Wicked Ones {bxb}

{Chapter 49 : Ethereal - Part 1}

The other leapt from his seat in a start, reaching for his taser. Even with the weapon in hand, he hadn't an idea what to do. He looked around hysterically, and at the sight of his muddled face, April thanked her powers for withholding so long.

In seconds, that man too was piled atop his friend, the both of them gurgling unconscious garble. Just for safety measures, April drug their bodies to the edge of the desk. It wasn't easy, considering her little build, but the extra workouts had paid off. There, she took the mens cuffs from their belt, and bound them to each metal leg. Then April plopped down in the swivel chair between them.

Arlo had specifically mentioned shutting off the cameras—said there were too many people with access to the live footage, and the last thing they needed was to draw attention to themselves. Now it was just a matter of figuring out how.

The computers were already logged in, but April found herself stalled at the interface. It wasn't like any system she'd seen, and she didn't quite understand how the program worked. She was hitting buttons left and right, but they proved worthless. Then, out of curiosity, she smacked a hand to the screen.

A display popped up in the outlay of a grid. Boxes swallowed up the center of the display, each the same size and distance from one another. She wasn't quite sure what they meant, and as she pressed a finger to them, nothing happened. Then her eyes passed to a red circle in the corner. Then she found another, and another—the placing of each far less systematic.

Quickly, she tapped one, and a small dialogue popped up. "Camera_082", it read. Below it were a variety of options. Buttons that would allow her to view the camera, access the file to the recorded data, or adjust the position in which it aimed. Then finally, an option to turn it off.

She tapped the power down option, and the light turned blue—but as the dialogue screen vanished, April bit her cheek. There were way too many to do it this way.

"Hey!" she hissed, giving the larger security guards a jab in the paunch with her boot. "Wake up. How do I turn off all of the cameras?"

He groaned, but that was all.

"Wake up!" she grumbled again, jabbing him harder. "The cameras. Tell me."

When the man didn't budge, April jumped up to her feet. She bent over and took him by the collar, shaking him until his eyes shot open.

"Answer my question, asshole! How do I turn off all of the cameras?"

"Left—left corner!" he shuddered in fright, and April tossed him to the floor with a smile.

She fell back into the seat, tapping a dotted icon in the upper left corner. A menu box slid open, and beneath the word "cameras" was the option to power off all recording devices. The moment pressed her fingertip to the glass, each and every circle on the screen turned blue.

She cracked her knuckles in satisfaction. Her job was done, and she could have left it there, had she not see the can of soda sitting aside; still freshly fizzing with carbonation. Smiling, she plucked it up and muttered a sarcastic "oops" as she poured all of the contents onto the equipment. It hissed and sparked, and just like that, the screen flickered black.

Vinny couldn't breathe. His lungs were pressing and pressing, but the news that Kailan was alive had hit him so hard, it had taken every bit of air from his body. He wasn't quite sure how to react. Part of him struggled to believe it at all.

He stared, frozen, until his phone began to tremble in his pocket. Then he reached inside and brought it to his ear with a quiet, "Yeah."

"Everything's good on this end," April cheered through the speaker. "Not a lot of people in there, we should be alright. This was easier than I thought!"