𝐀𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝

25 - Corruption

"I may have lost my heart, but not my self-control. "
― Jane Austen, Emma

Orion

    I've watched a fair amount of thrillers in my life, and still, I have no idea of where to start. And even though Alexander is with me, and by being a duo, we should get twice more ideas, we couldn't come up with anything. We just stared at the wall in silence, unmoving, both of our minds trying to find a solution. The thing is, none of us had ever dealt with kidnapping before.

    We'd thought about calling the cops, it was actually the first thing Alexander had proposed to me, but I'd refused as soon as I heard the proposition. I knew for a fact they had connections in the police, and we couldn't afford to trust anyone who would come our way.

    If they learned that we were looking for Alice, we might as well just cause the death of her. It would be better to stay discreet.

    There has always been corruption in this world, and there always will be. The only people we could trust were our friends, and even that was to a certain extent. I was probably being paranoid, but I knew that, even if the people we knew would never share information about our research, they could let some information slip by accident, and there could be anyone hearing it.

    By anyone, I really meant the gang and their birds. They have ears everywhere, eyes wherever you could see anything, and I was stupid to think I would be an exception to that. They probably knew my rather deep and close attachment to Alice long before I even did, if they are still as present as they used to be.

    They called them their birds. They were people who were not directly enrolled in the gang, but who were still affiliated with it. It was easy money, and I knew for a fact they had as many as an ill man would have meds, even more. Years of constantly trying to avoid them resulted in a certain ability to recognize their listening ears, but still, I didn't want to take any stupid risks.

    All they had to do was collect information. Anywhere, anytime, anyone. Any opportunity, any particulars that could profit the gang. They just had to sit down, listen. And by doing just that, they were paid. A lot of students were a part of it, even though each one of them thought they were special. This was a bad thing for us, knowing that most of our time was spent on the campus grounds.

    The poor students didn't know what they were taking part in ; someone just came up to them, proposed to them this weird sort of job, and they accepted. I would've as well, had I not known what was going on behind the veil.

    Alexander stops me in my thoughts by speaking once again, breaking the tense silence in the room. We could hear a bird fly in the place.

    – They want the money, Orion.

    An obvious statement. In sight, my gaze still lost on the painting on the wall of my living room, a birthday gift of my sister. It was a beautiful representation of a vase, with the petals of the flowers drawn with our fingerprints. It is for me a constant reminder that I fucked up once, and could fuck up once again. Which is why I needed to be careful while looking for Alice. They expected me to look for her, and I would, but I'd like to make them think I'm cooperating.

    This way, they would let their guard down, and I could search for Alice without drawing too much attention to my investigation.

    – I know. What else could they want anyway ? I sigh. You know I can't afford that. We're not going to get her back with money...

    He shakes his head. Despair is painted all over his face, and I realize I've never seen him so sad before. There was sorrow when their parents died, but I never saw him like that. I guess he never cared about them the way he did for Alice. These two had a bond I could never understand.