"..."
I paused with my hand on the doorknob, my ears heating up from the strong emotions that Andrew had sneakily made a daily part of their lives when they were under him. Sucking in the cold night air into my lungs, I let the cooler temperature return the color of my ears to normal before letting go of the freezing metal doorknob.
"He sounds like a great guardian."
"He was."
A chuckle sounded from behind me before a hand reached out to pat my back.
"Enough talking. If we don't hurry up and enter the apartment, I'm going to freeze out here."
Taking a hint, I quickly turned the doorknob and opened the door, escaping from the chilling winds blowing through the corridor and into our warm and loving apartment.
"We're back!"
I called out into the house, and immediately the sound of two chairs squeaking as they were pushed back echoed from the kitchen. Then, both my parents walked out of the kitchen doorway.
"Welcome back."
Coming up to us, my mother pulled the two of us into her embrace and sighed in relief.
"The walk back from Frank's house must have been cold. I've prepared two cups of hot weed tea, so make sure to drink up before going to bed."
She released us and gently guided us towards the kitchen. Sitting us down on the chairs, she brought two steaming hot cups and set them down in front of us. Then, without even asking us where we really went, or what we were doing so late in the night, she patted our heads and left. Waiting for her at the kitchen doorway, my father joined her, and the two of them went to the master bedroom.
Alone in the kitchen, the two of us quickly gulped down our drinks and placed them into the sink. Making a beeline for our room, I caught sight of the clock on the way and couldn't help the weary smile that crept onto my face. If I slept now, I would only have a maximum of three hours of sleep before I had to wake up for school.
We spent so much time at High Street that the excuse of going over to Frank's house for a while was basically nonsense. There was no way they would actually believe it.
"My parents definitely have an idea that we're up to something."
I closed the door behind us and sighed as we grabbed our clothes and towels to get ready to wash up. In response to my sigh, Oliver looked towards me and shrugged his shoulders.
"I doubt we can keep the project a secret forever. I just hope they never ask about it. I don't want to lie to them."
Oliver lowered his head as he said the last sentence with a soft tone. Hearing that, I silently exited the room and headed for the bathroom first.
"I also don't want to lie..."
Muttering under my breath, we washed up and went to bed.
The next morning, I groggily stumbled out of bed to get ready for school. Crawling over to the side to get off, I briefly took a glance at Oliver, who was still deep asleep curled up under his blanket, and lightened my steps so that I wouldn't wake him. After washing up, I quickly threw my school materials into my backpack and hurried off for school.
Closing the front door, I turned right towards the Justice family house and gave three distinct knocks on the metal door. Leaning on the door, I heard an energetic set of footsteps pitter-patter towards me and stepped back just in time for the door to swing open. Behind that door was a lively, familiar face.
"Good morning Camellia!"
"Good morning, Dan. Here, your newsbook."
She smiled at me as she reached over and took the newsbook from the drawer next to her door. Then, passing it to me, she patted my head and gestured for me to step back.
"You're heading out?"
Moving aside, I asked as Camellia exited her apartment.
"Yeah. I've decided to help Daniel with some things."
She winked at me as she locked her door and we both walked towards the stairway. Glancing at her, I nodded my head. Our great escape from the Main Cemetery happened late last night, barely 3 hours ago, so it was unlikely that that was what Camellia was referring to. The matter with the suitcase sounded quite confidential, so that didn't seem like the case either. And if she was going to join Oliver's project to recruit volunteers for the MDVA research team, he would have told me beforehand. In that case, she probably meant that she was getting involved in another faction project.
Eliminating options inside my head, I suddenly heard a chuckle come from beside me. Turning to look at Camellia, she gave me a wide grin as she ruffled my hair a little.
"I see you've been in so many projects that you don't know which one I'm talking about."
We reached the stairway and started making our way down. In the meanwhile, Camellia gave me a rundown of the project that Daniel was in.
"Recently Daniel has started a new project with the other faction police officers. And since I used to be a police officer, they don't mind me joining. The project is to help reduce the crime rates in Bottom Street by ourselves, without relying on the local police force there. The higher-ups in the police force won't do anything after all, and the local police are too corrupt to make a difference. Or stop us for that matter."
Going past the last step, we paused in front of the apartment building. Looking over at Camellia, I saw her give a bittersweet smile as her eyes fogged over with clouds of sadness and regret swirling together.
