The Karma Study

Chapter 5 - Herophilus

Brandon

I can't break, not yet. The others have one to bed, we've decided we need to at least take shifts on sleeping, because we'll be no good to Zoe if we are complete zombies.

I've been sifting through our entire security database, there are absolutely zero leaks in our security so I can breathe knowing I didn't miss anything on that front. But now that I've cleared our own cameras I've been going through every single live camera feed for within a hundred mile radius. I've even implemented a facial recognition programming incase they may have fucked up and brought her in front of any storefronts or street view cameras, including the traffic lights in the city.

I was supposed to be asleep an hour ago but I couldn't stop looking. I know she's scared, and I know she feels alone. I know it to be true because I feel all the same. I know I'm close, so if I just keep pushing myself for another hour I'm sure I can—.

There. Right there. I can see her.

My pulse quickens, and a bead or sweat forms instantly in my hairline. A confusing wave of emotions washed over me. I jump from my chair and zoom in on the feed to get a closer look.

My princess is alive, she looks all madder than hell, but she's alive.

I want to jump for joy now that I've laid eyes on her, but in that same breath I want to crumble in on myself for not keeping her safe like I was supposed to. I was her safety net, we all were and we completely failed her. If she were just with us— no, I don't have time to sit here and start placing blame. I can't locate where she is, but I can at least see her.

She's wearing all black, in what I'm assuming she came to our rescue in. Her tiny wrists and ankles are bound to what looks like a hospital bed. I watch as she analyzes the room she's trapped in, trying at her restraints over and over again. As if I'm living in her brain, I see the moment she considers dislocating her joints from the restraints but she decides against it.

"Good girl," I whisper to the screen, "You'll need your strength for this fight. I just know it."

She looks at her surroundings one more time, before finally stopping and her emerald eyes lock in on the camera lense. It's like she's looking directly at me. A shiver goes through my spine when she smiles.

She knows me too well, she knows I'm watching.

She starts to mouth something, but I can't quite make out what it is. I try to see if I can get connected to any incoming sound from the camera, but I can't focus on what I'm doing, all I can focus on is her. My princess.

"Guys!" I yell, my voice booming through the hallways. "Guys, I have eyes on her!" I yell again.

I can tell I woke them all from their slumber, but they rush my monitors anyway.

We all watch Zoe as she seems to repeat the same words over and over again.

"What is it, what is she saying?" Dean asks.

At the same time Teddy asks, "Where is she at? Can you see the location?"

I rake my fingers through my hair and shake my head, "I can't locate her, and I can't— I can't figure out how to get into the sound. I'm not sure what she's saying." I say defeatedly, but she all smile at me, as if I have just made a groundbreaking discovery.

"You did it, B. You got eyes on her." Max slaps me on the shoulder in a congratulatory way.

"Wait." Dean says. "Didn't Drake say he's good in tech also? Let's have him try to retrieve the sound, she might be saying her location."

Teddy bolts from the room and he's back in less than ten seconds with an exhausted looking Drake on his heels.

"What is it?" Drake asks. "How can I help?" Before any of us answer his eyes find the monitors and he goes ghostly pale. "Holy shit, thank fucking Christ."

"I can't focus, I can't figure out how to get the sound. Please, if you can do this, we might just spare you." I say, a clear plea in my voice.

Drake pushes past Teddy, making him growl, but Drake ignores him and slides into my desk chair and starts working at the keys, "Don't have to tell me twice."

A minute passes, then two. My brothers and I can't take our eyes off the screen as we desperately try to make out what she is saying to the camera.

"A—." Her voice cuts through my speakers.

"What was that, did you catch it?" I hover behind Drake's back, my hand clutching at the headrest of the chair.

"Let me adjust one more thing." Drakes fingers fly across the keyboard

"Al—." Her voice cuts though again and my heart jumps in my chest. I study her even closer, and as far as I can tell she is physically okay, except for a bright red mark in the shape of a hand on her cheek.

"I'll fucking kill—." I start to say but her voice finally breaks through at full volume.

"It's Khal Hera. It's Khal Hera." She says twice, just barely over a whisper, but we hear it as clear as day.

"She's saying it's Khal? How?" Dean asks, he leans over Drake on the opposite side of me.

"It's Kahl Hera." She repeats again. "I just know you are watching, I know it. B, it's Khal. It's him, he—." Her voice cuts out, and we see a door swing open behind her, and a young guy walks in.

She pulls on the restraints once again, begging for help with her eyes before she turns to look at the new person in the room.

"Alright, birdy. It's time to catch you up to speed." The guy says, his face is just out of view of the camera. "I'll tell you everything as I bring you to the lab." He grabs the back of the hospital bed and begins to wheel her out.

"You just sealed your fate." Zoe says, giving the camera her vibrant eyes.

"And what fate is that?" The stranger asks, with a cocky tone.

"Death." She smirks at the camera, and he finally wheels her completely out of the room and the door slams shut behind them, leaving us to stare at a now empty room.

After a long beat of silence, I speak again, this time with more gusto than I have had in the last twelve hours, "I'm not sure how he did it, but it looks like we get to bury Khal Hera. Again."