Chapter 10, The truth bomb, and a fight in the darkness
Frank felt Joe's knees buckle before the kid even realized they did, and he took on Joe's weight while struggling to stay standing himself.
His heart raced, but felt like it had stopped. His mouth grew dry in an instant, his eyes felt like they were bulging out of their sockets at what they were witnessing.
This couldn't be real.
"W-w-w-what the hell!" Tyler gasped.
"Did that… did that really just happen?" John squeaked.
In his arms, Joe trembled, but didn't speak, he took in short, shallow breaths that the others matched in abject horror.
They'd just watched Leo Adams be injected with a needle, convulse, and then dragged away unconscious… or dead… but no, no way, Frank refused to believe they'd just watched someone be…
No. No way.
"Fuck this place. FUCK this place man." John was starting to ramble, "No fucking way."
Tyler huffed and puffed, a panic attack starting, but Frank couldn't find it in himself to comfort the boy, not when he was struggling to stave off his own panic…
"Did they just kill him?"
Frank and the others swerved to look at Joe as he said that aloud, voicing what they were all thinking, and too scared to speak.
Tyler's breathing picked up a pace, and so did John's anxious ramblings, but Frank, finally finding himself as always when it came to Joe, just shook his head no, searching for his voice.
"They killed him. Fuck! They killed him." Oh great, now John was panicking also.
"No!" Frank said firmly, finally finding his voice and stopping the others in their panic. "No way, no they didn't kill him. They wouldn't do something so recklessly stupid outside in the open, where anyone could see it happen."
John rounded on him, "But they just did! They took that boy, and fucking injected him with a needle, right outside in the open!"
"B-b-but we pr-pr-probably weren't meant t-t-t-to see it." Tyler continued.
Joe shook hard against Frank, and when Frank looked down at his hands, he saw that he was shaking, too.
He squeezed Joe in a side hug, trying to provide them both with a little bit of comfort.
"I don't believe it." Frank said again, and looked straight at Tyler to try and help him calm down as well, "I won't believe it. Whatever they injected him with, it didn't kill him."
He had no proof of the matter, no way to actually show that Leo Adams wasn't dead. But he also had to hold onto the idea that he wasn't, because he wasn't sure any of them could handle it if they'd just witnessed something so horrific being done. He wasn't sure they'd be able to keep going, to keep fighting to get everyone out of there, if the leadership could so easily just kill them all, even in plain sight.
He had to hold onto the hope that what they were doing was important, and that allowing himself and his little brother to go through all of this, wasn't for nothing. He just had to, or else he'd fall apart like the rest of the campers seemed to be doing.
Looking at the three trembling boys, and thinking of the dulling in Brandon Montgomery's eyes and personality, Frank knew he had to be the strong one, and he knew they had to get this figured out, and quickly.
"We're going to solve this mystery, we're going to get everyone out of here." He said, and the confidence in his voice was enough to get everyone's attention on him, curious, shocked, and confused.
"Frank…" Joe tensed, somewhat of a warning in his voice, but Frank had already made up his mind.
They could trust these two, and Brandon. They were real friends, and were always there when it really mattered, even John. He was rough around the edges, and mysterious, but had shown up several times to support them when it mattered most.
This was a risk Frank was willing to take, knowing telling the others could benefit them, especially with sneaking around and brainstorming clues.
"Who are you?" John repeated again, still seeing right through the Hardy's oddities.
Joe tensed again, but then he met eyes with Frank, and saw his resolve, his decision to share the truth so obvious in his expression.
And Frank's heart melted when Joe gave him just the smallest of nods, letting him know he trusted him, 100% just like he'd promised. And that he trusted whatever decision he made.
Frank took a deep breath, "We've been lying to you guys, we're not…"
John suddenly stepped forward, and put his hand over Frank's mouth before he could continue. The look in his eyes showed surprise, but also, fear. And annoyance… of course there had to be a bit of that from John Parker too, or else he wouldn't really be John Parker, would he?
"Not here!" John hissed, "Not here, when we're surrounded by people, anyone could hear anything, who knows if the seniors are listening, or another snowflake willing to rat on anything they might hear."
