Realistic or Modern Gone But Not Forgotten

[Jupiter]

Eddie shook his head. "If you'd tried to run you'd be dead. Right now, we're alive. That matters. And I have a feeling there's a certain number of us that they want. They'd just kidnap someone else in your place."

"Wouldn't be my problem." Bill tutted, but then sighed. "Kids right. We're alive, but not got a clue for how long for."

"The point is we're alive for now. If we just... Keep doing what they say, you never know. You're more likely to live if you comply, if you don't comply then they're going to kill you quicker before you can even think of trying to get out, because you'll just stress them out too much. Just do what they want, and they'll be happy. If we die in the end, at least we died trying." Eddie raised his eyebrows.

"An awful lot of words of warning from someone who only just got here," said Bill, "know something we don't?"

"No." Eddie looked from him, to the girl again, to the two other men. The older men. "We're nowhere close by either. There's a centre point, probably, from where we've all been taken. It depends. How long were you in the car for? Did you stay at the same place with the Chinese guy? Wait, no, how long did it take you to get to there. That's where we should start. I'm from Washington, Maryland. It took me... God, I'd say five or six hours for me to get to that guy. Maybe seven or eight, but thats maximum. I went missing at around 3pm, but I don't know what time I got there. It was night, but I definitely didn't miss a day. So wherever that place was, if you guys took longer getting to it... Means that's the centre point, and wherever we are is less than a day from there."

The girl finally spoke. "I was taken from Las Vegas..."

It explained the outfit.

"It took me a few days to get to him." She looked down through thick eyelashes.

"New York. I was there the same day I was taken. I was taken right after work." Bill raised his eyebrows.

 

[DrTrollinski]

"Well, shit." Riley said, "Vegas? They took someone from Vegas and it took that long to get here? Doesn't sound like there's any central point." He said, "Can one of the Yanks in the room kindly explain what their opinion is in all of this?" He asked. "I don't know the Geography of this place well enough. Australia's different. You've got 80 miles of desert between most towns." He said. "It's a little different here."

James frowned, "If the three of us only took... Within eight hours to get here, then we can't be that far away from the middle of the country, to be honest. Probably more central eastern, though." He said. "It would have taken us all five or six hours to get here from the Chinese guy's place, so we can pinpoint at least where his one is." He said. "I'm going to say Ohio, maybe Indiana." He said, "That's the most central place I can think of, and if the majority of us are being taken from the North East of the country... That makes the most sense. The journey time just about works out that way."

"You look like the road trip type, James. You done the cross-country shit before?" Riley asked.

"I have."

"Then all this seems too easy. We all went to the Chinese guy's place, and presumably, it was no different for any of us. It feels too easy to pinpoint things that way." He said, "Is this something that prick upstairs wants us to be able to figure out? Give us some stupid sense of false hope?" He asked. "Even if we did know where we were... Hell, even if we knew exactly where we were, we wouldn't be able to do much with that. So we're just lulling ourselves into comfort here." He said.

He sat down on the floor instead.

"Enough of that talk." He said, "Eddie, may as well get to know a bit more about the newbie, I suppose." He said, "You got family out there that'll look for you? Anyone they might ask ransom from?" He asked.

 

[Jupiter]

Eddie listened to them. He didn't feel so hopeless as he felt that they did. They seemed hell bent on having everything be for a reason, for a purpose, the idea that it had to help in the long run. Eddie didn't know how he could do anything with the information, but he didn't feel like the people got his theory like he did. But he didn't have to say anything, not yet. He figured he could leave it a while, however long they were in there for, and slowly bring his theory into fruition.

Right now, it was as follows.

They weren't spread the whole way across the country. This was a North Eastern thing, this was based there. And there couldn't be more than one, or the girl from Vegas would have been taken to one that was more in her location rather than days away. He was silent as they spoke about false comfort. He didn't need to do anything with the information yet. He knew, from this, that people weren't picked randomly. It didn't make sense that a FBI agent's son could be targeted, knowing his exact location. For all they knew, no one could have been in that park at all, and his theory that this was some kind of experiment meant that each person here shared a desired quality, so it couldn't be as random as it was.

It meant that the scouters, which Eddie decided he would call them now, were all over the country. Vegas. Washington. Nashville. New York. Atlanta. He couldn't remember where. But it meant that they scouted for people with the same quality all around the whole of the US. He already knew it was a large organisation, so this only helped to amplify that knowledge.

So wherever they were was a days drive away from the North East. Figuring out the first location if he had the right resources might be easier.

Chinese restaurant in North East, at least a day or so away from Las Vegas, and he knew the hours from New York, from his home too. He knew their faces. He'd have to do a search, or rather, the FBI would have to do a search on Chinese Restaurant owners and their families in the North East of America a certain distance away from these places. The first location could be potentially found that way. The second... Within a days drive away. The issue there was... He didn't know the direction. At least with the first location, if he had a map, he could figure out the central point where their hours would line up, where the lines would cross.

