The life of spies is to know, not to be known.
~George Herbert
***
On Sunday morning, the spy was already outside Marcus' house. He took the phone and dialled the same number as he always did.
"What's wrong," the voice at the other end asked.
"The children are together at one of the kids' house," the spy answered.
"Good. You know what to do, right?"
"Yes, I do," the spy replied and hung up. Beads of sweat were making their way down his forehead and his hands were already shaking.
As he got out of the car, he had only one regret.
He regretted that he lied.
Lied about being the one that killed the girl.
"Do you know I had to sneak out of church just to come here," Jeff ranted. "I swear if my dad finds out I am not present he'll kill me."
"I thought he was supposed to be a Christian," asked Luis.
"Beware of people who are on speaking terms with the Almighty," sighed Jeff.
"Did you just quote the Southern Belle Handbook?" Michelle asked, surprised.
"Yeah, and what's the problem with that. It didn't say the book was for girls only," Jeff retorted. Michelle glanced at him and shook her head. The boy was definitely undergoing some issues.
"Can we all just come back to what has been happening here?" Marcus pleaded, bringing the three back to reality. "My mom will not stay for long in church."
"So what did you guys find out on your little date?" Jeff inquired.
Michelle rolled her eyes.
"Nothing much, but we found out the ruling person was actually a Queen, not a King," she responded first.
"We also found out that the revolution of Alberia was a peaceful one, not the violent one as Luis told us," Marcus added, much to the shock of Luis.
"Well, you can't be a hundred per cent sure of an orally passed story," Jeff comforted Luis, lest he feel hurt that he had just lied to them.
"We also found out something ourselves," Jeff spoke. "Turns out that when the Queen and King disappeared, they found bloodstains on the walls. And you won't believe which building used to be the castle; Arabella Academy!" He dropped the bombshell.
"So you mean we have been learning in a goddamned castle for all this time, and they didn't dare to tell us when talking about its history?" Michelle gasped.
"My guess is that they saw that event as some kind of bad omen so they decided to keep quiet about it," Luis suggested.
"So what happens now? We are just getting information but no leads on Sheila's death or that Dragon Pearl Necklace," Marcus said. Patience was not one of his favourite terms and he liked to get things done as fast as he could.
"Wait," Luis interrupted. "Jeff, do you remember when we were reading that passage, it said something about dungeons."
Jeff's eyes lit up when he remembered the passage. He nodded to the group before speaking. "We now just need to find those dungeons, that is, if any are left."
A sound from the kitchen made them jump. Suddenly alert, they kept quiet, ears carefully listening for anyone else apart from them. The sound of a man's boots confirmed that they were not alone, and they all huddled together at the corner of the dining room bracing themselves for the worst. The shock on their faces was distinct when a man appeared, a knife in one hand.
"Don't you dare scream unless you want to be the first to get your throat cut," he threatened.
The four managed to hold back the screams, although they were literally burning to let them out. None of them wanted to be the first, and therefore they decided their mouths were the last thing they needed at the moment. It was then that Luis noticed something about the man that made him come to the conclusion that he was not a murderer. He finally summed up enough courage and broke off from the three who were shaking.
"What are you doing? Get back there!" the man hissed. Luis just stood there and gave him a smile that made the man realise he was going to attack him. A further step from Luis ascertained it.
The man suddenly lunged forward at him with the knife. Luis ducked and came back up hitting his hand, making him drop the knife. He then hit him on the face with his fist, giving the man the start of a nosebleed. He then went for his groin, hitting him with his feet and making all the boys in the room wincing with pain. Marcus by then had also gathered enough courage, and he went ahead to pick a vase from the dining table and when the man was still concentrating on Luis, hit him on the back of his head, breaking the vase. The man fell down, unconscious.
"Who is that?" screamed Jeff.
"I have no idea," Marcus answered, frightened. He glanced at Luis. "It just had to be his groin. Where did you learn that?"
"I did some ju-jitsu some time ago. Although I wasn't sure it would help me until now," he admitted.
"Have you killed him?" Michelle asked. She was shaking. This was not what she had expected for the past few weeks.
"I hope not," Marcus sighed.
"What do we do with him now," Luis questioned.
"He may be a robber, but again a robber would have come in with a mask and a gun. This one's using our kitchen knife!" Marcus replied. He looked at the three, a combination of fear and concern in his eyes. "I think the bad guys know about us."
"Oh my God! I am so dead!" Jeff exclaimed.
"What do you mean they know about us?" Michelle gasped. "But they didn't see us at Old Bob's, did they?"
Marcus shook his head and shrugged, indicating that he didn't know.
"Wait, what happened at Old Bob's," Luis was confused.
"We saw Tyron being killed, and I think we're next," Jeff was now hyperventilating.
"No, we're not next. I think we have to call Stevens," Marcus spoke.
"So that he would skin us alive? He told us to stay out of it," Michelle was almost shouting.
"Where do we go then? We can't go to the police because of Timothy!" Jeff said.
"Hold on, what does the deputy principal have to do with this?" Luis was more confused.
"He's a secret agent," Jeff explained, confusing Luis even the more.
"Okay, I agree then. Let me call Calvin," Michelle said, fishing out her phone from her bag.
"You have Calvin's number! Where did you get it?" Marcus cried out.
"He was actually the one who texted me, said he hacked into the Automatic Number Identification system and got my number from there, we've actually been texting. He's a fun guy to talk to," Michelle chuckled.
"So what? You guys are a thing now?" Marcus was now yelling.
"Marcus," Jeff talked in his calmest voice ever. "Are you jealous?"
That question made everyone stop what they were doing and stare at Marcus, surprised. Marcus noticed that they were looking at him to get an answer.
"Pfft," he tried to shrug it off. "Me? Jealous? Are you mad?"
The other three shook their heads in sympathy and went back to calling Calvin.
Minutes later, they were alerted by the doorbell and Luis went ahead to open it, wary of anyone who might be coming due to other intentions. Calvin popped up at the door and received a very big sigh of relief from the kids, all except Marcus, who was sulking. He went inside and walked up to where the man was tied up, unconscious.
"Seems like you've found Redhound before we did."