the other innocent children victimized from that Island. It was then that Simon found his courage again. He decided not to back down from his promise to his friends and go ahead with the mission, regardless of what the outcome may be. Simon made a grim _expression as he crumpled up the paper in his hand and threw it hard to the ground. "Never again!" He growled.