Frank's eyes widened. Duh, how stupid could he get? John was right, this was not the place for any big revelation.
He looked over to Tyler, whose eyes were wide in shock, even before Frank could finish his sentence.
"Later, after dinner, let's meet in our room to discuss… whatever it is you were trying to say." John finished.
The Hardy boys nodded, and after a few seconds, so did Tyler, a steely resolve suddenly overtaking his trembling body, and showing his courage instead.
"Ok, tonight, after dinner." Joe confirmed, and Frank squeezed him tight again, helping him to get his footing once more, still shaking slightly, but with the same resolve they all held in that moment.
Because in that moment, there was no going back, not now that they'd all witnessed what they did together, and had all been through what they'd been through, together as well.
Back out in the yard, several whistles blew in succession, and loud voices, one of them belonging to Sergeant Boone, yelled at the campers to get back into their lines, as yard time was now over.
The boys all nodded to one another, and scampered out to join the lines, surprised to see Montgomery there, standing closer to the front, with barely a glance their way.
Frank and Joe went towards the back of the line with their friends, silently falling into place as they made their way towards the cafeteria for dinner. As they walked, flanked by counselors and sergeants both in front, and behind them, Frank heard the sound of their breaths, still a bit laborious with anxiety and shock, as they marched forward like soldiers.
Only the feel of Joe's breath on his neck since he was walking so close behind him, and the winter air that was growing cold, kept reminding Frank that they were ok. They were alive.
They would solve this.
At the cafeteria, they went to their normal table to eat dinner, freaked out to see how now, even the seniors stared at them as they walked through the line and to their table, and the other snowflakes avoided being close to them, parting for them like the red sea, just as the seniors had done for the green clothed boy, only it was out of fear and desperation not to be close to them, not out of respect or protection like it was for the green clothed kid.
Just great. Frank thought, sarcastically. More attention on us.
They did their best to ignore it, and settled around the circular table with their meals- this time overcooked pieces of chicken and cubed carrots and peas.
Montgomery, thankfully, sat down with them too. For a second there, Frank thought he saw Montgomery's eyes flicker to the seniors in fear before he sat down, but then he wasn't looking back at them anymore.
"Are you ok Brandon?" Joe wasted no time in asking, right after taking a bite of the dry chicken with a wince.
Everyone looked to Brandon, curious to see how he'd answer.
Frank looked down at his own food. It felt like his stomach was shrinking lately from the lack of substantial food they were being given, and all the stress. He was barely managing to eat half of his daily meals lately. Even now, the dry, salty chicken was not helping his appetite.
"I was w-w-w-worried w-when the ser-sergeant came to p-p-pick you up." Tyler said, and that immediately had Frank forgetting about his food again.
"You were picked up by one of the sergeants?" He asked, Brandon remained quiet, picking slowly at his dinner. Joe and Frank shared a look.
"Yeah." John answered for him, "Right before you numbskulls went to talk to the seniors, a sergeant came over and asked for Brandon to follow him."
All eyes were on Brandon Montgomery.
"Yeh, I'm fine." Brandon said, subdued.
This time all of the others exchanged worried glances.
Why wasn't Brandon jumping off the walls? Raving about how good the food was? Talking about how grueling the drills were while also beaming like he was the happiest person on the planet?
Just what the heck was wrong with Brandon Montgomery?
"There was just some… paperwork, I had to fill out." He continued. To them, he now sounded as indifferent as John Parker did, no sign of any big emotions, good or bad.
And sure, they'd only known each other for a few days, but with everything that happened, and how much time they spent together 24/7, it felt like they'd known each other for years.
And, it felt like they were watching a best friend lose himself, right before their eyes.
And what kind of paperwork would require pulling someone aside for? Frank thought, making a mental note for his awesome detective notebook later.
Brandon wouldn't answer any of their questions after that, just finished his food, and then asked Frank if he could finish his as well.
