Missing

by Gabrielle Lord

  ‘I’m going to move camp,’ said Ryan, ‘so I can be closer to that rock wall. I want to study it for fingerholds.’

  We helped to move his gear further up the mountain and make another hide-out in another deep scoop in the rock, protected by overhanging foliage. ‘Careful of those Gympie Gympie trees up here,’ I said, pointing to two of the stinging trees that hung over the side of the new hide-out.

  ‘That’s my defence system,’ he said, grinning up at the overhanging leaves.

  We quickly made our way back to the resort and could see kids waiting for evening rollcall. Sophie and I split up in the cemetery, so that we could come in from different directions and avoid suspicion.

  10:51 pm

  That evening, I went in search of a safe spot to call BB. I wanted to text my mum as usual to stop her from worrying, and call Boges and Winter. I scouted around with my mobile discreetly in my hand, looking for a place where the signal was strong and the likelihood of being sprung was minimal.

  Overhead, thunder growled and the moon suddenly vanished. A tropical storm was about to dump all over me.

  I found a spot just past the orange flags at the end of the beach. Here, the surf crashed and seethed around rocky black outcrops that jutted up out of the water. I was far enough away from the counsellors not to be noticed if I squatted down behind a boulder. I rang Boges.

  ‘Great to hear from you, dude,’ said Boges.

  ‘I’m here too,’ said Winter, chiming in.

  ‘Hi there. How’s it going back on the mainland?’

  ‘Mmm. OK. What about you?’

  ‘I can’t talk for very long,’ I said, keeping an eye on the time so as not to miss BB. I told them how I’d found Sophie Bellamy, how Ryan had injured his ankle and I was now acting in his place. I told them of my suspicions about Damien Thoroughgood and the strange conversation in his office. ‘Kids are going missing,’ I said. ‘We actually saw it happen just a while ago.’ I relayed how the boys and girl in the red and blue shirts had vanished into thin air.

  ‘Not possible, dude. They have to have gone somewhere.’

  I knew Boges was right, but it wasn’t very helpful. I needed evidence.

  ‘You told BB and SI-6 about Sophie, didn’t you?’ Winter asked.

  ‘I spoke to him after I first arrived—he was happy to know Sophie is fine and safe. They asked me to have a look around too and that’s what I’m doing now.’

  ‘Well, we haven’t been sitting around doing nothing, either,’ said Boges. ‘Winter had a talk with Brittany Philips.’

  ‘How’d you manage that?’ I asked.

  ‘Having SI-6’s resources on tap is quite cool, dude. I found an aunt of hers and it turns out Brittany is staying with her. Winter managed to persuade Brittany to confide in her.’

  ‘Awesome! What did she say?’

  ‘Not much, I’m afraid. She was pretty confused. She said she’d been sacked because she’d overheard something.’ Winter said. ‘She’s a really nice girl, but it’s like she’s got some sort of amnesia, or she doesn’t want to talk,’ Winter added. ‘She had this wounded look about her.’

  That reminded me of something. ‘Did she talk about a cut or a tattoo on the arm?’

  ‘No,’ said Winter, ‘but now I think about it, she kept rubbing her arm, as if the muscle was aching or something. I thought it was just nerves. Why do you ask?’

  I told them about the cuts and tattoos that I’d noticed on the upper arms of the disappearing trio.

  ‘That’s creepy,’ said Boges. ‘They sound deliberate—and surgical. What do you think the cut is for?’

  ‘Not sure,’ I said. ‘It could be some sort of initiation. What about the key she mentioned?’

  ‘I asked her about it, but she just clammed up. Wouldn’t talk about it, no matter how much I tried to tell her we were on her side,’ Winter said, her concern evident in her voice.

  ‘She’s scared,’ I said.

  ‘That’s pretty clear. But scared of what? We need … before … you say so.’

  ‘Boges? Winter? You’re breaking up.’

  Overhead, there was a loud clap of thunder and the storm clouds burst, heavy rain drumming on the ground.

  ‘Boges?’

