Every day, after our first visit to the training room Neptune made me come down to the training room with her or Mercury and hit that stupid bag. No matter how tired, how depressed, or how irritable I felt—I was forced to come down there and hit it. In some ways it did help, especially when my emotions were spiraling out of control, but by the end of the week I was sick of doing it. It wasn't just hitting the punching bag either. Neptune made me meditate with her, Mercury gave me a brief crash course on a new weapon each day and they both insisted I learn how to work the tactical vehicles.
When I wasn't in bootcamp punching bags, I was either in my room bawling my eyes out, or in the kitchen being forced to eat. The routine got old fast and it didn't seem like it was going to change anytime soon. Everyone seemed content hiding out in that house waiting to for their next set of commands and I think Pluto was legitimately hiding in the house because since our fight in the living room I hadn't seen him. Not that I wanted to. Even though I was trying my best to properly redirect my anger, I was still furious Pluto had allowed himself to be put in that position in the first place. As for the others, I was warming up to them a little, but they needed to do a lot more then feed me and invite me to play Uno to gain my trust.
That night though, I didn't have to worry about anyone trying to charm me because everyone was asleep. Apparently, they needed the sleep to properly recharge their systems. Usually, I would start off having trouble sleeping before drifting off but tonight I couldn't sleep. Thinking about my siblings, my parents, and what happened at our home and in the office building almost a week ago, kept me awake with a knot in my chest. At first, I tried to ignore it, but after an hour I decided to get up.
My original plan had been to pace around my room until I was tired, but it only took a moment for me to get frustrated. Being in this room made me feel cooped up, I needed to get out of here and breathe. I think I was going to go sneak down into the training room. I knew the codes and everything by now because Neptune made me memorize them, so getting down there would be a breeze.
So, without giving it a second thought, I pulled on my camouflage jacket and tip toed out of my room, down the hall and down the stairs. When I got to the bottom though, I was surprised to see Jupiter sitting on the couch, in the dark polishing his handgun. You know, the one his hand transformed into. When he noticed me, he didn't seem all that surprised.
"Shouldn't you be asleep Abigail?" He asked, looking up at me.
"Shouldn't you?" I asked, taking a seat next to him.
"Yes, but it's my turn to stand guard." He informed, allowing his hand to transform back to regular form.
"You guys stand guard?" I asked curiously.
"Yeah, in case our good friends decide to pay us a visit." He nudged me. "Why are you up?"
Shrugging I sat back against the couch. "I can't sleep. So, I'm going to go to the training room to blow off some steam."
At that, Jupiter shifted as he licked his lips. "Why don't you just stand guard here with me? You spend so much time in that training room. You deserve a break."
Chuckling, I shook my head. "No that's alright. I think I just need a little alone time."
"What do guys do down there anyways?" He asked, seeming disappointed.
"Hit bags. Meditate. Play with guns. Gossip about Titan. You know, girl stuff," I said, standing up.
"Hmm." Was all Jupiter muttered before letting his hand transform back into the handgun. "What are you planning on doing down there tonight?" He asked.
"Probably going to use one of the computers." I admitted, looking down at him as he looked down at his gun, then looked up at me.
"The passcode to get in is MarsRulez1100. Don't get caught," He said, and I smiled warmly at him.
"Thanks Jupiter, I appreciate it," I said sincerely, and he smiled back.
"Anytime Abigail. Don't forget, I'm on your side," He said before going back to polishing his hand gun. Not saying anything more, I than made my way down the hallway and into the empty room where the elevator rested. Fortunately, all the codes worked without an issue and in good time I was in the training room. It felt weird being down here alone, but the unsettled peace was comforting. I don't think I truly had anytime alone since I had been here. Sure, Jupiter knew I was down here, but I doubt he was going to send anyone after me or come down here himself.
