[Heather's P.O.V]
It's been days since Astrid told me she was running after Hayden and I'm here stuck with nothing to do. They said there won't be any missions assigned except for a few special ones like with Hayden, and... a tag-along. I came to like Hayden over the days. Though we spent our times fighting or trying to outdo each other, the aura of Night Fury seemed to fade away the more I spent time with him. I now see him as an annoying and condescending brother, aside from the other one. He doesn't see it, but he's changing. Ever since Astrid shoved some sense into him, and maybe along with her tongue but that's not the point. But even after two years, I still haven't thanked him from calming me down.
When I was transferred to the infirmary, I heard Gothi's words flow through me like the wind swirling in the air. She said it was going to be a suggestive hypnotism. That whenever the trauma or the PTSD would rise, the very thing that will keep me calm would pop up in my head. So when she began the hypnosis, my mind began to relax. Then after a while I saw two figure form in my mind. The ones that apparently would keep me calm.
To my surprise, Hayden was one of them. He was still donned his Night Fury armor and his terrifying flaming sword from hell but what really got me was the emotions in his eyes. They bore kindness, calmness, peace, and dare I say it, love. At first, I was widely confused. But now, I understood that he wasn't directing it at me. But it still gives me great comfort when I remember his words that he sang to me. I ended up remembering it and downloading it into my phone as I reminder. I sometimes wonder if Hayden's a demon sent from hell, or an angel coming down from the heavens. Maybe he as the appearance of a demon, but is an angel in the inside.
Okay, I've been thinking of Hayden for far too long. I guess I was just reminded of him after supper when I saw the other Helheim ranked agents along with-
"Cutthroat!"
I quickly stopped in my tracks and hid behind a wall. After a few seconds, I glanced around the corner and spotted my brother and Cutthroat talking to each other. I couldn't make out what they were saying so as fast as I could, I ran towards a corridor and quickly hid behind the wall so I could hear what they were talking about. I don't know why I'm hiding or even spying on them, but my brother had a worried look on his face, and I felt curious. My brother's never worried about anything except for me. There's a reason why our last names are DeRanged.
"Did you find anything?" I hear Cutthroat ask. He too had a worrisome tone in his voice.
"Nada. Footage found nothing. Time frame between the hours showed no one entering the room." My brother replied. What are they talking about? "What about you?"
"I had Mala search the girl's restroom in the main building for any clues. Other than the busted vent which is probably obvious, nothing. No fingerprint, blood, no traces of entry except for the vent." Cutthroat scoffed in frustration.
"It's like we're dealing with a snake." My brother grumbled.
"No, because even a snake would've left traces." Cutthroat said. "Did you have any luck with the newbies? They're our main suspects."
My eyes widened at his declaration. They're trying to find someone and the suspects are us? What exactly happened?
"I can't just talk to them. That's like feeding the victims to the murderer!" Dagur exclaimed.
"Do you have anyone you can trust among them? Your sister?" He suggested.
Dagur frowned as he fell into a deep thought before replying, "I don't know. Though I know that we grew up along side each other, we had a past of backstabbing. But who knows. Maybe she is, maybe she isn't. As much as I wanted to think of her as innocent, I can't because I honestly don't know. So don't ask my opinion about my sister, because it will come out as biased when I say that she's innocent."
"Alright then, I just hope she is innocent, Dagur." Cutthroat nodded in acknowledgement.
"I do too. As well as her closest friends. Backstabbing and loss of trust is a sensitive subject to us. I hate to see her fall into depression if ever one of her friends turns out to be the mole." He sighed deeply. "Come on. Let's report back to Shatter."
After they left, Heather stood there in shock. There was a mole in Drakos? And it may be one of us? Damn, I guess I can't blame my brother for not thinking that I'm innocent. There is a lot of water under the bridge referring to trust and betrayals. We don't exactly have the perfect life until... I guess right now. But never mind about that. The most important part is that I need to consult with the person who I trust among our batch.
