Chapter 4
Teenagers packed on the luminous dance floor, moving to the fast and loud music.
"Where's Katie."
"Huh?"
"WHERE'S KATIE."
"HUH?"
"KATIE, WHERE THE HELL IS SHE?" Alex managed to shout in between the gaps of the loud music.
"Oh…" Then, Mark point at a silhouetted figure sitting at the bar.
Alex grinded his teeth and squeezed his way through the crowd.
"Hey, I'm Keith." A hand held out to shook Katie's.
"Katie." Katie replied without much emotion.
"So, here alone, eh?" He sat down beside her without any invitation.
Katie took a gulp of her drink and didn't reply.
"So, wanna go for some dance?" He still persisted.
Katie just shook her head.
"My treat." Keith swiftly paid for Katie's drink. Katie just sighed and rolled her eyes.
"You're a nice guy and all…but please…I'm not interested…by the way, I already have a boyfriend."
"Aw…c'mon, that's an old line…"
"Really?" a third voice interrupted their conversation.
Alex wrapped his arm around Katie, who was half-drunk, and glared at Keith.
"And it's my treat…" Alex placed several notes on the bar. They walked away from the bar. Alex lead Katie to one corner of the pub and let her clear her head a bit.
"I told you not to drink…" Alex started.
"C'mon Alex, relax…I drank only a few glasses…chill…" Katie cut in.
"C'mon, let's go back…" Alex took her hand and walked towards the exit. But on their way, they were pulled into the dance floor instead and were not able to get out because there were too many people on the floor itself.
Soon, they were pushed closer and closer to each other. Katie was already drunk, thus, she just swayed to the music without knowing that she was seducing the people around her somehow.
"Katie…" Alex tried to get her attention, but somehow unsuccessful.
"Katie!" Alex grabbed her hand once more. Instead of Alex pulling Katie, Katie pulled Alex closer.
"Erm… Katie…"
"Katie!" This time, Katie stopped. Not because of Alex, but because she was already unconscious.
Alex sighed and carried Katie outside. Once outside, he took out his mobile phone and called Lucas and Mark.
"Hey, when do you think she'll wake up?"
"In 1 minute." Alex estimated.
"Are you kidding? She'd been sleeping for hours."
"Wanna bet?"
"5 bucks. I give you 2 minutes."
Alex bent lower towards Katie, and whispered, "Hey, wakey wakey…!" Alex brushed his lips against Katie's cheek.
Katie slowly stirred.
"Huh…" Katie opened her eyes slowly.
"Fine, man…you've got skills…" Mark handed Alex 5 bucks. Alex just laughed while Katie was still in a state of hang over.
"Hey, what happened? Argh…headache." Katie quickly lied back down on the bed once she felt a throbbing pain in her head.
"You wanna know what happened?" Alex asked
"Umm…"
"Well, I didn't know that you've got such hot moves once you're drunk."
This time, Katie sat up straight, her eyes were wide opened.
"What! What moves…shit…what? Stop laughing!"
Alex smiled slyly but didn't reply her.
"Katie, wash up. We'll fill you in on the information we've found out when you were asleep." Lucas cut in.
"Huh?"
"Just go and wash up." Alex pushed her up and towards the bathroom.
"Huh….umm…" Katie, half asleep, staggered towards the bathroom.
"No more clubbing for her." Alex turned and directly looked at Lucas. Lucas just shrugged.
Once Katie washed up, they sat down at the living area and discussed the clues they've found so far.
"Okay, our deduction was right. The principal definitely have connections with the VIPER case. The email has something to do with the case somehow. Okay, check this out."
Mark turned the laptop's screen towards them. It displayed series of code.
"This code, I've cracked already. The email stated:
Monday 26th I would like all Documents to be Noted with Ink marks that the documents are
Given through Henry Quart"
"But as you can see, the caps are at the wrong place…so let's say we rearrange it this way:
Monday 26th
I would like all
Documents to be
Noted with
Ink marks that the documents are
Given through
Henry
Quart"
"Oh…so it's becomes MIDNIGHT H.Q" Katie snapped her finger.
"Yup…the problem now is that…we have no idea where the heck is their headquarters…"
"And we also don't know what day it is…"
"Well that leaves a job for me then…" Mark said while turning back to his laptop.
"So…what's with the hot moves you mentioned just now…." Katie turned back to Alex.