Lucas Ryan Versus: The Hive Part 6

"Umm..." I stalled.

"My name, General Love...it's funny, isn't it?" he joked.

"A little," I agreed, cautiously. I felt like I was walking into a trap. The General placed his hands on the face of the large desk and tensed up.

"Mr. Ryan, I have been through many great and gruesome adventures. I have seen it all. Wars. Plagues. Riots. Death. I have experienced the worst in people." He leaned into me a little, "I have witnessed evil incarnate. The Devil himself."

"I didn't mean any..." I tried to say, but it was too late. I had flipped his switch.

"And out of all the horrors I have seen, nothing makes me more livid than someone finding my good name...funny." His bottom lip quivered with anger even though he spoke as calm as could be. I could feel his disgust on my skin. It hung in the air like a fog. I shifted nervously in my chair.

* Do not fear him. *

Easy for you to say. I stared into General Love's cold, hurt eyes. There was no love there and there was no pain. Just reserved anger.

"What am I doing here, General?" I asked, holding my breath.

"What's in your locker?"

I was getting tired of that question already. "Books," I snapped.

He smiled, revealing his wall of perfect teeth, "What else?"

"I don't know," I lied. He knew I was lying and leaned closer towards me. I could barely keep my eyes off his mangled, half missing ear. I tried to focus and my right hand came alive with pain.

"I think you're lying," he said, intensely. "What's in your locker, Mr. Ryan?"

"The rest of your ear," I snapped, with a bubbling anger. I couldn't believe I said it, I wasn't even thinking those words. What was wrong with me? The pain in my hand began to swirl up my wrist and forearm. I prepared myself for the worst. I was sure his response would end with me in a ma.s.sive amount of pain. My big mouth would be the death of me.

"Eww...this is shaping up to be one of the better a.s.signments," he smiled wider. I leaned forward to apologize for my last statement when he turned and walked out of the room. I let out a sigh, filling with a welcomed relief. Seconds later two military goons, dressed in the same strange black uniforms, stormed into the office. They unlocked my handcuffs and pulled me to my feet.

"Get up, boy!" they threatened at the same time. With a shove, they directed me outside to the main hallway again. General Love greeted me with a smug smirk and a wink.

"Your journey starts now, Mr. Ryan."

"Where are you taking me?" I asked.

"Detention of course," he laughed. "Unless you feel like talking."

"About what? I have absolutely no idea what is going on here," I pleaded. He forcefully snapped his fingers and I was pushed forward again, this time with more force.

"Looks like we do this the hard way," General Love gloated. "Be sure to avoid the boy's locker, the crew will be here soon to handle it."

I stumbled down the hallway in a daze, escorted by two fully armed soldiers. I watched the craziness unfolding all around me in slow motion. The entire school was being led into the auditorium by another dozen men wrapped in black. All of them fully armed with the latest weaponry. Was this legal? Where did all the police officers go? Was this World War III?

I spotted Taylor at the opposite end of the building. He caught a quick glimpse of me just before I disappeared around the corner. We only made eye contact for a moment, but it was long enough to realize he was worried, maybe even scared. I've never seen Taylor scared before. I finally did it. It finally happened. I screwed up bad enough that even my own personal hero, couldn't save me this time.

A few tense minutes later, I was standing inside the door of the Detention room. It was dark, cold, and looked empty. The soldiers pushed me in and tossed my bag at me. It hit me in the chest before falling to the floor. They slammed the door closed and locked it from the outside. I watched their shadows through the frosty gla.s.s of the door. They loomed silently as they stood guard.

"Big bullies," I whispered. My head fell from the weight of my worry, and I slowly picked up my backpack from the chilly floor. I was confused. I was lost. I was scared.

But, I wasn't alone.

LEVEL 09: Demons.

"Lucas!" Olivia said, from the dark corner of the room. I stood with my mouth wide open.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, in a hard whisper. She ran up to me, wrapped her fingers along my shoulders and pulled me to the back of the detention room. She made sure the guards outside couldn't hear us.

Cautiously, she glanced toward the teachers desk and then, back to me. "What's going on out there? What do the cops want with you?"