He didn't need this information now, and it didn't comfort him. But it was something he tucked into the back of his mind. Because, if, like the girl, he ever got out... Then he'd need to remember everything he could to bring them down.

He snapped out of it when they said his name again. Bill had been watching him quietly for some time, and eventually he slid down and sat on the floor, looking up at him. The girl, who still hadn't mentioned her name, stayed leaning against the wall, half in the shadows. Eddie stayed stood where he was. He hadn't moved since he had stood up from where he had been knocked over.

"Huh? Oh. My dad. My dad will look for me. And I don't think he'll ever stop." Eddie sighed. "But I don't think these guys are after ransoms. My family isn't made of money. Not like..."

He didn't continue, but in his head he was thinking of the business man. Bill, even. He seemed like he might have some cash. He'd be a likely good kidnapee for a ransom, a rich father willing to pay. Judging by her career choice, he was presuming that the girl wouldn't be able to pay ransom either. "I just have a feeling it's not for a ransom."

After a small moment of consideration, he spoke again.

"How did they get you?"

Bill scoffed. "We said no more of that talk."

Eddie wasn't one to hold his tongue. "I'm presuming we have all the time in the world to talk about our daily lives, when we shit and when we piss and when we eat, but I'm also presuming we don't have long till shit hits the fan. We'll want that talk more then, than now."

 

[DrTrollinski]

"There's not shit I can give." Riley said, "Random would be a stupid thing to ask from me. But I'm a backpacker, mate. What makes me so interesting?" He asked. "I've not been in the country for more than a few months. They could easily find someone a lot richer and a lot more interesting than me." He said, "It took them four guys to wrestle me into a van or whatever it was they put me in. Four of them. Even had to get the driver involved." He said, "I don't get why they'd make so much effort and go through so much trouble to grab someone who's just a nobody." He rubbed his face. "We're all stressed out in here. We haven't seen daylight in too long now. There's nothing I wouldn't give to have even one breath of fresh air again."

"It was the same sort of thing for me." James said. "I was walking along, someone called out for me... Some guy, he stopped and asked me for the time. Before I knew it, someone put a taser to my back, or something." He said, "I was on the floor in no time, bag over my head, and shoved in the back of a... Van, or something. There were a few of them, all guys." He said, "One had a weird accent. I couldn't put my finger on it, and... Well, there was a Russian man, too." He said. "It's all a little blurry. I didn't see it all coming, and when you get electrocuted you tend to stop paying attention to what people sound like." He said. "I think I was so panicked that I didn't even pay attention to what was going on for the first half the journey."

Riley rubbed his face with both hands, rather aggressively, "I don't get it. If these guys don't want ransom, what do they want?" He asked. "Are they suddenly going to stop feeding us one day and just watch as we tear each other apart to survive?"

"Jesus, Riley, don't give them any ideas. He might be listening."

"Well, right now, whether or not they stop feeding me is the least of my concerns, James."

 

[Jupiter]

Eddie nodded as he listened. Right. So Riley was wrestled into the van, off the bat? Not distracted? He wasn't sure that one added up, but he didn't say anything. He'd have time. And James... He was distracted in the same way that Eddie was, well, in the way that they got something that they knew would grab their attention. Maybe Riley wasn't the kind of guy who'd stop for someone who needed help. Eddie made sure to make that mental note stick in his head. Don't trust Riley. He might only look out for himself. At least James would be someone that might help someone else.

"What about you two?"

Bill spoke first. "I just finished work, I was gonna go home to my girlfriend. I got a phone call from an unknown number just as I got to my car, in a multi-storey. I thought it might be something important for work, so I answered it. There was static, and then, just like that, bam. Hood over my head, being dragged to a van or something. I couldn't see it, should have seen it parked near my car. If it's as filthy a van as I imagine, it would have stood out in the place I was in."

So he was a workaholic. They knew he'd check his phone, if he thought it was work.

"And you?" Eddie gestured to the girl.

She shrugged her shoulders. "I went out for a cigarette right before my show. I figured I had time. Some guy out there, he asked if I had a light. I offered it out and then... Well. We all know the rest."

"Right. They distracted pretty much all of us. Which means they picked us. They could have picked anyone else, but they picked us. We definitely aren't random. I don't know what it might be, and I mean, all of what I'm spouting might be absolute bullshit, but... Theorising has been the only thing getting me through this..." He mumbled the last part. He was doing it, and he realised now, because it reminded him of his dad. Because he wanted to be like him, because he was sure that Marc would be able to get straight out of this situation. "I don't know what they want. What were you guys like... With the Chinese man? What did you talk to him about? Did you even talk?"

