"You really do?"
Squatting down, Mark and James fully shifted their attention to Oliver. Mark even shot out his two hands to clasp Oliver's shoulders as he gazed at him with sparkling eyes.
"Yes. When I was at High Street after waking up, I visited this cemetery once. So I know my way around a little."
Oliver nodded his head as he stepped out of Mark's hold and started walking towards the exit of the storeroom. Left behind, Mark and James exchanged another gaze, this one a mixture of relief and slight suspicion, before they stood up to follow him.
Exiting the storeroom, we took the stairs slowly down. When we reached the bottom, we took a couple of seconds to peak through a slit in the door. Finally, when we were sure that the coast was clear, the five of us stepped into the reception area and the two men gestured to Oliver to lead the way.
With a small glance to the air slightly in front of him, the system, through Oliver, led us towards a different exit from the one we came in.
Walking to a wall at the back of the reception area, just a small distance away from the elevator and stairs, we stared at the fancy shimmery gold wallpaper as Oliver fumbled around for something. Seeing his actions, the rest of us gave each other a confused look before we spread out and mimicked him.
"What are we looking for on this wall?"
Smearing my hand on the smooth paper, I bit my lip as I lightened the strength in my hand, afraid of tearing it.
"There should be a little dent to act as the handle for a door. When I visited here before, I saw a servant enter through here before. Beyond this door should be an exit to the outside, away from the main road since those people wouldn't like it to see a servant walking through the same entrance as them."
Listening to Oliver's explanation, I lifted my hand higher and started searching for the dent somewhere slightly above my head. If this door was for servants, then the general height of the handle should be at their waist level. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the others limit their search to around that height. Since we knew what we were searching for, it should only be a matter of time before one of us would find it.
I ghosted my hands on both sides of my head, furrowing my brows as I considered tip-toeing to search for the dent at a slightly higher spot than I was currently at. Biting my lip, as I was in the middle of considering this, I felt a cold touch near my hand from an invisible being around my height. The force gently guided my hand to a slightly lower area until my fingers slipped past a false 'trap door' and curled around a small grip.
Mouthing thank you to the system that helped me, I took a deep breath and used both hands to hand onto the dent, prying the door open with my measly body weight.
Whoosh.
With a soft airy sound, the servant door opened to show a slightly dark area. Letting go of the dent, I panted as I wiped the sweat on my forehead and smiled at the others around me.
"Good job."
Smiling, Mark patted me on the head as he peered into the dark 'room'.
"It looks like a servant corridor."
James noted as he patted me on the shoulder and helped me wipe the sweat off my brows.
Reaching a hand in, Mark fumbled around for a couple of seconds before we heard a 'click' sound and the lights inside suddenly flickered on. Now illuminated, the area beyond the door was exactly what James thought it was. The servant's corridor was littered with props, chairs were stacked halfway up to the ceiling, and rolls of ribbons and boards were scattered on several of these towers. And breaking up the columns and columns of chairs, was a plain wooden door.
Stepping into this corridor, we quietly closed the servant's door behind us and made a beeline straight to the exit. Then, signaling for us to stay back, Mark and James opened the exit door slightly and peeked outside for a couple of minutes. Once it was clear the two men from High Street weren't nearby, they gave a silent sigh of relief and opened the door large enough for all of us to get out. They then shut the door.
"OK, so now that we're out of the cemetery. Where are we?"
Looking around, Mark half-asked as he scanned the surroundings with a hawk-like gaze while his posture turned to a defensive one, ready to shoot out and attack anything that seemed like a threat.
"This should be the back area of the cemetery. If we head right, we can take a detour to Hope Research Center. Then we can follow the wall back down to Middle Street."
Oliver then led us into one of the many alleyway entrances near the cemetery. Following him, the five of us stayed silent as we slipped out of the small clearing surrounding the cemetery building until we strayed far enough from the cemetery and we were certain the two men from High Street wouldn't hear us.
"Now that we can speak normally,"
Reaching the signboard that read 'Hope Research Center', we walked past it, avoiding the bright lights shining out of the research building. Then, as the long wall came into sight, Oliver's tone turned deeper, more serious.
