Chapter four

I decided to wait until after lunch to sneak into my father's office. I knew he would just allow me to go through the inmates files if I asked him, so I figured I'd take my chance and do it in secret when he was busy with other things. I knew he was having a meeting after lunch, so I decided to wait.

It took all my concentration not to leap from the dining table and rush over to the main building. All I could think about was Kevin Blue and all the confliction emotions and thought I had about him.

I was surprised when my father spoke. Usually our dinners flew by quietly, but today, he actually started up a conversation. If only he'd chosen another subject.

"I heard you today," he said without looking at me.

"What?" I asked.

"I was walking though the E-block and I heard you speak to number twelve," he glanced up at me and gave me a look that made my insides turn. "Conversationally."

The way he said the word actually made me flinch. Accusingly. Disgustedly.

"I wasn't–"

"You're not allowed to do that, Leah. Especially not with number twelve. We know too little about him. The next time you deliver his lunch you're not going to even glance his way. You're going to pop in, and pop out. Understood?"

I nodded and my father returned to his meal. I decided to take a chance here, try to get the information I needed directly from my father instead of sneaking into his office later. I didn't think he'd tell me anything, but I could try.

"I think he's mentally challenged," I said, spooning up some mashed potatoes onto my fork.

"And why do you think that?" my father asked, indifferent, not really interested.

"He keeps saying weird things."

"They all say weird things, Leah."

"I know, but, Kevin's–" I stopped abruptly at the look my father gave me. "Number Twelve," I continued, "talks about being kidnapped and people doing experiments on him. And I think he actually believes what he's saying."

When my father didn't say anything, I continued.

"He keeps saying someone is coming for him. To rescue him, I mean."

My father scoffed.

"That's not possible, Leah," he said.

"I know, but …"

I'd been about to tell him about my slip-up earlier, but stopped myself before I did.

"He doesn't even seem to know is name. Says it's not Kevin Blue, but Simon B-something."

My father's head shot up.

"Simon Bae?" he asked, his voice alert and his eyes wide. "He said his name was Simon Bae?"

I thought back.

"Yeah, that's it. Bae."

Before I could react, my father was standing up, walking over to where I sat. He towered over me, pinning me with something I would consider to be a crazy stare.

"Are you telling me the truth, Leah? Simon Bae? He said that?"

I stared at him.

"Why would I lie about that?" I asked him.

His eyes glanced to the side, and he shook his head lightly.

"No. Of course you wouldn't," he said, more to himself than to me it appeared. "Eat your dinner. I have to go."

He started to leave the dining room, and I turned in my chair.

"Where are you going?" I called after him, but he's already reached the hallway.

It didn't take more than five seconds for me to hear the front door close behind him. I stared after him, gaping, wondering what that was all about.

I had twenty minutes until I was needed in the kitchen to take out the food cart. I walked casually along the hallway, expecting to run into at least a few guards in my way to the office, but I didn't see a single person. The place seemed empty, deserted even.

I didn't think much of it, just assuming I'd gotten extremely lucky, and even dared myself to pick up a little speed as I walked.

When I reached the warden's office the door was locked. I'd expected that, and frankly, for someone like me, that didn't matter. I teleported inside and set my eyes on the big filing cabinet next to the large mahogany desk.

I scanned the boxes, finding the one marked: A to D, and opened it. It didn't budge. Of course it didn't. It was locked.

I stared at it. How could I have looked past the fact that my father would keep the filing cabinet locket? Of course he would. He wasn't stupid. I signed and sat down in his desk chair.

What was I going to do now? I didn't have a key, and I knew my father had the only one. I didn't know how to pick a lock. I glanced over at the computer screen.

Well, it won't hurt trying.

The computer was on and I opened up Firefox, typing in the address to the site I wanted to access. Once it loaded, I typed in 'How to pick a lock' into the search field and pressed enter. I quickly found one that seemed most convenient, and played the video.