"And by the sounds of things, we all had the same guy, in the van, if we all had the Russian man, or the one who wasn't American, at least..." He got a few nods from Bill and the girl. "That's why we're so spaced out, and not all at once. It's a process. Find them, abduct them, take them to the Chinese guy, bring them here... I don't know what it means, but I don't... I have a feeling there's going to be more. Five is too odd of a number, one girl is too skewed a graph... It wouldn't add up. It wouldn't give them good results." He was pacing now, theorising, messing with his hair.

Bill looked like he wanted to hit him to shut him up. Things had been quieter before he got here. He glanced over at Riley, and James. What did they think?

 

[DrTrollinski]

"So everyone's been targetted in one way or another, for whatever reason. That's what you're saying." James said. He set his head back against the wall and shut his eyes. "I want to believe it, I really want to believe that we're not just being snatched to be cut up and baked into pies - but it all seems too far-fetched." He said. "I don't understand what makes us so desireable, if we aren't picked at random. I'm just... Well. Me." He shrugged, "There's no secrets that I'm hiding. I don't have any secret stashes of diamonds - hell, I don't even have that many friends. There's no one out there that could have something against me. At least, not as far as I'm aware." He scratched his head.

He looked at Riley. "They didn't distract you, like they did with us?"

"Nope."

"So... What happened?"

"Just got jumped one night, somewhere it was quiet. I travel about a lot, mate. I'm never in one place for more than a few days. Which is why them taking me is strange. Are you telling me they had someone following me across four or five different states? I find it hard to believe. And it's certainly not like I went around looking for trouble. Sure, I got in a few bar fights here and there, but getting in a fight doesn't usually end in you being locked up in a bathroom in an abandoned building."

He paused, "Then again, you Americans are a weird lot. This might be how a lot of you do things." He thought for a moment more, "That's another thing - why the Chinese fella'?" He asked. "What's the point of him even being a part in this? Is it just to throw us off? Maybe it's meant to be easy to figure out where he apparently is, so that way it's harder to tell where we are. None of us have the slightest clue, right? We can't even say what state we're in now. Just somewhere near a big city, out in the middle of nowhere. That sounds like every state in this country."

He gave a bitter laugh, "It's not like that guy even said anything of use to me, anyway. Gave me a talk of how I wasn't the first and I'm not the last - I just thought I was being sold into some sort of slave market, or that I'd wake up the following morning missing a kidney, or something."

 

[Jupiter]

Eddie still didn't trust him, and he was still pacing. Bill twitched, but stayed sat down.

"He's probably easy to track and it's probably that every single other person who came here figured that out. So I'll disregard that for now. Or maybe he wants us to disregard that. I don't know." He muttered, and eventually he stopped and put his hand on the wall, palm flat. He wasn't going crazy, but his mind was in overdrive. There was no way out, and he knew that much. He knew he needed to check every single part of this place for something that could mean something.

But someone had already done it before.

The whole thing was being relived. Someone had done it before - in every scenario, there was nothing Eddie could do that hadn't already been done and figured out. They'd danger proofed themselves from every angle. Who knew how many years these experiments had been going on? Did Eddie want to reveal that he had the theory that they were experiments? Did he want to panic them? Did he want to compromise something, and get killed for it?

He thought about the things he knew. That prison experiment, he couldn't remember the name. That got out of hand in just, what, two days? He couldn't remember. But it didn't take long.

If it was an experiment, it was probably dire news.

He didn't have any more theories. He slid down the wall and put his back to the rest of them, resting his head against the cool wall, shutting his eyes and taking a deep breath. Trapped.

"There has to be something connecting us. It's either something we all have in common, or something thats vastly different. But I don't know for sure. I know as much as you."

Bill finally spoke. "Hey, kid, do you wanna lay off and relax? We've probably all thought these things a thousand times, and each time someone comes in I reckon we probably have the same repetition of last time. I get you're scared, but there ain't nothing we can do. And I don't think we're connected, or that this is anything other than some sick and cruel game which we won't win."

The girl moved away from where she was stood and walked to the opposite corner, much more in the light. She didn't speak, but she moved over to Eddie and rested a hand atop his wild haired head. "Relax. We have all the time in the world." Her voice wasn't American, but it wasn't far off. Like she'd moved here, a long time ago, from somewhere else. Eddie just kept his eyes shut. He wanted his mom.

 

[DrTrollinski]

"Let's just all relax." James chipped in again. "None of us want to go through any crazy considerations. Worrying about things isn't going to help any of us." He said. "Let's just wait and see what happens. For all we know there's going to be more people coming. They might give us the answers we're looking for."

"I say fuck that. I don't have anything in common with any of you." Riley said. "I'll stay calm - but I don't want anyone putting ideas in my head that we're connected in some fucked up way."

He looked across the room, "And Bill, go easy on Eddie. Guys barely got a hair on his chin - he's probably younger and more scared than all of us combined. Just like us, he wants out." He said.

He sat back again.

What a miserable fucking time this was going to be.

