"SO, TODAY'S THE DAY AND TONIGHT is the night," Theo looked around at everyone and smiled. "Can you please stop? Your pep talks aren't doing me any good," Rose said, obviously nervous and irritated.
"Will? You ready?" Kai asked as he got out of the motorboat. Will gave Kai an encouraging thumbs-up as he followed suit, stepping onto the golden sand. "Alright then, ladies," Kai said winking at them. Shay rolled her eyes as he continued, "Sayonara." He said with a mock salute.
Will, Kai, and Theo started walking towards Aquariaa with duffel bags hanging on their shoulder blades. Shay watched them until they were out of her sight, squinting at the rising sun.
She stared at the footsteps on the sand, a whirlwind of thoughts in her mind. The plan was so ridiculous, Shay was absolutely shocked that she agreed to it. First, the three guys were going into the building, looking for places to sneak in, formulate a plan according to the guard's positions. Theo had found the blueprint of the entire building on the internet, and which made it easier.
After they find the best way, they would give a green signal to the girls. The girls were currently in their motorboat which was parked in a secluded corner in the beach. They were in Isle Aquarin.
Shay bit her nails nervously. It was a habit she tried her best to get rid of but could never do it, she went as far as applying nail polish on her nails but it didn't help her. The familiar sound of waves washing over the coast which usually did the trick of calming her didn't do the trick this time.
One wrong step and all of them would be thrown into jail, and Shay didn't even have a vague idea on who would get them a bail.
They didn't tell anyone about their incident with Anthony, and this plan about them sneaking into one of the most important buildings of all the Isles and stealing their data. Shay felt weird. She, who never hid anything from her mother was now going to hide something very major from her. It was weird how the centre of the axis of her world changed so easily.
She prayed with her whole heart that they would succeed in what they were doing today.
Hopefully, they would.
Shay looked down at Leo who was sitting on the crook of her knees. They wanted to leave Leo at home, but he started barking uncontrollably and loudly, and they had to bring him. Leo had never done this before: behaving cranky until they brought him with them.
She ruffled his hair slowly, but her mind was clicking at a fast pace with all the possibilities. When she had expressed her concerns to the guys, Kai had grinned at her. "Look, Shay. It's a piece of cake! We got it, alright? I'm not worried about it because half of the guards were sent to Blackwood in the light of recent events and the other half of the guards are going to attend a meeting. They won't even know we got in." Will had smiled at her reassuringly, and it did the job of reassuring her.
"We are going to the building before you to assure that nothing is wrong with our plan, and we are gonna improvise our plan according to the situation there."
Theo had grinned at her as he ruffled her hair, "The tech and the computers are ancient. We should just disable the security system and," he snapped his fingers, "we are in."
The guys said that they would manage this job by themselves- ignoring the girls' protests- but they needed the girls for a backup plan (Shay had no idea about it) and Jade for helping Theo to disable the security system of the main system containing the files.
Even after the reassuring chat she had with the guys, her worries had reduced but a flicker of uncertainty passed now and then. Rose had pulled out her book and started reading a novel she brought with her, muttering, "Well, if they are gonna take their time, it better be worth it."
Jade had earphones stuffed into her ears, bobbing her head up and down periodically. Shay who sat beside Jade could faintly hear the music blasting through her ears, but it didn't help her.
Shay's vision blurred as her eyes drooped down. She lay her head on Jade's shoulder. The other girl spoke with concern in her voice, she could sense that Jade narrowed her eyes even though she didn't see.
"You didn't sleep, did you? How many days has it been since you got a full night's sleep? Nightmares again?" Jade asked gently. Shay smiled. People usually judged Jade by the constant scowl she wore on her face and the scary glare she gave others, but she had a golden heart. It was just that her past didn't treat her right.
Shay murmured something even she couldn't decipher before she fell asleep, the sun warm on her face, dreading the nightmares before they even came.
