The Book of Gemma -Apocalyptic Fantasy Romance-

CHAPTER 18: THE VIDEOS

After Albi had dropped Edna off at her place, he found Deecon and I sitting on the couch staring at the news report on the accident.

"Still no word from Leader of Sky Valley, Gemma Knox on the attack that unfolded here, wounding over fifteen officers and killing three in the process... Our field agent Jason is on the scene.. Jason?"

I grab the remote and click the TV off.
"Do they think I should make a speech before even knowing what's happening?" I snap.
My eyes start to chill and sting at the glass contacts, I rip them from my eyes.
"Sunglasses, I know it will look like I'm on something but the contacts won't work longer than a couple hours."

Deecon grabs the wristband recovered from the scene.
"You said you saw a memory from Miko that the body they found was bound to Franco?... Annie Francisco?"
I nod my head to him,
"Franco is down on Lower for another couple weeks. He won't know until then... but-" I grab the wristband from Deecon's hands and strap it onto my other arm. "-Someone wanted this found... Sky?... Passcode GSK197296."
The wristband unlocks it and I start to scroll through, trying to find anything to give me a clue.

"What could even be on that thing?" Deecon questions.
"I don't know but the device is almost full of data with hundreds of videos." I pinch the hologram and fling it to the direction of the TV to broadcast on.

"This is the first one in her gallery." I say sitting down next to Deecon with Albi crossing his arms, squinting at the screen.

It's Franco, he's sitting down at a desk. It looks like he is talking to someone on the phone.
He puts his hand over the speaker and looks back at Annie.
"I think she fell asleep.." He says ending the call. He turns back to her and begins grabbing his sides, laughing hysterically.
"We made first contact." He raises his hand for Annie to high five.
The camera turns to Annie's face and she is beaming.
"First video in the books as Jack has successfully made first contact with our fearless leader Knox."

I now stand up from the couch, what is this?
I press play on the next video.
It's a girl waiting outside the bar I met Franco at the night we met.
"Alright, Josie. Tell the camera what we have planned." Annie laughs.

Now Deecon squirms in his seat, "Hey wait a minute... that's the girl I ran into-.. The girl you found me with in my car the night you brought Franco back."
I don't even look back at him. All our eyes glued to the screen.
Josie begins to giggle, "I have a date with none other than Deecon Vicorz. Ha ha. And this is the bar I use to bartend at, Knox comes in almost every Friday... I'm gonna get him to park right in front of it and fingers crossed.. Knox will see."

Annie turns the camera over to Franco, leaning against the wooden patio fence. He puts both of his thumbs up, smiling at the camera.
"Then it's this guy's job to have a little sleep over at the freak's house." Annie laughs as Franco shows his Starzithian t-shirt, shaking his head. He leans his body over the railing to get closer to the camera.

"The bitch is so lonely, shouldn't take but a sob story."

I pause the video and begin to panic that I can no longer control my anger.
I place my hands on my knees as my body curls.

"They-... They fucking planned me running into Franco? Wh-why? To just fuck me? What is the gain?"

My head starts to spin and Deecon rushes to my side to keep me upright.
"Let's take a break.." He calmly says, not wanting my emotions to spike.
I turn back to the screen and click the next video.

It's Annie, sitting at the desk I saw Franco at in the first video. She is staring at a black screen.
Waiting.
I hear her voice over the screen.
"Alright, Jack has entered the house.. He should be putting up the camera's soon... AHA. Yes!" She shouts as a corner of her monitor lights up, showing the view of my living room.
The video shows me jumping into Franco's arms.
I look over at the living room wall, searching for the camera. I sprint across the ground and begin inspecting every item on the shelf. I pluck a picture frame off it and see it.

A fucking camera the size of a fingernail and the thickness of a piece of paper.
"I've never seen one this small... how-.. Who engineered these?" I say handing it to Albi to inspect.
I look back to Deecon who plops down on the couch, his hands rubbing the sides of his head. I walk back to the screen and see Franco and me, naked.
I pause the video.
"So.. this is how it feels.. To see it." Deecon whispers, wiping a tear from his eye like it was embarrassing to even let it slip out.
"Deecon.. I-"
He puts his hand up to me, begging to not discuss it further.
"Just play the next video." He orders.