"I used to be proud to be a policewoman. I thought that I was part of a force that allowed people to live better lives. It's a little silly how blind I was back then. However, after 2 years, I think I'm ready to continue working towards helping others."
Camellia squatted next to me and placed a hand on my head. She left it there, its heavy weight a comforting thing as I stared into her sparkling and hopeful eyes. Compared to how she was just a couple of weeks ago, it was the difference between day and night. Those eye bags and cloudy eyes that seemed like a permanent tattoo on her face had peeled back to show the glowing woman underneath.
She smiled at me, her expression so bright it was blinding.
"However I won't be able to help fill your newbook anymore, since I'll be pretty busy from today onwards."
Retrieving her hand from my head, Camellia announced as she straightened her back and stood up.
"Goodbye, Dan."
Waving at me, Camellia left me behind as she headed towards Bottom Middle Street's local police station, which was located just below the Middle Middle Market. And watching her tall back disappear into the distance, I could feel a deep sense of dread and fear rise from the bottom of my heart. As if I would never see her again.
"Goodbye..."
Muttering into the wind, I took a breath to calm that uneasy feeling within my heart and turned to the direction of the school. Then, forcefully pushing Camellia's silhouette to the back of my mind, I took brisk steps to school.
"Dan?"
Rushing with a look of determination into the classroom, I heard a concerned voice echo as I stepped into the classroom. Looking at the direction of the voice, I noticed Linel and Frank were grouped up at Frank's table, the two of them staring at me with concerned eyes. Seeing the two of them together, I made a beeline to them and sat down in my seat.
"I heard that something happened last night."
The moment I had settled down, Linel whispered to me as he leaned forward. Huddling together conspicuously in the middle of the classroom, the three of us lowered our voices as we spoke. Oliver and I had already made the decision to tell Linel everything, since with his connections to people in High Street, including his own father, he would definitely be a great help in the project. And Frank, since he had already accompanied us for more than half of the trips in this project, also probably knew enough to be counted as a member of the project.
Shooting Frank a look, I saw him shake his head, stating that he didn't spill the beans to Linel while I was absent. Returning my attention back to him, I gave a brief rundown of what Oliver, Frank, and I had experienced last night, as well as some information the two of them weren't there to receive. Such as the faction meeting we went to, or the trip to the Research Center that Linel didn't go to. Of course, I didn't mention a word about the systems, since Oliver said that their existence was too confidential for even Linel or Frank to know.
Once everyone was up to speed, I then glanced at Linel and brought up the main agenda for today. The asylum.
"Do you know how to get into the asylum for a visit? We want to talk to Mary."
I asked Linel as we raised our voices to normal speaking levels and leaned back on our chairs.
"The asylum? If I'm not wrong, as long as you can prove you're from High Street, you can get in."
Putting on a thoughtful expression, Linel crossed his arms as he lay his back on his chair.
"My father casually visits his friend there pretty often, so there shouldn't be a problem with visiting anyone there. And since I've entered with him before, I think I remember how to get in. Although it has been a while since I joined him so my memory isn't the clearest. Either way, there should be no problem."
Straightening his back, Linel nodded his head as he unfolded his arms.
"The Mary you're referring to is the ex-vice leader of the faction, right?"
I nodded my head at Linel's question, and he gave a sigh of relief.
"If that's the case, it shouldn't be that hard to visit her. On one of my visits with my Dad, I managed to see her in the outer containment of the asylum."
Linel bent his back to haul his bag up and take out a notebook. Then, he casually tore off a page and started drawing smaller circles inside bigger circles and labeling them.
"If I remember what my Dad said, the outer containment of the asylum has the least security and restrictions and is where those with 'lighter' sentences are usually kept. Then, past that, is the center containment, holding people who commit 'heavier' crimes like assault. Finally, there's the isolation containment area."
Linel pointed to several small, tiny circles right at the center of the large circle.
"This area is where really horrendous criminals are kept. I don't know what crimes they committed, however, normal visitors aren't allowed to enter this area and my Dad says that the entrance to these areas are usually hidden so no unauthorized people can enter."
Moving the tip of the pencil to the center containment area, he drew a small gate that 'joined' the outer containment and center containment areas.