I found two paperclips in the top drawer of the desk, and followed the instructions playing out before me. Once I was done, I tried it on the filing cabinet.

It didn't work. Aggravated, I threw both the paperclips onto the floor after my third try and slammed my back into the chair. My eyes caught sight of the paperclips, twisted, looking like a paperclip shouldn't look, and I rose from the chair, picking them up. I couldn't just leave them on the floor like that. If my dad saw them, there was a chance he'd understand what they'd been used for. And of course, he'd blame me.

I opened the top drawer again placed the paperclips inside. I was just about to close it, when I noticed something I must've missed earlier. There was a file in the drawer.

I picked up and … It was Kevin's.

I glanced around, convinced this was too good to be true. No way my father had just left it here. It was planted, and someone stood just outside the door, waiting for me to slip up and read it. Break confidence. Do something I wasn't supposed to.

I stood for a while, just holding it. But nothing happened. No one came rushing in pointing fingers at me. I looked at the closed file, and frowned.

His name was written on the top in bold letters, but beneath it I could read the words: Capture Request.

Capture request? I'd never seen a file like this before. My fingers practically itched as I opened it.

His picture was on it, as was his name. It offered a brief summary of him, saying he was highly dangerous and in immediately request to be apprehended. Alive. I saw a contact number, but no name, from the person who'd requested him to be captured. I frowned again, thinking it over.

Had someone sent this to my father? Why? I didn't know he did this. I only though he took in the criminals and imprisoned them. Did he really have this side-job as an unofficial bounty hunter? Wasn't Kevin an inmate? Had he been telling the truth? That he didn't belong? He wasn't bad?

Of course he was bad. Someone out there wanted him off the streets so badly, they'd hired my father to do it. Something on the page caught my eye, and I did a double take. Twenty thousand dollars? They were offering twenty thousand dollars for this guy. I guess not only his diet was special. He was special. He must be, if someone wanted to pay that amount.

I heard footsteps, and I closed the file, placing it back into the drawer and closing it. Just as I stood up from the chair, Karl, one of the head guards, entered the office. He seemed surprised to see me, but gave me a kind smile.

"Hi there," he said walking over to me.

"Hi, Karl," I said. "I was looking for my father. Do you know where he is?"

Karl walked passed me and to chock, he opened the drawer with the file. He reached inside and picked it out. He turned to me.

"He's caught up in work right now, Leah. Sent me to get this," he waved the file in the air. "I don't think he'll be long though."

"Why does he want that?" I asked.

Karl walked past me.

"No idea," he said. "I have to go. He's waiting."

He waved to me, and I waved back as he left the office.

I wanted to sneak after him, to find out what was going on, but I had to go to the kitchen, so I did that instead.

This time, I knocked and popped in directly after. Kevin was on his bed. He glanced at me briefly before closing his eyes. He pointed to the closed eyelids and then made a thumbs up. I'm not looking.

I walked over to him and put his bag down on the bed. Then, I sat myself down on it. When he noticed my weight, he opened his eyes and looked at me questionly. I met his gaze.

"I know what I said," I told him. "But I need to ask you something."

He straightened.

"Shoot."

I glanced at the door, fearing someone would stroll by and hear us, but everything was quiet from the other side. I looked back at Kevin.

"You said you were kidnapped?"

"Yeah," he answered. "I said that."

"You said someone wanted you as a lab rat?"

"I said that too."

I bore my gaze into his, trying my hardest to look as serious as possible.

"Tell me the truth, Kevin. Were you lying?"

His face turned just as serious.

"No. I wasn't."

There was a hint of pleading in his voice, like he was begging me to believe him. I had to look away from him, because I started to feel like I was.

"And …", I continued. "You're not evil?"

A small laugh.

"Most definitely not evil," he said.

I looked at him.

"Then why do they want you so bad?"

He gave me a confused look.

"Who?" he asked.

Since I didn't know the answer to that question, I told him something I did know.

