Alone in the Dark - A Dark Ghost Sequel

TEN

The car went over a bump— or down one, I'm not exactly sure— and that was enough to jolt me awake. Chubs stirred from where he'd managed to fall asleep against my shoulder, and Vida nudged us both a little more. "We're almost there."

"We're almost where?" I asked, wondering how much I'd slept through.

"While you were asleep, the nerds calculated how long the helicopter would be able to fly for before it needed to refuel, and they obviously wouldn't risk doing it at a public airspace, and there are three private places within range— we're five minutes away from the first," Vida explained.

I nodded, "Okay. Are we splitting up or?"

"Time is of the essence," Chubs explained. "In most missing person cases, as another twenty-four hours passes, it reduces the chances of them being found alive. They wouldn't have taken Cruz just to kill her, they'd have done it there. Since there's a kidnapping involved, we can only assume they want something. Either those representatives have what they want, or someone that wants them back has it. We just have to figure out what they want."

"What could they want?" I asked.

Liam shrugged, "We'll figure it out eventually."

We made our way into the first private airspace, and the man at the counter levelled us with a suspicious gaze as we walked in. His eyes fell on Ruby and he seemed to recognise her instantly. Liam stepped in front of her protectively and I could feel Vida tense up. Immediately I went on the offensive, automatically protective. He reached for something under the counter but with a flick of Chubs' wrist, he sailed back, the office chair moving of its own accord out of the way.

"You. You're her." He stared at Ruby. "Stay the fuck away from me."

"Oh, relax. We're not here for you," Vida rolled her eyes, moving past him to look at the computer. "Nico? Work your magic."

His fingers raced over the keyboard for a few minutes before Nico looked up again, shaking his head. "Not here."

We moved towards the exit, and Ruby was the last before me to go through the door, watching the man from behind the counter. "You don't know who I am," she said after a moment, and his eyes glazed over. He frowned, blinked, and by the time he'd finished shaking his head, we were gone.

~

The second place was more guarded, and I was on edge the instant we got out of the car. My hand lingered on Vida's shoulder as I waited for the others to get out of the car, long enough that I could feel the energy inside my veins. My other hand stayed inside my pocket, and although I was alert, it absent-mindedly turned the playing card over and over between my fingers.

A flicker of movement caught my eye.

I looked around, no one else seemed to have seen it. "I'm gonna look around," I announced. "You guys go to the reception and check the logs and security feeds."

"You better be careful," Vida warned, almost threateningly. Her expression softened a little. "I've lost you once before, and I'd rather not go through that again."

"I'll be fine," I brushed her off, although her words struck a chord. "I promise. It's just a look around, no one will see me, if I need backup I'll call for it, okay? I'm pretty good at being a ghost," I winked.

She rolled her eyes and sighed, as I jogged off in the direction I'd last seen something.

A figure in a dark jacket was leaning against a wall, arms crossed and a cigarette in his mouth. He checked the time before joining the others, and I edged closer for a better look. I didn't recognise anyone yet, so I looked around a little more. It could be nothing, and even if it was something, then that didn't mean it was Cruz' kidnappers. The man moved away, and I followed behind at a safe distance, watching.

He neared a hangar and ducked inside, and almost far away I could hear the sound of an aircraft approaching, I looked around but couldn't see it yet, which meant it had to be nearby somewhere. I crept closer, crouching under the window to see what was going on. I froze as soon as I saw inside.

It was the helicopter. The helicopter. I was almost completely sure of it. I risked a glance back at where the others would be, and knew that if I didn't go back soon then they'd probably come after me. Good, that was guaranteed backup. Especially considering I didn't want to risk almost getting shot again. As a reflex to the thought, my hand ghosted over the scar on my side. Yeah, definitely didn't want to come close to that happening again.

But someone had those representatives, and whatever was happening, we still had to get them back. It was so close to being Cate that got taken, and if that happened I would've been prepared to do whatever it took. Vida would say something similar. Despite all the potential dangers, I went in anyway.

As it turned out, the pilot had only gone inside to change his jacket before disappearing out a back exit. I edged towards the helicopter, but wasn't exactly expecting to find anything since the door had been left open. Still, that didn't stop me from darting across the hangar towards it, and looking around once I got close enough. There didn't seem to be anyone inside, so I took a look around.

Nothing. No clues, no indication anyone had been there. Nothing.

The only lead was the pilot.

I was about to jump out of the helicopter and move to follow him, when I felt the unmistakable heat that came with being close to a large fire. Not wanting a repeat of the Leda Corp incident, I went to investigate. The entire back wall of the hangar, the furthest one from any of the planes, was ablaze. Standing in front of it was a man in a dark jacket, with a red band across his arm.

"Now where do you think you're going?"