Frank didn't hesitate to give Brandon the latter half of his meal, ignoring a concerned look from his little brother. At least there was still some Brandon left inside the dull boy they so quickly saw appear the day before. If Frank could help preserve that, then of course he would…
Not to mention the food sucked, so he wasn't upset to hand it over to someone else and not have it be his problem anymore.
As dinner came to a close though, Frank had to squeeze at his eyes with his knuckles, trying to release a growing pressure behind them. His migraine, that he'd somehow managed to stave off every time it started to show up lately, was coming.
And he wasn't so sure he'd be able to stop it this time, getting sleep and eating good food was one of the only ways to keep a migraine from going full blown. That, and medicine that wasn't provided here, and he didn't dare venture to the nurse's office to ask for.
The only thing keeping the migraine from getting so bad the last few days was the small bouts of sleep he'd managed to get, but even that didn't seem to be enough anymore.
So because of that, he wasn't surprised when Joe pulled him to the side right before they entered Frank's room to talk, for a minute.
"You guys c-c-c-oming?" Tyler asked, as he was about to sneak into their room with John holding the door open for them.
"Yeah, just a second, I want to talk to Frank about something real quick." Joe did not seem happy.
Frank suppressed a sigh. The last thing he needed right now was for Joe to be worrying about him, but it seems he already was.
"Ok, but hurry up." John hissed, "The patrolling of the hallways will start soon, and if you don't get in here quick, we'll lose our chance to talk."
The Hardy's nodded as John closed the door behind the others, Brandon looked confused, and Frank hoped they would explain things to him now so they didn't have to repeat the mess of what they'd seen out loud again.
"Frank, is a migraine coming on?" Joe asked him, concern first and foremost in his voice.
Well there was no reason to hide it now. They didn't make it a habit of lying to one another.
"Yeah." Frank answered, a little pathetically. "Honestly, I've felt it starting to come on for a few days now, but have managed fine until now, tampering it down with sleep."
"But that's not working anymore?" Joe's concern was growing.
Frank opened his mouth to speak again but Joe interrupted him.
"Wait of course it isn't, you haven't been eating." Now Joe sounded angry.
I always forget how observant you can be little brother. Frank thought, at the exact same time that he felt surprised that Joe noticed.
"C'mon Joe that's not true, I've been eating…"
"Yeah but not much!" Joe lectured, and Frank sighed.
"I'm fine, Joe, the food here just isn't good, and I've been preoccupied.."
"C'mon man!" Joe interrupted yet again, "You always do this, as soon as a case gets more intense, you stop taking care of yourself to solve it. You've gotta stop doing that."
Now Frank was getting frustrated as well.
"I don't do that Joe, you're making me sound like a preschooler who can't take care of his own needs!"
"Yeah well…"
They heard the sounds of marching around the corner, and immediately their argument ended, with a shared startled look between them.
The sergeants and counselors! They'd be starting their patrols right around now.
Without another thought about it, they quickly slipped into Frank's room…
To very weirded out looks from their friends.
Right. They'd been arguing. Right outside the door.
Well whatever, they were going to tell the others the truth anyways. It would hopefully make things a lot easier.
They all looked at each other for a minute before John Parker finally broke the silence, "Ok. So, what was it you were going to tell us earlier?"
Straight to the chase then. Very Parker-like. At least he had the decency to not mention the embarrassing argument the brothers had right within earshot a second ago.
Joe, apparently still annoyed at Frank and not willing to let it go quite yet, spoke up before Frank had the chance to.
"Listen, what we're going to share is serious. We need to really be able to trust you with this."
Tyler's eyes widened, and so did Brandon's, but they both nodded in response. John Parker just rolled his eyes.
"Just spill the beans Carter, or Joe, or whatever your name is." He gave them a strange side eye.
"Joe Hardy. My name is Joe Hardy." He pointed to Frank, "And this is my older brother, Frank Hardy."
Everyone gasped, even John.
"O-o-o-oh!" Tyler exclaimed, after a minute of very tense silence, "T-t-t-that explains s-s-so much!"
Frank couldn't stop a forming blush… yeah…. He wasn't exactly perfect at being an undercover pretend stranger to Joe.
