Part of the Plan (Book 2 in the 'part of' series)

Chapter 40 Anxieties and Interviews

Chapter 40 anxieties and interviews

Harlow's POV

My panic was starting to get beyond manageable. We had been sitting in this cell for about an hour. Everyone else was sitting whilst I was pacing the length of the room, I was sure that it was feeling smaller and smaller the more I walked.

"Are you trying to make an escape route?" My brother joked slightly as he looked towards me. I nodded simply and just continued to pace in circles. "Well, you're making me dizzy. I'm sure that you would be too once you stop." I paused and he was right, the room started to spin slightly. I sighed and moved back to Karim.

"I don't think we'll be able to discuss anything." Emi nodded towards a camera in the corner of the room. Below that stood a screen. The purpose of it was unknown to me. I highly doubted that they put television on to entertain their prisoners. Maybe they put soaps on to torture us so that we would give them information.

"That's a camera right?" Ralph asked, I looked towards him in slight confusion. "I've only seen Aiden's." He explained to the questioning looks, his cheeks were slightly pink.

"You poor man." Emi said sympathetically.She didn't really mean it, it was the same tone that she used with me when I complained about the homework. She would probably have loved to live in a packhouse like Ralph. "Yeah, means that we can't really talk about anything. It probably has a mic."

"We could give them ideas on how to do this better in the future?" Karim bitterly suggested. "Like hiding the camera." I chuckled slightly and shook my head. "Anyone been imprisoned like this before?" Everyone shook their heads.

"Not unless you count detention." Emi mumbled under her breath. I jumped as a voice came out of nowhere.

"Emerson Reilly, you never got detention at that school." A female voice sternly said from the direction of the television. Emi winced and widened her eyes out of shock. The voice was familiar to me. It was the woman who we saw at Emi's house, it was her mother.

"Yeah I did. I just didn't tell you." Emi rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "That's not difficult to do." The sourness in her tone was clear as well. The energy of the cell was getting colder and more serious as each word hung in the air. "It was about two years ago."

Her mother made no other comment, there was static on the other end of the microphone, sounds that I couldn't make out. A light started to fill the room as the television turned on. It was brighter than the darkness we were surrounded by but it showed a room which was similar to the one we were in. There was a table in the centre of the room and two chairs. Lathen sat in one whilst Travis sat in the other.

"Live feed." Aiden whispered as he lent forward to watch. I leant back and looked away in an attempt to avoid the screen at all costs. They were doing this on purpose. They were showing us this for a reason and that reason wouldn't be something enjoyable.

"Alright, Lathen?" Travis seemed a bit too comfortable in the chair. He was leaning on the table and had his hands grasped together.

Lathen growled a little bit and mumbled under his breath. "Not really." His eyes were narrowed on Travis, watching his every move. The binds on his hands became clearer as Lathen shifted to the side. The screen was in black and white but the grey under the ropes was very concerning.

"Ah well, this'll soon be over." Travis grinned as he separated hsi hands and then clasped them together again. "Depending on how compliant you are." The smirk of someone who had the upper-hand danced on his lips.

"Isn't that what he told us?" Emi whispered behind me. I nodded absentmindedly as I drew patterns on the floor with my foot. The state of Lathen made me uneasy.

"What exactly do you want?" Lathen spat out. I tensed with the anger in his tone. I wasn't sure how people could be brave and defiant in situations like this. I was always told that I was just too young to understand. Whenever I asked my English teacher or history teacher, they always just said that I would understand at some point.

"That's quite simple, I want your land." Travis shrugged lightly. It was as though he had just asked to lend £10 for a taxi. "It's obvious that I have quite a few allies that are relying on this. Someone managed to get more humans involved and it's honestly just getting a little too messy for me." He flashed a grin, his pearly white teeth looking like a shark's.

Lathen's eyes flashed with anger. "You're acting as though the land is your own." The tension in the room grew thicker, it was almost visible on the screen.

"Technically, I do." Travis leant back, his movements starting to get on my nerves. He couldn't seem to just keep still. "It's amazing what money can get you in the human world."

Lathen's arms jolted up, the ropes pulling them back down . He hissed in pain before saying, "We live there." His voice was deep and poisonous. "It's not as though it was beyond your knowledge."

"You did live there, yes." Travis stated calmly. "At this moment, I'm almost certain hat nobody lives there." He looked at his watch. "The house won't be there for much longer either."

"What do you mean?" Lathen's voice was dangerous and threatening. Ralph had tensed up and moved towards the screen. We had all started to pay a little bit more attention to what was being said.

Travis chuckled and clapped. "I got your attention here didn't I?" Travis' voice turned into a whisper as he leant forward. "Right at this second, the house is getting destroyed. I don't know how it's getting destroyed, I don't really care. I don't care who gets destroyed with it. The forest will be mine."

Lathen scoffed at him. "Nobody can own the forest. The forest is wild and it will do as it pleases." I thought that was a bit philosophical. There was wildlife in the forest, but surely they would be able to take care of that. "My pack will not back down easily."

Travis' grin got wider. "I'm betting on that." He gestured to someone who was just off screen. A man came closer, he had something in his hand which was very difficult to see. "What if it meant the life of their alpha?"