  Nothing. The line was dead. I tried calling him again, and Winter’s phone too, but nothing worked.

  I looked at the time. This was my window to talk to BB. A huge crack of thunder right overhead made me nearly jump out of my skin. At the same time, a violent earth tremor unbalanced me, and I fell, whacking my head against a low branch.

  I tried to find some cover from the rain, running doubled over towards the cemetery, where I found a little shelter beside a slanting headstone. But when I tried to call BB, there was nothing, not even static.

  Defeated and dripping wet, I scurried back to the resort, hoping I wouldn’t meet any staff on the way.

  DAY 27

  64 days to go …

  Paradise People Resort

  1:09 am

  When everyone was asleep in the boys’ dormitory, and the storm was well and truly over, I climbed out of bed and silently pulled the satellite phone out of my backpack. Even though it wasn’t the right time, I felt I had to try again. Creeping to the door, I stepped out into the warm tropical night. The air was humid and oppressive and in the distance I could still hear thunder.

  Keeping out of reach of the CCTV cameras, with the phone tucked safely inside my jacket, I quickly scaled the tall cyclone fence, dropping to the other side. I scuttled across to the shelter of the palm trees near the upturned kayaks.

  I switched the phone on and dialled the number BB had organised. I was glad of the noise of the crashing surf nearby because there was loud static on the channel. Turned out that was all I could get—static.

  I felt bad that I’d failed to talk to BB again. It’d be good to tell him how the next stage of my mission was going. I would have to make another attempt tomorrow night.

  I crept back inside the dormitory, slipping past a couple of counsellors who were huddled together having a late-night chat. I lay awake for a long time, trying to make sense of those identical wounds on the arms of the kids who’d disappeared, who’d somehow melted into the tropical jungle.

  10:31 am

  The next morning after breakfast, I searched around for Sophie with no luck. As I was looking for her, I’d noticed the small flag running up the flagpole—my call to training.

  We trained and played particularly hard and I was red-faced and sweating, but satisfied with being on the winning team, by the time we finished. I was walking off the playing field when I heard someone approaching.

  ‘You’re doing very well, Ryan,’ said Ivan, the coach, catching up to me. ‘You’re a natural. Have you done a lot of training before?’

  ‘Kind of,’ I said, trying not to smile, remembering how fit I’d become chasing the Ormond Riddle and Jewel halfway around the world.

  ‘How do you feel about going up to the next level? Some of the activities can be more dangerous and we focus more on individual games. Like abseiling, adventure racing and martial arts katas.’

  I was being invited to join the elite of the elite. I could feel the smile getting away from me. I brought it under control. ‘I think I can handle it,’ I said. ‘I always like a challenge.’

  ‘Good. I’ll settle it with Damien and then you and I can talk.’

  1:58 pm

  After lunch, I went looking for Sophie. I searched everywhere. I went over to the girls’ dormitory and knocked on the door. It was opened by a friendly-looking woman whose name I knew from Sophie.

  ‘Excuse me, Mrs Clayton,’ I asked, ‘I’m looking for Sophie Bellamy. Do you know where she might be?’

  Mrs Clayton frowned. ‘I’m afraid she’s left,’ she said. ‘I think there was a problem at home. It’s a real pity. She’s a lovely girl, extremely smart. She was nice to have around.’

  I stood there in stunned surprise. Sophie was gone? It was hard to beli
eve. In fact, it was impossible to believe, I started to realise. Something else must have happened.

  Mrs Clayton looked very sincere and I doubted she was lying to me. She was just passing on what she’d been told—probably by Damien.

  ‘I’m sure she would have said goodbye to you, if it hadn’t been an emergency,’ Mrs Clayton said.

  I walked away from the girls’ dormitory, my thoughts whirling as I tried to find answers. Sophie had vanished—like the other kids who disappeared. I didn’t believe for a minute that she’d had an emergency at home. I wasn’t so sure about calling BB that evening. How could I tell him that I’d found Sophie, his precious daughter, and now she was missing?