"Wait what?" Brandon spoke up, and his face was as white as a sheet.
John Parker though, had recovered from his gasp, back into his mask of indifference.
"We're undercover detectives from Bayport." Joe continued, and even though he wouldn't look at Frank from still being annoyed with him, Frank was fine with letting his younger brother be the one to try and explain things. "We were sent here to try and uncover what's happening with the boys who've gone missing, and find evidence to shut down this shithole for good."
"W-w-wait, wh-what? Th-th-that's so cool." Tyler beamed, having managed to go through the emotions of shock, understanding, and admiration in just a few seconds. "Y-y-y-ou guys a-a-are t-t-teenager but pr-pr-professional detectives t-t-t-too?!"
Now Frank was smiling too, they were used to being known around Bayport, and it was widely known and accepted locally what they do, and not really questioned or even talked about. It was admittedly a really good feeling to be appreciated and admired a little.
"Well, it's not really professionally." Frank shrugged, "We just help out the police with their cases sometimes and my dad, since he is retired from the police force and is a private detective now."
"That's literally what professionally means." John rolled his eyes, yet there was something new there too, something closer to respect.
Brandon still sat stock still, as white as sheet.
Frank frowned, beginning to feel a bit concerned.
"S-s-s-s-so, you're here t-t-t-to save everyone th-then." Tyler looked at them like they were superheroes from a comic book.
Now Joe was blushing, too.
"Well, I guess so. Hopefully." He shrugged, and Frank smiled warmly at seeing Joe so bashful. Not an emotion that crossed his lil bro's face very often.
John Parker rolled his eyes again, but nodded. "We can work together then."
Frank frowned, "What do you mean…?"
John scoffed, "What do you mean, what do I mean?" He scanned the room and saw everyone looking at him with confusion, and he sighed. "I'm not just here for shits and giggles, you know. I'm here to try and take this place down too."
Well…. that was unexpected.
"Y-y-y-y-ou're a d-d-d-detective too?" Tyler was in awe.
"Hah, no, hardly. I'm not undercover or working with the police or some shit. But I am here cause…"
Suddenly, before John could continue… all the lights shut off, and they were left standing in complete darkness.
"Frank…?" Joe called out in worry.
"W-w-w-what the heck…?" They heard Tyler gasp.
"Who fucking turned off the lights?" John cursed.
Brandon said nothing.
As Frank's eyes struggled to adjust to the dark, he took deep breaths. This was weird, definitely weird. In the few days they'd been there, there had never been any issues with the power.
Something wasn't right.
"The door, it won't open!" Joe cried, and Frank didn't like the sound of anxiety he could hear in his little brother's voice. "It's locked!"
Frank cursed under his breath. He had to take control of the situation.
"Stay calm guys. Let's meet in the left corner of the room, near the door." He said, hoping his voice didn't convey any of the fear he was beginning to feel. "Meet there, so we can protect each other if something weird is happening, and come up with a plan."
There was a shuffling of footsteps, heavy panicked breathing, then Frank felt a hand grasp tightly onto his arm in the darkness, a familiar grasp.
"Joe." Frank breathed a sigh of relief, even as other footsteps got closer.
"This fucking place…" John mumbled as he came over too.
"I tried flipping the light switch several times." Joe announced, "Nothing."
"Here, I'll try to-"
The sound of a door crashing open to a very dark hallway, and a scream interrupted them. Frank got into fighting stance, shoving Joe behind him and who he assumed was Parker, as well.
But it didn't make much difference.
With no way to see, the heavy breathing in the room… and another terrified scream that sounded very much like one of their friends…
Frank didn't see it coming.
The kind of hit to his head that was so hard, it would've made him see stars… if he could see anything at all in the darkness.
In just one second flat, Frank was knocked out.
A quick struggle, a terrified cry from the younger Hardy, and suddenly the room went quiet.
Not that anyone was awake to hear it.
By the time the lights finally flickered on, and John Parker, Joe, and Frank Hardy were starting to come to with collective pained groans…
Tyler Hall and Brandon Montgomery, were nowhere to be seen.
Gone, as if they'd never been there at all.