Spy School King's Cage (Completed)

Searching for You

Ben's POV

"What do you mean kidnapped?" Cynthia asked. Catherine was too worried to say anything.

"She's missing," I replied. "Someone's taken her."

Mike stepped forward. "Since when?"

"I'm guessing yesterday night," I explained. "She and I were supposed to do reconnaissance at two in the morning."
Jamie sat back down on his beanbag. "She didn't come to get you?"

"Obviously not," Cynthia answered, gently pushing him.

Catherine got to her feet. Any signs of worry had completely disappeared from her face and she was all-business now. "Let's go investigate."

We all walked into Erica's room. Everyone's eyes widened at the sight, but Catherine kept her cool, calmly walking around the room, inspecting for anything that might pass by as useful.

"A great struggle took place," Mike quietly observed. "It's a giant mess."

"No," I said, a little too loudly. "A fight didn't take place."

Everyone turned to me.

"What do you mean?" Zoe asked. "I mean, it's obvious."

"Erica knows how to kill a man ten different ways with her bare hands. Even blindfolded. This isn't like her. Even if there was a fight, then Jamie or I would have heard it," I said, turning to him. "Our rooms are right next door."
Catherine took everything in. "That's true."

"What's this?" Cynthia asked, gingerly picking up a piece of cloth. It looked like a rag. She brought it to her nose.

"Wait!" Mike yelled. "Don't."

Cynthia immediately dropped it. "What?"

I walked closer and picked it up. "It's a chloroform rag."

"Meaning..." Catherine said slowly, waiting for me to finish her sentence.

I nodded, confirming Catherine's thoughts. "You're right. Erica was knocked unconscious and taken away. Whoever did so left behind a mess."

"Why?" Zoe asked. "Why leave a mess?"
"To distract us," Mike commented. I nodded. Mike understood what I was trying to say.

Cynthia frowned. "Why?"

"I'm guessing SPYDER did this," I said, gesturing for Cynthia to step aside. "Look, the rag's also got food stains on it."

"What does that prove?" Jamie asked.

Zoe turned to him. "Murray Hill."

Mike smiled. "Exactly."

"Murray has the worst eating habits," I said, then bent down to pick up a small yellow ball. "Look at this. We all know Murray is fond of skittles."

"That's true," Catherine said. "Murray can also be a bit...messy. The food on the rag makes sense. Though his strength lies in his brains, he can tend to be a bit clumsy."

"That's why he left the rag here!" Cynthia exclaimed. "Of course!"
Mike stepped forward. "But here's the catch. Murray Hill cannot lift Erica Hale alone, meaning that he had help."

"Whose?" I asked.

"Well, it could be anyone," Catherine responded. "Lucio, Joshua, a SPYDER operative, anyone. All we know is that SPYDER's attempted a murder on the king, or so he says, SPYDER's presence has been confirmed and they've taken Erica."

This is bad, my mind screamed. Erica's gone. I turned to everyone else. "What should we do? We should tell someone."

"Should we tell the king?" Mike asked. "I mean, he can have his guards search the place or something like that."

"Yes." Catherine regained her composure and sat up straight. "Yes. I'll tell the king. The rest of you, split up. Go in groups of two and search the palace and if possible, search around for any suspicious activity. For all we know, they're still here."

"Alright," everyone agreed in unison. Catherine turned to me.

"Benjamin, you continue searching for Erica. I'll go talk to the king, alright?"

I nodded as everyone filed out of Erica's room. I walked down the hallway, passing my room and turning around the corner. There was gorgeous red carpeting and chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. Parts of the palace looked medieval and other parts just looked like Cynthia's house.

"Ben! There you are," came a voice. I spun around to find Piper standing in front of me, phone in one hand. She wore light blue jeans, high heeled boots and an off-shoulder crop top.

"Hey, Piper," I said softly. "Were you searching for me?"

She smiled and nodded. "Come with me."

She shot off some texts furiously as we walked down the hallway. Then, pocketing her phone, she turned to me. "Hey, um...the woman with you? I don't remember her name. Catherine, I think, she came up to my dad and she said that Erica was gone. My dad's issued an order to find her."

I felt a pang of sadness and loneliness as I reminded myself, "She'll be fine."
"She will." Piper placed a hand on my shoulder. "Our guards will find her no matter what."

I smiled at her and she returned it, but the smile faded immediately as she took a step back. "I have to go," she said, and hurried away, ducking into a room.

I walked back towards my room when Catherine stopped me. "Benjamin!"
"Hi," I weakly muttered. "Any news?"

Catherine's tight-lipped smile faded and a sad look appeared in her blue eyes. She placed a gentle hand on my shoulder, and her eyes glistened for a moment. She tried to hide it, but I could tell that she was almost in tears. "No..."

I let Catherine hug me. At that moment, I felt tears prick my own eyes. Catherine felt motherly against my body, and I let myself shed a few tears.

"We'll...we'll find her," she whispered softly. "We will."

I nodded, but whispered, "Hopefully."

Catherine pulled away from the hug. "Lunch?"
"Not hungry," I silently replied, walking away into my room. Catherine lingered for a moment, watching me go, and then she sighed before heading down to the dining area.

I walked into my room and lay flat on the bed. Nothing had gone right throughout our whole mission. I felt...like a failure.

I pulled on a sweatshirt to keep myself warm. The rain poured outside, making a constant dripping sound as Alaska's yearly showers grew faster. It was only a minute later that I felt a crinkling noise in my pocket.

It was a note.

Dear Ben,

I hope you find this. If you're reading this, then you know I'm gone. I don't know where I am. I've managed to drop this piece of paper into your hoodie. Don't worry about me, focus on the mission. One more thing: The king i

The note wasn't complete. I wasn't sure if it was the water or the lack of time, but I couldn't read any more. How Erica slipped the paper into my pocket was beyond me, but it meant one thing.

Erica was still close by.

Hi There, everyone! I might update as usual or...slower. I tend to write on my chromebook at school everyday almost all the time, so I'm always able to update chapters over the weekends. Now that I don't have school until April, I'll be on wattpad a lot more often, and I'll try to update as much as possible. I just want to thank everyone for the positive comments, votes and views! Seriously though, are my stories actually that good? Thanks!

also, Thanks for 5K views on Spy School takes a turn. We're at 720 views on this one, and that's excellent progress! Thanks once again.

It's COVID-19 season, and everyone: WASH YOUR HANDS. Don't touch other people, don't touch your face, etc. People out there are dying, and it's a concerning pandemic. Let's do the best we can to stay safe. I'll see you all later!!!