..................................................
[Normal P.O.V]
"So, what you're saying is... there's a mole in Drakos, and it's one of us?" Racquel asked for the sixth time.
Heather groaned, "Yes. And I need your help to find some clues and find him or her." she repeated.
"But why trust us?" Travis asked with a frown.
"Because, you and your sister are far too stupid to even think of betraying Drakos." Heather replied nonchalantly, to which the twins gave each a high-five with a smirk. The she turned to Shawn. "And you..."
"What? I'm just too handsome to be one?" He replied with a smug grin all the while flexing his biceps.
Heather simply stared at him, her eyes dry as dust. "I rest my case." she said before turning to Finn, who winced at her stare. Even after two years, he still is a little jumpy. "You admire and praise Drakos too much to be a traitor. You literally take photos of everything you see even after living here for two years."
As Finn blushed and rubbed his nape, Heather leaned back against her couch. She called the four of them to her room just because they're childhood friends with Astrid and she trusts her with her life. She doesn't know why. She just felt something in her heart the moment she met her that she should trust her. During their first meeting, she told Astrid that she doesn't trust her. But even in that moment, she already trusted. And she proved to be trustworthy and honorable. Astrid even said that she never had a person to confide to since Hayden... until she met her. So Heather decided that her childhood friends could be trusted. But that doesn't mean that she can't have doubts.
"So where should we start?" Finn asked. Heather had a feeling that most of the work will be from Finn and herself.
Heather recalled the conversation between Cutthroat and Dagur, "The girl's restroom in the main building." she finally replied after a long silence.
"First of all, why?" Shawn snorted. "Secondly, there are a lot of those in the main building. Which one?"
"Because I overheard it during the conversation between them." Heather replied. "And for the second..." she began to fall into a deep thought. She pondered on the motives and goal of the mole.
'They said something about vents.' Heather thought. 'So someone crawled through the ventilations to enter a room undetected. The only rooms that are interesting enough for the mole to sneak into is the weapons chamber, and the...'
"The closest restroom to the Cortex." she suddenly announced, standing abruptly. "The mole broke into the Cortex so the closest restroom must be her way in."
"But only girls are allowed in there." Shawn retorted. The rest just stared at him indecorously. Travis had a look of disgust on his face but that's only because his sister placed trout's juice into his shampoo as a prank. "No, no, no. I meant that the alarms would go off if a guy would even step a foot on the floor."
"It's not that, Shawn." Heather said, the look of unbelief and shock never leaving her face. "How do you know that?"
Shawn's jaw dropped as all the color in his face drained out. He turned into a sputtering mess who tried to justify his actions until Heather smashed her fist against his jaw, completely knocking him out cold. Silence fell upon them, and only Heather's irritated huffs could be heard. The twins looked at Shawn in awe, then back at Heather, before erupting into cheers.
"Whoa! Who knew her noodle arms could have Thor's Mighty Hammer!" Racquel squealed in delight.
"And I thought Shawn's Paper Jaw could only handle it once. I was wrong!!!" Travis broke into laughter while waving his fists around.
Heather arched an eyebrow at the twins with a bewildered frown plastered on her face. She turned her head towards Finn, who simply shrugged in response. "What's all this about?" she asked.
"We had an old friend named Hayden who was being bullied Shawn." Finn started to explain but when she heard Hayden's name. Her eyebrows lifted in surprise. She was shocked to hear that the ruthless Night Fury experienced bullying, especially from his friend. "One day, Shawn was messing with Hayden when he just snapped. He punched him square in the jaw, knocking three of his teeth and caused him to be out for a day."
Heather couldn't help but grin. Even as a teenager, he was still a badass. But she allowed Finn to continue on his tale. "Believe me, we were all shocked. Even the teachers who witnessed it gave him a pat on the back for finally stepping up. What's even more surprising is that Hayden used his right hand."
"How's that surprising?" Heather asked.
