Within A Stardust

Chapter 43 - Interrogation

*

"Officer James is waiting for you." A police said.

They were guided by him until outside the interrogation room. A large mirror is in front of them and on the other side, the mystery person just entered.

"Just know that I will answer a few questions only. I'm aware of the reason why i'm here." He said.

Nile stares at him for a second. "Can't believe your eyes?" He ask. "Yeah, it's horrifying to say the least." Nile clears his throat. "About what happened earlier, pretty sure you have a motive behind that. Is that part of your plan?" Nile asks.

"No. She's a gift. Not gonna lie, that woman is beautiful. She's actually familiar, I saw her somewhere and just knew she's a celebrity. Good bonus." He said.

"Gosh, that's disgusting." Saf said. "I feel like vomiting when he said it. It is the worst." Lizzie said, then lean on the table while watching.

"There's another complain from that same person. She said you took her friend, where did you take her?" The impostor chuckles. "You really think i'm an idiot?"

"Yes, you're an idiot." Nile said without hesitation.

Lizzie and Saf glance at each other, surprised.

The man stops chuckling and stares at him. "You're an idiot since the day you chose to be a criminal. Got it?" Nile asks, his eyes looking sternly at him. He looks back but not as serious.

"Your face is well made. Care to explain how did it end up to that?" The man scoffs. "Yeah." He chuckles. "I'm not answering that."

"My workmates are now investigating your car, I just hope you don't have anything hidden in there." The man leans. "Think i'm scared? Nice try." Nile nods, stands and walk towards him.

He gave himself a minute to find a spot in his face to where the mask can be remove but he can't see any, so he grab his face and use his thumb to check which of the parts of his face are fake. "You won't tell anything right? I'll just find it out by myself."

The man struggles and tries to escape Nile's grip.

Tracing the odd texture, it lead him to the end of the his jaw on the left. He pull it slowly and it peels off in a swift, revealing the lower half of his real face which made Stan move closer to the mirror.

He peels the upper mask and what is in front of them shock Stan the most. "Martin?"

Nile tosses the upper half of the mask on the table. "There. Better." He said and went back to his chair, opposite to him. "Fuck you."

"Now that your mask is gone, you better tell me what's going on because.. starting this day, the only way for you to fix everything is by facing the truth and doing what is right. So... Where did you take her?"

There was a long pause.

"You gonna speak or what?" Nile gave him a minute to answer. "Fine."

"My life is ruined anyway, so let me tell you something." It stops Nile and got the interest of the three outside. "We have many plans you know. And this is one of them." Nile goes back to his seat and listen carefully.

"He said that if we ever got caught and someone figures our identity, it is up to us if we still want to live. You tell everything, you will be killed- keep quiet and they might come back for you AFTER your service here. NOT before."

"Why?"

"He said it is not their responsibility anymore if that happens. They don't want to risk more people just to get caught."

"Who is that he?"

Martin leans forward. "Do you really think that when my mask falls, I'll change into a good person in an instant? Well let me tell you another interesting reason as to why I let myself fall into this trap." He pause. "It's because he wants to... It's part of another well executed plan!" He sneers at him and laughs hysterically.

"Wait- wait, another thing... Stan? I know you're in there.. I'll tell you what, you think you got immunity after being safe on the due date of your death? When was the last time you had a time together with your family?"

Stan was about to punch the mirror but Saf, Lizzie and Nile's coworker stops him.

"That day he can't find you? he went straight to the hospital and lucky for him because they were both there-"

"What did you do? Or what did they do?" Nile asks. "Let's see." Martin pretends to recall.

"Your death date is I think in between July twenty one to twenty three. In one of those days, your family got caught... Now, it is August so it's been a week." Martin looks into the mirror even though the only thing he can see is his reflection. "Don't worry, they aren't dead yet. We have decided that it would be better if they die slowly. I proposed that idea and i'm glad they considered it. What an honor."

"You wanna know how it goes? First, we'll starve her- my idea. Then, dehydrate, by week three, we'll perform experiments that can ruin her wellbeing and bam! We'll kill her if that fails on the fourth week... And that applies to every hostage now, including that girl." He laughs.

Stan tries to escape the coworker's grip. "Let go of me! I'm going to kill that asshole! Let me in!" Stan shouted. Lizzie clenches her fist. "Ah, the voice of misery. I love it.. Didn't you notice? I kept telling a her, because your wife volunteered herself. You both really love your son, do you? Well, save the best for last." He chuckles.

Stan's voice echoes the room. "You'll rot in hell! You'll rot in hell! You'll pay for what you've done!" He shouts repeatedly as he was being drag away from the interrogation room.

. . . . .

They got back to Saf's house. They can't speak to Stan for the mean time because he locked himself in one of the rooms, crying the whole time. Lizzie's manager called and tried her best not to yell at her.

Aside from she's worried for her safety, a portion of the internet knows what happened because of the paparazzis posting pictures and videos about it.  She deactivated and uninstalled her instagram for the mean time.

"Don't worry, I'll do my best to get them back. I have to go, can't waste anymore time. I need to create an accurate plan with my division as soon as possible." He said.

"Um, Nile, do you have any friends or coworkers that I can hire as a security? I need a skilled one." Lizzie asks.

"I think I have two. But if you can count me in, then you'll have three. I'll try to contact them within the day and I might be back by afternoon. We'll secure this place first before the raid... The police I requested are on their way, they will stay here until we return." He said and left.