"Someone is offering my father twenty thousand dollars for you. That's why you're here, I think. Someone hired him to get you."

Kevin became thoughtful for a while. Then, he let out a small laugh again.

"I could see that happening. Twenty grand. Seems reasonable."

"But why?" I asked

He stood up from the bed and leaned against the wall, looking at me. Inspecting me, it almost seemed.

"They want us all," he finally said. "Well, most of us at least." He laughed again, his gaze traveling to nothing in particular, having an internal moment in his head. "If they're offering twenty grand for me," he looked back at me. "I can only imagine the amount for Derek. Or Chloe. Maybe even Tori. They're all more important than me."

He didn't say it solemnly, just as a fact.

"Who?" I asked, confused at the new names.

He looked at me in that playful way again.

"My rescuers. The one's who'll break me out."

"So there really are people coming for you?"

"Of course," he said. "They wouldn't just leave me. They're probably out there this second, trying to find a way in. They have been since the second I was taken."

I looked at him doubtfully.

"They're family," he said. "Family doesn't give up."

I had to look down at his words. My thought rushed to my family. My father. He'd given up. He'd never even tried. If I was taken away from him, he's probably just adopt another child. A better child.

I felt the bed move beside me, and looked up to meet Kevin's gaze.

"You could come with," he said. "Leave this place. You said you wanted to. Maybe we won't go to New York or London right away, but maybe someday. We go everywhere."

I gaped at him. I was at a loss for words. Was he serious? Did he really want me to come with him? To his family? I'm ashamed to admit the thought wasn't completely negative to me. I did want to leave. I really did. But how could I? Even if I dreamt about it, fantasized, the idea scared me. I'd never been anywhere else. This was my home. My life.

I looked away from him.

"I'd never do that. I'm still not sure you're not evil."

He laughed, and we lapsed into silence. I picked at my fingernails, uncertain what to do. I had to continue along with the cart, but for some reason I didn't want to leave. The next words I spoke, took me by surprise.

"Tell me about them," I said.

"Who?"

"Your family."

"Oh," he said." Well, there's my dad, Christopher Bae, and my brother, Derek. Dad's a sorcerer, like me, and Derek's …" he glanced at me, hesitantly, then said, "A werewolf."

I guess he'd expected me to freak out or something. Werewolf's weren't exactly what a person would assume to be in a normal family. A werewolf would be in pack, or just a family consisting of other wolfs. But I didn't say anything. Kevin continued.

"Then there's Tori. She's my sister. She's kind of new. Not in the existing way, she's always been here, just … New as a sister. We didn't at first. We knew each other, but not that we're related. Yeah, it was hard at first, but I've come to terms with it. It even better now, knowing we're related. It gives me an excuse as to why I can't stand here. There is the small thing with her liking me. Use to like me. But we don't talk about that," he laughed. "Then, there Chloe. She's my sister. Well, sort of. I used like her, but she didn't like me. Not that way anyway. She likes Derek. Loves Derek. Which is great, because he loves her too. It's just … you know, back then. It was hard. When you like someone like I liked Chloe, you really want them to like you back."

He looked at me, his eyes searching my face.

"You know what I mean, right?"

I shook my head.

"I've never liked someone."

He raised his eyebrows.

"Really?"

"Really. I'm the only one around here. My age, I mean."

"That sucks," he breathed. "You really need to get out of here. It's not healty."

I gave him a stern look.

"That's not what I meant," he said. "I just meant, a kid like you should get to have friends, go to school, shop and such."

I looked down.

"I want that," I simply said.

"What about your mom? Doesn't she want you to do those teen girl stuff?"

"I don't have a mom," I said quietly. "Just my dad. I'm adopted. Half-Demon and all."

"Hey," he said. "I know a Half-Demon, adopted like you, and her mom came for here when she needed her. Her biological mom. She …"

I met his eyes, and he silenced.

