Fan Fiction |
by Jenny Tran
Around 8pm that same night, Erin decided to come early to speak to Dennis in private, she had discovered something but did not want to share it with everyone just yet. When she came there, she found Andrew and Reina already there. They appeared to be arguing from where Erin stood.
It was Andrew that saw Erin first as he quickly warned Reina and the two were now smiling at her “You guys are a little early.” Erin said casually.
Was Reina blushing? She looked at Erin with a shyness that she’s never seen before “Erin…I was going to ask you that.” She tried changing the subject.
Andrew on the other side was a bit cooler “Yeah…why are you so early?”
Erin shrugged “I had nothing to do, so I figured I come by early and do some more training. How about you two?”
Reina turned away while Andrew smiled “Nothing special.”
Erin looked at the two with suspicion “Are you two dating?”
Reina was about to open her mouth when Andrew answered for her “Yes…so you caught us…but please don’t tell the others yet. Reina’s a little shy.”
Erin smiled “I won’t. But I’m surprise she would chose you.” She gave Reina a wink of the eye.
“Hey, what’s that suppose to mean?” Andrew proclaimed with his hands on his hips.
“It’s whatever you want it to mean.” Erin teased. She saw that Reina’s head was still bowed with shyness as she began backing away “Well, I’ll leave you two love birds alone.”
After Erin was gone, Reina spun around to Andrew “Why did you tell her that?”
“Because it’s the truth.” Andrew insisted with a knowing grin “You like me and I like you, why should we hide it?”
“You know exactly why…” Reina grumbled “I would never live to hear the end of it if Mia found out.”
“But she won’t.” Andrew assured her. His eyes suddenly darted back and forth as if he knew someone was looking “Come on, let’s go talk somewhere else. It feels like there are eyeballs looking at us.” He reached out naturally and took her hand. Reina didn’t pull back as she let him lead her to a nearby café shop where they sat and continued their conversation.
***************
That night, everyone arrived on time while Mia strolled in about five minutes late with a box of carry out food. Dennis tapped his watch warning her about her tardiness. She only rolled her eyes and took a seat as she began opening her box and took a spoonful of rice and shoved it in her mouth. She didn’t notice that everyone was staring at her until she looked up. The food was balled up in her left cheek as she swallowed a bit and grumbled “What?”
Dennis raised an eyebrow at the girl “You know there is no food allowed during a meeting.”
Mia nodded “I know, but I’m so hungry, I didn’t even have time to eat earlier.”
He shook his head “Fine, it’s okay this time. But don’t make it a habit.” The group chuckled together while Mia continued to stuff her face. Dennis turned to everyone and cleared his throat “First off, I want to say how proud I am at how Erin and Brad worked together today. I won’t mention about the extra details but Brad, at least I’ll know who to count on for distraction.”
“Yeah…stick your tongue down her throat, that’ll shut her up.” Mia snorted with a mouthful of food.
Brad tilted his head at her “I didn’t want to do it, but I didn’t know what else to do.”
“You could have knocked her unconscious or said anything else. You didn’t have to kiss her.” Mia shook her head at him "If that's all you needed, I would have been able to provide you some good reliable lips." her eyes darted over to Erin but Brad did not catch that.
“Mia, that’s enough.” Dennis scolded “I’m sure Brad was not taking advantage of the situation, he just wanted to help Erin go free.” He turned to Erin who was quiet as can be “Erin, what did you discover?”
Erin looked up with dazed eyes and she quickly shook her head “I’m sorry Dennis, I wasn’t listening.”
“The boy.” Dennis frowned, it was unlike her to be so out of it.
“Oh right…” she nodded “Timmy seems to know a lot more than I gave him credit for. He seems to be really scared of Darren….” Her eyes traveled to Andrew “You saw it.”
Andrew nodded hastily “Yeah…I was there.”
“I think there’s more to this orphanage than meets the eye.” Erin concluded “Luckily, Timmy trusts me enough to tell me.”
“I found it more bizarre that Darren would know what all the kids names were.” Andrew ruffled his brows. “It’s kinda creepy if you ask me.”
Mia wrinkled her brows “Actually, I was very impressed. All this time we thought he was some rich, spoiled brat that tortures people for fun. But maybe deep down somewhere, he’s a really nice guy.”
“Yeah, maybe in hell.” Reina retorted and everyone turned to her “It’s really bizarre, I agree with Andrew. There’s really no reason why he would even bother to remember each kid’s name or their background unless he was trying to keep their identities hidden. Maybe it’s all made up. We don’t know this.”
Mia nodded “Exactly! We don’t know…so maybe we shouldn’t jump to conclusions.” She turned to Erin “What do you think?” she wanted to hear her opinion.
Erin was thoughtful “I was a bit impressed…but I do find it strange why he would remember the kids information.”
“What was inside that room?” Dennis asked.
“File drawers on all three walls. They were placed alphabetically and it appears to have all the orphans’ personal files in the past 20 years that the orphanage was built. My name was in there too.” She said with emphasis.
Reina leaned her arms on the table as she looked at Erin thoughtfully “What else did you find? It makes no sense why he would be so cautious of the room if all it was were files.”
“My thought exactly.” Erin pointed out “It’s still a mystery to us all.”
Brad was quiet up until then “Maybe we should go check it out.” He turned to Dennis “Do we have permission to go tonight?”
Dennis leaned back on his swivel chair as he crossed his arms “That’s a good idea. Maybe we will find something else. Why don’t you guys go change and get your headpieces ready. I’ll meet you guys back here before you take off.”
“How are were going to get inside?” Mia asked suddenly.
