Confusion covered Denisse and me like a blanket.

"He's not usually like that, right?" Denisse asked me.

I shook my head. He's usually quiet.

"Everyone, please gather in the living area. I've got a plan," We heard Luke call from the living room area of the apartment.

Denisse and I quickly moved out and gathered outside with Christopher, Braya, Luke and Scover. We took our places on the sofas, on the armchairs and the floor. Luke came in holding our drinks from earlier and placed them on the coffee table.

"Our main goal, right now, is to get Dr Jerydonn, since he was the one who created the serum and the machine which can remove the serum," Luke announced.

"But Luke, that's assuming that we trust Mr Weaber's word," Braya pointed out.

"That's true. But remember, he didn't say that to us. He said it in front of the DEflayte buyers. I doubt he'd dare to cross them, since they're the ones with the assassins," Luke replied.

I had to agree with him. If Mr Weaber decided to betray the people on DEflayte, he'd have assassins and mercenaries after him.

"Guys, look. Denisse is in the chat, right? We could have Denisse pretend to be a buyer and ask Mr Weaber for the location of Dr Jerydonn," Luke suggested.

We fell silent, trying to process this in our minds.

"We need a good excuse to do so without seeming suspicious," I stated.

"Yeah... why would someone want to see Dr Jerydonn for?" Christopher wondered, scratching his head.

I racked my brains, trying my best to recall what the DEflayte bidders had said during the attempted removal of the serum. Several people were excited, several were gawking at us, some were busy bidding, one asked where they could buy the serum, several were drinking water that I ended up using against the assassins guarding us...

Wait.

I halted.

Someone wanted to know where they could buy the serum!

"I remember. One of the bidders asked Mr Weaber where they could buy the serum," I recalled.

"Bingo," Luke replied, snapping his fingers.

"Surely by now even more people would have joined the chat. I can pretend to be one of them and ask Mr Weaber for Dr Jerydonn's location!" Denisse cried, her eyes lighting up as she caught on.

"It's brilliant!" Braya let out a whoop.

"Should I message him privately?" Denisse asked.

"No, don't. Ask him in the main chat so he can't ignore you and others will see it," Luke suggested.

"Great idea!" Denisse replied, pulling on a new pair of black fingerless gloves which she had probably bought from the clothes store.

Turning on her computer, she attached her computer equipment to her laptop and we watched as her fingers danced across her keyboard. A few moments later, she turned the laptop screen to face us so we could see what was going on in the chat:

ASHESLynn sent, '@Krire Bewtacap There's a machine to remove the serum right?

Krire Bewtacap replied, 'Yes.'

ASHESLynn sent, 'Where can I buy it? Who invented it?

Krire Bewtacap replied, 'A scientist named Dr Jerydonn invented it.'

Krire Bewtacap sent, 'If you guys are keen to check out Dr Jerydonn's technology, I can arrange for a tour of my other compound. Dr Jerydonn would be glad to know that he has admirers.'

TSS21 replied, 'Yes please!'

Click here to see 184 identical replies.

DarkWebRuler sent, 'I'd love to see this mysterious Dr Jerydonn.

Rage&SpeedRGR8 sent, 'Cool.'

Krire Bewtacap sent, 'Okay, let me check with my other compound.'

"Seems like Krire will be inviting guests over. What if we have Denisse get the address?" Luke remarked.

"Good idea, but how will we get in? None of us look like proper adults," Denisse questioned.

"I could try," Christopher chimed, but his smile faltered when Luke shook his head.

"You're too flashy. Plus, anyone with noticeable eyes is out of the question," Luke disagreed.

"That leaves only Denisse and me," Braya deduced.

"We're not old enough," I objected. No way am I going to let Denisse out of my sight again.

"But you are blind, right? Bluff a couple of guards and take 'em down, Braya," Luke replied.

"That actually sounds not bad," Christopher agreed.

"We'll wait for the right chance and then strike," I added. This sounds like a good plan.

"Right then, Denisse, please inform us where the compound is when Mr Weaber posts it. Also, can we call him something else?" Luke asked.

"Uh, why?" I clarified.

"After all that he's done, he doesn't deserve to be called that way. How about we call him the Kidnapper, since he technically kidnapped three of us," Luke suggested.

Christopher shrugged, while Braya called, "Doesn't really matter, but it should be fine."

"Alright, I'll call him that, then, ' Luke decided.

"Who is he, anyway?" Christopher questioned.

"Patrick Weaber," I answered, "I heard one of his guards mention it in the compound."

"What if he's just a pawn?" As in, he isn't the head of the operation?" Braya wondered, her brows furrowing.

"That's a good point. He can't be the only one who wants the serum," Christopher agreed. We exchanged a round of nods.

