I stepped inside and realized I was standing in something like a big foyer area. In the foyer there was a large open space with a long sofa, a table in front of me and a large vase of flowers on the table. The vase had this intricate design on it, which probably meant it was really expensive. The ceiling of the foyer was high, the floors were lined with white marble and the entire place had the look and feel of a hotel suite made for the rich and the famous. Dr Liverfield being the head of the Council seemed to be enjoying the high life.
Looking around I noticed the place seemed empty and I wondered where Susie had gone and, as I was about to take another step forward, two armed men appeared from one corner of the room. I was about to take a step back when I heard the front door close behind me and, as I turned around, Susie was there smiling at me and I knew I had walked into a trap.
The two men wearing black suits, approached me and I chose not to fight them as they grabbed both my arms and dragged me to the sofa and made me sit down.
Susie was still staring at me, but now her smile had been replaced with a slight hint of concern.
“How nice of you to join us, Marinette,” a voice boomed from my left side. “I have been waiting for you for some time.”
One of the men turned me to face Dr Liverfield who entered the room from the left and she was dressed in a stunning gown as if she was about to go out for an evening dinner.
“You should’ve known better than to walk into our trap,” Dr Liverfield gestured. “But what can I expect from a naive and stupid teenage girl from Thomson?”
Dr Liverfield then approached Susie and stood next to her. “Placing a tracker on Susie’s phone was the work of an amateur. If this is what the Resistance has taught you all these days you been with them I have no need to worry about them at all. I will crush them soon enough just like we did recently at their building.”
Susie passed the phone to Dr Liverfield who took it, flung it to the ground and smashed it with her foot. “I hope the Resistance gets the message they are no match for me. I have the entire Council at my disposal. Marinette, this isn’t a child’s game you are in. You are no longer in Thomson where you can play hide and seek with the Magistrate. This is Vinder and here we play to win.”
I stared down, but the armed man lifted my head forcefully to watch Dr Liverfield.
“First of all, look at your pathetic disguise,” Dr Liverfield indicated. “It does nothing to hide you at all. Is this the best you could come up with? And what was the stunt at the cafe all about? You should have known I was waiting for you to meet Susie. I knew it was only a matter of time before the two of you met.”
I remained silent as Dr Liverfield continued to boast about herself.
“Susie here is my new apprentice,” Dr Liverfield revealed. “She will take over the process in time to come. I doubt you knew or even could have imagined it. If not, why else would she be here? She is a remarkable girl who sees the greater good we are doing for this planet unlike you.”
I chose not to believe anything Dr Liverfield said and looked at Susie who did not return my stare.
“Well I don’t have the time to deal with you now as I have a prestigious Council event to attend. We will talk again soon. Take her away,” Dr Liverfield commanded and the two men dragged me down a small corridor as Susie looked on and shoved me into a room and locked me in it.
I was in a room which had a desk and a leather chair on one end and a bed on another end. The room itself, although small, seemed to have the same luxurious style as the foyer I had just been in with an elaborate painting hanging on the wall facing me.
Everything was going as planned and I smiled to myself.
TWENTY-THREE
It had been about four hours since Dr Liverfield’s men had locked me inside the room and I knew I needed to be patient and wait for the right time. It was the one thing Lara had reminded me constantly when we got ready for this plan.
I heard a knock, one of the men walked in with a gun in one hand and waved for me to follow him. I followed him out of the room back into the foyer and sat down on the sofa.
Dr Liverfield came out from a corner. “I hope my men weren’t too difficult and you got some rest Marinette.”
She was crazy to even ask such a question from me and I stared coldly at her.
“What else could I do when you have me locked up against my will?” I signed.
“This is for your own good,” Dr Liverfield said. “We don’t want to hurt you or for you to injure yourself.”
“Am I supposed to believe you after everything that has happened?” I signed. “You killed an innocent woman in front of me.”
“You are the one who wasn’t cooperative before,” Dr Liverfield declared. “So, don’t go blaming the young woman’s death on me. I gave you a simple way out of the whole thing. All you had to do was share your secret with me.”
Oh my gosh! I couldn’t believe the way she talked about the young woman who they injected with the purple liquid in the hospital-like room as if she was nothing. Who did Dr Liverfield think she was? I realized I was fuming inside and on the verge of losing it, but focused on the plan to stay calm because this was the only way to help everyone now.
“Come on you should at least speak the words,” Dr Liverfield said. “Or can’t you even do that anymore? Have you lost the ability to speak? I doubt it though.”
I tried my best to keep from falling into her trap.
“Well, if you cannot speak you are of no use to me and you can join that young woman,” Dr Liverfield said. “I am sure there will be others who will be able to speak in time to come. You are not so special, Marinette.”
