Left Behind

Chapter 6

Julius was still on his way home when his phone rang. He grinned almost instantly upon recognizing the number. However, before he could even open his mouth, the woman began talking, not giving him a chance to speak. Listening intently, he immediately disclosed his location. He couldn't believe it - he had done it; he would finally discover where his siblings were.

He wondered if anyone had informed them about their father's death, probably not. Julius would wager that they hadn't even been treated like humans, perhaps looked down upon as if they were freaks. But Julius vowed to save them.

His thoughts were interrupted by a car stopping in front of him. Someone he had never seen before emerged from the driver's seat. "Good afternoon, Alex," the man said, opening the back door for him to get in. "Good afternoon," he greeted cheerfully, entering the car, failing to notice the exchanged looks between Mrs. Jones and the man.

Julius focused entirely on the ride, memorizing the directions as best he could. Strangely, the journey wasn't long before they entered the parking garage of a building. This wasn't what he had imagined to be where his siblings were being held. He had always pictured a prison in the middle of nowhere, not in the heart of London.

He was led to an empty room with only a table and two chairs, clearly an interrogation room. "Have a seat, Alex. Someone will be with you shortly," Mrs. Jones instructed, closing the door and leaving him alone. As he waited, he contemplated what he would say to his siblings. He realized he probably wouldn't be able to speak with all of them, but whoever he did speak to could pass the message along. Julius knew he had to be careful with his words; they would be listening, and the slightest slip-up would expose him. Little did he know, it was already too late.

A man entered the room, dressed in a suit with gray hair covering his head, followed by the agent who had brought him. "Good afternoon, Alex. A pleasure to finally meet you," the man said, extending his hand. "The pleasure is all mine," Julius greeted, shaking the man's hand before taking a seat.

The man sat opposite him. "Where is Alex?" the man asked, causing Julius to freeze. "What?" he stammered, wondering if he had misheard. They couldn't know that he wasn't the real Alex Rider. "You heard me. Where is Alex Rider? You're clearly not him."

"What are you talking about? Are you blind?" Julius retorted, attempting to maintain his composure.

The man half-smiled, seemingly amused. "Alright, if you want to play that game. What is my name? You should know that very well."

Julius realized he had fallen into a trap when the man entered the room and introduced himself as if it were their first meeting. "I...I hit my head. I forgot some things," he feigned, playing the role of the hurt and traumatized boy.

This time, the man grew serious. "Drop the act. We know who you are. You can try to find excuses all you want, but one thing that never changes are fingerprints, and you left plenty of them in the car," the man said with a smile.

Julius's face fell entirely. There was no use trying to deceive them when they had the facts in front of them. With a cruel smile, he uttered, "You're already too late. He was already dying when I left him. Your people walked right past him. I wonder if he begged for them to come back." Despite being caught, Julius took pride in the damage he had inflicted on his way out.

The man rose from his seat, prompting Julius to jump from his own. However, the guard in the corner was faster, and soon Julius's head made contact with the table as his arms were painfully pressed against his back. "Stand down," the man ordered the restraining agent.

Julius laughed cruelly. "Poor little Alex, dying in the same place that brought me to life. I bet it was painful. I made sure it was painful." he taunted through gritted teeth.

"You'll get your wish after all," the man said before turning to the agent restraining Julius. "Lock him up with the others," he instructed before the door closed and a pair of handcuffs were slapped on Julius's wrists.

Mrs. Jones watched from the cameras as the Alex Rider impostor was exposed. How could she have let herself be fooled by the boy? All the red flags had been there from the beginning - the medical report, the strange obsession with grief, all the formality. It was right in her face, yet she had blamed it on the boy being traumatized from the events. She picked up her phone and ordered, "I need you in the air right now," before hanging up.

She felt sick with herself. She knew the odds of Alex being alive were close to impossible. 'He was already dying when I left him' and days had passed since then. A trained soldier would have difficulty surviving, much less a schoolboy with almost no training.

She was leaving at the same time Blunt emerged from the room. He had been played once more by the same people, and she knew he wasn't happy about it. "I've already contacted an SAS team," she informed him.

Blunt nodded. "Update me when you have news."

He didn't have to say that, and he knew it. Regardless, she nodded in confirmation before leaving to meet the SAS unit.

"What's the situation?" Wolf asked.

"It's Alex. We brought back a clone, not him," she said, watching as Wolf's face fell.

"What? How is that possible? We weren't informed that it was a clone of him."

"We didn't think it was possible either. He was only with them a little more than a week. It shouldn't be possible," she said, but it sounded like she was trying to convince herself.

Wolf muttered something under his breath, probably something about them being incompetent at their job. At that moment, she couldn't disagree with him.

"Do we at least know where we are heading?"

"Point Blanc. They exchanged places in the lab, probably after the explosion."

There was a pause before Wolf asked the question everyone was thinking. "Do we know if he is alive?"

"The clone said that Alex was dying when he left him."

Nobody said anything. Wolf nodded only once before leaning back. She knew he felt as guilty as she did, but nobody was going to point it out.

Soon enough, the helicopter landed near the school. Now there was no need to hide their arrival, and if there was a chance that Alex was alive, the closer they were, the better. K-Unit quickly got out, geared up, and entered the school.

It was quiet inside, just like it was when they left. "Cub," Wolf called out, but only silence followed. "Alright, let's spread out," he said, making his way to the lab. Wolf knew that if the boy was dead or hurt, that was the place he would have been.

One by one, he heard the other places being cleared of any signs of Alex. "Cub," he called once he entered the destroyed lab.

His boots made a crunching sound with every step he took, destroying what little had been left intact. His heart stopped when he saw a pair of boots sticking out from beneath a pile of debris. He rushed over immediately, lifting it only to realize it wasn't Cub; it was the dean of students, Stellenbosch. With a heavy heart, he let go of the piece of debris, knowing it was the clean-up team's responsibility.

Scanning the lab, Wolf found nothing else of significance. "This is Wolf. The lab is clear," he reported, his flashlight illuminating a puddle of blood left on the floor.