 

[Jupiter]

Eddie just shook his head. There was no way this was random, but if Riley wanted to sit back and think that he was just a victim of opportunity, then Eddie wasn't going to stop him. He wondered how many people would arrive. So far, there were five. He could reckon six would be a number, or eight, but nothing odd. You can't compare odd variables, he figured. And everything the Chinese man had said pointed to this being an experiment of some kind... Or at least in Eddie's mind it did.

He wondered how many people had died for this certain set of people to get here together. They wouldn't stop the experiment with an odd number and let that be it, one failing out before they even got there... If someone died, surely they had a back up plan.

God, he didn't know what to think. Maybe it would be best to push those thoughts away for now, and think about surviving instead.

Bill sighed, and shrugged his shoulders.

The girl sat down on the floor next to Eddie, who still had his head against the wall.

His mind was still trying to search for connections, no matter how much he tried to push that away.

A good few minutes passed before he, or any of mine at least, decided to speak again.

"How old are you then?" Bill finally asked him.

Eddie moved his head slightly, tilting it to look in the direction of Bill. "16."

Bill tutted. "Sick fucks. He's just a child, why would they do that to someone? Us, I can get, we're older, but kids?"

"The only thing that makes a child is their mind. Perhaps Eddie is wiser than he seems." The girl spoke out. Definitely a European tinge to her voice, somewhere like... Eddie couldn't put his finger on it. France? Italy? Romania? God, he didn't know.

 

[DrTrollinski]

"I don't think they're taking intelligence into account here. Just look at me." Riley smirked a tiny bit. "But it does worry me. What if someone even younger than Eddie gets brought in here? What if this is some sort of... Jesus, what if there's a pedophile on their way here right now?"

"Now that is crazy." James said.

"Is it, though? We've got a high school student, a geographer, a survivalist backpacker, a businessman, a showgirl... How do we know we won't end up with some fucked up baker's dozen?" He asked. "What if they bring some little kid in here, or some young teenager? Then we'll know it's even more fucked up."

"People care a lot more about kids going missing than adults. Eddie's going to draw in enough attention, I'm sure."

"That doesn't mean anything." Riley said. "Do they really have limits?" He asked. "Eddie, you said your dad won't stop looking for you, right? I sure hope he knows what he's doing." He said.

 

[Jupiter]

It wasn't what she meant, but she supposed they were too stupid to understand. She just folded her hands neatly in her lap and stared at the men. Bill stared back at her, then at Eddie, and then scoffed before looking at the other men. The one's he identified with, in age, only slightly, but he was older than he seemed, he had been thrown into a business world without a childhood. He'd had to grow up pretty quickly. Three men, one boy, one woman.

"Fucked up bakers dozen..." Bill repeated, and nodded his head. "Don't say that. Next thing you know they'll want us to have some sick orgy."

The lady grimaced. She hadn't volunteered her name yet, not to anyone. She had got here before Riley, but she hadn't mentioned her name.

Eddie finally turned away from the wall and looked at Riley, and nodded in response. But did he mention that his father was an FBI agent? God, no. The only person who needed to know that information was himself. He was sure his actual kidnappers probably knew as well, they probably knew every single thing about each of the people here... And it probably meant something that they had got Eddie. They maybe knew he would never be found, even if his dad was an agent indeed.

"There'll be someone younger." He finally spoke again. "When I was taken... It was a girl. She was about 12. She got me distracted and they got me then, but I spoke to the Chinese guy. She wasn't one of their people, but... She seemed familiar, like I knew her face. Probably that she went missing and her picture was blasted everywhere. They used her to get me... Maybe traded her out." Maybe she won. He didn't say that part. "But if they've used kids before... They'll probably use them again."

 

[DrTrollinski]

"Don't worry. I'd sooner die than be forced to shag someone under the age of eighteen." Riley said.

".. Good to know..." James scratched the back of his head.

"If there's gonna' be more of us, it's gonna' be chockers in here, ain't it?" He said, "And if it does lead to some bloody weird orgy, this is some fucked up kinda' foreplay, huh?" He said, and finally, he laughed. He was clearly joking. Maybe it was inappropriate for the moment, but... James smiled.

Sometimes, you can either choose to laugh or cry.

May as well laugh when you have the chance. They didn't know how soon they'd find themselves in a spot where they never wanted to laugh again.

"Seriously, though..." James said. "Maybe if we take things one step at a time, don't get ahead of ourselves..." He nodded, "Maybe we'll be okay. Let's not assume the worst. Things can't get much worse than this, I hope. So let's just wait and see what happens."

"So, if everyone who baited us was one of the people that played this... Game at some point... That would indicate that some of us might survive, right?"

"It also indicates that some of us might not." James said. "Remember, no one baited you."

