Into the Unknown

n i n e

"It was clearly a payback attack!" Martin insisted.

"Yes, I got that, you idiot, I'm just saying there's more to it!" Aileen said exasperatedly.

They were back at Neverland, in the shooting room to be exact. The door was closed, but they could still hear the bustling noises of the music and the people slowly filling the club, as the night went on.

"The bombing was clearly ment for revenge, yes, 'stay away from my personal life', I get that," Aileen continued, "but don't you see? He's scared now that we're getting close. There had been no open attacks before we found that chest. He's acting like a cornered animal, panicked and reckless."

"Is he though?" Caleb asked from a chair near the wall. "He has played us many times before. Maybe he wants you to believe he's acting this way to manipulate you."

"I'm the master of manipulation, thank you very much." she scoffed.

"If I may express my opinion here, you're the one who's acting reckless" Martin said. "I know you're angry about the casino, it was very important to the functionality of our network after all, but you can't just go off like that on some assumptions. He's waiting for you to make a mistake and you can't let that happen!"

"Yes, I know!" she yelled, banging her fist on the table. It was suddenly quiet. She rarely lost her cool, this was getting serious.

"I know that he's smart and cunning and always one step ahead and honestly I'm sick of it! He's old, his tactics old-fashioned and I think it's time for someone else to take the lead. Guess who's that gonna be."

She paced around the room, trying to calm herself down. This was not the time for anger lash-outs or too much excitement. She needed to be careful, extremely careful, as she was dealing with a very dangerous man. But she was dangerous too. What was required now were precice, to-the-point movements with no emotional attachment.

They were nearing the end now. She smiled. But the game had just begun.
______________________________________

Caleb and Vincent were sitting silently in Caleb's van, while he drove. It was a very awkward silence and Vincent didn't feel like breaking it. Caleb though, had other plans.

"Soo...why do you think she made us go together on this one, huh? It's just a simple breakout mission." he said.

"I don't know." Vincent answered bluntly.

"Is it because she wants us to bond like bros or something? Cause boy, no offence, but I don't think you and me have much in common."

"She's not our mother, Caleb. She said she had a plan and I may not be too keen to follow instructions, but it beats getting shot in the head." he said.

Caleb chuckled, but the smile fell from his face as they neared a hospital.

"I need to make a pit stop" he said grimly as he exited the car and closed the door.

"Stay in the car." he ordered Vincent through the window and walked inside the building.

Vincent scoffed when he was gone. "And who the fuck are you?" He got out of the van, slammed the door and followed Caleb inside.

It was chaos when he walked in. Nurses everywhere, crash carts, screams of agony and despair filled what must have been the emergency room. Vincent managed to squeeze through the multiple ranches blocking his way, the people being administared with blood from not so cleaned syringes and finally catch a glimpse of Caleb climbing the stairs.

He trailed him two floors up, keeping his distance as not to be seen. The third floor, as opposed to the ground one, was eerily quiet, apart from the faint noises coming from downstairs. Caleb entered a room and Vincent sighed, but followed him.