Scover, who had been playing Scrabble by himself on the coffee table, suddenly froze and looked up.

"No," he muttered.

"What?" I asked.

Braya and Luke stopped their private chat about the fastest way to take out an assassin and turned in the direction of his voice.

"What is it, Scover?" Christopher murmured to him.

"It's him," Scover replied.

"Huh?" What do you mean?" Luke asked.

"He's the one in control," Scover clarified.

"What? How..." Braya trailed off.

In explanation, Scover pushed a pile of Scrabble tiles towards the centre of the table. He then shifted and pushed the tiles around.

First, he arranged the tiles in two rows. We pored over it:

K R I R E

B E W T A C A P

"Okay," Luke remarked.

After a few seconds, Scover rearranged the letter tiles and as he put the last tiles in place I craned my neck to have a better look:

P A T R I C K

W E A B E R

"It's the same! He's in charge of the auction of the serum... and the auction!" Christopher cried.

A thought hit me.

This means he can lie to the DEflayte users... including us.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"We should still assume so," Braya disagreed, shaking her head.

"Whichever he is, it doesn't matter. All that matters is that we need to find Dr Jerydonn. Denisse, got the date?" Luke questioned.

"Yup. Initially it was next week, but due topopular demand the visit has been shifted to tomorrow... or was it Sunday? I'm not sure, he just said this week," Denisse replied, her eyes flickering off her screen to meet Luke's eyes for a moment.

"Guess we can relax for a little today... ice cream, anyone?" Luke let out an excited exclaim, running to the kitchen. Moments later, he ran out clutching a large tub of ice cream, several glass cups and some spoons.

"There's cookies and cream, chocolate and caramel! Which one do you guys want?" Luke quizzed, whipping out an ice cream scoop.

"Could I have cookies and cream, please?" I asked. In reply, Luke scooped out three generous scoops.

"What a generous amount. Chocolate would be great," Christopher remarked.

When Luke gestured to Braya and Scover, they shook their heads.

"Since when was ice cream part of our packing list we're on the run escaping assassins?" Scover murmured a sarcastic comment to Christopher, who spooned a scoop of ice cream into his mouth.

"We should at least take advantage of the fridge," Christopher muttered back, occupied with his dessert.

Several minutes of small talk and eating ice cream later, we separated to do our own activities. Braya used a punching bag in the living room to exercise, Scover dug out a thick book on Scrabble to read and Luke and I went to pack our bags for the retrieval of Dr Jerydonn.

"Would it look suspicious if Denisse went in with a large bag filled with computer equipment?" Luke asked me.

"Don't think so, since her computer equipment is a must if we have to hack anything," I replied, putting in the special assassin's watch with the lethal needle.

"Remember, the water source may not be in the plumbing," Luke reminded me.

"There's not much I can do if it's underground," I sighed.

Although my powers enabled me to manipulate water, after some tests I realised that I had to be able to access it in order to do it.

"You can work around that," Luke conclded, zipping up Denisse's bag, "Okay, going to bed now, goodnight."

Seems like he needs a lot of sleep, I mused as he walked to the bedrooms. 

Turning back to face the living room again, I glanced at Scover and recalled his strange reaction after he and Denisse had that brief disagreement before dinner, and then shifted my gaze to look at Christopher who was at the balcony.

Wait, wasn't Scover the first one of us Christopher had met? Perhaps Christopher knows something, I thought.

After a while of walking, I found Christopher at the balcony, observing the crowds of people below.

"What's up, Iolla?" he asked upon noticing my arrival.

"I need to talk to you. You met Scover first before meeting Denisse and I, right?" I questioned.

"Yes, I did. Why?" Christopher replied.

"Scover's been acting strange lately," I whispered to Christopher in a hushed mutter, "Before dinner he was asking Denisse to... to leave and not be part of the plan to rescues Dr Jerydonn. Do you know why?"

Christopher pondered for a moment, his eyes drifting back onto the cityscape below us, then he replied, "Asking Denisse to leave, you say? I think I have an idea why," his eyes flickered off to the side where I assumed Scover was seated," But I shouldn't be the one to tell you."

So Christopher knows too, which means that Scover must have told him. What else is Scover hiding from the rest of us? These thoughts filled my head as I walked back to the room that Denisse and I were going to rest in.

"So?" Denisse asked, looking at me expectantly when I stood at the doorway.

I walked in and shut the door behind me.

"I have news."

~

So it seems like not only does Scover know something, Christopher knows too! Oh, I wonder what it could be... any ideas? 

I noticed that my chapters were getting longer and longer so I shortened it this time. Hope the content was just as exciting! 

NOTE: I'm going on a holiday to Japan soon, so there won't be any update for about at least 2 weeks. I'll return on the 27th, but I need some time to write. Stay tuned for Chapter Sixteen!