I won't be updating until this story gets atleast 10 reviews, but I'll keep writing it.
Later on, you may notice something about the five characters who are chosen to leave the Abbey. Of course, they don't stay away from Biovolt, and this isn't good at all.
Vocabulary: BIOVOLT: Beybladers Intent On Victory Over Lawless Tyranny.
------
"Oliver was very far ahead of us," Queen explained to the others, sitting rather close to Zeo.
"So he must have got Cerberus and escaped, if he's not here," Zeo commented, hoping so. Luckily, he hadn't been seriously injured and he was fine now. He didn't seem to be paying much attention to Queen, leaning against him.
"Unless he's dead," King commented.
"Don't be a pessimist!" Mariam shouted.
"The hell, I will! We're in Biovolt's dungeon. Am I supposed to be happy?" King shouted back.
"Guys!" Enrique said, trying to quiet them.
Mariam started to say something, but stopped at the heavy clang of metal, which signified the door opening.
Ian strolled casually down the dungeons, hands in pockets. He stopped and stared at each person in turn, as they became more agitated by the second at his silence.
"What do you want, ass?" Mariam asked, rudely.
"Oh. I'm sorry to invade your privacy," Ian said sarcastically, motioning at the bars that allowed anyone to look into their cells. "But five of you will be allowed to go back to your happy lives tomorrow," he explained, still casually. No, they wouldn't get their freedom, but he wouldn't tell them that.
"What's the catch? You wouldn't just let us go," King said from his corner.
They all agreed.
"Of course not!" Ian said, acting shocked. "Biovolt agreed on an exchange with Za.Leon. Five of your lives, for Black Dranzer and Cerberus. Now choose which of you want to leave." Ian said, impatiently. Maybe this would break their close bonds. It would be entertaining to watch. At first, silence greeted him. Then they each said their opinions at once. Their voices echoed on the cold stone walls of the dungeon-prison.
"Quiet!" Zeo shouted, much like Dr. Zagart had done earlier in the Za.Leon headquarters, just with a little less demand. Just like it had for his father, it worked.
"King and Queen should go. They will be able to get back in and help us," Mariam stated, eyeing Ian.
Everyone agreed on that, though some with less enthusiasm.
"What about Salima? And Zeo," Gordo offered. Zeo may have been injured, was not supposed to be there, and Gordo had a nagging feeling that Zeo needed to stay away from Biovolt. The same feeling lingered when he thought of Salima.
Ian was disappointed that they didn't argue much throughout their entire conversation, but it was amusing that they actually believed they would be freed. Eventually, after a long, boring wait for him, they came to a decision.
It was somehow decided that Enrique and Mariam would stay behind, much to Mariam's dismay. She wasn't too keen on being alone with the Majestic, nor being in the Abbey, but she had made that choice. She wouldn't back down now.
Enrique wasn't too keen either, because Mariam had slapped him once, and it had hurt. But that shouldn't matter, because Mariam should be able to resist herself while in the Abbey. He almost smiled at how hot girls thought he was. Ian glaring at him was enough to make his spirits fall again.
They informed Ian and he left, to finish his next job: escape-proofing the vents.
Salima and Queen went to Mariam's side, to try to comfort her, even though she didn't look like she needed comforting.
"Don't worry, I'll find you and help you escape. I swear, I will. And King will help, too," Queen stated, speaking to Mariam, and Enrique, she supposed.
King didn't look like he agreed, but he kept silent.
"I'm sorry, Enrique," Zeo muttered. He felt horrible that he was not one of the people staying. But they had out ruled him and given him plenty of reasons to leave, all of which were true.
Enrique looked at him from the other cell. "Forget it," he said, rolling his eyes. No one tried to comfort him. Instead, he felt like he was comforting Zeo!
"Don't feel sorry for him, Zeo," Gordo said from Enrique's cell. "Yeah, sorry I'm not staying here instead of you," he said with little sympathy.
"Stop it," King said. "Get some sleep, instead of arguing." King believed that there was a reason the five needed to leave the Abbey. But he didn't know what. He needed to think it over, and that required silence. He lay down on the floor, back against the wall and closed his eyes, but did not fall asleep, instead trying to figure out their similarities.
They took King's advice, and drifted into their own thoughts, while at the same time attempting to fall asleep.