"True." He said, "Anyways, enough of that. Let's make sure we're all on the same page here - We all know names. Except for one person." He said, then slowly spun on his heel and pointed off at the girl for a few seconds. "Mrs. Monroe, I'm sure we'd all love to know your name. Don't get me wrong, but, 'The Showgirl' sounds like a rude reference for you. We're practically housemates now."

 

[Jupiter]

Eddie shut his eyes and leaned his head against the wall again, this time with his back to it. He already knew not everyone would survive. He didn't even know for sure if his father hadn't connected the dots and found her yet, and if he had, he was sure that she'd be dead this time tomorrow. So they'd never truly be alive again, he supposed, if they came out of this.

But being alive, even only slightly, he figured, was better than being dead. One day he could overcome the trauma caused by this. Or maybe one day he would kill himself. Maybe he'd kill himself in here, if he was here too long.

He wasn't sure he could do that to his father.

But yes, all were curious to the name of the girl overdressed, though in his head Eddie had been referring to her as The Woman, or The Lady. He didn't know how else to refer to her. He still had it like this: The Businessman. The Tourist. The Woman. The Teenager. The... He was unsure about James.

"I don't want to tell anyone my name yet." She said.

"Oh, come on. We told you about ours." Bill complained, annoyance clear on his face. "It's not like we can use it against you or anythin', we're all stuck here together, may as well get to know each other."

She looked uncertain. "You will forgive me for not trusting the situation."

"They probably already fucking know your name, princess." Bill gestured around. "It's not going to be new information to them."

She furrowed her eyebrows in response and tutted. "Elizabeth-Jane."

 

[DrTrollinski]

"Oh, we've got a Lizzy in our ranks. At least we know the name now." Riley sat down, "Okay, just so we know we can trust each other in here, we're going to be completely straight. If it is planned, then yeah, they know all this shit already." He said. "Shame we don't have a guitar or somethin' down here. Then again, I suppose we could hang ourselves with the strings if we had one of those, right? Probably the reason my laces were taken from my shoes. Don't want us roping ourselves."

"What a visual." James said.

The Traveler was a good one for James, too. He'd backpacked across America, apparently, and so far his history and what he did in his everyday life was a little bit of a secret. He didn't seem reluctant to speak about it, but... He wasn't rushing to talk about it, either.

Each to their own. At least he was talking. At least he was agreeable.

"I think anything that ain't an exposed toilet and vandalized bathroom would be nice right now." Riley let himself slide down the wall until he was flat on his back. "Maybe one day this wanker will give us a blanket or two, too."

"He might be listening, Riley."

"I hope he is."

"It can't just be one man in this place. He was in a mask. What if they have more than one mask?"

"James, mate, don't start this shit now. I don't want to imagine an army of clowns. I hate the fuckin' things."

"Sorry, sorry." He chuckled once and held up his hands. "Look, let's just... Settle. All of us. We're all in the same spot so we have no reason not to trust each other for now." He said, "You never know. We might have someone we know find us. We've all gotta' have someone out there that'll look for us, right?"

"Don't speak so soon." Riley mumbled, then put his hands behind his head and shut his eyes. "Eddie, mate... Was it dark out there?" He asked.

Yes. It was dark. They'd have to get used to not knowing the time pretty quick. Well, at least Eddie would.

 

[Jupiter]

Eddie didn't trust any of them. He wanted to, he wanted to believe that he was safe, but he just had some gut feeling. Don't trust them. Not till the end.

Once, Eddie had watched a movie called The Circle. A movie where not much happens, one where all the characters are stood on their own red circle, in a bigger circle. Anyone steps off their circle, they die. They have to use their hands to vote for who dies each round, each round is about two minutes long. I don't want to spoil it, but I don't think you'll watch it anyway.

There are young and old, smart and not as smart. Liars. Innocents. The youngest is an eleven, at most, year old girl. The oldest is a man who is probably seventy. They kill the old first. Less time. Then the ones who have commit crimes, or the ones who look shady. They vouch to protect the child and a pregnant woman, carrying new life.

A boy, twenties at most, helps calm the situation down. Helps to choose, logically, who to kill. In the end, he, a young child, and the pregnant woman, are facing off. He tells the child that the most logical thing to do is to let the mother and child live. Two lives for the new world. In the end, he says, someone has to step off their circle and sacrifice themselves to save her. He convinces the child that they will step off together.

But they don't. He bides his time until his vote passes through for the woman to die, and right as the child steps off the podium and is brutally murdered, the woman meets the same fate.

The ultimate victor is him.

Eddie knew that life was like that. Don't trust anyone, especially not when they may have to kill you later on.

"Yes. It was night time."

 

[DrTrollinski]

"Well, fuck it. I might as well sleep." He said, "G'night."

And that was all.

He went quiet.

Would Eddie really manage to sleep tonight, though? Everyone else, maybe, but him? He was going to struggle with just getting comfy, so that wasn't exactly ideal. But he'd have to cope, I suppose. Not like he was going anywhere.