"Could the two of you explain what prompted you to sneak into the cemetery in the middle of the night? And why must you take my sister's bracelet?"
Tilting his head slightly to stare at Mark and James, his obsidian eyes glinted with gold light as the moon shone on them. Faced with his suspicion, Mark and James seemed to expect it, or were at least ready for this question, as they quickly changed their easy-going expressions to a solemn one.
"Well..."
Mark started, obviously having a well-prepared answer which I doubt would give us a straight answer, but instead tried to wrangle out as much information from us while keeping most of their secrets to themselves, However, as he wanted to answer, his eyes unconsciously wandered over to the two bracelets on Oliver's wrists and that face paused. Beside him, James shot a glance the moment he noticed something was different. However, as he gazed upon the conflict that shoved itself into Mark's eyes, he just gave a small sigh and remained silent, giving his leader the time he needed to come to a decision.
At the sight of the bracelets, guilt, and hesitation formed a conflicting storm within his eyes. The two emotions fiercely battled each other as Alex's bracelet reflected off the grey orbs on Mark's face. Furrowing his brow, everyone could see him freeze as the storm increased in intensity, the winds battering the surface of his eyes, screaming as if they wanted to be let out, to show the world what they could do, how strong and fierce they could be. And as the superficial layer of his eyes curved slightly, the storm only a slight distance away from letting itself known to the world, it stopped.
The guilt won.
Blinking, Mark cleared the signs of battle from within his eyes and dropped the fake smile on his face. He tore his eyes away from the bracelet and squeezed his arms against his sides, shrinking himself in appearance, before taking a deep breath and giving Oliver a raw and sincere smile.
"I guess it's only fair for us to tell the truth since we would have never made it out if it weren't for you."
Besides Mark, James gave a small exasperated sigh with a grin as he placed a hand on his leader's shoulders and gave him a comforting pat. Then, the two eyes focussed on the bracelet on Oliver's wrist and Mark opened his mouth to speak.
"Actually, the 'Defense Theory' isn't the only thing that Andrew left behind. After his arrest, the police confiscated and locked down his house and everything in it. And while going through his things, they found a suitcase with an expensive and sturdy lock on it. That lock was a seven-digit combination lock. Daniel was the first one to find it, so he and the other Faction members in the police managed to prevent it from being confiscated."
The five of us walked past the local shop, keeping to the wall as we exited out of High Street and into Middle Street. Slowing down our steps now that we were officially out of danger, the five of us ducked into a semi-lit alleyway to continue our conversation in private.
"He brought it back to the warehouse, so Ivan is holding onto it for now. After finding the suitcase, the police searched the house thoroughly for any clues to the combination password but had no luck. So, we thought that Alex's bracelet might have some clues regarding the password and came to the Main Cemetery to take it back and look over it."
Mentioning the bracelet, Oliver lifted his wrist and five pairs of eyes turned to stare at it. Moving it here and there, Oliver looked all over the bracelet with a quick glance and shook his head.
"I don't see anything on it. Maybe he didn't hide anything on it."
Oliver dropped his hand to his side while Mark and James exchanged disappointed looks.
"Sorry to interrupt the five of you, but could you please move out of our regular meeting spot?"
Whipping our heads to the side, a figure suddenly walked out from the shadows deeper into the alleyway. That figure had a polite and kind-looking smile on. However, for some reason, I felt the hair on my arms stand as that smile widened.
"Sorry man. We'll step out of your hair right now."
Standing up, Mark gave an apologetic smile at the man while James tactically reached down to help escort us out of the alleyway.
"No problem, no problem. Let's just pretend that this whole thing never happened."
He waved his hand vaguely, gesturing to uis meeting him here at this time of the night. Nodding his head, Mark turned around and was prepared to head out when the man's voice rang out again.
"Although, since you've been such understanding people, I wouldn't mind offering my friend's service to help open whatever lock you were talking about just now."
Mark paused in his step for a second. However, he didn't turn around, but instead waved his hand at the man in rejection.