"I didn't mean to say that your mom won't … I just … She's out there maybe. Looking for you even. It can happen."

I looked down.

"She'd dead. My father told me."

There was a brief silence, before Kevin placed a hand on my back.

"Rae was told the same thing. And yet her mom came for her."

I jumped from the bed, startled by the contact.

"Sorry!" Kevin exclaimed. "I shouldn't have–"

"It's okay," I said. "I'm sorry I reacted that way."

Kevin stood up from the bed.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," I said.

"Do you really believe that I'm evil?"

I hesitated. Thinking it over. Did I believe he was evil? I knew I should. He was in this place. But still … I didn't know the reason why. The file hadn't mentioned it. Only that he was dangerous. But he didn't seem dangerous. He seemed. Normal. Kind even.

I met his eyes.

"No," I said quietly. "No. I don't."

He took a step toward me.

"Then do you believe I don't belong here?" he asked.

"I don't know."

He reached out and grabbed my hands, squeezing them lightly.

"Please," he said. "Believe me."

I stared into his eyes. They seemed so honest. I wanted to believe him. So much. And … maybe I did. But what would it matter? There was nothing I could do. My father had control of everything around here. Even if I wanted to help him, I wouldn't even be able to get him out of the main building. Maybe not even past the E-block.

I opened my mouth to say something. Anything. But my mind was too messed up.

Someone cleared their throat behind us, and we both turned to see who it was. My dad stood there, glaring at us. I pulled my hands away from Kevin's.

"Dad!" I exclaimed. "We were just–"

"Go home, Leah," he said, staring at Kevin.

I took a step toward him.

"Dad, what–"

His eyes shot to me, and I silenced. They were filled with … nothing. He looked at me with absolutely no emotion in his eyes. Like I wasn't even there.

"Go. Home," he said before looking back to Kevin. "I need to speak to Simon."

"Simon?" I asked. "No. His name is Kevin. You said–"

My father advanced on me so fast, I didn't even have time to blink before his palm connected with my face. The hit was so hard I fell to the floor, my hip slamming into the concrete. I cried out and found Kevin kneeling above me.

"You okay?" he asked, his eyes wild and chocked. He looked up at my father. "What's wrong with you? She's your daughter!"

My father scoffed.

"She's nothing," he said. "Karl, take her away."

I watched as Karl entered the cell, his hand outstretched. When I didn't take it, he reached down and grabbed my biceps, pulling me up from the floor.

"Come on, Kid. Just go," he said.

I stumbled as he pulled me with him, and looked back at Kevin. He met my eyes, and I could see the pity in them. Then, he looked at my father, his eyes turning cold instead.

"Hello, Simon," my father said. "It's nice to see you."

"Who are you?" Kevin – or, what is Simon really? – spat.

My father smiled at him.

"What do you think?" he said. "I want Saunders, Enright and Souza."

"Well, you're not getting them."

"We'll see about that," my father said.

He turned and looked at Karl.

"Didn't I say to take her away. Now!"

Karl tightened his grip on me and pulled me out of the cell.

"NO!" I yelled, but he was so much stronger than me, that I couldn't do anything but to let him drag me away.

My head twirled with thoughts about my father. The way he'd looked at me. They way he'd slapped me. I couldn't believe he'd done that. I knew he didn't love me, but I'd at least thought he felt something for me. But from what I'd just seen, I knew that wasn't the case. My father didn't love. He didn't hate. He thought nothing of me.

Tears sprang to my eyes and I screamed out all I could, thrashing within Karl's arms. I shot my elbow back, hitting him in the stomach, and he let go of me.

I didn't think. I just ran. But I didn't run away. I ran back. I rushed into Kevin's cell, pushed past my father and flung myself at the blonde guy. His eyes widened in surprise as I grabbed hold of him and I heard my father call out my name. I squeezed my eyes shut and thought of the first place that came to mind. I thought so hard, so intently, I actually acquired a headache.

And then … We were gone.