You're Never Alone

Chapter 5

Word Count: 1242

A couple days later, Phil goes to the back room to finish the serum intended for Dan. He looks at his notes but all of them are nonsense so he uses the method he learned years ago from his parents. As he stands at the table, he shoves everything off of it and grabs a small glass jar the size of a 10p coin (about the size of a quarter). He screws off the lid and grabs a small dagger from his waistband, dragging it slowly down his left pointer finger from the tip of it to the first knuckle. He fills the container halfway before screwing it back on and using his powers to cool it. After thirty minutes of keeping his blood cool, it goes from red to a deep purple. He sadly frowns as he knows that the serum he created will work.

    Phil shoves the container in his pocket before walking out of the room and going out on the streets to Louise's cafe after grabbing an empty syringe from Cat's medical stash under her cot. He keeps his head down and enters the cafe a few streets from the warehouse. Quickly scanning the room, he sees Dan in the corner. Phil looks at Louise and she beckons him over.

    "We have to act quickly. The sign on the door says that we close in an hour so hand me the serum and distract Dan until five when the sun starts setting," she quickly tells him and Phil nods hurriedly handing the container and syringe over the counter. "I'll have a few of us as back up, okay?"

    "This better work," Phil mutters as he turns away and walks over to where Dan sits. He pulls out the chair in front of the prince and sits down, startling Dan out of any thoughts he was having. "Hi, I'm Phil. You accidentally ran into me the other day."

    "Hi, Phil," Dan responds awkwardly and Phil smiles.

    "Don't worry. I only came over here to make small talk while I wait for my friends to arrive." Phil brightens his fake smile and Dan visibly relaxes.

    "What are your friends like?" Dan asks and Phil knows that this will be harder than he thought. Dan's eyes are so mesmerizing you could be hypnotized by them.

    "My friends are pretty nice although they can act like such children sometimes," Phil says, chuckling. "What type of music do you listen to?"

    "A lot of Muse, Fall Out Boy, and Panic! At The Disco," Dan replies, smiling slightly and Phil feels guilt pool in his stomach as he knows that this was a terrible idea.    

"Really? Me too." Phil continues the conversation, getting as much as he can out of Dan and the two talk for about forty-five minutes before Phil faintly notices Louise closing all the blinds as the cafe empties out. When she goes to the front door, she pulls down the shades and locks the door as everyone but the three of them are left. She goes to the back room, giving Phil the signal of tapping the counter three times to say that he had one minute before the plan started.

    "So yeah. That's the story of when I fell from a tree," Dan finished. Phil looked at him after he had stopped talking and gave him a smirk. Dan furrowed his brows in confusion.

    "You know, they say that the ones in mourning are always the most vulnerable," Phil said, leaning back and studying Dan, watching as the brown haired boy's eyes widened. As Phil mentally punched himself, he went on. "They also say the ones that are lonely are also the most desperate for someone to latch on to."

    "Phil, what are you getting at?" Dan worriedly asks, fear lacing every word he speaks.

    "That friend of yours that died. What was his name again?" Phil saw as Dan started moving slightly.

    "I should go," Dan says as he goes to stand up but Phil uses his powers and keeps his wrists on the table with cuffs of ice connected to it.

    "I don't think so," Phil sternly said and as Louise came up behind Dan with the syringe in hand, Phil's mask faltered for a split second. Louise suddenly darted forward and plunged the purple liquid into Dan's neck. Phil had to look away for he could not watch what was about to happen. He heard Dan yelp and he heard as Louise picked up a chair and knocked the prince unconscious.

***

    Louise, PJ, Cat, and Phil carefully creep back to the warehouse with a limb of the prince in each person's possession. Phil feels small amounts of guilt and regret for doing this plan so he keeps on a neutral face to not show his emotions as the four weave through Manchester. They arrive at the warehouse without being spotted and the four put Dan on a cot while they go to the back room. In there, they go through the door on the back wall to the extra room that's always locked. It's empty with a one way mirror in it and Phil puts in a spare cot to place the prince on. Cat and PJ leave the room and come back moments later with Dan in their arms.

    As the two put him on his cot, Phil walks into the room on the other side of the mirror and flicks on the lights. Inside is a microphone that connects to a small undetectable earpiece that an interrogator wears, a table in which the microphone is connected to, a few chairs, and two doors: one to the prince's room and one back to the warehouse.

    Looking through the window, Phil sighs as he places his hands on the table and watches Dan for a moment as he thinks. He didn't know whether to feel guilty for kidnapping someone or to feel filled with joy because he could finally get back at the king for all he's done. Was all of this worth all the trouble he's gone through to be where he is today? PJ walks in as Phil sighs loudly.

    "Hey," PJ says as he comes up beside Phil.

    "This feels wrong," Phil mutters as he stands straight and looks over at PJ. "Everything I've gone through and we've gone through seems so minor compared to what we just did. We kidnapped a person, PJ. How can you be alright with this?" Phil asks and PJ looks away from his friend.

    "It's the only chance we've got to surviving," he reasons and Phil shakes his head slightly.

    "What's your definition of surviving, PJ?" Phil responds

"Surviving is doing what we have to to stay alive. What we have to do may not be right and it may be cruel but it's what we must do," PJ replies and Phil knows he's right.

"I just wish there was another way." The two look over to Dan and watch as his chest rises and falls steadily. "Go tell Louise and Cat to get some sleep. I want us to be here for the night when Dan wakes up."

    PJ nods and ushers the two women out the door in Dan's room, covering the doorknob with ice with a swish of his wrist to keep Dan in. He comes back as Phil sits in a chair and carefully sits next to him. It was going to be a long night.