"I'm not sure, yet. I think it has something to do with my loc..." I stopped myself. I wasn't sure how much to tell her.

* We can trust her. Tell her. *

She ran a nervous hand through her hair. "Something to do with what?"

"Wait a second, why are you here?" I said, changing the subject. She didn't like that and her steel blue eyes cut through me. Blue, her eyes were blue today.

"Morning detention. I've been coming in early all week," she said.

"Oh," I gulped.

"Now, tell me about your locker," she scolded, under her breath.

"How did you know about my locker?" I asked.

"Soph told me," she said, looking over her shoulder.

"Sophia? But how could your little sister know about...?" I started to ask, before falling silent. Her sister was a few years younger than Olivia. Why would Sophia be here? A thump came from under the teachers giant, wooden desk. Suddenly, a head of dark hair popped out, followed by a slightly smaller, mildly tamer version of Olivia. She dusted off her knees and sneakers before running up to me with a quirky little smile.

"Hi, you must be Lucas. O's talked nonstop about you, lately," Sophia said, politely. She had the same confident tone in her voice as her big sister, only a little more relaxed. I scratched at the back of my head as it filled with a dozen new questions. Quickly, her words sunk in. She said Olivia had been talking about me, lately. That had to be good news...right?

"Sophia, nice to meet you."

"You too!" she chirped.

"Soph! Get back down there, it's not safe!" Olivia scolded. Worry filled her face.

"Chill out, big sis. It's dirty under there." Sophia quickly looked over her clothes for any missed dirt or dust. "Besides, you said we could trust him." She smiled at me with approval. I almost fell over with shock. Olivia trusted me.

"Wait a sec...what is Sophia doing here? And what does she know about my locker?" I asked, stumbling over my words. Olivia placed her arm around Sophia and shot me an angry glare.

"I was in a hurry this morning and had forgotten to..." Olivia started to say.

"Your phone!" Sophia chimed in. It irritated Olivia, immensely.

"My phone?"

"Yes, your phone!" Olivia snapped a little too loud. The guards outside the door rustled in curiosity. Sophia rolled her eyes and stuck out her hand. My phone was in her fingers, flipping around like a magic trick. I gently placed it into my pocket.

"Thanks," I smiled, unsure.

"Anyway, I had forgotten to bring your phone this morning and Soph was kind enough to run it over to me. Unfortunately, she arrived just as the police did. It's obvious something isn't right. Something big is happening." The two sisters looked at each other with the same crazy cool calmness.

"The cops are everywhere, Lucas," Sophia added.

"I thought it would be better if Soph stayed with me until the detention teacher got here, but Mr. Parker never showed up." Olivia let out a soft sigh. She pulled her little sister even closer to her. Sophia leaned in as if she had done it a thousand times before. They had obviously shared more than one disaster. I could see it in their eyes, deep down where their demons hid.

I walked toward the room's windows. "The whole school is on some kind of lockdown. They're loading most of the faculty and students into the gymnasium and the auditorium, like cattle," I halfheartedly joked. It made my blood boil thinking about my friends being treated like that. All because of my wild secret.

I could see half of the school parking lot from the window and it was filled with black and silver vehicles. All of them unmarked, with jet-black windows. The bright and colorful emergency lights from the nearby police cars reflected off of their metallic surfaces, like a dance rave. The mystery deepened.

"What do you two know about my locker?" I asked, calmly.

"Just that they think something's in there," Sophia spoke up first.

"Like what?"

"Like a bomb or something. I'm not really sure. It's been kind of a madhouse from the beginning. They seem very confused and scared. Every time one of the cops would get within ten feet of your locker, something weird would happen." Sophia's greenish-brown eyes searched mine.

"A bomb?" I asked myself.

* No bomb. *

I had at least figured that out already. Bombs didn't usually speak to you through your thoughts. Olivia stepped up next to me.

"What's in your locker, Lucas?" she asked, softly. Her eyes watched me closely.

