The Secret Beneath The Waves

Chapter 22: "There are no wrong paths, just....longer ones."

**Picture of Jane at the top.

I'm back from vacation guys! Thanks for being patient! Enjoy the chapter!

~Ananya Ramesh (author)

Chapter Twenty Two - "There are no wrong paths, just....longer ones."

"You just took a wrong turn" Spencer observed for the fourth time, a tinge of annoyance in her voice as the dodge swerved right instead of left. She felt a jolt as the car bounded down a dirt road. The GPS was going crazy, the voice screaming at them, a girl with an annoyingly bubbly voice that yelled "Wrong turn! Wrong turn!" Spencer resisted the urge to smack the GPS right off the dash.

"There are no wrong paths, just...longer ones." Tony reasoned. Adri smacked his shoulder from the seat behind, "turn around!" Tony shrugged, turning the car in a wide arc. There is no way we're getting there before the police catch us. Spencer thought as she was thrown against the window for the third time. Seatbelts did absolutely nothing. The tires squealed loudly as the car raced off the dirt road back onto the main street. Tony finally went the right way, speeding down the road.

After what seemed like hours, due to Tony's horrible driving, the dodge pulled up at the pub with a screeching halt. The airbags immediately popped open. And the sound of a deflating balloon filled the car as the airbags slowly began to shrink. Getting out of the car, Aidan immediately went to the back, and pulled out the bags, Slinging her bag over her shoulder, Spencer noticed a weight that hadn't been there when she had initially packed it. Beef jerky could not be that heavy. Unzipping it she was met with a shiny black object and almost dropped the bag. "Aidan!" she hissed. "There is a gun in here!"

"You want protection or not? Everyone else's got 'em too." he gestured to the other bags.

Spencer kept her voice deathly low. "I can't shoot it!"

Aidan ignored her, she stared at him. I can't shoot a gun idiot her eyes seemed to speak. He shrugged, "I'll protect you then."

Spencer deadpanned. Huffing, she closed her bag again, keeping the gun inside. She could practically hear his smirk as she stalked off towards the rest of the group, shoving the other two bags to Oliver and Adri .She turned to Aidan, who locked the car and walked over to them. "Where to?" she questioned. He pointed left and in the distance she saw a large building, with several chimney's on the top. Smoke billowing out of all of them and Spencer decided that she hated it already. Tony clasped his hands, "ready?" he was met with nods as they walked down to the building.

The building was definitely about five miles away at the least and by two miles Oliver was whining about his feet. Adri rolled her eyes, "come on."

A period of time after that, the building got closer at closer. Spencer could smell the smoke, even though they were about four thousand feet away. Aidan abruptly stopped, and Spencer looked back at him questioningly. "I can't go back." he said, and she recalled their conversation the day before. Nodding she continued, the rest of the group following her lead. "I have a bad feeling in my stomach." Oliver said. Shawn turned around, "You got indigestion or something?" Oliver slapped him on the shoulder, but a feeling of uneasiness had begun to settle over them.

The first thing Spencer noticed when they reached the building was there was absolutely no security. There was no patrol, or soldiers, or anything. There was just on unguarded door on the side. However, she had based her knowledge of illegal operations off of the games her mom and her played as a kid, so not everything would be fact. Suddenly a man in black trousers and a trenchcoat rounded the corner, and Spencer ducked immediately, dragging Tony and Shawn down with her. Adri and Oliver following quickly. This entire trip, Tony had been silent, but had kept glancing at her. Spencer pretended not to notice.

The man turned the other corner and Spencer did one of the stupidest things she had ever done, which was saying something. She ran towards the building. "Spencer!" she heard Tony hiss as she bolted. The door, luckily was unlocked. Maybe they had never expected anyone to find them. Spencer opened it quietly and slipped inside.

The room was completely dark, as Spencer waited for her eyes to adjust to the dark even a little. Panic rose up, as she scanned the room frantically trying to see something. Calm down, just breathe. She forced herself to try and stay calm. I'm in oblivion. I'm forgotten. These thoughts floated around in her mind slowly, trying to implant themselves in her brain forever. Suddenly a hand clamped around her upper arm and she stifled a scream. "Your an idiot." Tony stated calmly and she breathed a sigh of relief. She turned to where she assumed his face was and stared. "And why is that?"

Tony scoffed. "And stupider than I thought. You just run into a random building that is one of the bases for illegal business!" Spencer shrugged, making his grip on her arm loosen. "We have to find an exit." she stated and before they started moving in opposite directions (which would have happened) she slipped her hand into his. "So we don't get lost." she explained hurriedly. Glad the darkness concealed the red tinge on her cheeks.

"Uh-huh" came his response. She thought she saw the glint of his teeth as he smiled. But she wasn't imagining it, someone had opened another door, however this one was much bigger. It was like a garage door. And what she saw made her grip Tony's hand tighter, her literal grip on reality.

Before them stood a certain French, with golden blonde hair. She looked just as surprised as she looked at both of them. Jane gulped. Someone came to stand next to her, a woman. She had jet black hair and piercing green eyes. "Guests." she sniffed disdainfully, as she spun on her heel and walked away. Her long heels clicking on the marble ground. Jane gripped Spencer's wrist in a deathgrip, her nails digging painfully into the skin. "You stay" Jane said, pointing at Tony. Spencer's other hand was tugged out of his and she looked back at him. Go she mouthed, and he shook his head defiantly. She glared but he stubbornly refused, and planted his feet in the ground. Jane pulled Spencer to another room. "What are you doing here?" she whispered angrily. Spencer laughed dryly.

"You really think we would let you be after what you did to Aidan?" Jane looked confused, and slightly startled, which loosened her grip on Spencer, who hastily tore her wrist from Jane's grip, dark red crescent shaped marks marring the skin. "What are you talking about?" Jane asked warily. "You tried to modify a human being!" Spencer yelled. "After all the mistakes that happened with the animals! Why the hell are you even here? Even Maxence didn't have it in him to stay here." Spencer shook her head. "You don't deserve him." she concluded. Jane clenched her jaw. There was a sharp sound, and Spencer's head was abruptly thrown to the side, a stinging sensation on her cheek. She'd slapped her.

"You don't know what your talking about." Jane's voice was extremely quiet, and the temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees. Jane turned and walked out, the sound of her soft footsteps receding until silence filled the room once more. What really irked Spencer more than anything was that that woman, and Jane knew that they wouldn't leave. They wanted answers. They hadn't even bothered to prevent them from walking out to the door. Spencer wanted the information desperately and they knew it.