--

Back home, Marc had taken them back to the house and was now sat in the living room on his laptop.

"I'm calling in some friends of mine." He said, "They'll be able to help us. If a van left that area of the city at around that time, then we can try and track it on the CCTV, maybe get a license plate, see what direction it was heading in." He said. "If we can track it down to that sort of level, we might be able to get a rough idea of where he went. It depends how far we can follow the van for. We need to follow one that drives consistently. Heads onto the highway and keeps going. It'll be hard to keep track of, but, if they're stupid enough, there might be a real name registered to the van. That means we can get an even more centralized location." He said.

"Neither of you noticed a van hanging around by the school? That's obviously where Eddie spent most of his time. Most kidnappings on minors are planned to some extent. You notice anyone hanging around the school at all?" He asked.

 

[Jupiter]

Eddie sighed and watched him for a moment. How could someone sleep so easily in a situation like this? He just watched him lay down and... He couldn't imagine he'd be able to. He'd feel guilty for being able to. But then again... He had slept last night, and the fear was fresh then. This was new fear of course, but if he had been able to sleep yesterday... He supposed yesterday was a lot more exhausting today, with how much he fought to get away, struggled, how much violence he had that day.

And he didn't want to sleep, because when he woke up he wouldn't know what time it was. Or what day it was. Not until someone else came by...

"Are you okay?" Bill stared at Eddie, he himself had now laid down with his business man jacket under his head. Eddie felt that was slightly selfish. He couldn't imagine that Elizabeth was very warm, with her get up. And yet he was using it as a pillow.

"As okay as I can be." He mumbled.

He didn't want to be yelled at for keeping anyone awake, though, so he just leaned his head back again and shut his eyes. Elizabeth, still sat next to him, eventually shut her own.

It would be a long night.

-

Back with Marc's lot, Milo had nipped across the road to get changed into new clothes, and say hello to his mother, show her he still existed beyond a hurried text message. He'd left Shelley with Marc, who had showered in one of his bathrooms, and when she came out Milo was sat there once again, across from the more mature of the three. He chucked her a jacket to go over her cheerleading outfit, and she finally slipped it on. Cold, now. Less proud.

The investigation began again.

"No. We didn't notice anything, me and Eddie at least. We... Well. The day he got taken, we weren't exactly around for the end of the school day." Maybe new information. Milo had never mentioned that they skipped school that day, after the events at lunch time. "What about you?"

"Nothing." Shelley admitted, and let out a sigh. "I don't... I don't remember anything if there was, but maybe you could check the security cameras at school? They'll have surveillance of the car park, and I know that isn't the streets around the school but it's still something. When I go in on Monday... Me and Milo could try and check those." She shrugged her shoulders, but at least she had something to offer.

Milo nodded and then looked at Marc. "Maybe... Well. What do you remember about that girls case? I don't remember a lot."

"From an FBI perspective I'm sure you know more than I do." Shelley insisted. "Maybe something is similar about it. If we look into hers, we might notice some patterns or something."

 

[DrTrollinski]

"You skipped school? Oh, for Christ's sakes." Marc said in a murmur.

"It would be good if you could try and get the surveillance for me while I try and get it for the rest of the city by the park. It's a lot harder to get hold of it when it's a property like a school. All to do with safeguarding and all that. Takes more legal effort to get hold of it, like warrants and shit. At least the parks are something any law enforcement guy can access, more or less. We'll see. I'll do my best on that front." He said.

"I'm starting to realize that a lot of this is similar to the girl's case. She was on her way home from school when she went missing. Walking in broad daylight, though. Either that or it was while she was on the way to school - not too sure, really." He said. "Either way, she just up and vanished. FBI hopped on the case but there was a complete lack of witnesses and evidence, so we had no idea what we were looking for. We checked most cars that showed up on the CCTV cameras in that vicinity, at at first we thought it was a local sex offender living in the area that had abducted her. We raided his house and didn't find shit. Just a load of blow-up dolls and stuff." He shrugged. "No girl, so we got worried. It was almost impossible to track her."

He sighed, "Which is why I'm still surprised her mother didn't slam the door in my face." He said, "It's not often we fail to at least find some trace of things, and for that kid... Jesus, I hear it was some ugly crying that went on when the news was delivered that we had not even the slightest idea of where she went." He explained. "She may have gone missing suddenly. And she may have come back, but when it comes to Eddie? I don't want to take that chance." He said.

"At school, see if you guys can get to the cameras. I'm going to call some guys of mine tonight and get them to check cameras around near the park, around the time he went missing, around the time the girl walked out of there. We might get a serious lead." He said. "One thing you guys can do now, though... Ask around. See if there's anyone in school who saw anything funny. Any people hanging around near the school for too long, any vehicles that circled around the school a lot over the week, two weeks, the month - whatever." He said. "Someone might know something."