"No need. It's from someone important, so I want to exhaust all options first before breaking into it."
"Shame. Well, if you ever need a pair of nimble hands, I'll be happy to help you out. For a price, of course."
Walking out of the alleyway, Mark didn't answer the man, and the man didn't continue talking afterward. Joining up with us, the two men nodded at each other before they each flanked us and slipped their hands into ours. We then started walking.
"It's time for the three of you to head home. We'll escort you."
Giving us a fake smile, Mark leaned his head towards us as a man walked briskly past us. The man was wearing a hand-knit beanie that covered the upper portion of his face and a long trenchcoat that cast his lower face into shadow. Passing him, none of us dared to look at him, but I unconsciously held my breath until he passed. Then, once he had walked far enough out of earshot, I sighed in relief and nodded my head to Mark's words.
The five of us parted near the MDVA Cemetery, James and Frank turned right after the cemetery to head further into Middle Middle Street, where Frank's house was, while Mark continued with us deeper into Middle Street to Bottom Middle Street.
"...The suitcase. Do you have any idea what is inside it?"
After waving goodbye to James and Frank, the three of us continued walking while following the wall. And while walking, Oliver seemed to ponder for a while before he asked Mark this question. Hearing him ask this, Mark immediately looked over towards Oliver and shook his head.
"Not really. Shaking it didn't produce much sound, so we're guessing that he may have hidden some sensitive documents inside. Although I don't know what could be more sensitive than the 'Defense Theory' he told us."
Mark gave a nervous laugh as his eyes showed half dread, half-expectant at the contents of the suitcase. In response to this, I saw Oliver shoot Mark a suspiciously 'knowing' glance, before returning his gaze to the front.
And as our apartment came into view, the three of us stopped and let go of Mark's hands.
"Well, if there's any big changes, I'm sure the two of you would find out. I'll watch over you until you head inside, then I'll leave."
He waved goodbye to us as he leaned against the nearest wall. Taking one step forward, the two of us were about to part from him when Oliver suddenly stopped and turned around.
"For the combination lock, you can try the code 520 1314, or 1314 520."
Oliver announced these two sets of numbers to Mark, giving one second for Mark to absorb the information and give a thankful smile, before he turned around, grabbed my hand, and pulled me towards the apartment building. Glancing back, I saw Mark push himself off the wall, taking something out of his pocket and scribbling on it.
"There's a system following him, although he can't see them, so if he doesn't remember the code, or if the code is wrong, we'll know as soon as possible."
Whispering in my ear, Oliver pulled me by the hand until we reached the bottom of the stairway. Then, letting go of my hand, he took deep breaths before starting the climb up to our floor.
"Is there any special reason behind the numbers you gave Mark just now?"
I followed behind Oliver and asked, being careful to lower my voice such that only the two of us would be able to hear it. At my question, Oliver nodded his head in front of me and tilted his body such that I could barely see one side of his face.
"0520 is the 'passcode' he set for everything Alex owned. While 1314 is the 'passcode' he gave me. Back when we were living with him, we each had our own rooms, and each room was locked with our own sets of 'passcodes'. I don't know if these were the numbers that Andrew set for his suitcase, however, they were what came to mind when Mark mentioned the combination lock."
Reaching the top of the stairway, the two of us turned right and headed toward our apartment door. The overhead corridor lights were slightly dim, so we could see the light streaming out from underneath our apartment door. Mother and father were definitely waiting for us to come home, although I don't know how we're going to explain why the two of us were covered in dust from head to toe.
"Is there any meaning to these two numbers then? Or are they random?"
We stopped in front of the door, the warm air inside flowing out from the gap underneath and warming my cold feet. Extending my hand, I gripped the doorknob and paused as I waited for Oliver's answer. Behind me, I heard him take a deep but shaky breath and sink into silence.
I waited. And waited. And when I figured that the answer was probably too personal to tell me, and had turned the doorknob and was about to push the door open, I heard his small voice squeak out from behind me.
"520 means 'I Love You', and 1314 is 'I Will Love You Forever'."