The Turf War Twisted

Finding Solutions

Stress sprinted to the elevator, running up to Etho quickly. The sudden appearance of Stress alarmed him, making his voice raise with panic.

"What is it? Is someone here?" he asked as Stress gave him a dark stare.

"No, I found something, but I'm not going down alone," she replied, grabbing both Etho and Doc by the arm to the elevator.

"'not going down alone'? What do you mean?" Doc asked, now just as alarmed as Etho.

They went down the elevator, landing at the first floor and Stress rushed over to the secretary desk quickly, disregarding Etho and Doc's questions. "I found a secret trapdoor to what I think is a basement area. This could be where they're keeping Grian, but I'm worried it could be something dangerous too," Stress explained, opening a trapdoor that was placed under the desk.

"I'll message the others so they know," Etho said matter-of-factly. "Maybe having some others as backup to cover more ground would be good. We still need someone to be on the lookout and we don't know what or how much space is down there." In just a matter of seconds, Etho got responses from xB and Jevin that they were on their way. "xB can stand guard on this floor, the ones on upper floors can spread out, and we'll go down there. Four of us should be enough."

"You're really taking charge with Grian not around," Stress commented, still observing the trapdoor.

"Didn't expect you to be so serious about this stuff," Doc added, not in a rude way.

"I wouldn't say I'm really serious about all of it," Etho replied. "But I'm serious about getting Grian back. I'm not letting us lose anyone to the HEP."

Stress started climbing down the ladder that led down the trapdoor first, right as xB and Jevin were showing up. Etho and Doc climbed in promptly after and Doc waved to Jevin to follow. He also gave a nod and thumbs up to xB, confident in his ability to make sure they were safe while down there.

"Whatever this is for," Doc whispered. "They need new lighting."

The brief sound of Stress's footsteps echoed throughout the hallway in front of her. Etho stood by her side, squinting to try and see in the dim lighting. Even before everyone had made it down, Etho started walking down the hallway, looking left to right, up and down, taking in as much of his surroundings as possible.

"I knew the HEP had an evil laser," Jevin said breathily. "But a creepy basement is next level for them."

Stress nodded at Jevin's remark, walking along the hall behind Etho. "I think this is the place," she nearly whispered. She walked up to one of the walls and pressed her hand on the glass. "These definitely look like cells."

"Spooky," Doc said, suddenly standing next to Stress, which made her jump back in surprise.

"I bet these were all made just for us," Etho mentioned coldly, turning back to the group with a dull expression. "I don't see anyone else here, though. It's just a bunch of rooms, all with windows to look in." He frowned. "But if Grian's not here... what did they do to him?"

"Maybe there's somewhere else they're keeping him we don't know about?" Stress suggested in more of a question than a statement.

"Where could that possibly be, though?" Doc questioned. "There's only so many places in their jurisdiction as the HEP. They're pretty much limited to the Shopping District."

Etho put his hand to his chin in thought, trying to figure out too many things at once. He'd really wanted to take charge with everything going on, but even he was struggling. Etho hadn't realised how much thought had to go into everything, how much had to be accounted for. The stress wasn't crushing, but it was terrifying.