  Ryan’s Hide-out

  3:05 pm

  While everyone’s attention was focused on a game of soccer, I slipped away to see Ryan. I squatted down beside him, in his vine-covered lair, and pulled out the food supplies. He was very glad to see me but his face soon dropped.

  ‘Sophie’s gone missing,’ I said. ‘We need to talk about what to do next. Mrs Clayton, the woman who runs the girls’ dormitory, told me some rubbish about an emergency at home. She seemed to believe that Sophie had left the island during the night because of it.’

  ‘But wouldn’t BB have said something when you called last night?’

  I shook my head. ‘I couldn’t get through. But maybe it’s just as well. If they think something’s happened to Sophie, they might come charging over to the island and then we’ll never find out what’s going on here.’

  ‘But what if she’s in danger?’ Ryan asked, frowning.

  ‘I don’t think she is in danger. I think she’s been singled out to join whatever it is at the next level. My coach, Ivan, asked me how I felt about going to the next level too. My guess is that the kids who’ve disappeared join those ones we saw—the ones with the wounds and the tattoos on their arms.’

  ‘You think we should wait?’ Ryan asked.

  ‘Just a little. Let me figure out if there’s anything else we can do. If not, I’ll have to contact BB.’

  DAY 28

  63 days to go …

  Shadow Island Jungle

  4:53 pm

  The next day, I gave myself a headache trying to come up with a plan for finding Sophie, but it seemed like there was no other choice but to call for back-up.

  I jogged through the hot jungle on the now familiar path to Ryan’s hide-out. Suddenly I heard a noise on the track behind me. I ducked behind some trees, crouching down just in time to hide from the girl in the red and blue shirt I’d seen disappear before. She sped past, oblivious to me. Silently, I got to my feet. I was not going to lose her this time.

  It was easy to keep her in sight, following the flashes of her colourful shirt as she ran through the jungle. I recognised the path she was taking as the very same one I’d followed the trio along two days ago. A couple of times I saw her stop, turn around and stand still listening. Had she heard my footsteps behind her? I ducked down, crouching, until I saw her slowly turn around again and continue on her way. Soon she had arrived at the spot near the rock face that Ryan wanted to climb. Again, I saw her take something out of her pocket and again I heard the whirring noises.

  I blinked in disbelief as the rock face moved!

  Before my astounded eyes, the rock wall trembled and lifted up to reveal an opening, like a small garage door, through which the girl swiftly disappeared. I snapped out of my shock and ran after her, just managing to slip through the fast-narrowing gap as the grinding rock door closed behind me.

  Mountain Bunker

  5:14 pm

  I took a few steps and stood in wonder. Above me, water glistened on a rocky ceiling. I was in a huge cavern. In front of me were descending steps carved into the mountain, and I caught a glimpse of the girl jumping the last few steps and running across the wide space beneath me. I realised this must be an underground military bunker. BB mentioned the island had been used during the Pacific War.

  There, lit up by lights from powerful humming generators, a small squad of astonishingly precise teenagers were moving through their steps, each in perfect unison with their neighbours, so that they looked like a flash mob. I stood, breathless with admiration and surprise, watching them.

  Carved in the rock wall behind them was a huge Z. As they all turned sideways, I saw the small, straight wound on the upper left arm of each one. So, this was where the disappeared kids ended up, deep in the heart of the mountain. I searched their faces but Sophie was not among them. Where was she?

  As I watched, I spotted the coach, Ivan, who dismissed the group. They fell out of their precise formations, dissolving into a bunch of kids moving in different directions, picking up towels and packs and heading for underground corridors, where I could no longer see them, talking and laughing together. Soon all was quiet. I turned back to the rock wall entrance but I had no idea how to get out. Maybe this was a one-way door—opening only from the outside, not from inside.

  Suddenly, the lights went out and I was left in total darkness.

  It took a little while for my eyes to adjust, but there was some dim light from the corridors that gave on to the wide arena space. I dug out my mobile, and by its small beam, I cautiously made my way down the steps and onto the flat area, which I now realised was a natural cave of vast proportions. The sound of footsteps caused me to jump behind a craggy outcrop. I crouched down, listening.