+++
Shay woke up to the sensation of something vibrating against her knee. She felt groggy as she looked at Jade who lifted her phone to her ear. Shay realized with a jolt that she didn't have any nightmares, they had faded into painless, black oblivion this time.
Jade hung up and looked sideways at Shay, "Kai says that the meeting has started and most of the guards went to attend it as they won't leave the building unguarded. He says that we should be quick if we want to make it out."
"Okay," Shay said, her voice uneven. She drank water and washed her face with it to wipe the remaining of her sleepiness. She glanced at Rose who was reading a novel seriously, completely absorbed in the story. Shay exchanged a look with Jade, nodding as if to say that she would shake Rose.
Nothing good would come if she let Jade snatch the book.
Shay poked Rose's arm cautiously. She could never predict Rose's behaviour when she was in the middle of reading a book. The other girl looked up, the sun glinting off her ginger hair. "Come on, it's time," Shay said, gently lifting Rose up. Shay tied Leo and gave him a last pat before hopping out of their boat.
The magnificent building rose in front of her, the lower floors less developed and visually appealing than the higher floors. It was said that the first ten floors were built initially, then the rest of the floors were built after ten years.
The first ten floors were devoted to the health department, the lowest floor had the health records. That was the reason Shay, Jade, and Rose wore white suits. To blend in easily.
Shay jumped on the soft, moist sand. Cold wind blew against her face, which made her want to stand there forever. She looked at the beautiful scene taking place before her: The sun was melting into the ocean, fiery red mixing with the royal blue.
She tore her eyes away from the horizon as she stuffed AirPods into her ears to hear the conference call. "—just get in through the back. You can't just come waltzing through the main entrance right?" She heard Theo's voice say.
"Oi! Just jump over the damn wall." Kai shouted excitedly.
"Someone's way too enthusiastic," Will muttered and Shay chuckled.
They had to jump over a wall nobody were guarding, just as the guys assured. The girls jumped over the barbed fence, then a wall. Shay felt happy that all of them were athletic, though Jade was lazy.
Jade was panting as they sneaked behind some security guards who were absent-minded. Jade threw her a glare before Shay could even chuckle. She still chuckled.
The girls just entered Aquariaa's premises when she heard Kai's voice say: "You'll see a vent which leads into a washroom, I snuck some tools into your duffel bag so just unscrew the vent and get in."
They saw no point in protesting, so the girls just sighed and did what the guys instructed. Shay grumbled as she unscrewed the vent, sitting on top of Rose who was the tallest of the three.
Shay was the first to jump inside, and she let out a sound of surprise when she landed right on top of someone else.
Someone else.
She gasped as she stifled her own scream, ready to hit the person if they tried something. A familiar voice washed her doubts away, "Hey, it's me," Will said as he drew her by the arm to give others space to jump.
Shay stared at Will who drew her aside, who was oblivious to the fact that she was staring at him. He wore a black shirt, which hugged his leanly muscled body in all the right places and brought out the bright green colour of his eyes. His brown hair was messy and attractive at the same time, ruffled by the wind.
Shay liked looking at Will when he wasn't looking at her but looking sideways. That way, she could watch the angle of his jawline, the curve of his collarbone under the V of his T-shirt and the way his dark hair curled against the back of his neck.
She snapped out of her reverie when she realized Kai was talking with her. "What?" Shay asked, eyeing the sly grin on Kai's face. Jade was smirking, Rose was muttering something about a ship while jumping up and down, and Theo wore an ear-splitting grin on her face. She looked at Will with a question mark on her face, and Will looked equally baffled.
"What?" Shay asked again, perplexed.
"Nooothing." The four of them drawled, which confused Shay and Will. They exchanged glances with each other and shrugged. Will fell into step beside Shay as she heard Rose mutter something about ships again.
The inside of the building was ordinary, a narrow hallway with doors at regular intervals. The entire floor was deserted. Apparently, the first floor usually had fewer guards but now due to the meeting and the situation in Blackwood, they came across two guards only.
