(chapter eleven.) surveillance footage
❝ POET... I NEED HELP GETTING SOMEONE. ❞
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POET STOOD NEXT TO ALLISON, LISTENING TO POGO AS THEY ENTERED A ROOM where surveillance footage of the Hargreeves was showed.
"Your father stopped recording years ago," Pogo started, "But I still come here from time to time. When I'm missing you kids.
"Pogo, this is..." Allison watched the footage with awe. "Most families have home movies to look back on. We have surveillance footage."
"I hoped it might cheer you up," Pogo softly said, looking up at Allison. Poet watched the footage with a grin.
"It does," Allison said before she touched a screen with her fingertips. "Oh, my God, look how little we were." She leaned down. "Oh! Ben and I? I miss him so much."
Poet noticed a girl, playing the violin. She pointed at the screen, "Is that Vanya? Why is she alone?" Allison noticed her, too, all alone while the other siblings messed around.
"Why didn't we include her?" Allison questioned. Poet looked at Pogo for his answer. "I mean, if anybody ever treated Claire like that, I can't even imagine..."
"You were a child, Miss Allison."
"Yeah... But I'm not anymore," Poet looked at each footage more before she came upon Diego. She snorted, snickering silently. "And neither is she."
"If you're not in a hurry," Pogo started, "the rest of the tapes are in that cabinet." Allison and Poet looked over the shoulders to look at where Pogo was indicating at. He then gave the keys to Poet, surprisingly, and smiled at her a little. "Make sure you lock up when you both go. Things have been disappearing lately. These are too important to lose."
Poet and Allison nodded. Pogo, giving Poet a curt nod, turned around and left, giving the girls a final look over his shoulder and leaving.
Allison stood up from her seat, looking around for more tapes while Poet leaned her head back and spun around in the chair. But she stopped when she noticed two guys standing by the doorway, looking at her. Startled, she stopped spinning and stood up straighter. She looked at them.
"Poet," the silver-haired man let out, reaching his hand out for her. Poet stared at him. "It's me, Julian."
Poet shook her head, closing her eyes. She thought that doing that might make her snap out of it and make her realize that the two men that she saw were only a figment of her imagination. But when she opened her eyes and still saw the men there, she knew there was something wrong.
"I'm Ben," the other man spoke. "Allison's brother."
Poet furrowed her eyebrows at them and they seemed to notice that she was confused as hell. She was literally hearing and seeing two dead people!
"Don't freak out, sis," Julian said.
Poet was trying to process the fact that she could see them. She was trying to open her mouth to say something but she didn't want to say anything in front of Allison for some unknown reason.
It wasn't until Allison's words that she snapped out of her confused state, staring at her friend with such a confused state. She turned to look at the footage that Allison was looking at, her mouth opening a little when she saw Allison's father.
"Dad..."
As soon as the words left Allison's mouth, Poet felt her heart race when her phone rang out of nowhere and startled her.
"Everyone's just giving me a heart attack right now, I swear," Poet mumbled, placing a comforting hand on Allison's shoulder and rubbing it. She answered the call, still watching the two men staring at her. "Who are you and what do you want?"
"Hey, Poet," she heard Five's voice on the other line. "Uh, are you busy?"
"Here with Allison," Poet answered. "I'm kinda busy. I don't want to leave her alone after we found out something. I should probably stay here with her."
"Shit," Five mumbled. Allison turned to look at her friend, shaking her head and telling her to go. "Poet... I need help getting someone."
"Wait a minute," Five hummed and Poet took away the phone from her ear, placing the screen on her chest. She turned to look at a stunned Allison. "Are you sure you want to stay alone? I can stay if you want. I don't really want to leave you alone."
"I'm fine, Po," Allison smiled weakly. "After all, I'm pretty sure Luther is gonna come later and I need to talk to him about this."
"All right," Poet sighed. "I'll be back later." Allison hummed and Poet turned around to leave, making eye contact with her twin brother and Allison's brother. She gulped before placing the phone back by her ear. "Where are you?"
☂
"What are we even getting?"
Poet walking next to Five, drenched due to the rain. They were walking through an empty parking lot, a red sign shadowing their figured when they neared by the closed store.
"Someone," Five simply said. Poet looked at him and he sighed. "My girlfriend, Delores."
"Why would she be here at this time at a store?" Poet questioned. She sighed. "You know what? I don't really care. I'm seeing things and I'm here with a 13-year-old child that's literally 58. What's new?"
Five grabbed her arm, transporting them inside the store. Poet placed her hands on her knees.
"Don't fucking do that ever again," Five smiled. "I'm serious. That shit is going to make me throw up, dude. My stomach hurts."
"Yeah, I'm so definitely going to do that again," Five chuckled, leaving the girl to find Delores. Poet made a face, her stomach still churning, following after Five. He turned on a flashlight and Poet noticed that he was just flashing it at the mannequins. She focused on his voice that was the only thing going through her mind. She sighed when she heard the thoughts.
"Your girlfriend's a mannequin?" Poet questioned, raising an eyebrow at him. Five looked at her. She shrugged. "Who am I to judge? Mannequins can have rights, too, right?"
Five nodded and they went back to looking.
They turned to a corner and Five stopped when he noticed the familiar mannequin. He got closer and Poet followed.
He stopped in front of the three mannequins, a hint of a smile lifting on his lips.
"Delores," he let out softly. "It's good to see you." He stayed quiet and Poet puffed her cheeks, looking around. "I've missed you... obviously. Well, I... It's been a rough couple of days." He turned to face Poet, who was not paying attention to him. "I met Poet Capulet. I told you I would one day. One day. Her and Diego aren't together yet, so, sadly. Don't want to tell her that she dies next to him. Guess the Romeo and Juliet play is coming to life." He sighed, hoping that the girl wasn't listening to what he was saying. But, she would've said something by now.
Five looked over Delores, watching two silhouettes appear behind her. Poet turned to look just in time to see Five staring behind.
"No!" He shouted. Poet took her hands out, shielding herself when bullets flew by her and Five. She immediately followed after Five who rapidly went to hide by an aisle, her hands glowing red to grab Delores and handing her to Five. Hazel and Cha Cha looked at each other, confused by the glowing red.
"Oh, shit!" Five said, realizing who the two were. "It's them."
"It's them who?"
Five ignored her, placing Delores' head by on the ground.
"I'll be right back for you," Poet looked away to give awkwardly, jumping when bullets flew near them. "Come on Poet!"
They both ran through the aisle, Poet raising her hands to place a shield in front of them. The girl stopped, turning around and letting the bullets fly in front of her.
She raised her hands up, grabbing the bullets and letting them head towards the two people. She sighed in defeat when the bullets bounced back when they hit one of the person's head.
"Who are they again?" Poet yelled over her shoulder, balls of energy forming on her hands and grabbing the bullets. She stopped though when a bullet went through her shoulder. She groaned. "Come on assholes! I already went through this!"
Poet saw one of them going after Five while the other stayed there, shooting at her. She heard their conversation.
"You said he was special," someone said. "So now what?"
"You deal with that girl, I'll go to the other end," the other one instructed. "Meet in the middle. Shoot her anywhere that isn't protected."
"Five!" Poet yelled. "You got one after you!"
She grabbed a bullet, throwing it back to the person. She heard their groan of pain and she smiled a little. Such a memory.
But the person immediately ran away from her, following after their partner. She sighed tiredly, turning around to leave and be out of their sight.
She heard sirens and she cursed under her breath. She saw them leave and she immediately saw Five. She headed towards him and they both looked at each other, sweating.
"We need to go."