Her sarcastic words made me want to lunge at her, but I controlled myself as much as I could.
“Your silence won’t last forever,” Dr Liverfield stated. “Now tell me how you are able to speak. What gives you the ability to speak? You must know what it is. I know you are stupid, but you cannot be that stupid to not know.”
I looked towards the window, but the armed man approached me, slapped me in the face and I turned back slowly stunned by the force he used on me.
“I don’t think you want to upset my man here,” Dr Liverfield warned. “He has quite a temper and so far he has managed to keep it under control. You don’t want to see what happens when I unleash him on you, right? If it happens, your face may never be recognizable again.”
I nodded reluctantly.
“Finally I see some common sense entering your brain,” Dr Liverfield declared. “Your Resistance base has been destroyed and everyone has been killed or will soon be once they are caught. The spy working in my building is also dead. All has been lost.”
I glanced at her thinking again about Claire and hoping she was one of those who hadn’t been caught yet. I felt horrible for the nurse who had helped me escape.
“Yes we knew about the spy after you escaped,” Dr Liverfield boasted. “She was stupid to help you escape and I can assure you she suffered in her death much more than the innocent woman. There is nothing left for you to go back to. Join me and help the world.”
“You aren’t helping the world,” I signed in defiance. “You are murdering innocent parents!”
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” Dr Liverfield replied.
“Stop lying to me,” I motioned. “I saw what your men were trying to do. I met those parents and we freed them.”
“Do you think the Resistance hasn’t got their hands dirty with innocent blood?” Dr Liverfield declared. “Your Resistance has their own agenda in all this. Why don’t you ask them about it? Oh wait, you cannot ask them because either they are all dead or hiding somewhere in fear.”
I didn’t know what she was talking about, but I didn’t want to get distracted by her lies.
Dr Liverfield continued. “You are too naive Marinette to think so highly of the Resistance. One day you will find out the truth about them. I don’t have time to educate you on them. At least you know where I stand in all this, but
you don’t know where the Resistance stands. Bring him out!”
Dr Liverfield really could talk on and on and I wondered how Susie managed to listen to her for so long, but there was some truth in her final statement; I didn’t know enough of the Resistance because they were very selective in what they shared with me.
The front door opened, a handcuffed man walked in and I realized it was Oliver, but what was more surprising was who was behind him: it was Susie and she had a gun in her hand pointed at his back.
TWENTY-FOUR
“Look who has decided to join us, Marinette,” Dr Liverfield stated. “It is your best friend from Thomson, Oliver. Looks like we are having a reunion today.”
Oliver glanced at me, his eyes didn’t show any fear, but he was surprised to see me here.
“Oliver did a stupid thing coming to Vinder,” Dr Liverfield continued. “He should’ve stayed back in good old Thomson. We managed to catch him easily once he came to Vinder.”
I didn’t understand how Oliver even had gotten here, but he must have found a way to get to Vinder undetected, which was impressive.
“Bring him forward, my new apprentice,” Dr Liverfield smiled.
Susie pushed Oliver a few more steps forward and he stumbled a bit and landed on his knees.
“Shall we try this again now?” Dr Liverfield questioned. “How are you able to speak?”
I remained silent.
“Is this how you are going to be?” Dr Liverfield challenged me. “Don’t you find it ironic, Marinette? Your new friend Susie is pointing a gun at your best friend Oliver. Life has a way of turning everything upside down when you least expect it.”
I knew Dr Liverfield wanted me to act out and speak or release a sound, but I refused to play her game. She could continue to babble on if she liked.
“You have brainwashed everyone,” I signed. “Is this the only way you can get people to support you and your evil plans?”
Dr Liverfield glared at me and I knew I had hit the right spot.
Dr Liverfield’s man approached me again, slapped me harder on my face and I spat out some blood onto the floor.
“This is your last chance,” Dr Liverfield replied. “If not Oliver will suffer a painful death you never could have imagined. Is this what you want? What happens to Oliver next is on your hands, not mine.”
I wasn’t moved by her threat at all.
“I expected this from you, Marinette,” Dr Liverfield stated. “And this is why other things have been started. Soon I will know how you do all this and you won’t matter to me anymore.”
I wondered what she was talking about, but didn’t have the time to think about it now.
“Susie, shoot Oliver in the leg,” Dr Liverfield commanded. “Let’s see how some blood changes your stubbornness, Marinette.”
Susie pointed the gun and, instead of shooting Oliver, fired the gun at Dr Liverfield. The bullet hit her right arm, she went down, Oliver hit the ground as Dr Liverfield’s armed man started firing back while dragging Dr Liverfield behind the sofa. I raced to a corner and Susie managed to find cover behind the vase as the next few minutes were filled with Susie and Dr Liverfield’s man exchanging gunfire. Thankfully, no one else was injured, but I was impressed with Susie’s composure in handling the gun without freaking out.
