The guards pushed the Tracy brothers through the dark unlit tunnels, winding left and right and passing entrances to other dark caverns as they went. Moisture clung to the walls and ceiling, dripping onto the group as they were marched through the tunnels.
The guards had each switched on torches that were attached to the sides of their rifles to see the path ahead. Two of the guards led the way while the other four marched behind the brothers urging them onwards. After about fifteen minutes into their march the tunnel changed angles and started going up.
"Scott, any ideas bro?" Virgil murmured under his breath, casting a sidelong glance at his older brother as they trudged up the muddy and claustrophobic passageway.
Scott met his brother's hopeful eyes. Anger boiled in him at the thought that they had walked so easily into the Hood's clutches, again. But worst of all they were separated and had no idea where the kids or their dad was. "I'm working on it Virg, hang tight ok?"
"QUIET", one of the guards behind them growled angrily giving an extra hard shove to the nearest prisoner. John stumbled at the unexpected push and Scott quickly reached out an arm to steady his brother.
Scott stopped and glared daggers at the angry guard who, in return, regarded him with a sneer.
"What's your problem flyboy?"
Scott continued to glare at the man. "I'm looking at him!"
The guard grinned and took a step closer, moving his rifle to one hand he met Scott's glare. "Go on then, give me your best shot". Standing only a few feet apart Scott towered over the other man, who was short, but stocky in build.
"Scott no, it's not going to help our situation". Scott looked round at John who placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
"You should listen to your friend, pal. You wouldn't last ten seconds against me!" To enforce his point the guard pushed Scott in the chest, forcing him to stumble back slightly into John.
Recovering quickly Scott stepped back up, but instead of retaliating, Scott just glared at the man and straightened up. "Don't worry pal, I'm not gonna rearrange your face. Your boyfriend would never forgive me!"
"You little shit! I'll murder ya!" The guard roared, instantly seeing red, and lunged at Scott, who was ready for the attack.
"That's enough Mac! The Hood wants them unharmed and that includes no bruises". The lead guard had turned round at the commotion.
The guard known as Mac had halted mid-motion. "Come on Viktor! A few bruises wouldn't hurt, I got my rep to think about".
Viktor, the leader of the group, was roughly the same height as Scott but he was definitely bigger in build and spoke with a slight European accent. The man's very presence was menacing.
"Don't make me inform the Hood of your inability to follow orders!"
Mac paled slightly at this statement. Viktor, fixed him with a chilling glare from behind his sunglasses, then motioned for them to continue moving up the tunnel.
Mac straightened and focused back on their prisoners. "Alright hero, you win for now. Get moving!" He pushed them forward, urging them to walk faster.
They continued on in silence, the Tracy's sharing glances with each other as they tried to fathom where they were being taken. Suddenly they could see light at the top of the tunnel steadily getting closer and closer as they continued on. At the top the tunnel ended and they came out onto a rock platform about the size of two tennis courts and very much like the one at the mouth of the cave where they had first entered. Sitting on the platform were two large military cargo helicopters painted in camouflage colors.
"MOVE!" the guards pushed them forward across the rain soaked rock towards the nearest helicopter. Walking across the platform they were stopped again at the cargo doors of the helicopter. Four of the guards stepped back and brought up their rifles training them on the brothers.
The cargo doors slid open and Mullion jumped down closing the door behind him. "Alright lads, hold out your hands and nobody try anything clever".
Slowly, cautiously, John and Virgil complied and held out their hands. The other two guards came forward and removed their watches. John and Virgil looked at each other in shock. The Hood knew about their locator watches. Once the watches were off the two guards each pulled out a pair of handcuffs from their belts and attached them tightly around Virgil's and John's wrists.
Scott, who had not held out his hands when instructed, glared at the big man with open distain and disgust.
Mullion came up to Scott and glared back, his lip twitching at the prospect of resistance. "Hold out your hands runt!"
"Not until you tell us where Alan is!"
Mullion's scowling face broke into a smile and he laughed. "You'll find out soon enough. Now, hold out your hands, or do you want me to hold them out for you?"
"I would love to see you try asshole!" Scott ground out between clenched teeth. His anger towards the brute intensifying as he remembered how he had manhandled Tin Tin and Fermat.
Mullion smirked and glanced over his shoulder at the helicopter entrance dismissively, then without warning, he lashed out with his fist. Scott underestimated the big man's speed and was caught off guard as Mullion's large fist connected with his jaw. The world span around him and he stumbled into the guard behind him who pushed him forward again. Mullion grabbed his left arm in a crushing grip and with his other hand he ripped the watch from Scott's wrist.
"Cuff him" Mullion commanded. Shoving Scott's watch into his pocket, he grabbed his other arm and bringing Scott's hands together one of the guards locked a set of handcuffs around his wrists.
Scott shook his head trying to steady his rattled head.
"Get them loaded!" Mullion ordered.
