Warning: Rated for language and violence.
The main characters of this story are based on characters from the cartoon 'Code Lyoko.' I do not own, nor do I claim, any copyright to these characters.
O o O
Jeremie Belpois was just about to close the gym locker when he heard his cell phone ring. Today was the second self defense session he and Aelita was having with Master Gunnery Sargent Thompson and Gunnery Sargent Grace, and he, at least, wasn't looking forward to it. He was still sore from the last session, last Friday.
I reopened the locker and got out his cell phone, grateful for the delay.
"Hello? This is Jeremie."
"Jeremie, it's Aelita," Aelita whispered over the phone, "I'm at the Hermitage. Some man has kidnapped Emily and is threatening to kill her unless Mrs. Hertz comes here alone."
"What are you doing there, get out!" he said, trying not to holler, trying to keep the fear from his voice.
"I'm afraid to," she replied, "I'm afraid if he knows someone else is here, he might hurt Emily."
"Look," the genius said, "get somewhere safe, the basement maybe. Yeah, by the door down there. Try and sneak out."
"He could hear me," she said, "I don't want to be the cause of Emily getting hurt!"
"Aelita, I don't want you getting hurt again," Jeremie said, keeping the rising fear out of his voice, "I'd die if something happened to you."
"And I couldn't live with myself if something happened to Emily," Aelita said, "I'm going back up to my room. Get help Jeremie; quickly, get help."
"Okay," he finally said, "put your phone on vibrate, that way, he won't hear you when I call back."
"Done. Now go get help," Aelita said, "hurry, Jeremie. I love you."
"I love you too," he said as the call ended.
He ran from the locker room into the gym. There, he saw Taylor Thompson and Ann Grace talking with Jim.
"Help! Someone's kidnapped Emily LeDuc and is forcing Mrs. Hertz to come get her!"
"What did you say?" Jim fairly well shouted.
"I just got a call from Aelita. She's over at a house on the other side of the park, the Hermitage. She heard this man drag Emily LeDuc inside, then call Mrs. Hertz and threaten to kill Emily if she didn't come over right now."
"There's about a million questions I want to ask right now," Master Gunnery Sargent Thompson said, "but they'll have to wait. Jim, you should probably try and stop Mrs. Hertz from going over there. Do you know the name of the cop involved with her case?'
"Yeah, Detective Michellete," Jim replied as he ran off.
"Okay, Jeremie, go back to your dorm, class is over for the day," the big American said, "Ann, you call the principal, so he knows what's going on. I'll call this Detective Michellete and get him over here."
"Are we doing anything else?" the woman asked.
"Speaking as your commanding NCO, the answer is no; we are not to get involved in local matters," Thompson said, then added with a grin, "but speaking for myself, hell yes we going to be doing something else. After you talk to the principal, get over to the Hermitage and put eyes on the situation and let me know what's going on. Jeremie, why are you still standing here? Get outta here, and stay out of this!"
As Jeremie turned to leave, he said to himself, "I'll stay just as far out of it as you will, Master Guns."
O o O
Jim caught up to Suzanne just as she was entering the park.
"Suzie! Wait!" he hollered.
"Jim, I can't stop now, I really have to be somewhere," she said as she kept walking.
"I know all about it! About Clark, Emily and the Hermitage! You can't go, you'll be killed!"
"And so will Emily if I don't!" she snapped, "maybe if I go to him, he'll let her go."
Jim grabbed the science teacher and spun her around.
"More than likely, he'll kill you both; maybe make you watch while he does Emily," Jim said, "Suzanne, I don't want to lose you, now that I've found you, but that's exactly what's going to happen if you go. Look, Aelita Hopper is in that house too. She heard your ex drag Emily in, and heard your phone conversation with him. She called Jeremie, who told me and his two Marine buddies. They're calling the police right now. Please, for the love of God, don't go!"
"I have to, Jim," she told him, "as much as I know everything you said is true, I have to go."
"Then I'm going with you."
"No! He said come alone!"
"I may not walk in the front door with you, but I'm going in with you."
O o O
As Jeremie ran to the boiler room, he called Ulrich.