“Get me out of here,” Dr Liverfield yelled to her man as the gunfire continued on. “You will pay for this Marinette and Susie you disappointed me.”
As fast as the hail of bullets had started, it stopped and I looked over to the spot where Dr Liverfield and her man were supposed to be, but it was now empty.
Susie got up, walked to Oliver and helped untie him as I joined them at the center of the foyer.
“What the heck is going on here M?” Oliver signed in confusion.
We hadn’t told Oliver what was going to happen so as to make the plan look credible and, although I knew it was bad to keep him in the dark, I had no choice.
I briefly shared with Oliver my plan since meeting Susie earlier at the cafe where she had told me about him being captured by Dr Liverfield’s men, our plan to trick Dr Liverfield into believing Susie was on her side and including the tracker as part of the plan.
“Wow I am impressed by the two of you,” Oliver motioned in admiration. “For one minute I thought this was going to be it for me.”
“Where did Dr Liverfield disappear to?” I signed in frustration.
“I don’t know, but we need to get out of here now,” Susie grabbed me. “The other armed men will be on the way up. There is a group of them in the basement always standing by for any emergency.”
I nodded as Susie led the both of us down another corridor which ended in another small room and I hoped she knew what she was doing because I had to trust her to know how to get us out of here.
“This way,” Susie pointed at the window which was being forced open by two iron bars.
Susie saw my doubt. “It is the only way because we cannot use the lift or the stairs anymore. The automated system triggered by the gunshots disabled all the lifts in the building and an automatic barricade closed the staircase exit and entrance. The windows are also supposed to be shut down, but I managed to put these iron bars here to help us escape. This is the only way we can get out of here, but it’s a bit of climbing, which should be reasonable since we are only on the third floor.”
“Nice job Susie,” Oliver motioned giving her a thumbs-up.
I was amazed by how much Vinder had improved on the automated system in Thomson with so many barriers to keep everyone inside. It was like a death trap.
Despite all of this, Susie had really thought of everything for our escape and I was impressed she had the time to do all of it so quickly.
We followed her as she climbed out the window and started going down the stair-like exit outside. I realized we were facing the other side of the building as we got to the ground.
“Now what?” Oliver signed looking about.
“Wait a minute,” I motioned. “I called for help already.”
“You called who?” Oliver gestured, still in doubt.
I smiled, didn’t answer him and I knew my lack of a reply was making Oliver nervous, but I didn’t have the time to explain everything to him.
Lara rushed from around the corner towards us with a gun in hand and Oliver instinctively was about to fight her when I stopped him.
“Oliver no!” I signed. “Lara is from the Resistance and she will help us.”
Susie went up to Lara and shook hands. “We need to get out of this area fast. Dr Liverfield’s men will know what happened very soon.”
Lara nodded, pointed in another direction and we followed her down a series of alleys until we reached a dead-end. Lara then walked over to a pothole and opened it.
Oliver looked at her. “Are you serious?”
“This may be Vinder, but some things never change,” Lara signalled. “The underground sewage system is the safest way out of here. The whole area will be covered by Dr Liverfield’s men and her robot drones in a matter of minutes. She is very powerful in this city and has many resources she can use against us. We would have no chance of walking around and disappearing into the crowd around here.”
I nodded and followed Lara without waiting for any further discussion with Oliver or Susie. We climbed down a set of steps until we reached the underground sewage system. Surprisingly, the underground sewage was sparkling clean, well lit and there wasn’t any sign of water.
“These aren’t used anymore in Vinder,” Lara highlighted. “But we use them often when we need an escape route.”
“Does the Council know you are using them?” Susie signed.
“Most probably, but there are too many underground passages for them to track us,” Lara indicated. “Although in the past they have sent robots drones down here to look for us we have managed to avoid them in the past.”
Lara started walking as Oliver turned to me. “Can she be trusted?”
&nbs
p; “She is the only one in Vinder who can help us,” I signed. “She saved me from Dr Liverfield when I got captured.”
Lara stopped. “Listen.”
I heard a buzzing sound coming from behind us, Lara gestured for us to run and we began racing down the passage. Then, Lara turned left into another passageway.
“Stay quiet,” Lara motioned.
Lara took out some kind of bottle and sprayed it in front of us.
The buzzing sound became louder and louder by the second, a drone flew by without noticing us and we waited for another ten minutes.
Lara continued. “Okay, let’s continue.”
Emerging Above the Silence Page 10
