The Red Bird

Chapter 14-The Red Bird Gets A Shocking Surprise

(Well, Technically Not Her, But All The Chapter Titles Have To Start The Same...)

Back in the present...

Everyone in the room is completely silent. It's a bit suffocating.

Now I know why everyone is so upset...

How could they have never told me this before?

And how did Heather even know?!

I'm getting a lot of mixed emotions here...

I stand up and pace around the room, not looking at anyone.

No one says a word.

I stop and look at everyone for a while, studying everything about them for no apparent reason.

I open my mouth, but nothing comes out.

I try to look at anything other than Scott as I finally regain my voice.

"I'll do it."

Dr. Price's eyes light up, but the rest of his face is sullen. Heather's lip quivers, and Gladys almost crashes. Her screen flickers to a reload screen for a moment before turning back to her face.

Scott stands up and jumps up the stairs.

I am about to follow him when the TV suddenly turns on behind me. I jump and turn around.

It says:

INCOMING CALL FOR: DR. HARVEY L. PRICE

Dr. Price comes out of whatever trance he was just in and he ushers everyone upstairs and then answers the call.

I listen at the top of the stairs while Heather locks herself in the bathroom. Gladys stands beside me, also listening.

"Hello, Dr. Price," I hear the Queen's soothing voice say. My heart gets caught in my throat and I want to run and hide, but I stay completely still and keep listening.

"I have some exiting news for you!" she says.

"Oh, uh, what might that be?" Dr. Price (apparently his name is Harvey... maybe I should start calling him that) asks nervously. He's clearly not good at hiding things...

"Well, I have a big promotion for you! You see, my head scientists has, shall we say, been demoted... So, you're the new one!" she says cheerily. I don't have to be a genius to know that past head scientist is no longer a scientist. Or alive, for that matter.

"Oh, wow! That's, erm, really great! Well, thanks for calling!" 

"Now don't hang up on me just yet..." she says coldly.

"My apologies..." he says, his voice shaky.

"We wouldn't want our brand new head scientist to be demoted on the first day, now would we?" she says, clearly enjoying playing cat and mouse.

"Of course not," he replies.

"I'm glad we're on the same page. Now, I have a very important mission for you. One that I'm sure you will be able to complete in no time at all," she says, her voice filled with pleasure. She's clearly excited about something, and I really don't care to know what that something is.

"And that would be?..."

"I want you to lead the search for the Red Bird," she says flatly.

"What?!" he chokes out. "I, uh-"

"I just had a hunch that you could help me out more than the last head scientist could..." she says, her voice swelling with satisfaction again.

She knows...