The guards handed over the other two watches then raised their weapons towards their captives. Scott glared at the guards then back at Mullion who reached up and opened the cargo door expectantly. Seeing there was no way out of their situation he followed the silent demand and slowly, placing his bound hands onto the metal ledge, climbed up into the cargo hold.
"SCOTT!"
Scott looked up in surprise and a wave of relief washed over him at the sight of Fermat and Tin Tin sitting at the back of the cargo bay.
"Guys, are you ok?" he asked as he came over and knelt down in front of them, checking them for any sign of injury. He noticed that they too had been put in handcuffs.
Behind him, John and Virgil climbed up into the helicopter and the door was slammed shut behind them.
John sighed in relief at seeing them and rushed over to them, Virgil following close behind. "Are you two ok? Are you hurt?"
Tin Tin smiled wearily, "No we're ok. Are you ok?"
"Yeah…" Scott reached up and touched his sore jaw "…all things considered".
"Yeah, that big guy has one whopper of a right hook", John said rubbing his stomach.
"You're telling me".
Virgil knelt down next to Scott. "How's your jaw? You've got a nice bruise coming up"
"I'll survive". Scott stood up and walked over to the cargo door. Pulling hard on the handle it didn't budge. 'Dammit, so much for a fast escape. It was worth a shot' he thought frustrated. All the windows were blacked out so they couldn't see what was outside.
John sat down awkwardly in front of the kids. "Did they take your watches?"
Fermat held up his wrists, "Yeah. I wonder h-how they knew about our w-wa-w locators?"
Scott sat down heavily next to Virgil. "I don't know. But it's clear the Hood wants us alive this time".
"That's what worries me", John said dishearten.
Scott sighed, "We're all worried John. But we need to keep our heads and find out what's going on".
Tin Tin brought her knees up and looped her bound hands over them trying to gain some sort of comfort. "What is he going to do with us?" she said in a quiet voice.
Scott, John and Virgil looked at each other. They understood how Tin Tin felt. The kids had faced the Hood head on before and thankfully survived to tell the tale…but this was different.
Scott grasped her hand. "It will be ok Tin Tin. We're with you guys this time…" he squeezed her hand "…it will be ok".
Tin Tin's hand as like ice and Scott was just a little concerned at how pale she looked. "Tin Tin, are you alright?"
Tin Tin let out a shuddery breath, "Yeah, I-I'm fine. Just a little shaken". She smiled back reassuringly.
"Don't guys, we'll find a way out of this". Virgil added, trying to quell their fears.
Fermat looked over at Tin Tin sadly. "But what about Alan?"
Tin Tin sighed slowly and turned to look at Fermat and she mirrored his sad expression. Closing her eyes she tried to keep her emotions in check as images of her best friend came to her mind. Ever since last summer she had secretly been hoping that that strong friendship they shared could become something more, something special.
Remembering Alan's smiling face, she couldn't stop the single tear that slid down her cheek.
Noticing the tear Scott squeezed her hand. "Hey, come on. No tears, it will be alright. I promise"
Tin Tin looked up at him, her eyes shimmering. "Will it? We don't know where Alan is. All we know is he led us here…into a trap" she said softly as more tears fell.
"Tin Tin, we don't know that".
Fermat frowned, deep in thought. There was something very familiar about all this. He remembered that Alan had told him something last summer about the Hood, something strange, when they were trudging through the jungle on the run from the mad man. At the time Fermat had laughed it off as being part of Alan's wild imagination…but now? It couldn't be a coincidence. But what was it! 'Something to do with…mind control?'
Fermat's mouth dropped open in realization as his memories came flooding back to him. 'The Hood has been controlling Alan! And Alan led us to him! My word…that explains everything! Why didn't I think of it before!'
"Guys! I've figured it out!" Fermat said wide-eyed.
Virgil frowned, "Fermat, figured what out".
"I know h-how the Hood knew we were here, and why Alan led us here!"
John glanced at Virgil in confusion. His brother just shrugged. "Fermat like I said, we don't know Alan…."
"But we do!" Fermat cut him off. "The Hood has the a-ability to control m-minds!"
Scott raised an eyebrow at the statement. "Fermat, are you feeling ok?"
"I know it sounds st-s-str-stra-s crazy but it's true. Alan told me last summer".
"What. You mean when you guys were being chased around the Island by that fruit basket?" Virgil asked slightly miffed.
"Yes!"
"In the debrief Brains said that the Hood made him activate the command and control center, but no one said anything about mind control" Scott continued.
Fermat sighed sadly. "My dad's a scientist. He doesn't believe in things he can't e-explain. Neither do I, but this can't be a coincidence".
Tin Tin removed her hands from Scott's and wiped her eyes on her shirtsleeves slowly bringing her emotions back under control. "It's true Scott".
Scott stared at her. "You can't be serious".
Tin Tin sighed and looked down at her hands. "I wish it wasn't true, but it is. My un, uh, my u-uncle does possess the power to control peoples minds".