"Ulrich, we've got a problem! Some nut job kidnapped Emily and is forcing Mrs. Hertz to come get her!" he almost hollered in the phone.
Ulrich replied, "I don't want to sound like a jerk, but so what?"
"He's over at the Hermitage," Jeremie said, "and Aelita's there, she's the one who tipped me off. Look, I need you and Odd to get over there now. Keep an eye on things and let me know what's going on."
"What are you going to be doing in the meantime?" Ulrich asked.
"I'm heading for the sewers," the genius replied, "I'm going to hide our skateboards and stuff, then I'm going to the factory. I've got a bad feeling we're gonna have company in the sewers today, and I'm heading for the factory just in case."
"Just in case what?"
"Just in case we have to do a Return To The Past to keep someone from dying."
O o O
Detective Michellete arrived at Kadic Academy, along with a squad of uniformed officers. He was greeted at the gate by Taylor Thompson.
"I take it you are Michellete," Thompson said, 'I'm Taylor Thompson, the one who called you.'
"Pleased to meet you," the detective said, shaking the Marine's hand, "might I ask how you got involved in this?"
"Purely by chance," Thompson replied, "I'm here with an associate of mine doing some special counseling work with a couple of the students here. Fifteen minutes ago, one of them runs up and tells me that some guy has another student held at a place called the Hermitage, and a Mrs. Hertz had to go there. Now, I don't know all the details, but I've been around here enough recently to know that Mrs. Hertz is having some kind of problem that the police are involved in. Mr. Moralés, a friend of Mrs. Hertz's gave me your name to call before he ran off after her."
"God, this is going to be a mess," the detective said. Then he turned to one of his officers and said, "locate the principal and have him sequester all of the students to the campus. The rest of you, block off the road leading to the Hermitage. Don't make your presence known to anyone that may be inside. Secure the perimeter and wait for further orders."
The other police officers nodded their acknowledgment and set off.
"Detective," Thompson said, "speaking strictly for myself and my associate, with absolutely no obligations being implied by the United States or it's Embassy in France, if we could provide you with any assistance, we'd be more than glad to."
"Let me guess, your friend has already gone to the Hermitage," Mitchellete said with a sigh, "he's going to rush in and save the day, eh?"
"No, she's got a hair's breadth more sense than that," the big American replied, "but she is taking a look around, trying to determine the layout of the situation. She's a good Marine; came up through Recon, so she knows how to sneak 'n peek."
"Well, for now it seems like I don't have any choice," Michellete said, "when you next speak to her, tell her to stay out of sight. The man we are dealing with her is a psychopath, who has already brutally murdered several women. It looks like Mrs. Hertz is to be his next victim, and maybe his ultimate one."
O o O
Jeremie had just finished hiding that last scooter when Jim found him.
"Jeremie! Why am I not surprised?" he said.
Jeremie whirled around to see the PE teacher standing before him, fists firmly planted on his hips.
"I thought you were told to go back to your room," Jim said, "what are you doing down here?"
"You mean this isn't my room?" Jeremie replied, trying levity. Jim just cocked his head.
"C'mon, Belpois, you can do better than that," Jim said, "look, Suzanne is walking into that place right now, and I have to help her somehow. I know that the sewers run close to that house, but I can't seem to find the access point."
"Ah, I happen to know where it is," Jeremie said, "me and my friends mess around down here sometimes, and we came across it one day. I could show you if you want."
"Okay," Jim said, "and if we get out of this with our skins intact, none of this ever happened, see?"
"None of what?" Jeremie said, "I don't know about you, but I'm in my dorm room working on my computer."
Jim smiled and the two set off.
Jeremie led Jim through the maze of the sewers until they came to the access point beside the Hermitage. He cracked the door open and let Jim peer out.
"That door over there leads to the basement," Jeremie said, "you can take the stairs up to the main floor or the upstairs from there. Oh, and set your cell phone to vibrate so you don't alarm anyone. And if you see Aelita, tell her to get out. I don't want anything to happen to her."
"For the first time in years, I understand how you feel," Jim said as he ran for the basement door.
After seeing Jim duck inside, Jeremie turned and ran for the factory, praying he didn't need to; praying if he needed to, that it wasn't too late.