The P.U.L.L || #Wattys2017

Chapter 20: The Chase

The house suddenly began to get filled with silence. Joshua, Rick, and Emma weren't expecting what Emma's uncle had surprisingly brought up. The moment he said that they were already going to the power plant, a series of thoughts began to enter their minds.

Judging from what he said, Emma's uncle must have known where the exact location probably is. Maybe he already knows which power plant is the mastermind's lair or something. But still, going there head-on might actually be risky. Joshua thought.

"Not that I know where it is right now. But for now, we have to find it." Karl suddenly blurted out, much to everyone's amazement. 

The three of them and Emma's aunt heaved a sigh of relief. For a moment there, they really thought that they are already going to break into the enemy's territory this late at night. Come to think of it, we progressed quite fast in our objective by accidentally meeting Emma's uncle. Still, we have a long way to go, considering the fact that we haven't known the exact location of the enemy. Joshua said to himself.

"So, right now, we need to find where the kidnappers are patrolling and follow the, to their hideout." Karl informed them. "One we know where they are, that's when we'll plan."

.....

After eating dinner, the group went outside and ride in Karl's car. The clear night gave them a somewhat eerie feeling and the cold breeze made them shudder. The moon could be seen, reflecting on a slanted manner towards the houses in the neighborhood. The road was brightened by the streetlights and the moon's reflection, making it easier for Karl to drive even without the headlights turned on.

Karl's black sedan sped towards the highway. Everyone began looking around with their eyes peeled, trying to spot the kidnappers who always drive here. According to Emma's uncle, this has been a regular route of the kidnappers and he had been observing them for quite some time. Late at night is also the time when they drive past here, to avoid traffic the whole day.

"They use different types of cars, trucks even. And they use it to deliver some heavy equipments to their hideout, I think." Karl told them.

"What if they are delivering it on a different place and not their hideout? There's a huge possibility that they have multiple hideouts, or something like that." Rick commented.

"Of course, that's why we need to trail them, just to be sure." Karl told them.

After talking, Karl pressed on the accelerator as he studied a blur of passing cars. The group glued their faces to the car's windows. 

We don't have to look for their cars, just their faces are enough. I've had plenty of experiences encountering them, and even running away from them. There's no way I'd not be able to recognize their faces. Joshua said to himself.

Suddenly, a car drove exceeding a hundred miles an hour right at their side, quickly overtaking them. It was only a split second but Joshua realized who the passengers were. It was only a brief amount of time but Joshua saw the face of the man who had once shot a stun dart at him.

They were the kidnappers!

Without a moment's hesitation, Karl stepped on the accelerator harder and quickly readjusted the gears to the sixth. The black sedan immediately gave pursuit to the gray car that had hurriedly overtaken them. 

"Those are certainly them, alright! But this was the first time I saw them overspeed." Karl said as he gritted his teeth.

To their surprise, the overspeeding car suddenly swerved sharply to the right, towards a small street that was barely brightened by the flicking streetlight beside it. Karl reacted just in time to swerve towards it as well, but to everyone's dismay...

It was a dead-end.

The group stared in amazement, one look and they were certain that the street must have some sort of an underground passage or a secret lane in which the car drove and disappeared. Karl quickly got out of the car and checked the tire marks which he assumed the overspeeding car would leave behind.

To his dismay, there were none.

He got up from his stooped position and scratched his head. Without the tire marks, there's no way that they'd be able to know where the secret passage is, and the short amount of time to erase the tire marks is a good way of hiding it, but how did they even do it? 

Joshua, Rick, and Emma got out of the car after noticing the worried expression that Karl wore.

"What's wrong, uncle?" Emma asked.

"No luck, we weren't able to pursue them today." Karl simply said. "Apparently, they have a secret passage here, and they were able to hide their trail fast enough to not get discovered."

"So, what do we do now?" Rick asked out of impulse.

"For now, let's head back to my place. We don't have any business here anymore." Karl replied, heading towards the car. "Right now, we have to look for them and chase them again."

"Or we could go back to the Quillers' place." Emma suggested. "Maybe we weren't able to find all the clues there. It's just a suggestion though, but we might probably find something. Rather than chasing them, I think this might give us leads as to the mastermind's whereabouts."

"Assuming that Gladiola already found it though." Joshua commented. "But it is highly likely that she hasn't. That's just my intuition."

"No! I'm not talking about Gladiola, I'm talking about Mr. and Mrs. Quiller." Emma defended herself. "They might have left clues in their house since the corporation is a dangerous place to hide your secrets. And they might have hidden additional information about the PULL somewhere. They are the inventors of that machine and there's a high possibility that they have data on it."

"Of course! Why didn't I think of that before?" Rick exclaimed.

Karl, hearing our conversation, turned around and went back to us rather than heading straight to his car. Emma's suggestion was logical for the group. Instead of wasting gasoline on a wild-goose chase, Emma's approach was more efficient. Joshua, Rick, and Emma looked at him as he approached them to join their conversation.

Karl then grabbed something from his pocket and gave it to the three of them.

"If you ever need anything, support, escape route, or whatever, just use that thing." Karl told them.

It was a walkie-talkie.

"Thanks, uncle!" Emma said as she received the gadget from him.

"Just don't do anything dangerous or anything that will get you imprisoned." Karl advised them. "This black sedan will come skidding once you give me a call. Just make sure that it's an emergency, okay? Or I might get fired from being an investigator."

"Okay, uncle." Emma cheerfully replied.

"I prefer you do your sleuthing at night. That way, I won't be making emergency leaves from work."

After their conversation, Emma carefully put the walkie-talkie in her pocket. The group then rode in the car once again. 

.....

On the clear night sky, a figure began making its way towards the life-filled city. As it began to circle above it, a dark cloud began to form, attracting other figures near it. Pretty soon, the other figures began doing what the first one started, making the dark cloud even bigger than before. The once clear night sky began to get blanketed in darkness in just mere moments. One moment the moon was barely visible, the next moment, the moon and not a single star could be seen  in the cold dark night.

The tranquility came.

A storm was brewing.