Disclaimer: You all know I don't own it, so why bother?
Chapter 21: Journey in the Dark
"It's the best plan we have. Almost foul proof. It's the only hope we have of getting Mom and the others out." Miss Parker whispered, as she gently smoothed the hair on Lyle's forehead. It was about 9:00 in the morning and Lyle had woken up a few minutes ago. He gave her a weak smile.
"Sounds like the best plan I've ever heard." He said, struggling to make each word. The doctor said he had a good chance of surviving if he took it easy and didn't do too much over the next few weeks.
"Yeah, that's what Sydney said." Miss Parker smiled at her brother. She was thankful that he was alive. The doctor had said it was touch and go during the surgery, but that Lyle must have had the will to live because he didn't die. Although he had numerous close calls. Miss Parker glanced at her watch and stood up.
"Plane leaves in two hours. We need to head over to the airport. I've told the doctors to take good care of you. They've promised to do their best. You should be fine. Rest and relax. We'll get Mom out of there in no time." She leaned over and planted a kiss on her brother's cheek. Lyle beamed.
"How did you get them to promise that?" He asked jokingly. "Put a gun in their faces and threaten them?" Miss Parker rolled her eyes.
"No, I just asked kindly. Something you should learn to do." Lyle reached over and grabbed her hand before she could walk away.
"Promise me you'll get Mom out of there safely. Please promise me." He pleaded. Miss Parker nodded.
"I promise." Lyle released her hand and closed his eyes. Their conversation must have exhausted him. As Miss Parker joined Sydney and Broots outside, she silently vowed to kick some Centre butt. They had hurt her brother and no one got away with that.
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Jarod glanced up as the door to his cell opened. He'd been locked up for who knew how long; no one had come in to check on him or give him anything to eat. His stomach grumbled angrily, but he ignored it. Now was not the time to be thinking about his stomach. He needed to think about escape, something which the three sweepers that entered the cell were going to make difficult.
Without as much as a sound, they hauled Jarod up onto his feet and half-shoved, half-dragged him out of the cell. Jarod tried to struggle, but his body was too weak. From his best estimates, it'd been a day and half since he'd eaten or drunk anything. Not good if you were planning on fighting your way out of somewhere.
They got into an elevator and the started down. Jarod started when he saw them pass sub-level 26. There was another sub-level? That was news to him. The doors opened and Jarod was confronted with a darken corridor, water dripping off old pipes. He was shoved down the hall and though he tried to see what was around him, the darkness would not be pierced. A few left turns here and right turn there led them to a door in the wall. The sweepers opened it revealing a small room with some machines in the far right corner. A table with straps and wires was situated in the middle.
Jarod started to struggle in earnest now upon seeing the table. He knew whatever they were going to do to him was not going to be good. Images flashed through his mind of when he was a child doing simulations. The pain. The fear. The despair of the people he had to simulate. Two of the sweepers held him fast, however, no matter what he did. They dragged him over onto the table and with the help of the third, they hoisted him onto the table and bound him tight. Jarod struggled but the bonds were too tight.
Mr. Raines walked in and smiled. Jarod glared at him, trying to fill his eyes with the most hate he could think of. If there was one person Jarod hated the most in the Centre, it was Mr. Raines. A good portion of the terrible things that had happened to him and the others had come from this one man. This incarnation of evil. Mr. Raines just smiled a cold smile at him.
"Good evening, Jarod. It's nice to have you back where you belong."
"You know you're not going to get me to cooperate, no matter what you try." Jarod spat out. Mr. Raines just smiled some more.
"That's what I was hoping you'd say." He nodded and one of the sweepers hooked two weird looking wires to Jarod's chest. Jarod tried his best to see them, but couldn't.
"What are you going to do with me?" He asked. Mr. Raines, in way of replying, glanced at the sweeper positioned near the machines. Suddenly, Jarod felt electricity-like energy pour over his body. He tried to turn away from it, but all movement just made it more painful. He opened his mouth to scream, but couldn't. The pain was too intense. Jarod twisted and turned some more, his body feeling like it was falling apart.
Mr. Raines just stood there and smiled. This was the way to break a Pretender.