Enrique hoped they would be fed the next day. Death by starvation did not seem pleasant.
------
They all awoke the next morning with sore backs from sleeping on the hard, cold floor. Enrique would have complained, but he expected to be sleeping like this every night, for a while.
Later on, they were brought some food: some kind of stew. It might have been soup, at one point. It didn't taste that great, but it was edible and Enrique ate it anyways. Again, he would be eating this for a while.
Soon after 'lunch', Ian returned with a few Biovolt guards. Five of them were handcuffed and led out of the cells, back to the same room that Tala had met them in.
Zeo noted that the main hall had been cleaned up since the explosion of the day before.
For half an hour, they sat around, without speaking much. Tala felt that the girl named Salima was especially giving him the silent treatment. The black haired girl, Queen was also giving him angry glares. He didn't blame them. Rolling back his sleeve, he checked his watch. They would be fashionably late, he supposed, and stood up.
"You all come with me. Bryan will make sure you don't do anything stupid. Ian, it's time to check the vents for our other visitors," Tala said. He clapped his hands to encourage them to quicken their pace. It didn't seem to work.
Salima narrowed her eyes, at the sentence spoken to Ian, though she kept to her silent protesting.
"Yes, someone may be joining you," Tala replied, patting her cheek once before turning and walking away.
------
Tala stopped the hostages at the Abbey doors, and left them with the guards to watch from the window. He walked into the frigid outdoors, ignoring the icy breeze that greeted him.
Two bundled up boys, who must have been around his age, waited at the Abbey gates. He headed towards them.
------
"Judy? He's coming," Tyson muttered into the tiny microphone hidden in his coat.
"Okay. I'll be able to hear everything. I hope Mariah can find those other two," Judy's voice said into his ear.
"Something isn't right. Where are the Za.Leon representatives?" Rei asked.
"Inside? We have to talk to Tala first," Tyson replied, just as Tala reached them.
"Do you have Biovolt's bitbeasts? Hand them over," Tala said, sneering.
"Not so fast. Biovolt promised the release of five Za.Leon captives," Rei reminded him, taking two blades out of his pocket. Rei doubted Tala had forgotten.
"Right," he drawled. "They're inside, waiting for the blades," Tala answered persistently.
Judy's voice came to Tyson's ear alone. "Give him the blades, now. I don't think they're coming out until he has them."
"Rei," Tyson said, though glaring at Tala.
Rei hesitated, before holding them out to Tala who quickly took Cerberus and Dranzer. With the few seconds he saw the blades, he knew they weren't the real Black Dranzer and Cerberus. He pocketed them, smirking. He flipped around and started to walk back to the Abbey.
"Hey! What about the agreement?" Tyson shouted, taking a step forward, holding his fist out threateningly.
Tala made a big show of looking at his watch and finally shrugged. "Why, they're already dead. I guess you were too late."
"You lie!" Rei yelled. The White Tiger stepped forwards and grabbed the neck of Tala's shirt. "Not even Biovolt could sink so low as killing innocent people!"
Tala looked neither amused nor worried. "I'm so sorry about your friends, but I was out here talking to you, and they were in there. There was nothing I could do," Tala replied, sighing.
Rei dropped his grip. With his other hand, he swung a fist at Tala's face, sending him stumbling back. He could tell by the surprised expression Tala wore, that he had not expected Rei to go so far. Rei was surprised himself. But then again, some of the hostages Tala was saying were dead had worked for both the BBA and Za.Leon, so he had known a few. Amongst those was Salima.
Tala quickly masked the slight pain and surprise with a smug smirk.
"Anyways, two of them are still alive. We'll keep them as long as you have the real Black Dranzer and Cerberus," he explained. "Tell whoever is listening I said hello," he said, speaking to Tyson. "But I guess I just did myself."
He was about to continue on his path when he was interrupted by a booming gun shot. Tala turned his gaze in that direction. A pink haired girl was stumbling around the corner of the building. She dropped onto the snow-covered ground.
"Mariah!" Rei gasped and started to run to her.
Ian turned the corner, holding the offending rifle on his shoulder. He lowered it at the sight of Rei.
"That's the thing that tried to get in the vents?" Tala asked.
"Tyson, get out of there. Now," said Judy's demanding voice, emphasizing each word. They had not thought this could happen. If Mariah was indeed dead, there was nothing they could do without risking the lives of Tyson and Rei.
