The Coding Call

Chapter 8

   And to think I am the only one. Andrew thought to himself. He stood completely still in place. Trembling from his toes to his fingers. All of these people had seemed to lived through the same experience as Andrew had. All of them had bruises and cuts on their faces. Their bloodshot eyes of terror and grief stared at Andrew. Andrew stepped forward and took a deep breath. "You gonna speak to us mate?" one boy sitting at the far end of the table asked in a foreign accent. The boy had a small cut under his blue eyes. His left eye bruised severely. His long blonde hair reached down to his ears and managed to cover part of his facial injuries. 

  Andrew slowly walked over to one of the chairs open on the right side of the table, in between a boy with a brown buzzcut and a girl with short blonde hair. Both injured. He slid the metal seat back and gently slipped into the chair. He rest his hands on the table. Do these people do anything but stare? Andrew wondered. Andrew decided to introduce himself to break the awkwardness of the situation. "Hello, I'm Andrew Phillip." Andrew softly said. The foreign boy responded first. "Sup Andrew, The name's Chase. And by the looks of it you are scared shitless." He chuckled. Andrew smiled. "Aren't we all?" Andrew responded. Everyone all at the table nodded at Andrew's remark. And for once, Andrew didn't feel alone.

 "Tell us your story Andrew." The girl with the short blonde hair next to him asked. Andrew shifted in his seat and thought. Where do I even start? Andrew thought. Andrew started with the IM messages. The weird messages that changed his life. The odd disappearance of both of his parents. The men at his door. The police. The kidnapping. All of it. The more Andrew thought about the more he wondered about his experience. "That's it, that's my story." Andrew concluded. "Well, no need to explain my story then." Chase chuckled. "That's pretty much what happened to me." He continued. "I don't know what happened to my parents either. It's strange. One second they were there, then they disappeared without a single trace of anything." He said in a serious mood. Andrew knew what Chase was going through. He felt serious empathy for the poor guy. "Did all of your parents disappear too?" Andrew asked the group. A silence stood over the table. Andrew seemed to know that answer. The faces of the kids answered it for him.

  After a couple a minutes passed the main door to the dining room opened. Two armed guards quickly entered and behind followed an older man. He had short grey hair that covered no more than his ears. He had dark brown eyes with wrinkles surrounding the eyes. He wore a black trench coat and a white buttoned shirt beneath it. He seems to be important if these guards have guns. Andrew thought. He realized that he shouldn't mess with this man. The man walked over to the very back end of the table and pulled a chair to that side of the table. He firmly sat down and crossed his fingers on the metal table. His dark eyes stared at the group. Andrew noticed the fear that was on everyone's face. Who is this guy? Why is everyone so scared of him? That question was soon answered as the man spoke.

  "I am aware you all are scared, beyond reason. I'm here to let you know that things will get better." the man spoke in his smooth dark voice. "You treat me with respect, and I shall do the same to you." he continued, "On the other hand if you don't. Then I personally will put the bullet to your head." He darkly finished. Andrew's eyes nearly popped out of his face. This man was straight forward. Andrew knew he was serious. "My name is Maxwell Cornell. I am the director of this organization. You all will soon find out what organization I speak of." The man said. Maxwell stared at the group of kids and smiled. "Tough crowd. You all must be starving." Maxwell said. "Don't fear, this is after all a dinner." With that two guards walked in and placed individual plates in front of everyone. They later filled those plates with steaming juicy steak. "Eat up my dear workers." Maxwell told everyone. Andrew looked at all the other kids. They quickly dug into the meal and savored the steak. No use in wasting this food Andrew thought. He dug into the food. He savored every bite and slurped the juicy steak in his mouth. In the corner of his eyes he saw Maxwell staring maliciously. Smiling. Who is this guy? Andrew wondered.