Unravelled

[CHAPTER 13]

CHAPTER 13

Charlotte's POV

I woke up to the cold wind coming through the windows. The wind was so strong that it blew the curtains, making them look as if they were floating. It was raining outside this morning and I was freezing from head to toe even when I was under the blankets. Autumn was really kicking in now with a drastic change of weather. Last night the room was so stuffy and that was why I ended up leaving the windows open. I slammed them shut and the curtains fell covering me from behind.

I instantly regretted leaving it open last night, because my bed got slightly damp from the rain. I grabbed my blanket and laid it down on my study table for it to dry. I then tied my hair into a bun and went to wash up.

Since today was obviously going to be cold, I put on an extra singlet inside before putting on my other clothes and threw my waterproof winter coat on instead of my cotton one.

I ate two packets of granola bars and downed a bottle of orange juice. By the time I was ready to leave, the rain reduced to a slight drizzle and I was thankful for it. The walk to school was quick and I was glad that I got only a few spots of rain droplets on myself.

First period came by too quickly and we got back our Biology papers. As I thought, it was terrible.

The look on my face must have been caught by the teacher because she said, "Don't worry, you're close to average. Just push yourself a little more and I'm sure you'll score."

I gave a small smile and said, "Thanks, Miss."

Soon first period ended and I walked into Calculus. Lara was quick to catch on the test paper I had from Biology because she said, "Having trouble with Bio?"

I slumped myself at the seat beside hers and said, "Yeah kind of."

She turned herself to me and said, "You know, I could always tutor you, if you want."

My eyes perked up and I looked up at her, "Really?"

"Sure, why not? You can come over to my place anytime. My mom's not at home most of the time and I'm sure she doesn't mind anyway," she shrugged.

Of course I knew her mother was always not home because her work's really demanding and I did not even bother to ask about her father because I knew her parents were divorced. The way she described her household, it was obvious she was not living with her father anymore.

Lorraine, the person I need to get to, may or may not be staying with her father. I could just ask but it was way too risky. I needed to get there first before actually asking, but how was I to?

I shook off those thoughts when I recalled what Daniel said that day, 'Or you could not be so rigid and learn how to split work and having a social life.'

If I could not get to Lorraine through this tutoring then I could always be a normal person getting help in my studies. I breathed in and said, "That would actually help me a lot."

She smiled. "Of course it will." Then she made a serious expression, "But just for your info, I am pretty strict." But I knew she was only joking.

The memories of my stern chief during training came into my mind and I subconsciously said, "You can't be that strict."

She laughed, "We'll see." and it made me grin.

We chatted a bit more before Mr Arthur came in. We were doing a review of the test when suddenly there was a knock on the door.

"Excuse me, sir but may I have Charlotte be excused for the rest of the period?" Daniel said.

My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when I saw him.

'What is he doing here?' I thought.

"I need more details than that, boy. You can't just take my student and leave," the teacher said, clearly annoyed by the disruption.

Daniel looked at the person behind him and it was the principal. The principal came in and they exchanged a few words. By the looks on my teacher's face, he was obviously not impressed with the decision he had to make.

Mr Arthur looked over to me and nodded his head towards the door indicating that I was permitted to leave. I quickly got up and packed my stuff, confused with what was going on.

"Bye," Lara whispered.

I gave her a small smile and said, "See you tomorrow."

The principal had already left when I exited the classroom. Before I could ask for an explanation, Daniel beckoned me to follow him. I quickly caught up to him and we were speed walking to nowhere. "What's going on?" I asked.

"Code red. My chief said he might be about four miles from here. He asked me to find someone to come along so I thought of you. It was a spontaneous decision," he explained.

"What's the predicted situation like, over there?" I asked.

"One of the neighbours saw a seven sitter black van but wasn't sure of the number of people who was in it. Chief gave me an address but I'm guessing it's an old warehouse."

"Profile of the victim?"

"No name but a couple lived in that house. Husband was kidnapped. The wife was lucky because she was out getting groceries."

"So seven sitters and one victim. I'm going to guess we are going up against a max of four people," I suggested.

"Yeah, that's what I thought too," he agreed.

We got into his car and he floored it out of the school's compound.

A sudden thought clicked into my head, "I'm not geared."

"Don't worry, I have a few guns under the seat and some at the back," he reassured me.

Soon the only sound heard was the tires rubbing on the tared road. "Sorry for interrupting your class even though you were already so behind," he apologised.

"It's alright. Actually, I'm sorry too for what happened at the café. It wasn't my right to poke my nose into your problems," I said.

"No biggie, he's just an old friend whom I'm not really fond of now," he said. After our apologies exchanged, we discussed our plan for when we arrive.

It took about ten minutes to get here and as Daniel had guessed, it was an old warehouse.

We were gearing up and going through the plan once more and that was when Daniel called his chief to ask for back up to come in ten minutes time.

We walked up to the warehouse and Daniel stood beside the door in position to fire. I was in front of the door holding a Glock 22 with both hands at the side of my shoulders.

We gave each other a nod and I kicked the door open.