The next morning, I heard bangs on my door. They grew louder and louder. I opened the door. Suddenly, a black curtain was placed on me. My hands were tied together and I was being pushed towards the door. I was made to walk into a van. I kept screaming but no one could hear me. Was I being kidnapped? I had no idea. I sat in the van as it drove out of the institute. My face was still covered by the curtain and I couldn't see anything. Suddenly, a voice called me.
"Hey, remember me? It is me, Arnold. Well, I forgot to tell you one thing yesterday. The replacements have a deal with the kidnappers. Every time we bring them information of their enemies or their assets, which would be beautiful women, one of our family members gets to leave. I have already managed to save my sister, but I really want to save my mom. I am sorry but this was just a faster way. No hard feelings."
I had been tricked. In my greediness to be a part of the investigation and help my friends, I had managed to increase their workload. I wondered if they even knew I was being taken. I wondered if I was the first man to be taken. I pinched myself to see if it were another nightmare but I was unlucky. This was reality. The real world sucked. I let out a sigh of relief that at least I didn't mention Henry's alliance or Anna and Daisy's plan to Arnold or else we would have been in a much worse situation. Since Henry and Anna worked for the game master, I figured they would find out about my disappearance soon enough. I relied, "you are just like these monsters Arnold. You just killed me and a million other women. God will never let you be happy. Whoever else they have from your family will never forgive you. you just made a huge mistake."
"I might have made a mistake but tell me one thing, if you could save your mother wouldn't you risk everything else too? When you told me that your mother was killed, I knew I couldn't risk it. I did this for myself and I will face whatever consequences I have to. Eventually, I will find out who else was helping you and save the rest of my family as well. You should worry about yourself. Don't worry about me, I am going to be just fine." Arnold had turned into the very monster he was pretending to be. He might have done this to save his family but he could never save his conscience after this.
He continued, "and your plan would have never worked by the way. I have been to the place you are being taken to now. We call it the lair. It is so well protected that even we can't crack what is going on in there. There is no way that you could have cracked it from here. Unless, you have someone on the inside. Do you?"
Arnold was playing mind games to get yet another truth out of me. I said, "get lost. I did have someone on the inside, you."
I screamed out loud for everyone in the van to hear, "that's right. Arnold here was helping me the whole time and suddenly he decided to betray me. he was my source for all the information I ever got. Now that I am helping you people with this piece of information, how about you put a curtain on his face and let me go? He is your culprit."
Arnold pushed me against the side of the van and squeezed my neck. I couldn't breathe. Another man said, "let him go. Boss wants him alive. I said let him go!" Arnold loosened his grip and pushed me once again. I wondered if it was Henry who stopped him. Then I remembered that Henry had been promoted. He wouldn't have let this happen in the first place if he knew. The whole journey, I kept screaming about Arnold's evil plans. I know I shouldn't have jeopardized his family's safety by doing so but I was so angry at him for being such a chatterbox that I couldn't help myself. What if I never made it back to the institute. What if one of my friends were put in the tough spot to choose what happens to me and if they chose wrong, all those other women whose safety depends on our plan would never forgive me. The love of my life Daisy would never forgive me if I jeopardized her sacrifice.
I wished in my head that somehow, I could convince these people that I am on their side. If I succeeded in doing so, I could work with my friends to help solve the case as well. Some where in my subconscious however, I already knew that was impossible. By now, the warden would have easily filled everyone's ears about my investigations. I could just see her cunning smile through the darkness of the curtain. I could see her smile at my failure.
The van finally stopped.
"Where are we?", Arnold asked.
A man replied, "shut up replacement. Your work here is done. Stay in the van and turn your face to the wall. You, behind the black curtain, you have reached your destination. The game master awaits your presence. Stand up. Everyone else stay in the van. Only the prisoner is allowed to get out of the van."
Arnold said, "Don't we get to meet the boss as well? I mean, I am the one who helped you catch this traitor of a person. I deserve the praise of my boss."
The man replied, "I said shut up newbie. You want praise? Then just study and do what you are being told. Don't try to be smart. The boss doesn't want to see you, he wants to see him. Now do as I say and keep your mouth shut."
The man then proceeded to drag me out of the van and take me to my 'destination'. I was so confused that I didn't even get a chance to laugh in Arnold's face and call him a loser. Was I dreaming or was I just about to meet the game master?