 

[Jupiter]

“I mean, we’re barely going to be able to get it legally.” Shelley offered out.

“But... we can get it.” Milo nodded. “It’ll just take some snooping or something, I’m pretty sure it’ll be fine.”

Shelley already had a plan, but the issue was that school was out for the weekend. They’d have to do it on Monday. Wasn’t that wasting valuable time?

“Sure. This sounds stupid but I have a lot of friends. I can ask around and stuff, I’m pretty sure people will be more likely to tell me than Milo. No offence.”

Milo sighed. He reckoned it was a good idea. If Shelley had written the post regarding Eddie’s missing and stuff, they may have got it a lot more out there.

Milo spoke out again as Shelley tapped away on her phone to find the information. “So... have we told news outlets? And... I know you have some of your guys on it but how come there’s not been any visits to like... you. And me. It’s just been you doing it, that’s not usual is it?” He asked, and raised his eyebrows. “But I’ve been with you since it happened. We need to tell people who can get his name out there... on the news and stuff.”

 

[DrTrollinski]

"Telling news outlets isn't a good idea. That's the mistake most people make." He said, "It's a big advert that says 'Hey, we're going to be looking endlessly for the person you've got in your custody - just putting more pressure on you.'" He said. "If you trick them into believing no one gives a shit, they're going to get sloppy. Because for all they care, Eddie is a nobody. For all they care, people don't even know he's missing - it depends, really, but if we make it nation-wide news, it's going to pressure the abductors. We don't know exactly what they'll do - For all we know, too much pressure might push them over the edge, and they'll shoot him and dump him in a river somewhere."

He paused for a second.

"Hey, you never know, right?" He said, "I'm going to have people come out to us just as soon as we can prove that this has crossed a state line. That's the problem, Milo - FBI don't get involved in most things like this, unless it goes out of the state. It's like a severity scale. Statistically, a kid who goes missing within Maryland is more likely to be found than a kid taken over the state line, which, in essence, means the kids that go missing within Maryland are less important to the Bureau. I know, it's fucked up, and I hate it, but you get something ridiculous like 18 kids going missing every minute in America. We don't have the people to deal with that."

"That's why we need to get CCTV footage. I can get someone to check the ones in the city, but you guys, we'll need the school, and..." He thought for a moment.

He stopped and looked at them both.

"I don't suppose you two fancy breaking and entering tonight, do you?" He asked.

 

[Jupiter]

Milo nodded along. So if they put Eddie's face on the news, and he was indeed kidnapped like their theory was currently suggesting... Then they didn't want to stress the kidnappers out by alerting them that they were looking for the kidnaped boy. But... What if he wasn't kidnapped? If he'd just run away, then maybe... Well. He didn't know. He supposed he'd just trust Marc on this one.

"Okay. I get it." He nodded, and for a moment he mulled something over again. "But if this girl... Like, the one we spoke to today... She said that there were other people there with her. Which makes me think that people will have been taken from all over the place. Surely thats the kind of thing that the FBI would want to get involved in? For all we know, it's some kind of fucked up slavery ring or something and she just got the pity on her. That's surely the kind of thing that the FBI would want to take down, isn't it? Or even if it isn't some kind of slavery ring, it's still some kind of successful kidnapping business or something that... Well, lots of people are going missing? If it's like that girl said..."

Shelley had a thought. "Shouldn't you try contacting or having a look, get one of your guys on it at least, to see if there's some connections around the states? If you can gather that there are similar cases of going missing without a trace, if the way she went missing matches the way Eddie did, and likewise with other people, shouldn't that be enough to show that it is something that's out of state?"

And then of course, the question was asked if they wanted to do some breaking and entering.

Shelley didn't hesitate. "Of course."

Milo, well, he did hesitate, but when Shelley was so obviously down for it, he just nodded and gulped. He wasn't sure that doing something like that during the evening hours was going to feel so safe and good... But... If they got some shred of information on the whereabouts of Eddie... It would be beneficial.

 

[DrTrollinski]

"I don't have the power to just escalate this to an out-of-state investigation, but yes, I'll do some digging and see if I can find anything regarding missing people." He said. "Or at least cases similar to this one. But there's one problem with that - there's thousands of missing people across the country. There's probably a hundred missing people reported in the last hour alone, if not more. Even if there was something that was similar to this, that's not a good place to look. All of those cases could just be red herrings." He said, "Unless we get reports of someone being snatched by certain people in a certain vehicle in a certain way, trying to find links would be like... It would be false hope, and nothing more." He said.

"Even if other people went missing in other states, that wouldn't be enough to link the two together. We need evidence, not speculation." He said. "If other people have gone missing elsewhere, unless they come into Maryland, it's nothing for us to worry about, realistically. It's the other branches of the FBI across the country that deal with all that sort of stuff." He said.

Shelley was down for breaking and entering, so that's the only thing he really needed to know.

