Hunted

Chapter 10

It's been a few days since I came here with the box of evidence and we still have nothing.
"Hero, Anne's here to see you." Jane says, coming through the doorway. The small feminine figure comes into my office holding a pile of papers to her chest.
"What have you found, Anne?" I ask her. Her head is glued to her chest as she hands me the pile of different evidence. I feel a pang of guilt.
"Here." She whispers. I slowly take the papers, my hand slightly touching hers. When the limited contact is made, she yanks her hand away. I sigh and start flipping through the different pages.
"Anne, I have no idea what any of this means." I point out. Her head snaps up.
"I'm sorry. Do you want me to make another copy easier to understand?" She asks hurriedly. I can tell from her tone that she's worried.
"No, Anne, I want you to explain it." I state. She nods and takes the first paper off my desk.
"So it took a while for the text to reach my database, don't know why, but today when the file finally went through these papers just kept coming. I have no idea what they mean but I think that text was a code.
"This paper states that the text was printed out at an abandoned building in North Carolina." She sets it down and picks up the next.
"This one says the postal code it was sent from." She sets this one down.
"All of these papers say something different hinting at where we can find the people who killed your parents." She looks down at the pile and picks up another.
"This one," She places it in front of me. There's three pages stapled together.
"This one is holding three birth certificates. Which means that you have two siblings in this family." She starts pacing the room. "However, this also means that they could be anyone." She keeps on babbling about the possibilities as I scan through the first certificate.

Name: Joshua Gonzales Santiago
Gender: M
Parents: Greg and Betty Santiago
Date of Birth: 06/15/97
Older brother and sister

"Earth to Hero." Anne says, waving a hand in front of my face.
"Sorry, what?" I say. She chuckles.
"Do you know something about those?" She asks. I shake my head.
"No. But I know who might." I get up and stomp out the door.
***
"Josh!" I scream into the long hallway. The tall figure comes rushing down the hall and slides to a stop outside my office.
"Yeah Hero?" He asks.
"Do you know what this is about!" I exclaim, shoving the certificate in front of his face. He leans back and squints his eyes. After reading it over, his eyes widen and grabs the papers from my hand.
    "Where'd you get this?" He asks in a soft voice. I cross my arms.
"It was part of the evidence box." I reply.
"Hero, I can explain!" Josh screams. I nod.
"You better." I turn and enter my office, him hesitantly following after. He turns the pages again.
"Just look at the other papers, Hero." I glare at him. "Please." I sigh and rip the papers from his hands. I turn the paper to the one behind Josh's.

Name: Victor Giannino Comhghall Santiago
Gender: M
Parents: Greg and Betty Santiago
Younger brother and sister

Name: Hero Albertine Santiago
Gender: F
Parents: Greg and Betty Santiago
Older brothers

I look up from the paper.
"Josh?" I look at him. He nods. "You knew all along?" I ask, tears filling my eyes. He nods once more.
"Hero, I wasn't allowed to tell you. The cops forbid me from even making contact with you, but look, here I am. Making contact!" He shrieked. His arms flailing around, he takes a deep breath.
"Josh, we're related and you weren't allowed to tell me!" I shriek at him. He jumps back at my sudden outburst.
"Hero, I understand that you're mad but, don't you think that the real question should be for Victor." He raises an eyebrow in question. I nod and start heading out the door. I hear two pairs of footsteps echoing behind me as I race down to the meeting room. On my left side I spot Josh in my peripheral vision and Anne on my right.
When we arrive at the meeting room, I open the door to reveal Tyler, and Ryder having a heated discussion with Victor.
"There's no way I'm letting you guys come." Victor practically screams. Tyler and Ryder cross their arms defiantly..
"Well too bad, Victor. There isn't a thing you could bribe or say to us that would change our minds." Tyler announces. Ryder looks at him as if he's gone crazy.
"Oh really?" Victor says.
"Yeah, really." Tyler replies. Ryder's now standing there watching as his brother and fellow member get in each other's faces, screaming. I decide that now would be the best time to stop this. I take a step into the room with my arms crossed and clear my throat. All eyes snap to me before they widen in horror.
"Hero. Your out of your office." Tyler states. I nod slowly.
"No really. I haven't noticed." I reply, rolling my eyes. Tyler shakes his head.
"Guys can you leave for a moment? Please. I just really need to speak with Josh and Victor alone right now." Ryder nods furiously, grabs Tyler by the upper arm and drags him out of the room with Anne following suit. Victor stands rock still as he looks between the two of us.
"Does someone want to explain what's happening?" He questions. Josh looks at me expectantly. I grunt and turn to Victor.
"We found these in the evidence box." I hand him the papers. "Thought that you might be able to explain them to us." He takes the papers and flips through them. His eyes widen to the limit that seems humanly possible.
"Hero, I don't know what type of prank this is but it's not funny." Victor states, throwing down the papers and crossing his arms. My jaw drops as I recall his background.
When Victor was younger, my dad found him on the side of the street, nearly beaten to death, crying, he knew that he had to do something so he brought Victor to our gang house and started to train him based off the anger he withheld from those beatings. Throughout the years following, Victor started to forget about his old family, his old life. That was when the voices started.
"No it's not a prank, Victor. This was an actual file in the bin." He looks down at the papers.
"They were really in the bin?" He asks.
"Well, not physically." I reply. He tilts his head to the side in annoyance.
"Hero!" He cries.
"What?! Anne was working on the threatening text and it took a few days to process through but when it did, a whole bunch of papers came shooting out of the printer. Seemed that the text was encrypted by something and when the code was hacked or overran, a file opened and everything just showed up." I say in one breath, panting at the end. His left eye starts to twitch as he raises his left eyebrow while squinting. He runs a hand through his hair and drags it down his face.
"Hero, you guys shouldn't be messing around with that stuff." Victor reasons.
"Vic, we're in a gang. Messing around with things is all we do." I state. He shakes his head and sighs.
"Okay, I see your point but, I have never seen this before." He looks between the two of us once again. "Any of them, that is." He adds. I nod.
"We need to find our parents than so they can explain something's."Josh offers. I slowly turn to him.
"Josh think about what you just said. They are our rival gang and could trap us instead and do torture sessions on us. We are not going to them." Josh nods.
"Now that that's all figured out, can we get some pizza?" Victor asks. Josh and I nod eagerly already out the door.
"You're buying!" We call back in sync.