The Tracy brother's stared at them in shock.
"Are you saying that the Hood is controlling Alan?"
Fermat was silent for a moment. He knew it was hard for the brothers to take in, but they had to know the cold hard facts. "Yes, that i-is what I'm saying".
Scott frowned, letting this new information sink in. 'Oh God. I knew something was wrong with Alan…but the Hood controlling him? That's just crazy!'
John looked round at his brothers. "It would explain Alan's weird behavior", he said almost reluctantly.
Virgil was just dumb struck. "It can't be…we would have noticed!"
John closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh. "We did notice. But it wasn't what we thought it was".
Virgil frowned at the statement for a second, then his eyes widened, "no…his behavior?"
"That means that the Hood has been controlling him all this time and we didn't even know". Scott's heart sank into his stomach at the idea and fresh anger flared in him.
"We don't know how long the Hood has been controlling him for. It could be months or it could just be days, or even hours we just don't know", Fermat replied.
John's face turned cold. "That son of a bitch. He used our own brother to catch us".
"If he hurts Alan I'll kill him!"
"Wait in line Virg, wait in line" Scott said darkly.
Tin Tin frowned. "What I don't understand though is how the Hood did it".
Scott frowned, "What do you mean?"
"Well, how did the Hood manage to control Alan in the first place? We're on an Island, and the Hood's powerful, but he's not that powerful".
Fermat bit his lip in thought. "I don't know. Maybe he had help".
"That's comforting to know, that there are more people out there like him" Virgil replied trying to get comfortable on the hard metal floor.
Tin Tin swallowed. Last summer, she had persuaded Fermat and Alan not to say anything about her own special abilities. Her powers were not something she was proud of and to her relief Jeff had not asked about what happened in the Bank of London. It seemed that he didn't notice her intervention in the showdown between the Hood and Alan and for that she was grateful.
Fermat looked at her and could read what she was thinking. "Maybe…. it's, uh, not another person who's helping him, but he might have help from something else".
Tin Tin cleared her throat desperate to get off the current subject she had inadvertently put them on. "I doesn't matter now. What matters is how do we get out of this".
"I agree. Scott, we need to come up with a plan" John replied looking round the group.
Scott glanced at his younger brothers. "We will, but we need to find out what the Hood wants with us, and where Alan and dad are before we can come up with a successful escape plan".
Virgil sighed heavily. "I have a feeling that question will get answered all to soon".
They were silent for a minute, each trying to come to terms with the severity of their situation.
John finally broke the silence. "I hope dad's ok"
Tin Tin's eyes widened. "Mr. Tracy. Didn't they bring him with you?"
John sighed, "No. They took us through the tunnel after you and dad was left in the cavern. That's the last we saw of him".
"Oh dear…" tears started to form in Tin Tin's eyes again "…I hope Mr. Tracy is ok".
"Mr. Tracy is a smart and s-strong man. He'll be fine Tin Tin", Fermat said reassuringly, struggling to hide his own worry.
Scott glanced over his shoulder towards the locked cargo door. He knew he needed to be strong for all of them. Looking back to the others, his gray eyes expressed his unease to his brothers without need for words. "I hope so Fermat, I hope so".
Outside, the mood was tense as men in black uniforms ran around the rock platforms loading equipment into the other chopper. Mullion was directing the proceedings.
"You two, get into the front compartment and guard our 'guests'. The rest of you get to the other chopper". The two chosen guards nodded and climbed into the front compartment of the helicopter just behind the pilot and copilot seats. The others slung their rifles over their shoulders and jogged off to the other waiting helicopter.
At that moment the Hood emerged from the tunnel and walked casually over.
Mullion turned to greet his boss. "Sir, all the prisoners are loaded and we are ready to go".
The Hood smiled. "Excellent Mullion, excellent. Did you do what I asked?"
Mullion reached into his pocket and pulled out Scott's watch, then along with the other watches he had collected, he handed them to the Hood.
"Ahh, wonderful…"the Hood placed all the watches, five in total, into the right hand pocket of his red robes "…is everything set?"
Mullion nodded. "Yes sir. Everything is loaded, Transom is already aboard, and both helicopters are prepped for take off".
"And our 'other' guest?"
"Is already onboard the other chopper. I have some men guarding him"
"Oh, that is hardly necessary Mullion. Young Alan is under my control, he is of no threat"
Mullion frowned at the idea of leaving the boy unguarded under any circumstances. "Yes sir", he said reluctantly.
"Good. Then lets get phase two underway". Mullion opened the back passenger door for his boss and the Hood climbed in. Mullion climbed in after him and closed the door.
A few minutes later both helicopters lifted off from the platform. Flying off into the distance as the sun slowly emerged from the breaking storm.
TBC
Sorry that this chapter isn't more action packed but there's more exciting stuff on the way.
Please feel free to review and stay tuned for the next chapter.X