Erin smiled “Why, the key of course.” She pulled it out from her pocket “I already made a copy.”
In 15 minutes, the group met up again before they all left. The five were dressed in black suits with black gloves. The girls’ hair were tied up and they all wore the same dark glasses which hid most of their face. They were also night vision lenses so they could see in the dark yet they would not be recognizable if someone they knew were to see them.
“Everyone be careful and make sure you watch out for each other.” Dennis warned “I don’t have to remind you to use your code names.”
“But you just did.” Mia pointed out making the other four laugh.
“We’ve really got to do something about that mouth of yours.” Dennis shook his head with a laugh.
***********
The five took one car to the orphanage, each got out cautiously as they blended into the night. Erin got to the door while the other four turned to the streets to watch out for people. The door gave way when the key unlocked it “Come on.” She whispered.
“Capricorn, we’re in.” Brad advised.
“Good, now you guys split up, Erin and Brad, I want you two to head to the East Wing. Mia and Reina, you two head to the West Wing and stand guard for Naja, since she lives there with the kids. We can’t have her ruining our plans again. Andrew, I want you to stand guard at the door.”
“Yes Sir…” the group replied as they split up.
Brad and Erin rushed down the hallway with silent steps “How are we going to get in?” Brad asked.
Erin smiled as she pulled Timmy’s chain out of her pocket “I took it during the distraction today.” He nodded as she unlocked the door. They quickly pushed the door open and went inside. Brad closed the heavy door behind them, just in case someone were to come.
Brad instantly saw something different “Was this wall that close?” he pointed to the one opposite of the door.
Erin frowned as she measured the place with her footsteps “No…it seems to be pushed out.” The two walked up to the wall and noticed there was a secret passage visibly open.
“Capricorn, we found something…a passage way. Shall we continue?” Brad asked.
“Yes, go ahead. Be careful and watch out for Erin.” Dennis advised.
The two exchanged nods as they continued on, she pressed on her white flashlight and they noticed it was a stairwell leading down into the ground. The stone walls curved until they hit the bottom of the floor. Another passageway led to a maze. Erin looked up at Brad “Just like the practice maze.” She said softly.
“Follow me.” He nodded as he began the maze. After a while, they had finally hit the center. When they came upon a wall with two directions, the two turned to each other “Which side should I take?”
Erin was not sure as she shook her head, when she shown the light on the ground, she saw some tiny footsteps leading to the left “Right.” She said with her gut instincts. Brad frowned and Erin smiled “It’s too easy.”
Brad eventually nodded “You’re right.” The two walked to the right wall and they were taken around a full circle and then to another three way direction “Where now?” he was depending on her instincts.
“Split up?” she offered.
He shook his head “No…we can’t take the chance of losing each other. Let’s take the middle.” Brad instinctively reached for her hand as she let him take her. The walls were turning more narrow until it led to a small door only about 5 feet tall “Where do you suppose this leads to?”
“The harbor…” Erin smiled, she could smell the fishy waters and plus Timmy’s words rang a bell in her head. She reached down and tried the door but it wouldn’t budge.
“Try the key.” Brad suggested.
She nodded and placed the necklace in the keyhole, to her surprise it unlocked as the two opened the door. It led to a stairwell once again “Oh crap, she’s awake!!” Mia’s warning voice spoke through the ear pieces.
Brad and Erin paused when they could hear Reina and Mia racing for the door “Shit, Darren’s car!” This time it was Andrew that was in trouble “We can’t take the front door.” He warned when the girls met up with him.
“Where to?” Reina said while panting to keep her breath.
Dennis frowned “Take the east back exit. The alarm over there was cut off by Brad. Don’t let him see you guys.”
Erin and Brad turned to each other, it was out of their hands now. They could not help their friends, they weren’t even sure if they could return to the maze and still get out. Up the stairs was a small wooden door on the ceiling, it was like a basement. Brad pushed at the door roughly and it eventually gave way, he peeked his head up and notice not a single person was there, only the gentle crashing of the waves.
He quickly got out and pulled Erin after him. She spun herself in circles to pin point their exact locations “The beach?” Brad nodded as he closed the trap door and hid it with sand. “It’s deserted.” She pointed to a sign that said ‘no trespassing’.
“I wonder who owns this land.” Brad asked out loud.
Erin shook her head “We should get back.” She was about to turn and leave when Brad’s hand clasped over her wrist as he pulled her back.
“Erin…do you see that?” he pointed into the dark waters.
She squinted her eyes to concentrate on where he was pointing “What is that?” she saw something floating closer.
When he realized what it was, he turned to her solemnly “It’s a kid. Capricorn, we found a kid….he could be dead.”
“It could be a trap.” Dennis's expertise told him to be careful.
Erin found a few giant rocks nearby as she pointed to it. Brad nodded as the two hid behind it. After five minutes, the kid’s body floated onto shore. It was a boy, they could tell from his short hair. The two continued to look and when it seems no one would come to claim the body, Brad took matters into his own hands. He and Erin walked out as they approached the kid. “Timmy!” Erin gasped.
“Capricorn, it’s the kid earlier today.” Brad said through his speaker.
Erin pulled him into her arms “Timmy.” She shook at him but he was unconscious, she tested the vein on his neck and there was still a slow heart beat “He’s still alive.” She turned to Brad.
“Bring him back.” Dennis said.
Brad picked the kid up with ease as they looked for the quickest exit to the streets. Erin was on alert as she looked around for anybody that might have saw them. But the harbor was completely deserted. The three walked along the road until they caught a taxi on a night shift. They made it back to headquarters safely.