"The person my dad visited was his ex-secretary who got caught by the henchmen from the government officials. They managed to egg him on and provoke him into punching someone in plain sight, so he got charged with assault. The center containment area has higher entry restrictions than the outer containment area, so if Mary was in this area, we wouldn't be able to meet her."
A sarcastic smile flashed across Linel's face as he said that last line before he composed himself again and folded up the paper he drew.
"Once school is finished, I can lead the two of you there so we can find her. If she's really in the outer confinement area, we should have no issues. If she's within the center confinement area, we may have to head back to my house and ask my father to accompany us inside."
Linel pocketed the paper just in time for the teacher of the first period to enter the classroom. Seeing him enter, the three of us broke up our small group and went back to our places. Fishing out my school materials, I flipped open the new notebook my mother had bought for school and took out my brand-new pencil to copy the notes on the blackboard.
After school ended, as the last bell rang, the three of us gathered together as we waited for the first crowd of students streaming out of the classroom to thin. Holding onto the straps of my backpack, I suddenly remembered something I had to tell Linel and reached out a hand to catch his attention.
"Oliver is also going to join us."
The classroom was mostly empty and the stream of people had turned into a trickle, so the three of us started walking towards the classroom door. Hearing my words, Linel nodded his head as we exited the classroom.
"What are the two of you going to ask Mary?"
Leaving the school, Linel asked as we headed up towards the local shop. Oliver said that we would meet him in the alleyway near it.
"We're planning to ask her about their plans before they got caught."
I explained Oliver and my suspicions about Vincent and Mary. The way they were experts at making a show about how much those people in High Street didn't truly care about the general populace, only themselves, and still managed to keep out of trouble. That was, until 2 months ago when they got caught via a 'careless moment'.
"Hmm. So you think Vincent and Mary let themselves get caught to protect something they deemed larger than themselves?"
Muttering with a thoughtful look on his face, Linel nodded his head and gave a sigh.
"Sounds like something they would do, honestly. Based on their personalities shown in the newspapers."
"But 2 months ago, isn't that ..."
Popping out from beside Linel, Frank furrowed his brows as he came to the same conclusion as Oliver and I.
"It was when Richard told us they had a breakthrough in the drug that the MDVA team was developing. The one that was supposed to end the 'violent tendencies' that was the main reason for the creation of the MDVA Prevention Act itself."
The three of us reached the crossroads between High Street and Middle Street. On our left, we could see the local shop that Jade and Joel were working at. Looking through the shop windows, I could see several figures bustling about with trays in their arms and smiles on their faces. Then, tearing my gaze away from the shop, we crossed the road and slipped into the alleyway a couple of shops away from the local shop. And waiting inside the alleyway was Oliver.
"We're here."
The small alleyway was large enough to fit all of us, so we walked over to Oliver, who was leaning against the wall with his notebook and pencil in hand, and greeted him. Hearing our footsteps and voices, Oliver lifted his head out of his notebook and nodded to us. He pocketed his notebook and the three of us huddled around him.
"Have you already explained to Linel and Frank our agenda for today?"
Oliver asked as he gestured and looked towards me. Nodding my head, he then shifted his gaze to Linel. Linel then repeated what he said about the asylum, the requirements, the different areas, and the requirements or lack thereof in entering these areas.
Once Linel had finished his explanation, Oliver nodded his head once more and gestured for Linel to lead the way. Thus the four of us fell into a neat line as we snaked out of the alleyway and towards the research center that was in Bottom High Street. The one that was, according to Linel's description, right below the Asylum.
"I heard you suspect that Vincent and Mary purposefully set themselves up to get caught to draw attention away from the drug research at Hope Research Center?"
Exiting the alleyway just to cross the road and enter another, Linel quietly asked as he led us through the maze of winding alleyways.
"The drug research was just what came to mind first if we talk about 2 months ago. However, if something was going on that was that important, I feel like they would choose to sacrifice themselves for it."
Turning left, we finally popped out at an exit near the Dream Research Center. With its pale blue paint and small windows lining the front, it appeared more 'friendly' than Hope Research Center and its overly tall and straight structure.
Past the Dream Research Center was a shorter and wider building. The front of it was curved as if the whole thing was a circle shape, with a small gate in front as the entrance.
We had finally arrived at the asylum.