Tyson broke out of a daze he had entered, upon seeing Mariah's body. "Come on, Rei," he said urgently.
Rei stumbled back, hesitating, before turning and going into an all out run after Tyson, down the streets and into a side alley where a car waited for them. They knew there was nothing that could be done, without them joining their dead friends.
Tala pulled the tranquilizer dart out of the girl's shoulder and heaved her limp body over his shoulder. "That went rather well. Didn't even have to show them the hostages. Or kill any of them. Speaking of those five get them back to their cells." He told Ian and pushed open the doors. His face was stinging from the punch, but it was nothing he couldn't deal with.
A red haired girl, hands still cuffed, ran through one of the doors, with an outraged look on her face. She threw herself at him, at what might have been an attempt to body check Tala, but he stepped away, only unbalanced by her feeble attempt. She too caught her balance and began to kick him.
"You killed Mariah!" she screamed, swinging her leg as hard as she could at Tala.
Tala rolled his eyes. She was blocking his way because she thought 'Mariah' was dead. With his free hand he slapped her across the face. "Shut up and take a deep freakin breath. She's just sleeping, so relax before you kill yourself, or someone else does it for you," he said, in what was not exactly a soothing tone. It wasn't even him who had shot her. Did he look like he did? He could have left her outside to freeze, or told Ian to use real bullets earlier in the day.
Upon hearing her friend's condition, and taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, Salima saw that Mariah was also breathing, though steadily. She ceased her violent actions.
Tala waved away the guards that were trying to take Salima to the cells and went on his way, carrying the pink headed girl. Salima followed him, or rather, her friend, eagerly.
After walking through the maze of hallways that was the Abbey, he punched in the security code and entered his own private room. It wasn't much, but it sure beat sharing a room with other, low-leveled bladers. He tossed Mariah down on the bed.
"She'll be awake in a couple of hours. You're not going anywhere," he smirked, programming the door to lock from the outside. Salima and Mariah would be trapped inside.
------
Playing with the same knife Tala had earlier driven into the table, Bryan sat in the meeting room, with a cold glare on his face.
Tala sat at the other side of the table, in deep thought. He was staring at the ceiling like he wanted to tear it down.
There was almost an aura of hatred around them.
Ian noticed this, as he entered the room. Also present was the eerie and deadly silence. You might have thought someone had died, if the aura wasn't surrounding the two men who cared little for anyone who wasn't living and in the room. He sat down somewhere in the middle of the table, waiting for Tala to tell him what the hell had happened, like he normally would, no matter how bad the situation. The knife in Bryan's hand glinted, reflecting a ray of light onto the table, close to Ian's hands. Ian let his hands drop to the arms of his chair.
Tala remained silent. His eyes flicked to the video screen, that was usually hidden in the wall.
Jagged lines broke off in the glass, at the top-center, where someone's forehead would have gone, if they had been in a close-up picture. The hilt of a Za.Leon knife stuck out of it. Ian glanced at the wall, where a tiny hole was, caused by the knife Tala had earlier thrown. The knife seemed to now be in the video screen... Well, that told him a lot. Tala, and maybe Bryan, had spoken to Boris, or perhaps Voltaire. Both Tala and Bryan were pissed at their leaders. Ian corrected himself: Tala and Bryan were more pissed at their leaders than they usually were. After a few more moments, he couldn't bear the deadly silence any longer.
"What the hell happened?" he asked Tala, the one he was most likely to get an answer from.
"Pack your bags," Bryan muttered, now scratching deep jagged lines onto the tabletop.
"We've had a chat with Boris, Voltaire, and Spencer," said Tala, breaking out of his daze. He raised his eyebrows before continuing. "We will escort the hostages to that old Biovolt shack in the desert." Tala seemed like he just couldn't continue the paragraph. It was very unlike the snappy captain.
"So? We can work on our tans for a few hours," Ian said, still not getting it. Not that Tala had helped much.
"Tans, indeed. We'll burn to a crisp, while we wait as simple guards for the BBA and Za.Leon to fork over Cerberus and Black Dranzer."
Tala's indirect comment was enough to tell Ian what was going on. He, too, entered a state of deadly silence.
As each of them thought of the shame and dread that was sure to follow, Ian broke away from the daze.
