Allice in Mysterious Land (ON HOLD)

31: Ensnared

"We should've brought our phones, Sandra." Arsy's tone turns pitiful. The dim lighting makes her frown more prominent, even from the ceiling-level camera.

I curl my knuckles as the heat in me grows dangerously hot. Who is behind this sick joke? Why should someone hack through the hidden cameras and send this to Roy's laptop?

Oddly enough, despite being so high in the ceilings, the camera still can receive their voices. The place looks deserted, full of sandy walls and dusty paths. Even the hiss at the slightest shift of their feet can reach the camera.

"Nonsense. Someone might track us." Sandra slaps Arsy's shoulder gently, offering a weak smile. Her drained voice makes my heart beat faster; if only she knows they're being tracked already. "We must stick together. Avoid bright places. Put on your mask"—she gestures to the patterned fabric collaring Arsy's neck—"and stay quiet. We're going to the First Lady's tomb."

Arsy adjusts her mask. "Do you think he's there? The First Lady died a decade ago."

"If the rumor is true, whose tomb will he visit daily besides hers?" Sandra chuckles as Arsy gives her a meaningful stare.

"Presidents and world leaders are, after all, famous for having more than a First Lady."

"They're in the Presidential Complex—in the Deep Tombs, to be precise." Roy knits his eyebrows together as he types on his phone with a heavy breath. The worry in his eyes is so clear that it makes my stomach lurch down.

If this matter worries a confident guy like Roy, how should I react, as the anxious one?

"What are they doing?" Mr. Orion sharply breathes in, which earns a scoff from Roy.

"You'll end up reporting this to Jorge, anyway. You don't need to know." He turns to me and takes over the laptop, his eyes observing the details of the ongoing scene. What is he looking at: the shadows from the lamps and lanterns, or the clueless girls, whose lives might be in danger?

Mr. Orion huffs as he steps away from the desk, throwing a swift glance at Lin-Irene. "We're leaving. Let him deal with this on his own."

Lin-Irene casts him a disapproving look, but as her gaze meets mine then moves to Roy's, she nods slowly, getting up from the floor. "I need to apologize—"

"I'll tell him later," I say as Mr. Orion's figure fades away in the distance. "You should catch up." Driven by my anxiety, I wet my lips before adding, "Be careful."

The simple words bring a small grin to her features, and as she puts up a brief thumbs-up, she mouths, "Good luck," before trailing behind her father.

It also earns me a smile, but not for long, once reality sinks into my brain. Whoever is tracking Sandra and Arsy down has known where we are as well, since they can find Roy's laptop's exact position.

Isn't that how it's supposed to work?

Roy returns the laptop in front of me. "Help me keep an eye on them, okay? I'll try to find out the gnat responsible for all these." There's a thick threat within his voice that makes me look up from the screen. His words of not getting more people hurt for his sake echo in my head, drilling the fact constantly.

So instead of continuing to panic, I refocus on the screen. Some shoulders roughly bump against mine, eager to find out what's going on. Some mechanical squeaks can also be heard.

Sandra and Arsy are moving deeper into the site, their steps shallow. Their shadows against the corridor's walls make the situation eerier than before. The lining-up paintings on the wall opposing the hidden camera show detailed battle scenes, like a burning mountain and fire-licked people, and also trees in the background with flames as their hair. The blinking red dot above that painting almost gives Sandra a reason to suspect something's off, but Arsy drags her forward instead—to the edge of the corridor, where it branches into five.