Shay had bumped into Will when he had noticed the guard, and he stopped, all of them had to duck down and walk. The second time, they had to crawl. They now stopped in front of a large door, which was locked.
"Allow me, peasants," Theo said as he bolted towards the door. "Do not fear when Theo is here," he said as he knelt before the door and stopped abruptly. Will raised an eyebrow.
How could he manage to do that? Shay thought. She could never raise one eyebrow.
"Um, pin please?" Theo asked with an outstretched hand. Jade took a pin from her hair and handed it to Theo. Theo started fumbling with the pin and the lock on the door, somehow, after a minute, the door popped open.
He stood in front of the door, welcoming them with an outstretched hand, bowing to each of them as they entered. All of it was okay and dramatic until his spectacles fell off his nose. Shay chuckled as she bent and picked the specs. Handing it to Theo with another chuckle.
"Thanks, S," Theo said as he put them on and reached out to pinch Shay's cheeks. He turned around to bolt the door but there was no bolt.
The Records Section was very dark, their phone torches illuminating the large space. They squinted as light poured everywhere, the room was filled with shelves with files and books. Jade and Theo stood in front of the old-fashioned computers, switching them on.
They disabled the security system of the computer as the others stood gawking at them. Jade glanced up and narrowed her eyes, "Instead of staring, you could stand by the door to make sure no one finds us."
Shay averted her gaze and stood by the door, peeking at the dark corridor they came from. Kai stood beside her, making a finger gun with his hands. He pointed at the dustbin whispering, "Dustbin. Dead."
He blew smoke from his fingers before aiming at the door again. "Door. Dead."
"Shelf. Dead."
"Table. Dead."
"Book," He stopped himself when he received a sharp glare from Rose. "Uh, not dead."
"Ceiling. Dead. Jade—" He stopped when he received another glare from Jade, this one ten times scarier than what Rose gave.
"Um, sure. I'll mind my business."
Theo's cheerful whisper echoed through the room, "We got the files, it would just take time to copy them."
Relief seeped in through Shay's heart. Some more time and they would get out. She prayed that nothing should happen in those five minutes.
Little did Shay know that things would precisely happen in those five minutes.
Shay watched as Theo glanced at the screen again, and he paled visibly. "What is it?" Shay asked and walked towards them, without even realizing it. He poked Jade, and she looked over, her expression was similar to that of Theo's.
Theo looked at them frantically, trying to maintain his cool but failing miserably. He looked at the screen and looked up as if praying for help from god. It was Jade who broke it to them. "We disabled the security system and apparently, it happens occasionally. But whenever someone does that then modifies the data in their systems, other systems will get notified if we won't enter the assigned code in two minutes."
She sucked in a breath before adding, "A siren is gonna start ringing."
"Let's get ourselves out before it starts ringing, then," Shay heard Rose say. "We came this far, I think it would be better if we copy those files then go out." She heard Jade say.
"How much time?"
There was a pause. Theo replied, "It's gonna be close. Too close for our liking."
Shay bit her nails, taking a deep breath. She exhaled and inhaled, then counted to ten. Back to one. It was something that usually calmed her down. It didn't now.
She found herself thinking about the possibilities of them getting caught, what would happen after they were found. What would it do to her mother?
If this had happened before her father died, she might've been subjected to one month of silent treatment or grounding, but now? Shay felt ice creep into her heart.
Shay's mother would blame herself now, diving headfirst into a world of misery. She would start feeling that she didn't raise her daughter the right way, claiming the mistake to be hers. Her husband died, and she couldn't do anything about it. But she did have a say in her daughter's upbringing. Shay's mother had been raising her single-handedly since her father's death and Shay was sure her mother would blame herself. Not Shay's, not her friends', purely hers.
Shay clutched her hair anxiously. She looked up when Theo let out a whoop of joy. Jade hastily removed the hard drive from the computer, sounding out of breath. "Great, let's get out of this place."
And that was when a siren started to blare deafeningly loud.
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