"What did Spencer say?" he asked. So, Tala had talked to Boris, and complained to Voltaire. What did Spencer have anything to do with it? Spencer was in America, finding new recruits for Biovolt. They had not heard anything from him for the past month.
"Spencer found new recruits, all right. Boris is training them to replace the Demolition Boys and team BEGA. Apparently, Voltaire wants us out of the way for a few months so they can come to the Abbey and train 'in peace' without our 'influence'," Tala explained angrily.
All three snickered. Them being replaced was rather hilarious, not to mention the rival team. The way Tala said it made them think they'd be on some dry beach, soaking up the sun. That this was vacation they were being offered. No team could replace them, the perfect soldiers. BEGA had tried, and failed, along with countless other teams. They'd actually scared a few off; scared them into losing and going to the ultimate shame and despair, or what students in the Abbey believed it was. Bryan supposed that was what their 'influence' was.
Bryan stood up and left the room, leaving the knife sticking out of the table.
Smirking, both Ian and Tala stood up and followed suit.
------
Mariah sighed. She had been asked to bust in to the Abbey by Judy Mizuhara, so that she could find and rescue King and Queen, or any other Za.Leon captives. Obviously, she had failed. She was no master, like Queen, and that was her current dilemma. She couldn't unlock the room's door. After she'd woken up, Salima told her what happened and in turn had fallen asleep on the bed, handcuffs and all.
Considering whose bed it was, Mariah was rather hesitant to sleep on it. That person could return at any moment.
Suddenly, the handle twisted and the door opened. Tala shoved her away from the doorway and shut the door behind him. He seemed in a good mood, much to her dismay.
"I see that you're awake," he commented, throwing his coat on the floor, like he usually would if no one was there.
"Good observation," she snapped, in annoyance.
Brushing past Mariah, Tala strode over to the large armoire and opened one of the drawers. He glanced over the clothes. It didn't look like he had anything fit for a hot desert... The desert and Russia did not have a similar climate. Clothes were said to be provided, anyways.
Leaving the drawer wide open, he turned around, noting the sleeping girl on his bed. For the moment, he ignored her and noted that neither of the girls' clothing would be very good for where they were going.
"What are you wearing?" he demanded.
"What?" Mariah asked, surprised. She looked down at her clothes: A heavy pink sweater and water-proof pants, with heavy snow-boots. She had taken off her coat outside, before entering the warm vents. Was he trying to...?
"I'm not a stripper! Go find some Biovolt girl!" she shouted, turning and trying to force the door open. Unable to, she returned to her original position, facing Tala who stood a good few meters away.
He was staring at her blankly. Was Tala... checking her out?! That thought seemed improbable, but not impossible.
Quite the opposite, in fact. Tala was startled by her reaction. Talk about arrogance and jumping to conclusions! He let out a faint 'purr' to taunt her, and walked away, busying himself with his laptop computer at the desk.
Mariah sat down on an empty chair, near Salima on the bed, but far from Tala. "You stay away from me and Salima!" she shouted, and started to say something else before she was cut off.
"Shut-up, you'll wake her," he said quietly. The girl was hilarious. It almost made him want to laugh, but years of training in Biovolt concealed it. As if he'd be interested in a pink-haired bitch like her, of all people.
Eventually, Mariah fell asleep in a rather uncomfortable looking position on the chair. Tala enjoyed an all-nighter, typing up a long delayed report.
Thinking ahead, he retrieved a pair of handcuffs and locked them on Mariah's wrists, just as she was waking up.
"You asshole!" she shrieked, and added another long line of curses.
At the sound of Mariah's raised voice, Salima grumbled and opened her eyes, blinking several times to clear her vision. Her shoulders were killing her, after sleeping with them tied behind her back. Without the liberty of using her arms correctly, she struggled to sit up.
Forgetting Mariah, Tala was immediately at her side, taking her arm like a gentleman and helping her into a sitting position.
Mixed emotions crowded her face, first confusion, than anger, and than she was strangely calm again.
"What happened to Rei?" she asked quietly.
He glanced at Mariah
"Rei Kon? One of the BBA Bladebreakers who I met yesterday? I'll kill that bastard one day." Tala replied, completely serious. He was still pissed at Rei, whose name he had discovered by hacking into the BBA headquarters, for hitting him, even if the pain had long ago ended.
