Compulsion - The Greenhouse Academy

41: T r a p p e d!

Ethan opened his mouth to speak, but was brusquely interrupted by Judy, "He didn't have a choice. He was either to help us secure information for the mission or ..."

"Or what?" Adalynn raised her eyebrows.

"Or risk being exposed to the entire school."

"Y-you ..." Adalynn spluttered as she tried to think of another name that she could call Judy.

"Adi, NO!" Ethan scurried over to her. On the other side of the bars, he knelt down so he was eye-level with her and said gently, "Please, promise me you won't do anything stupid. I'm here. I'm right here. I won't let them do anything to hurt you. Just stay quiet, for my sake, please?"

Tears pooled in Adalynn's eyes as she reluctantly nodded and placed her hands around the cold metal of the jail bars. Ethan glanced down and placed his strong, calloused hands over the top of hers. "T-thank you," he whispered.

"Eww. When does - er - this love-dovey thing... end?"

Adalynn jumped at the sound of the sudden voice. She whipped her head around and gazed straight up into the steely gaze of a tall bearded man. A devious smile played around his lips as his hand strayed to the pistol in his belt. Adalynn shrunk back, staring at the man in horror.

"Where's Jason?" Judy snapped shrilly as she snatched up her handbag and walked briskly over to him. "Daniel's got a game going on in about fifteen minutes and he wants me to be there."

The man turned around and glared at her. "Our client is disturbed by the trouble these ... kids ..." he flung his hand in Adalynn's direction, "are causing. We need to move our deadline."

"B-but ..." Judy stuttered.

"There's no 'buts', Judy. If she gets out and warns the others, there'll be no mission which means there'll be no money," the nasally-voiced man continued authoritatively. "The client wants us to proceed within the hour."

"What?" Adalynn yelped. She had hoped that when her friends realised she was missing, they would come and search for her. They had had forty-two hours. But now? Now they only had one.

Oh no.

"You must be joking!" Judy shook her head. "No, no I can't do that. I have to go to this game."

The man narrowed his eyes at her. "We proceed within the hour, with or without you. In case of your absence, however, I - I thought we could use a little help ..."

A rattle at the door sounded and the man grinned evilly as he opened it. Jason, his tie all askew and a briefcase under his arm, entered the room. He caught a glimpse of Adalynn and turned to stare at her, gaping. "J-Judy, w-what ... ?"

"What Jason? You don't know how to speak?" Judy rolled her eyes as she brushed past him. "Just get this over with. We're meeting up with the client before night-fall."

"Night-fall?" Jason's mouth fell open once again. "Judy, are you insane?"

Judy whirled around and shot daggers at him with her eyes. "No. I'm just using the time we've got left wisely."

And with that, she spun around on her heel and left the room.

Eric, who had been silent for the entire conversation, decided to make his move. Snatching up a bulky looking bag, he motioned over one of the men who'd thrown Adalynn into the cell. "We only have half an hour to get to the Woods place so we'd better make this quick," he said.

"The Woods' place?" Adalynn ventured. "W-what are you doing, Eric? You're Mr Woods' best friend!"

"Wrong. I used to be," Eric looked down his nose at her as he stalked from the room, his companion trailing along behind him.

"Ethan! What's happening?" Adalynn reached forward and grabbed his shirt.

"I - I dunno," he swallowed hard. "This wasn't part of the plan."

"You tell her anything and I'll put a bullet through your brain," the bearded man spoke roughly. "Now get away from the cell and help Marcus shut down the power in this vicinity."

"Nooo ... Ethan don't do this ..." Adalynn pleaded as he began to stand up. She tightened her grip on his shirt and gazed at him with round, pleading eyes.

Ethan sighed and gently pried her fingers away. "You'll be okay, I promise," he whispered as he dropped her hands and stood up. Slowly, he made his way over to a table that ran the entire length of one rocky wall. Computers and keyboards and numerous other gadgets were sprawled across it.

As Ethan and Marcus set to work, the bearded man settled himself by Adalynn's cell. He pulled the pistol from his holster and began to carefully clean and polish it.

Adalynn gripped the bars of the cell so tightly her knuckles grew white. She knew that the man was only playing with the gun to scare her. She screwed her eyes tightly shut and thought to herself, It's not working. I'm not scared. I'm invincible. Yeah. That's right. I'm tough. I can pull through this! Oh my god, what am I thinking? No I can't! What if that man shoots me? Ethan won't get here fast enough. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. I'm gonna frickin die!

ZAP. ZAP. ZAP.

Adalynn's eyes flew open as she heard the sound. It was slight, ever so slight, but in the stillness of the damp and stuffy room, she heard it.

" ... I - I remember hearing this zapping sound ... I saw this big rock behind a glass wall. It had volts of electricity or something going through it ..."

Brooke's words replayed in Adalynn's brain.

Turning her head, Adalynn glanced over her shoulder and stifled a gasp. Brooke was right! There was a massive rock, its surface dotted with cracks and crevices. It was strung up on the far wall by thick bolts of electricity! The sparking, searing volts simmered purple and pink. A thick tinted glass panel covered it and was secured by a giant padlock.

It was the magnetite that Ryan had discovered when she was a girl! Adalynn recognised it from a picture that she'd once seen.

Crap. Look at me. I'm stuck ... in a cave ... with a gunman and two hackers that are about to do something absolutely terrible. And Ryan's work is staring me straight in the face. I am so screwed.

Adalynn glanced around her fearfully as it dawned on her: there was no escape. She was trapped.

~~~~

Gif: Poor ol' Ethan as he walks away from Adalynn's cell. :(

A/N: Well that was intense. YAY!!! We've only three more chapters plus an author's note to go after this! Thank you all so much for your support. I love you all and thanks so much for 2.4k reads! I'm hoping we can get it to 3k before the end of this book (I hope that doesn't sound too ambitious)!! I love you all anyways. So, why was Ethan forced into helping Judy? Why didn't he have a choice? What secrets is he hiding? Okay, okay, I have to know, does everyone sympathise with Ethan because they don't know his backstory yet? Or do they think he's a complete asshole? Does the bearded guy with the gun freak you out? I know that if I was in Adalynn's shoes, he'd definitely be scaring the wits out of me. And again, what do the villains want with Ryan's magnetite? Please comment your opinions below, I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading! xx