13: 13.one last time?
13: 13.one last time?
Inose’s House.
Nine O’Clock at Night.
The room was thick with tension.
William, Annie, Charlie, and Lara stood in a loose semicircle around the table.
Their arms were crossed.
Their jaws were tight.
All of them were staring at Blinc.
The silence was heavier than any words.
“What?” Blinc said.
He shook his head.
Defensive.
He already knew what was coming.
“You’re saying that we will steal the C.D.
from a high-security military restricted area?” Annie’s voice was sharp.
Frustration and anger boiled beneath every word.
Her hands were clenched into fists at her sides.
“Why are you so angry?” Blinc asked.
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
It only made her angrier.
Annie stood up.
Her chair scraped against the floor with a harsh sound.
“Because I am tired of your shit!
Because you know we just got back from there!” Her voice cracked.
The anger was a mask.
Beneath it was fear.
Real, raw fear.
“Yes.
Don’t you all think about that?” Lara said.
She nodded slowly.
Her eyes were distant.
Haunted.
“What if we die?
What will our parents do?
They will die every day.
Every single day for the rest of their lives.” Her voice was quiet, but it cut through the room like a blade.
“Just forget it, Blinc.
There is no reason to go there again,” Annie said.
She sat back down.
Her voice was calmer now.
Exhausted.
She had spent all her anger and now there was nothing left but tiredness.
“We know you want to save Amili.
But we don’t know where she is,” Annie added.
Her eyes met his.
Pleading.
Reasonable.
“No.” Blinc’s voice cut through the room like a thunderclap.
His eyes burned with sudden fire.
“This time I know.
I know she is alive.” He walked to the table.
His steps were deliberate.
Certain.
He picked up the book — the one Amili had found under the throne — and closed it.
On the cover, a mysterious pattern was etched into the leather.
Old.
Faded.
Waiting to be understood.
“Look here.
Carefully,” Blinc said.
His finger traced the lines.
His hand was steady.
“What?
It’s just a pattern,” Zander said.
Calm.
Dismissive.
He leaned back in his chair, arms crossed.
“No… it is not just a pattern,” Inose said quietly.
She adjusted her glasses.
Her eyes narrowed behind the lenses.
She saw something the others didn’t.
She always did.
Inose took a pencil from the table.
Her hand moved slowly.
Deliberately.
She began drawing lines between the patterns.
Connecting dots.
Revealing what was hidden.
Several lines merged.
The shapes shifted.
Connected.
Formed into something recognizable.
A map.
The tower.
But different now.
Changed.
“Look here.” Blinc pointed to the bottom of the newly formed map.
His voice was alive with understanding.
“Under the tower.
There is a basement.
Or something like it.
What we have to do is simple — find a way to go down there.
Amili is there.” “Wait for a second,” Lara said slowly.
Her eyes were fixed on the map.
Her mind was racing.
“When that tower glowed up… that light came from the ground.
From underneath.” “Okay.
We know where Amili is.
But how do we steal the C.D.?” Annie asked.
The practical question.
The impossible question.
Zander looked at Blinc.
And smiled.
A wide, mischievous grin.
The kind of smile that meant trouble.
— The Supermarket.
9:30 PM.
Cult wore a cap pulled low over his face.
He stood near the refrigerator, positioned carefully in the blind spot of the CCTV camera.
His heart was steady.
His hands were calm.
He had done things like this before.
Smaller things.
Safer things.
But the principle was the same.
He opened the fridge.
The cold air hit his face.
He took out a soda bottle.
Cold.
Heavy.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a cracker and a roll of tape.
His fingers moved with practiced ease.
He strapped them together.
Tight.
Secure.
Then he took out a lighter.
He lit the fuse.
The fuse sparked and began to burn.
Orange and hissing.
He threw the bottle into the refrigerator.
Into the soda section.
Glass clinked.
Bottles shifted.
He turned and walked away.
Fast.
Controlled.
He didn’t run.
Running meant guilt.
Behind him, the bottle exploded.
The sound was deafening in the quiet supermarket.
Glass shattered.
The fridge door blew outward.
Small Flames caught.
.
Alarms began to wail.
People screamed.
Cult stepped out of the supermarket.
Behind him, chaos.
In front of him, the cold night.
He walked to the meeting point.
His job was done.
— The Plan.
Earlier.
“Cult will do a small blast in the supermarket,” Blinc had said.
His voice was low.
Precise.
A general giving orders.
Cult nodded and left without a word.
“Lomro will call the police from the telephone booth in front of the supermarket,” Zander had said.
Lomro was already walking toward the booth.
His steps were quick.
Nervous.
He picked up the receiver.
Dialed.
His voice was steady when he spoke.
“There’s been an small explosion.
At the supermarket.
Send help.
Hurry.” “When the police arrive, Charlie and William will steal their car,” Blinc had said.
Simple.
Dangerous.
— The Telephone Booth.
Charlie and William wore masks of cartoon characters.
Silly.
Absurd.
The kind of masks kids wore on Halloween.
They crouched inside the booth, hidden.
Waiting.
Their breath misted in the cold air.
“I never thought I’d have to work with you again,” William said.
His voice was calm.
Almost amused.
Old memories surfaced.
“Yeah.
But remember when that ghost aunty took our ball because I broke her window glass?
And then you broke her bathroom window too, because she is not giving ball” Charlie said.
He was laughing now.
Quiet.
Nostalgic.
The laughter of shared childhood mischief.
“Yes.
My mother beat me very much that day,” William said.
He stood up.
Adjusted his mask.
His eyes crinkled with a hidden smile.
“Let’s go.” The police car pulled up.
Officers rushed toward the supermarket.
They left the car unlocked.
Stupid.
Lucky.
William slowly opened the car door.
It swung open without resistance.
“Oh.
No need for tools.
It’s open already,” he whispered.
Surprise.
Relief.
Both got in.
William took the wheel.
His hands gripped the steering column.
A policeman shouted from behind.
“Hey!
Stop!” William turned the key.
The engine roared to life.
They sped away.
The policeman’s shouts faded into the night.
— The Highway.
“And go out of town.
We’ll meet you on the highway, in front of the abandoned amusement park,” Blinc had said.
William and Charlie drove into the darkness.
The headlights cut through the night.
The road was empty.
Endless.
— The School Wall.
“Lomro and Lara, you go and bring police costumes from the school store room,” Zander had said.
Lomro and Lara climbed the wall of the school.
Their hands gripped the cold bricks.
Their feet found holds.
Silent.
Quick.
They dropped down on the other side.
Shadows in the night.
— The Plan Continues.
“Then me, William, Charlie, and Zander will wear the costumes and enter the base.
They won’t stop a police car.
As much as I can predict,” Blinc had said.
“Because maybe they’ve informed other towns to find the stolen C.D,” Lomro had added.
Smart.
Careful.
Blinc nodded.
To be countinue…..