"Rei could kick your fat ass any day!" Mariah shouted. Up until then, she had been waiting quietly, making sure that Tala didn't start to hit on her friend. "Salima!" Mariah cried, just after a loud 'thump' sounded from behind Tala.
When Tala's comment hit Salima, she was attempting to stand up. Shocked, she had fallen over the bed and now lay in a bundle on the cold floor. Not so gently, Tala wrapped a hand around her arm and lifted her into a standing position. Salima yanked her arm away, giving him dark glares.
Eventually, Tala decided that there had been enough chit-chat and proceeded to drag both females through the Abbey halls and to the prison, to successfully lock them in.
The other hostages, shocked awake, annoyed him to no extent.
"Mariah! You're alive! But we saw you..." Queen said. She had obviously seen Mariah 'die' from the window and Tala carrying her away.
"And Salima! Did they hurt you?" asked the blonde, known as Enrique, ignoring Tala's presence.
"Oh, please. I'm standing right in front of you," Tala commented.
Each of them shot him hateful looks. He had a feeling he might be getting several more of those, not that it mattered to him. Before any of them could answer, the door clanged open and shut again, after Ian, Bryan, Dr Kaiye, and several Biovolt guards walked through it.
There were so many locks in Biovolt. He'd be glad to be in that shack, where leaving for long meant you'd die. Escape meant dieing a slow and painful death. No locks were required.
"I will speak to you about the new location shortly, Captain Tala," Dr Kaiye, promised.
Tala shrugged, indifferently. He already knew the place they were going.
The cells were opened, and the prisoners again hand cuffed. He could say good-bye to those things, too. They were a hassle to put on struggling people, lazy as he was. They were hustled outside and to the back of one of Biovolt's small private jets.
------
As he boarded the plane, he could hear the blonde, Enrique, bickering in the back with Mariah. Something about sitting at the window seat.
Dr Kaiye took the last seat, and buckled her belt, just as the plane lifted off the ground, starting a slow ascent into the sky.
She pulled out the business class table and opened her lap top. "You have the choice of the three remaining rooms," she offered, opening documents that had what looked like floor plans.
They were asked to pick a number. It was an odd, but simple request so they did so. They were shown the layout for the building, although anyone who had trained in Biovolt had been 'allowed' to spend a week there, as a summer camp from hell. Tala was notified of a secret locked room, that contained access to communication devices, the only ones available in the barracks. The place had long been abandoned, because of its limited space and technology. They were told it had been renovated, but it still sounded a lot like the hell hole they had seen before.
"Although I hope I do not need to remind you that Tala is the leader of this operation and team captain of the Demolition Boys, I will say that he should and will be respected," Dr Kaiye said, with her snarky voice, upon coming to a complete stop on the ground.
Tala resisted the urge to roll his eyes, intending to make sure that the rule applied to Dr Kaiye as well.
"Bryan, get the prisoners out. Take their hand cuffs off," Tala ordered, sneering at Dr Kaiye.
Tala leading, they filed out of the plane. The sudden change of light intensity caused him to squint and black dots to crowd his vision. The flat field of sand seemed to reflect the blazing heat and light of the sun. He turned towards the barracks, which really was a shack, so the others would have to squint. The familiar smirk titled the corner of his mouth.
"This building is a former Biovolt barracks," he began, speaking to the neat line of people, blinking back the sun. "To the east, there is a gaping cliff, so deep that it will surely bring death since there is no bridge and you can not possibly find enough rope to lower yourself to the bottom. To the north, south, and west, is an endless expanse of desert, leading to sure death, either caused by the heat and dehydration, a sandstorm, or a bite from one of the many poisonous snakes. Biovolt has taken satellite images of the area, so do not hope to find an oasis or any other such thing. If you attempt to escape, no one will be able to help you," He believed that it was good to start out with the 'no hope for escape' lecture. "Moving on, inside the building, there is access to water and a greenhouse for food, along with other luxuries. Each of you will be expected to earn your keep during your stay here, by working to provide your own food and water, and probably by keeping on your hosts' good sides," he said, referring to himself and his team mates. "Dr. Kaiye, would you care to give us a tour?"
Dr. Kaiye stepped forwards. "I need all of you to choose a number between one and twelve," she said instantly.