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Miss Parker crouched down in the tunnel, watching as Broots climbed down the metal ladder. So, this was how Jarod had escaped the first time. And how he had entered those few other times as well. Shock of shocks. No one, to her knowledge, had ever known this set of tunnels existed. The Centre was inefficient, she thought.
"Dark, gloomy tunnels." Broots shuddered, as he dropped down. Miss Parker resisted the urge to smile and flashed the flashlight in his eyes.
"Don't wet your pants. There are no dead bodies down here." Broots resisted the urge to glare at her. Miss Parker ignored him and moved down the tunnel. Broots was right about one thing: it was dark and gloomy here. As if no one had ever used or needed these tunnels after they had been built. Cobwebs hung in various places and her feet made dust fly up in her face. She wanted to cough, but didn't.
Miss Parker had to bend over to make it through. The tunnel was only about five feet tall and didn't quite fit her frame. They were definitely not made to be crawled through. Broots was hunched over as well and grumbling to himself. Miss Parker smiled, but quickly wiped it off her face. Broots never changed.
"Parker, are you there?" Sydney's voice flooded the tunnel through the walkie-talkie Miss Parker held in her hand. They had stopped on their way to the Centre at a utility store and bought flashlights, ropes, walkie-talkies, and various other items Sydney had thought they'd need.
"Hear you loud and clear, Syd. Is Angelo with you still?" Miss Parker questioned. Angelo had refused to be separated from the blueprints. Sydney had tried to convince him that staying was dangerous, but Angelo had refused to listen. Even the idea of a nice comfy hotel room had not tempted him. And Miss Parker admired him for that.
"Timmy, Miss Parker. Timmy." Angelo's voice came over the walkie-talkie. He had taken another treatment a few hours ago and his mental and vocal skills had increased incredibly. He had only two more treatments left and Miss Parker prayed noting would interfere with him taking them. She still felt some guilt from when her stubbornness had taken the chance of life away from her world's Angelo.
Miss Parker and Broots continued to move steadily down the tunnel. Before she replied, Miss Parker shined her light farther ahead. Cobwebs reflected the light back at her and the dust clouded it, but she could still see the split ahead of her.
"Okay, Timmy. We're coming up on the split. Which way do we go?" She heard the ruffle of papers and some voices consulting. This was the one weak spot they had: no one had thought to go over the layout before Miss Parker and Broots had descended into the tunnel. They were all too busy dealing with Lyle, supplies, and dark thoughts. But, it didn't matter. Angelo/Timmy had assured them that gaining entrance into the Centre would be easy.
"Take the left, Miss Parker. It should bring you to another split. From there go right and you'll see the grate. You can find the cells from there." Miss Parker paused and glanced at Broots.
"Is your building different than mine? Because I could swear that the lower holding cells would be to the right."
"They are, but the right tunnel doesn't lead to an opening you can use. The only usable entrance from there will put you up in a sweeper area."
"And that's the last place we want to go." Broots muttered and Miss Parker agreed. Sweepers would take them into custody immediately until they could explain what they had been doing in these tunnels. Maybe Sydney could have bypassed questioning, but she couldn't.
"Okay, Syd. Good luck."
"You, too. See you in the lower holding cells." Miss Parker flipped the walkie-talkie switch off. Silence and stealth were now key. She and Broots turned left and headed into the bowls of hell.
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Sydney and Angelo glanced down the darken corridor. It was night, the best time to sneak into any place, but there were still sweepers on guard. Too many valuable commodities kept here that needed watching.
"Sub-level 22." Sydney whispered to his companion. "That's where the security cameras are located. Are you sure you want to do this?" Angelo nodded his head.
"Jarod saved my life and I'm just returning… the favor." He finished, face scrunching up as he used the unfamiliar phrase. He flashed Sydney a crooked grin. "What could go wrong?" Sydney shook his head and glanced around the corner. Every number of things could go wrong. He was too old for this.
"Okay, Timmy. Good luck. Meet the rest of us in sub-level 26." Angelo nodded on more time and then impulsively hugged Sydney. Sydney hugged him back.
"Good luck to you, too, Sydney." And with that, Angelo disappeared into the darkness. Sydney smiled to himself and headed for the elevators. Not the most secretive way to get to sub-level 22, but with some luck, the sweepers would think that he had a late night experiment. Which happened quite often. The elevator doors snapped shut and Sydney found himself going down, down, down.