Finn's response was a proud smirk for his friend. "Hayden's left handed." He said, laughing at Heather's dumbfounded reaction. "Yeah.. after that, Shawn refused to mess with Hayden and soon after, he offered his friendship to him."
"Hayden offered his friendship to the person who bullied him?" Heather exclaimed.
"Yeah. But what I think is that he doesn't want to spend a family reunion in bad terms." Finn chuckled lightly.
"Family reunion?" She repeated with a frown.
He shrugged and replied simply with. "Shawn's his cousin."
Heather's jaw dropped to the floor, before exploding. "HAYDEN'S RELATED TO THAT CREEP?!" she exclaimed in a loud voice.
Instead of cowering at the volume of her voice, Finn frowned at what she said. "Why do you say that as if you knew Hayden?"
Heather paled once she realized what she said. She began laughing nervously, "Um, I just... couldn't believe that... he would... bully his cousin?" she replied with an awkward smile.
Finn seemed suspicious for a while before shrugging, satisfied with her response. Heather released a sigh of relief she's been holding. If he found out, there's no way he would not tell the others. She glanced at the twins who were trying to draw on Shawn's face without him waking up. So far, he has a mustache, eyeglasses, and freckles.
"Hey, H! Pick up a marker and help draw a black eye on him." Travis turned to her.
Heather sighed deeply. She actually wished that she went with Astrid in chasing Hayden. That would've been a whole lot better. But at least she found something to do. A mole in Drakos is a serious problem and the suspect is in their batch. Like her brother said, she really hoped that the mole wasn't one of her friends. If it happens, that the mole would be one of the people she grew to know and trust, she doesn't know if she could come back from that. She glanced back at them, and watched them mess around and laugh carelessly and freely.Then she rolled her eyes before grabbing a permanent marker off the coffee table. She decided to be optimistic about it instead.
"Which eye?"
....................................................
Hayden sat quietly among the other convicts in the benches as they stare at or pray to the idol of dark-skinned Jesus Christ that sat at the altar, which was because of a cleaning incident and now they call him Mexican Jesus. He only came here because he needed to survey the area. As far as he knows, the church is the closest building to the outside thus, if he could reach the building undetected, dig a hole, then he'll be out to the forest. The only problem is that there are guards roaming around 24/7, and gate to the church is locked with a biometric scan. Though he could easily just break the gate in, it would attract to much attention. So what he needs is, a distraction.
His eyes wandered to Marcos, who was bowing his head and clutching his gold crucifix necklace, while muttering a prayer. He hasn't really talked to them since yesterday's agreement. But right now, he needed them. Hayden slid across the bench and stopped right behind Marcos' bench.
"Marcos." He whispered, that caused said person to wince.
"What?" He whispered back, but his eyes never left the idol.
"Call your pals later. Tell them to meet up in my cell." Hayden replied.
Marcos frowned, but didn't show it. "Why?"
"I'm going to escape." At this, Marcos' eyes went wide. His breath hitched and his heartbeat raced. He wanted to turn around but he couldn't. "And you're going to help me."
Before he couldn't even ask, the bell went off, signaling that reflection hours done. Hayden was the first to rise and walk out the church, leaving a very confused Marcos. But he remembered to call Bear and Nuffink when he meets with them.
He stood up and sighed deeply, before looking back again at the idol. "What did I just get myself in to?"
On the other hand, Hayden has snuck away from the group to go over to the yard and back at the storage area where the malfunctioned camera was.Luckily, he was in the cut. As far as he know, that's the only way he could communicate to Astrid and the others. He can't go to a random camera and just send a message through there. The camera is still connected to the surveillance of the guards. Until he finds another malfunctioned camera, he'll have to use this one.
Once he arrived, he fished out a small laser light, and aimed it at the camera. Using Morse Code, he blinked the laser on and off until he got the message through. He repeated the same message three more times before he pocketed the laser and rushed back to the group before the counting could start. He just hoped that they got the message, because in three days, he's escaping.