* Tell her. Trust her. *

"I don't know." Even though it felt like I wasn't telling the truth, it wasn't a true lie. I didn't really know what it was. She looked at me disappointed, and I instantly felt bad about it. I shifted on my heels, leaning slightly closer to her.

"But I think I should go find out what's going on." I cleared my throat, lightly. "We should find out...together," I said, uncertain. Olivia looked at me for a quiet second. Sophia smiled at her big sister with absolute trust in me.

"Okay," Olivia nodded. Sophia giggled silently, and nudged her sister in the side with a pointy elbow.

I tried to open some of the cla.s.sroom windows, but it was no use. They didn't budge at all. I'm betting they hadn't been opened in ten years. I think they might have been painted shut. As I yanked at them like a caged animal, the girls watched each other with a new uneasiness. They looked worried. I needed to get them out of here. I needed answers. Whatever was happening with my locker was my responsibility, no matter how much that scared me.

* Just wait. It's not time yet. Wait. *

"Wait for what?" I said, aloud. Olivia and Sophia looked at me as if I was crazy.

"What?" Olivia asked.

* Trust me. Wait. *

I closed my eyes tight, trying to shut out the haunting voice. "Sorry. Just thinking out loud. I do that when I'm under pressure, I guess."

Sophia smiled. "Funny. O does that too."

"So, what do we do now?" Olivia asked, annoyed from Sophia's statement. I waited a moment for my inner voice to speak up. It didn't.

"I guess, we wait."

"What? Why?" Olivia was upset.

"There's no way out at the moment, unless we break a window. We should sit tight and try to stay calm. We wait for someone to come get me and when they do, we get her out of here," I said, pointing at Sophia. "Somewhere safe."

"I'll take her home," Olivia added. Sophia's face filled with a frown. She hated being talked down to. I tried to calm her feisty spirit.

"Sophia, there's something...umm...crazy going on here. You have nothing to do with any of it. I don't want you to get hurt." I'm not sure why I put it that way, it just came out. Deep down, I knew we were in danger. Sophia was having a harder time grasping the severity of the situation.

"No way!" she snapped, much too loud. A loud pounding came from outside the cla.s.sroom door.

One of the guards barked, "Who else is in there? Who are you talking to?"

I ran to the door. "I was just...uhh...talking on my phone..."

"That's a lie! The phone lines are down." The guard began to unlock the door. My fingers wrapped around the doork.n.o.b and I tried to stop him. The door swung open quickly, nearly knocking me to the floor. Both guards had large black, extendable batons. Like the kind of weapon a police officer would use. For a split-second I wondered why they didn't have their guns. The guard stepped forward and I steadied myself. Even though I was extremely scared, I stood my ground, shielding the girls.

"They have nothing to do with this," I warned. He looked past me at the girls and his face fell heavy with worry. He turned and nodded to the other guard, just beyond the doorway.

"General, we have an issue," he said, into his shoulder holstered walkie talkie.

"Is the boy cooperating yet?" General Love sounded unfazed. The guard turned to me with a sigh.

"I'll do whatever you want. Just let the youngest girl go home. She's here by mistake," I promised, and waited for a response.

"We're all here by mistake!" he grumbled, and slammed the door shut again, leaving us three alone, in the dark. The soldier's words crawled down my spine like a spider.

"Olivia, I promise I'll get her out of this," I said, hoping to get Olivia's approval. "We get her out of this craziness and then we find out what's going on."

Olivia watched me hard. She seemed to be struggling with the idea that I would put her sister before myself. It hurt that she thought so little of me.

"I agree. We get her away from here and worry about the rest later," Olivia said, calmly. Sophia stomped off toward the corner of the room in a pout. She was tired of our overprotective ideas. A horrible thought caught Olivia in its grasp as she watched her little sister cross the dark room. She slowly stepped up to me and leaned in close enough to whisper in my ear.

"What if they won't let her go?" Her breath was sweet and warm on my cheek. I melted accordingly and slid in, even closer.

"They will, if they want me to open my locker," I whispered, in a shy authority. She let my cheek graze hers for a moment, before pulling away from me. Her eyes locked onto me.

* Pick me up. Tell her. Save Sophia. *