  ‘Chloe said she thought she heard someone up there,’ said a man’s voice.

  I peered around from my hiding place and saw someone I didn’t recognise talking to Ivan.

  ‘Someone could have come in behind her,’ he added. I froze as the lights suddenly came on. I shrank back as far as I could into the shadows. The footsteps came a little closer and then stopped. I held my breath. Please don’t come over here.

  ‘Maybe she’s just imagining things,’ he said. ‘There’s nobody here.’

  ‘OK, well, make sure Chloe understands that she has to be on her guard,’ Ivan said. ‘You know how important it is that only the Zenith team know of this place.’

  Zenith team! That must be what the tattoo stood for. I waited, barely daring to breathe, hoping like crazy that he’d say more.

  ‘Especially now that everything’s moving so fast,’ Ivan continued, ‘They’ve only got a couple more months to go.’

  I heard them heading back towards the corridors, leaving me to exhale in relief, but feeling frustrated. What did Ivan mean? What were these kids doing in a couple of months’ time?

  As their footsteps faded, I was left with a bunch of questions and no answers.

  I waited a while longer, wondering how on earth I was going to get out of the place. I couldn’t go back the way I’d entered. If I wanted to get out of there, I would have to risk going down one of the corridors. I had no way of knowing if I’d be able to hide from people once in there and there’d be no bluffing my way out this time.

  Missing evening rollcall was going to be the least of my problems.

  With my body tense with anxiety, on red alert, I made my way to the first of the corridors. Echoing further down, I could hear voices and the sound of crockery and cutlery. The Zenith team were at dinner. Maybe, just maybe, that would keep them out of my way while I tried to find an escape route. I sidled along the corridor, cut out of the mountainous rock, and sure enough, as I came closer to a lit doorway, the sounds of people dining became louder. I jumped across the light thrown into the corridor, hoping that nobody would look up and see me. I waited, tense, on the other side. But there was no outcry, no sound of rushing feet.

  I kept going further and further down the sloping corridor, passing other doors as I went. A sudden rush of cooler air and the smell of salt hit me as I turned the corner. In front of me, the corridor widened out into another cavern, like a natural boatshed carved out of rock, leading out to a wide passage to the sea beyond.

  The black water before me swirled around an amazing craft—sleek, streamlined and d
olphin-shaped. Damien’s submersible! With a windowed cabin at the front where the dolphin’s ‘nose’ would be, the slim silvery craft rose and fell on the slight swell. It was moored against a stone shelf of the cave which formed a natural wharf. But I didn’t have time to admire the gleaming craft any further. I needed to get out of there—fast. I could hear voices moving down the corridor behind me.

  I scrambled over the rocks on my right towards the low, wide archway that formed the entrance of the cave. I climbed awkwardly around until I had reached the opening to the sea.

  I peered out, trying to get my bearings. Around a kilometre away, I could see the resort, further down the coastline. But to get back there, I’d have to make my way over the sharp and slippery rocks.

  A sound behind me caused me to hide behind a couple of boulders. Dean stepped into view, staggering under the weight of some cartons. I watched through a crack in the rocks and saw him loading a small outboard motorboat that I hadn’t noticed before, bobbing alongside the submersible. Where was he going?

  For a minute, I thought he might have been making an escape from Shadow Island. But as I watched his careful movements while he loaded cartons into the motorboat, started the outboard and cast off, it was clear he wasn’t in a hurry. It didn’t take me long to work out where he was headed—it had to be the rocky outcrop, the very small island that lay just off Shadow Island!

  I waited until Dean was out of sight then I set off, using both hands to steady myself. Sometimes I could only crawl on all fours, getting completely soaked in the process. All the time, my mind was churning crazily. Was there a prisoner on the rocky outcrop? I was determined to find out. Now I’d seen where the small outboard craft was kept, I could use it to cross the water myself and have a look around. There was no other choice now, I had to investigate.

  It was now even more imperative to contact BB at the appointed time. I continued my slow and rocky climb back to the resort.