Tala sighed. Not that lame number nonsense again. He didn't interrupt her, because it must have been important somehow. Dr Kaiye worked for Biovolt, but she was one of the rare few who hadn't been raised and trained there. Tala found her increasingly annoying. She rivaled Brooklyn, one of the Team BEGA members, and he was someone who had been trained better than others, a feat she must have been proud of.
After waiting patiently for their numbers, Dr Kaiye led them into the newly renovated desert barracks. She showed them the main room, the 'kitchen', the water pump, their supply of purified water from an underground river, the single lavatory which had no running water, and the greenhouse, their main supply of food. The dry desert couldn't support the wide variety the greenhouse already offered. She also insisted on showing them the large cedar deck built over the cliff, showing off just how high it was.
"As you will find, the newly renovated barracks contains three rooms, that will hold six people each," Dr Kaiye explained. "The rooms are accessible from the main room, and—"
"Wait," Ian cut her short. "The barracks have the capacity of one hundred people, and more, if required. What about those?" he demanded.
Tala wanted the answer to that question.
They stepped away from the former Za.Leon representatives, talking in low voices.
"As I said, the barracks were renovated, after half of it was burned down by mutinous members, who were in turn killed. Boris didn't spend the time or money to repair the building, as another one was planned to be built. I renovated this building myself. Boris gave me the liberty." Dr Kaiye said, proudly. She had made the building with the intention of making it as home-y as possible, since it would not be used by Biovolt. She would have used it as her own summer home, but she had decided against it, after most of the furnishings and items she had ordered had been moved into the building. She had not bothered to retrieve them, rich as she was. "That leaves us with the numbers you chose!" she said, raising her voice. She started to direct members to their rooms and personal space, acting quite cheerful to be bossing them around.
Tala was not pleased with the method.
"Excuse me, Dr Kaiye, but I must remind you that I am quite capable of sorting the rooms myself," he said in a dangerous tone. "We will take it from here. Now that you have told us everything required, kindly hand over all password settings that you possess and leave."
"I—"She started to say, but was cut off again.
"Good-bye, Dr," Bryan said coldly, crossing his arms.
Without another word, she handed Tala a sheet of paper and stormed away. They heard the door slam behind her.
Tala peered into one of the rooms. It contained three bunk beds, placed in the corners of the room. The fourth corner had shelves and a table.
"Bryan, Ian, choose your own rooms and bunk," he ordered.
Bryan and Ian immediately walked away, sliding open the doors and disappearing from sight.
The Za.Leon members had advanced, by that time and were waiting grimly for him to speak.
"You," Tala continued, pointing at Queen, Salima, Mariah, and Mariam. "Third room, now. Wait there until you are notified to do otherwise." He thought it best to keep the females of the group separate from the males, since they would almost definitely complain.
The ones he had pointed at gave him defiant glares.
"Why should we listen to you?" Queen asked, crossing her arms.
"From this point on, anybody who speaks or refuses to do as told will have their throat slit," Ian cautioned, following Bryan down the dark hallway. He snapped open a belt knife, allowing them to see just how serious he was about the warning.
Bryan shook his head. "There are better ways to kill someone... Do what you will, though," he muttered, though loud enough for everyone to hear.
Ian ignored him, leaving the room in complete silence. The targets of the threat had very much believed Ian, and Bryan's quiet comment kept them from saying anything, leaving them to wonder what Bryan might decide to do to them.
Tala sighed, annoyed by their technique, but none the less satisfied by its effect. He put one hand on Queen's shoulder and the other on Salima's and steered them in the direction of the hall. Queen grabbed his wrist and ripped it off her shoulder, and looked like she would say something nasty, before Mariam and Mariah brushed past her. She seemed to remember the 'key to survival' and shuffled after them. Salima simply pulled away and trudged after her new room mates, sending him an annoyed glare.
Tala returned to his original location, standing between Bryan and Ian. He wondered how to separate the rest of the group. He would obviously keep the first room to himself and himself alone. There was enough space in the other rooms to do so.
He pointed a finger at Gordo, Zeo, Enrique, and King.
"Lucky you. Second room is yours."
More than one of them looked like they were ready to attack Tala. All that was stopping them was the death threat that could easily go from words to action. Watching the Demolition Boys, they followed through with the command.
They suddenly stopped in their tracks, as a chorus of shrill screams came from the third room. Queen's name could also be heard in a high-pitched voice, shortly after a loud clunk.