Truth & Lie

Chapter 23

Bradford threw open the door to the security room. He ran over to Steel Beak, his heart racing. "You said you heard what?" Bradford questioned, scanning over the equipment.

Steel Beak leaned back in his chair. "Over the radio I heard the McDucks, sir," he said, rolling a toothpick in his teeth.

"Play the recording again," Bradford said in a stern tone. The idiotic eggheads ignored their boss, continuing to fiddle with the rubics cube. Bradford sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Nevermind, I'll do it myself," he grumbled. He reached across the desk, pressing some buttons on the radio.

The radio transmission went on. Bradford's eyes widened in shock. "B-but how! T-they died!" He narrowed his eyes, scrolling through the security footage. Trying to find them.

Steel Beak shrugged. "Beats me. I saw them get blown out of the water with the kid," he said.

Bradford ignored him and kept searching for footage of the island that the message said they were on. "Where is it?" he mumbled. When he came across it, he stared a moment. Then he turned to face Steel Beak. "What are you idiots doing in here? You're supposed to be watching for stuff like this, not complaining about how this job is pointless!" he snapped.

Steel Beak turned red and sunk in his chair, realizing his boss had somehow heard him. "W-what do you suppose we do?" he said, trying to change the subject.

Bradford began to answer but stopped. All the while the radio message had been playing, and now it said something that caught their attention.

"I didn't hide the journal. Do ye think I would trust myself with that information?"

"If you didn't hide it, who did?"

"Huey."

Bradford froze. "Huey?" he questioned. He let out a chuckle. "This whole time, it was Huey who knew?" Bradford shook his head to himself with a smile. "Oh, the answer has been under our noses this whole time!"

Steel Beak raised an eyebrow. "Sir?"

"Send some bombs to the island," Bradford said. "I have a little talk to have with a certain red duckling." He moved to leave the room.

...

Huey pinned Katie against the floor. "Huey! I don't want to fight you!" she said, breathing heavily. They had been fighting for a while now, and it could be anyone's game.

"Good, because you're terrible at it!" Huey said, getting her face.

Katie kicked him in the stomach, pushing him off of her. They stood apart, eyes locked in a glare. They both took a moment to catch their breath before running at each other. Huey swept her legs out from under her. She fell hard on her back while Huey tried to make his escape.

He took off running while she stumbled to her feet. "I won't fail you, grandpa," she said to herself. She brushed her hair out of her face, heart racing. She jumped onto him, tackling him.

Huey somehow managed to keep his balance, but he was starting to fall backwards. He stumbled into cell 25 and the two kids were now in the dark.

He finally managed to throw Katie off of him, and she fell to the cement floor with a thud. She hit the back of her head, and a ringing sensation came over her. Huey was on his knees, but he hurriedly got to his feet. She tried to stand up but couldn't. Her head hurt to much and she felt like she was going to pass out.

Katie managed to roll over on her side. She rubbed the back of her head only to find it wet. Blood. Her head spun and just barely made the outline of Huey standing up in front of her. "Huey..." she barely made out. She knew she was losing consciousness but couldn't do anything about it. She was sure she had a concussion. She found her thoughts making less and less sense like when you're about to fall asleep.

"Huey... don't leave me..." Her voice was now less than a whisper. A feeble attempt at a cry for help. She saw his image get smaller and smaller. He was walking away from her.
"Goodbye, Katie," he said before shutting the door. She idly reaches out for him, alone in the dark. Then she passed out.

...

Huey shut the door to cell 25, trapping Katie in there. Before he could think of what he was doing, he smashed the keypad with his bare fist. Now no one could get in there. He froze when he realized what he had just done.

He stared at his hands. They had faint traces of blood from the scratches he had left her with. He stared in shock. A month ago Huey would've never done this. Katie could die in there. And it would be all his fault. Huey frowned at himself. Even if he wanted to now, he couldn't get her out of that cell. "Huey, what have you become?" he said under his breath.
Tears tugged at him. He was no better than FOWL. And they had made him this way. A killer. A shell of the duck he once was. He began talking to himself in his head.
What would your family think?

My family's dead. And it's all my fault.

If I do get out, where do I go?

Huey hadn't thought of that before.

Things will never get better.

Shaking himself, Huey picked up Katie's phone, which was still on the ground. The flashlight was still on, providing him light. He sighed and walked out of the chamber.

He opened the door to the main part of FOWL headquarters. The light was so new to him, he found himself shielding his eyes. He had been down there way too long.

All Huey did was take a step, and Katie's phone started ringing. Huey jumped, startled, and saw it was a face time message. In his panic, he accidentally pressed the accept button.

Bradford's face appeared on the screen. "Katie, I'm going to send an egghead to you to get Huey and-" The vulture stopped when he realized it wasn't his granddaughter he was speaking to. "Huey!" he gasped.

Huey's eyes widened and he threw the phone down. He stomped on it for good measure, the screen cracking as a result. Just moments later, alarms rang through the halls. Bradford's voice came over the intercoms.

"Hubert has escaped. Repeat, Hubert has escaped!"

Huey let his arms sag and he face palmed. "So much for an escape."

He took of running as fast as he could, heart pounding. He had no clue where he was going, but as long as it was away from here he was fine with it.

It didn't take long for him to come across eggheads. He let out a gasp. There were more than five, and at any rate were more than he could handle. They surrounded him, guns pointed. "Hands up!" they demanded.

Huey rolled his eyes and slowly did as told. But he wouldn't back down so easily. Out of nowhere, he kicked one in the shins then jumped up and punched him in the face. He doubled back, giving Huey enough room to get out of the circle.

Only now Black Heron stood in front of him. She stepped towards him, sending him back in the ring of guards. "Aw, Phoey," he groaned, hands still up.

"You really are quite some trouble, you know that?" Heron said exasperated. She held out her robotic hand to him, threatening to use it if he were to make a move.

Huey sighed. "Just kill me already."

Black Heron put her other hand on her hip. "I'm afraid, no matter how delightful that seems, Bradford has other plans in mind for you. And it involves torture."

Huey stared down, a stern look on his face. Torture wouldn't work on him. He was already broken. He had nothing left to lose.

Hey guys! Thanks for all your support and I'm glad you're all enjoying the story! Also, if y'all are interested, I started a contest called The Hiraeth Awards. Again, thanks for all your support and you guys are great!