He was going to leave it until it was dark, obviously, until about 9pm.

When that time came around, however, it was time to leave. He drove them to the school they'd be breaking into. He'd never broken into a school before in the dead of the night, so this was certainly going to be weird. He made sure to park a good distance away from the school grounds, and from there, they obviously progressed to the school itself.

"So, which one of you two knows the best way in for this?" He asked. "It's your school, not mine. Any sneaky entrances you can tell me about?" He asked.

 

[Jupiter]

Time went on.

In the car, Milo was terrified of the idea of breaking in, but Shelley seemed more than calm. Did she feel anything at all? Milo was starting to think that she was a fearless beast. She'd intentionally gone into the depths with Jacob just so she could see if he had any connection to this whole thing; despite not even knowing Eddie that well. Or so Milo thought. There must have been something there that was making her so intent on helping with this investigation. Something.

But Shelley just remained calm. She had a plan, still, even if she had to change it to the late hours of the Friday evening.

Milo spoke before she could. "There's a side entrance near the cafeteria that takes you through the kitchens, gets you into the school from that way and it's out of sight. But... Everything is probably pretty well locked."

"Is it locked by key or bolt?" Shelley questioned, zipping up Milo's jacket she was wearing.

"Key, I think."

"Then it isn't a problem." She pulled out hair grips and popped off the circular ends. Lock picks, or, rather, makeshift lock picks. "The one near the cafeteria?"

He nodded, furrowing his eyebrows, and she jumped out into the pouring rain, pulling the hood over her head. Before Marc or he got out, Milo put a quick hand on his shoulder. "Something doesn't feel right with Shelley. I don't... I don't get how she knows him. Or why she wants to help so bad."

 

[DrTrollinski]

"I don't think it's anything worth worrying about." He said, letting Shelley run ahead. "Right now we need all the help we can get, and all she's doing for us is doing whatever I tell her to." He said, "You never know, Milo. Maybe she has a crush on him." He shrugged. "I don't think Eddie mentioned her before either, but, that's my best bet." He said, "You'd be surprised how much people are willing to do to help the person they love. Even if they've never officially met them in the first place.

He looked at Shelley running ahead to the door, then back to Milo. "Keep an eye on her if you're worried. But right now, she's been a big help so far." He said. "If we want to find Eddie, we don't need to worry about what she's doing until she does something that's really suspicious." He said.

At the end of the day, even the suspicious ones would have to be considered allies until they gave a reason not to be.

He followed Shelley to the door, and assuming she got it open, they stepped inside. It was dark in here, obviously - there's something horrible about schools when they're empty and quiet, and something even more horrible when they're empty, quiet, and dark.

But they'd have to brave it.

"Okay, where's their tech room here?" Marc whispered. "We just need to get the tapes and discs of the past couple of weeks - and tonight - and then get out of here." He said, "Try not to touch anything, by the way. Don't put your fingerprints on anything." He said.

He looked at Shelley for a moment but then had a look around.

Was she worth being concerned over? Or were things okay?

Time would tell.

 

[Jupiter]

Milo nodded and sighed. She didn’t have a crush on him, of that he was sure, she couldn’t possibly, and he was also beginning to suspect that Eddie wouldn’t consider her his type anyway. Not that she would know that, he supposed. It was only Marc and Milo who knew what happened yesterday. But still...

“She said he helped her and her sister with something... maybe we should find out what. I don’t know, just something isn’t quite sitting right with me.” He offered, but went quite and accepted the idea of working with her until she proved that she was someone not worthy of working with. He supposed Marc was right. She was being a big help by just doing whatever Marc said. But was it too eager? Why did she want to get in trouble so bad?

He climbed out of the car and caught up with Shelley, who was in the process of getting the door open, and soon enough pushed it so it came open, and stood up. “There.” She pocketed the hair grips and pushed through the door, walking into the dimly lit kitchen. Milo fumbled around in his pocket for his phone and switched on the flash light.

“Tech room is near the offices, especially the one that has the security tech. It’s not exactly going to be in the AV club.” Milo pointed out.

“AV club?” Shelley was confused. Too popular?

“It’s from-”

“Stranger Things. I know. Just didn’t know we actually had one.” She shrugged.

“We- we don’t.”

Shelley furrowed her eyes at his waste of time and pushed through the kitchen, not fussed about the flash light that Milo was using to guide his own way, leading the way to the offices. “If we get caught, we say that we’re just heading to my locker because I forgot something I needed for tomorrow.” She offered out. “But that’s only if we get caught too or from. I have a good track record, they’ll likely let me off with a warning if they don’t see us trying to get the tapes.”

They rounded the corner and hit the office block. “It should be in one of these rooms. It might be locked.” She shrugged. “I guess we just try doors.”

“Or...” Milo walked along and peered at all the text by the doors, then stopped next to one. “We go in the one that says security.”