For a moment, I considered using the punching bag instead of the computer but knew this might be my only opportunity to have a little bit of contact with the outside world. I had to see what was going on. I wanted to know if we were in the news, or if anyone was looking for me and about Mac. Even though the sinking feeling in my stomach was sure of his fate, I had to make sure. Every time I had been down here.
Glancing around, I then headed over to one of the computers attached to the big screen and took a seat before typing in the password. Sure, enough it worked, and I had access to the internet for the first time since this all went down. Right away, I googled my family in the news section to see if anyone was looking for us but oddly there was no trace of anything related us. When I googled our address, nothing came up in google maps and I couldn't find any online photos of our house.
Frowning, I went to my school website and tried to log in.
User wasn't found.
I then tried my Facebook.
User wasn't found.
Following that I attempted to log into my Instagram.
User wasn't found.
Taking a deep breath, I tried not to let panic consume me.
Maybe this was just an error on the computer?
No, it couldn't be. Because when I googled everyone else in my family and their accounts nothing came up. We were gone. There wasn't any trace of us. It was like someone had wiped out any evidence of our existence online. Biting my lip hard to stop my tears from falling, I googled Mac then, prepared for the worst. Just like us, all his social media accounts were gone, and I couldn't find any trace of him. Until I went to the news section.
Armed Robbery steals lives of entire family, leaving local teenage boy orphaned. The heading of the article read and with tears started to flow I clicked on it. Immediately photos of Mac's parents, and his sister appeared which made a sob lodge itself in my throat. They had been found with several gunshot wounds and there were signs of a struggle. Scrolling further in the article, I then gasped softly. Mac wasn't dead. Mac had survived the shooting, but he was in the intensive care unit in Saint Anthony's hospital. According to the article though, he wasn't expected to wake up, but everyone was praying for him.
"I'm sorry Mac. I'm so sorry." I breathed, sitting back in the chair as I looked at the photos of his family. What if he did wake up? He would be all by himself and scared. And what if he was still in danger? Apart from this article, there was no trace of him.
Cursing, I hit the keyboard before realizing there was one thing I hadn't tried to log into yet. My email. Feeling my heart race with anticipation, I quickly pulled up Gmail and started typing in my information. When I clicked login though, I hadn't been very hopeful until it did in fact log me in. My account was still there! At first, it seemed like my messages were going to load but instead just one popped up and it was titled 'Unknown User' and it had been sent ten minutes ago.
Breathing in and out deeply, I went ahead and clicked on it. Instantly then the entire computer turned to static before the image of an empty grey room appeared on the computer.
"Hello Abigail, I knew eventually you'd find your way online. It's a scary place isn't it? Especially when you can no longer find yourself. Allow me to introduce myself," A dark, eerily soothing voice purred from the computer speakers, and I felt my face pale as I sat up in the chair.
"My name is Titan."
Feeling my breath hitch in my throat I leaned in.
"Your probably on here looking for some answers of your own, aren't you?"
the voice chuckled.
"I can't really blame you, especially being with the four of them. You probably feel like you can't trust them; you probably feel like prisoner in their little fortress while they wait for their masters to give them instructions. I bet your trying to hold me accountable for losing your family and your telling yourself you can trust them because they've been honest so far. Well guess what darling, your wrong."
I then heard muffled voices in the background. At first, I couldn't tell what and who they were, but then five people were pulled into the room and on camera.
Immediately I gasped. It was my parents, Toby, Gemma, and Naomi!
They were alive.
They were all alive!
But that would mean-
"You see that Abigail? That's your family alive and well, you didn't expect that did you?"
he let out a long sigh.
"You may think you're with the good guys Abigail Williams, but you're wrong. I just want to keep you safe."
The screen then went back to static again before my email went black and my account disappeared. "No. No. No!" I shouted before sitting back in my chair fisting my hair. If my family really was alive and Titan was telling the truth, maybe I couldn't trust anyone in this house at all. Including Jupiter.
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Hey guys! I'm sorry for not updating in a little while, I got busy but hopefully this chapter makes up for it!
-Mari.