Undercover

Chapter 33 - The Past

The officers began materializing in the middle of the room. Dressed in a full hazardous uniform from head to toe. An officer wearing the only blue uniform presented himself to Sir. March, bowing in respect. Sir. March motioned for him to do his duties.

"Fred, Gabriel Montaz, Beth Edwards, Wayne Livingstone, Ron and Maddison Carter, I am going to ask a handful of questions. Please answer truthfully. If you were to be found lying, there would be severe consequences. Do you understand?" The officer said as everyone nodded in agreement.

"You can use my office," Fred offered. "It's private."

The officer smiled back and followed Fred to his office. "I'll ask questions one by one in there."

Gabe was up first. He stared in fascination. He has never entered Fred's study. It was cleaner than he imagined. He expected it to have stacks and stacks of paper everywhere but to his surprise, the room was dull and bare. Gabe was greeted with a wide empty desk in the centre of the room, an artificial window behind the desk and a chest of drawers beside it.

The officer sat on the chair facing the doorway and motioned for Gabe to sit in front of him. An officer entered the room a moment after with a clipboard stationing himself next to the officer in blue. "First question. Did you or did you not tamper with anything before this?"

"No," he answered. The officer took a deep breath, closed his eyes for a moment before signalling another officer to commence the search.

"Were any of you aware of the drug before this whole fiasco?"

"No," Ron denied.

"No," Maddison said shaking her head solemnly.

Gabe just shook his head. He was crushed. He clenched his fists so hard that his palms began to bleed.

"Fred?" The officer asked. "Understand that this is for the sake of the prince. What you say will or will not be used against you in court."

"Court?!" Fred said alarmed.

"I'm afraid so," the officer sighed. "Part of the monarch's decree, he wishes for the guardian of his son to face judgement. Can't blame the man."

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The rest of the group was ordered to wait in the lounge as the interrogation and search went on. Wayne and Beth sat as far from Gabe and the Carters as they can still be cautious.

"Fred's been in there for a while," Maddison said worriedly.

Gabe was silent the entire time.

Ron suggested a theory while he scratched the back of his head. "I mean, maybe they have more questions for him. Since he's a guardian and all."

Commander Matthew took an empty seat and look at them with comforting eyes. "I'm sure Fred would be ok."

Hours passed. Sunrise was approaching. Everyone except the officers and Gabe fell asleep. Gabe couldn't sleep. His mind grew cloudy as reality fades into black.

Gabriell slowly opened his eyes and he found himself in his bedroom back home. He got up from his bed rubbing his temples hard. He walked over to a mirror to start his morning routine. He brushed his teeth, combed his hair... Something was off and he knew it. He stared at himself closer in the mirror. His fingers lingered on the scar on his right cheek. "How old am I?" He swivelled his head to a calendar on the wall.