..............................................
The sound of the convicts talking and laughing rang across the entire cellblock. It was dorm hour, where the convicts are allowed to roam around the cellblock and do whatever. But a guard tower was built at one side of the wall to prevent any fights or suspicious activity. Hayden is currently sitting on his bunk, waiting for the ones he called. Fortunately, his father wasn't there. It would avoid any awkward interactions and allow for his plans to run smoothly.
After a few more minutes of waiting, he heard three knocks in his cell. Craning his neck to the side, there stood Bear, Marcos, and Nuffink. They haven't talked to each other since their deal so Hayden didn't know how to start the conversation. After a few minutes of contemplating, he went with the blunt version.
"I'm escaping." He replied dryly, catching three convicts off guard.
"What do you need us for?" Bear asked after recovering from the shock of the blunt statement.
"I need your help. My plan needs more than one person for it to succeed. And you're probably the closest thing I have to allies." Hayden replied with a sigh.
The trio narrowed their eyes in suspicion. They noticed the way he talks is similar to the way a secret agent talks. But for now, they just kept to themselves until the perfect time to ask would pop up.
"What's the plan then?" Nuffink proceeded to ask.
Though he didn't trust them, Hayden really needed them for this to work. He's been observing them during the rest of the day. Out of all the convicts, they have the most influence. They had interact with almost every convict in PIP. And he needed their influence to rally up the entire cellblock. He gestured for them to come closer and so no one else can hear or see.
Hayden proceeded to take off his left boot, and trace his finger over his artificial foot, which prompted a compartment to open. The trio's jaws dropped simultaneously, and stared open-mouthed at what they were witnessing.
"You got a prosthetic? How'd you get that through the met-decs?" Bear exclaimed.
"My foot's made out of Komodo Dragon scales, and other non-metal materials, but is strong enough to withstand the force of a wrecking ball, but light enough for me to walk normally." He replied as he inserted his hand inside the opening and fished out what seems to be a folded-up piece of paper. After closing the compartment, he began unfolding the piece of paper until it laid down before their eyes; a map.
Traces of lines slithered across the paper, revealing the interior sections and divisions in the building. Everything from the yard, to the main cellblock, to the church, is all drawn on the map. That's when they realized that he's been planning to escape the moment he stepped in PIP. Unless his motive was to simply extract information, and leave as if he were...
"Before you go The Professor on us, we'd like to know what's in it for us?" Nuffink suddenly asked.
"You get to escape with me." Hayden replied flatly as the trio's eyes went wide-eyed. He already knew they wanted something in return. So he decided to break them out. He knows nothing about them or what they'll do once they're back outside, but he needs to escape and if this is the only thing he can do to get them to help him, then he this was the only choice. But they managed to surprise Hayden with their response.
"No." They all answered in unison.
Hayden blinked to see if he wasn't imagining things. Did three convicts just denied an opportunity to get out of here? They must be either crazy or dead set in finishing their bid. But now that he has nothing to offer to them, he began to feel nervous.
"Why?" Hayden asked indecorously.
"We have our reasons, but we're not going to share it to you unless you give us something in exchange." Bear replied with a grin.
Whilst narrowing his eyes, he cautiously asked, "And what's that?"
"Who's Night Fury?"
...........................................
[Hayden's P.O.V]
In the inside, anxiety began building up as silence lingered in the air. The words to communicate got stuck in my throat and I end up opening my mouth with no sound. I sucked in a breath and held while the three of them just stared at me in anticipation. I couldn't remember the last time I got nervous. I think. I released the breath and stared back at them.
"Who?" I replied with probably the fakest innocent tone.
"We heard your conversation with Khan yesterday when you getting your grapes." Marcos said. "He called you Night Fury."
"And the way how you took down his boys like they were your bitches isn't exactly normal." Bear added with a suspicious tone. "They didn't even remember nothin'."
Each statement was like a punch to the gut. I had nothing to say. I thought I could escape without having to disclose an information to anyone. I was wrong. And when I thought it couldn't get any worse, they topped it with this;
"We also saw you sneak back to yard. We didn't see you do nothing but we did see a blinking red light." Nuffink said, dealing the last blow.
He just mentally knocked me out with that statement. In my head, I'm down on the ground, coughing up blood. Luckily my physical self held strong. I was half-tempted to just knock them out the same way I did to Khan's lackeys but when they saw me curling up my fist, they raised their hands up in surrender.
"Whoa, man. Chill!" Bear exclaimed while cautiously raising his hand towards me like I was a rabid wolf. "You don't need to tell us. But you ain't gettin' our help if you ain't trust us. Nobody here cares if you some type of big shot. In here, you need to pay with loyalty-"
I decided to cut off his big speech with my response, "I'm an assassin from an organization called Drakos where they send off agents to kill, murder, take down any tribulations of the peace. Night Fury is my identity when I'm an agent. Alvin the Treacherous and Drago Bludvist were both killed by me and now I'm after a friend of their named Grimmel."
I would've laughed at their flabbergasted expression if we weren't on a timetable. I need their help as soon as possible. After a long silence, Marcos broke it. "I thought you were just some kind of big gangster or mob boss but assassin's good as well." He remarked awkwardly while the rest nodded in agreement.
I rolled my eyes, "Now do you trust me?" I asked impatiently, to which they hesitantly nodded. "Good. Now on to the plan." I say as the moved closer. I focused my attention back at map, pointing at the section I'd be talking about. "At exactly three days, I'll be escaping this prison through the church and bust a hole behind Mexican Jesus which is about 10 meters of concrete. Once I get through, a hallway would be there which lines from the guard house to the back entrance where it's a free trip to the outside. But I'll need to get through the cellblock's gate, pass through the yard, dig through concrete, and run across the 2 kilometre hallway all in one hour."
They listened carefully and intently at my plan even after the massive load of info I laid on them and I was surprised they weren't commenting or arguing against my plan. Maybe because they think I'm a professional assassin that could do anything. I just gave them the vague idea of the plan. I'm going to discuss the details tomorrow but I need to inform them about their role so they could get ready.
"Sorry to bust your bubble, assassin. But how the hell are you doing that?" Bear frowned
"That's where you come in. I'm going to need you to cause a distraction. A big one. Enough to attract all the guards and focus its attention here." I reply, turning to them.
"What could possibly be a distraction big enough to..." Nuffink trailed off once realization dawned on him. The other two merely frowned, already understanding what I meant.
"You're going to have to start a riot." I nodded, finishing his sentence. "And before you could say that you can't, I saw how you interact with the other convicts. You're very influential.."
Bear shook his head, "No matter how influential we are, there's no way to successfully start a riot and win. The ninja turtles would rush here and beat our asses."
"And besides, the guards here are whipped as hell. Even the newjacks." Marcos scoffed. "There's no way to win."
"I don't need you to win. I just need a distraction long and hard enough for me to sneak away. I understand that riots here always fail because of the lack of united motive and force. But right now, I'm going to help you with that."
"How?" Marcos inquired, scrunching up his face in confusion.
I then stood up and stepped outside. I scan the top corners of the cellblock where lines of vents expelled visible cold air and light mist that cooled up the entire dorm. My eyes shifted to the clock and I started counting down from ten. Then at exactly when I hit one, all the vents simultaneously shut down and shut down.
'I guess they got my message...' a smile began curving up my lips.
I then turned to the trio's bewildered faces with a grin. "We're going to suffer a bit, boys." I say as I could already feel the heat to rise. "I'm about to bring the heat."
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Ninja Turtles = Riot Guards
Newjacks = New guards
Met Decs = Metal Detectors
In the cut = Hidden from camera
Grapes = gossip/information