15 Sneaking Around in Plain Sight
Adonis could hear Sam hacking dramatically from the hallway outside of his room, even with Sam’s door shut. He tried to hold his composure and not giggle in front of Odin and his ever-present guards. I think he read my note. Since Sam had been feeling much better before Adonis left the night before, Adonis knew that the onerous coughing was a simple disgusting and very convincing act. Odin crossed his arms and tilted his head to look through the crack between the door and jamb. He huffed and said, “Forget it. Just leave him here. Chris, stay behind and stand guard.” “Yes, sir!” the guard replied, and he immediately stood rigid to the right of Sam’s door. Odin led the rest of the guards and Adonis to the library again. As much as he loved books, Adonis was beginning to hate this library. “Hey, Odin, can you send Francis up to Sam again this afternoon? I think he’ll need it,” Adonis asked as they entered the last section of hall leading to the library. Odin didn’t answer for a moment. Still walking, he flipped around and walked backwards to face Adonis and look him up and down. “How do you know Francis saw Sam yesterday?” Adonis blinked and cursed in his mind. “Isn’t he the only nurse? I heard Sam calling yesterday for a nurse, and I guess I assumed Francis was the only one,” he quickly explained. “Hm.” Odin flipped back around. “Where’d you get that black hairband? I didn’t know you liked to put your hair up.” “Oh yeah, I just found this one on the ground. My hair’s getting long, so I like to put it in buns sometimes,” Adonis answered, staring at the band and snapping it to his wrist again. They reached the library and repeated the normal preparations; the only difference being Odin didn’t give Adonis the typical warning. He just dialed Selena’s number and tossed the phone into the center. She picked up after only one ring. “Hello?” “Hi again! Adonis speaking,” he said, crinkling his nose as he quickly ran through the speech in his mind. Annoyance flashed through him as he saw a small red light flashing in the corner of Odin’s phone, meaning he was screen recording the conversation. “Okay, what updates do you have today?” “There’s been a big snowstorm, which is messing with us a little bit. But, we are marginally ahead by keeping inside; nearby giant drifts of snow have destroyed the power lines. It’s hard to work at our pace, but we’re dedicated to finishing at that deadline. Oh, plus little Sammy ain’t near this call. He’s got a cold right now, but I think he’ll be back here for the next one, right, Jeff?” “Yes, probably. His throat was too sore to speak this morning, but he should be fine by tomorrow or the day after.” “Perfect. Well, actually, I think that wraps this up, Selena. That’s where we’ve gotten to since we last talked.” Selena was quiet for a second on the other line, and when she spoke she sounded distracted. “Oh, how was Thanksgiving? You didn’t say.” Odin turned his molten gaze to Adonis and leisurely traced his fingertip from one side of his throat to the other. Adonis looked sideways and glowered at the rug, but held his tongue. “It was lovely, thank you. So sorry, but we have to go again. Have a wonderful day, Selena,” Odin glossed over the end. “You as well, Jeff and Adonis. Send my well wishes to Sam.” Odin pulled away his phone and clicked it off after subtly ending the screen recording. He disdainfully looked through his glasses at Adonis. The agent looked defeated; his gaze was locked to the floor, neck bent, back slouching to make it easier to sit with his hands tied behind his back. Rage welled up in Odin, rage that he hid behind a thick curtain of disinterest. Rage that Adonis and Sam, prisoners, his prisoners, who were practically like royalty, still tried to undermine him. He had learned long ago that all people, even trusted friends, groveled when it benefited them and betrayed when it benefited them. It irked Odin somehow, even with constant surveillance, the agents still managed to be sneaky. How could the calls not be scripted, when Adonis danced around his words so woodenly? Adonis and Sam were mysteries, anomalies, and Odin wanted their puzzling airs, their abnormalities, to be crushed into nothingness. And yet, he had to admire them as well. Yes, they infuriated him and he would need to double security and put hidden cameras directly above each of their doors, but at least they had intelligence. After all, they had managed to evade Odin’s detection thus far; slithering around a grand mastermind like himself required acumen, or at least calculated foolishness. Adonis jolted Odin out of his daydream by commenting, “They’re going to get suspicious. You can’t keep cutting off our calls with no context.” “You can’t tell me what to do.” Adonis finally looked up and met Odin’s cold eyes. “By now, they’re sure to already be suspicious with your rambling sentences. Why are you talking so weirdly?” “I am not talking weirdly! You just give me no time to think of what to say, or give me any prompting, which I would expect you to do, since you’re an all-powerful all-controlling maniac! My anxiety gets the best of me, and shoot me, because I end up saying rambly gibberish! Excuse me for being scared in this great big fantastic house of lies! All you do is lie and steal and punish people for not understanding your insanity! You are a lunatic! It’s a good thing you shackled my hands behind my back like the coward you are, otherwise I would be punching your face right now, you cocky bastard!” Adonis bellowed. In the middle of his tirade, he stood so fast his chair skipped and fell over behind him. His curls bounced indignantly and his chest heaved when he finished. “Say one more word to me, you short, flashy-eyed freak, and I’ll send you straight to the hell Sam partook in the other day,” Odin said, never raising his voice above a dangerous whisper. The whisper grated Adonis’ and the guards’ ears, somehow just as agonizingly loud as Adonis’ yelling was. Odin started slowly walking, syrupy, bending, dragging time, around the table, stepping closer and closer to Adonis, filling Adonis’ vision with his bulk, each word drawing him closer: “I’ve done a bit of familial research, Adonis Joseph Mirkwood, son of Kathy Jacobson Mirkwood and Dal Ga-eul Mirkwood, no?” Odin stood right next to Adonis now, on his right side. He grabbed Adonis’ chin and twisted his own head to shove his right cheek against Adonis’. His other hand clenched Adonis’ wrists behind him and twisted them, cutting off blood flow to Adonis’ hands. In a whisper, so soft only Adonis could hear it with his face smashed up against Odin’s, Odin asked, “How would it feel to meet Daddy again, Adonis?” He continued his assault. “It’s been too long since you last chatted, hasn’t it? What is it, ten years now? Ten years since you got to see your father’s sick face, ten years since you’ve gotten to kiss his cheek. Ten years since you heard your father encourage you to wear a certain outfit, ten years since your father wiped away your tears after a harsh day of bullies taunting you for being a two-colored freak.” Odin released Adonis and stepped away. He smiled as tears slowly, silently, spilled from Adonis’ eyes, his heterochromia, freak eyes; the curse of having one brown iris and one grey iris. Odin had stabbed Adonis deeper than he could ever know. Adonis said nothing as two guards scooped him under his arms and dragged him from the library. Adonis didn’t even try to walk; he knew his legs would not carry any weight. He let his feet be dragged. The only part he moved as the guards stepped over the threshold was his arms and hands. He twisted his elbows painfully, contorting his spine the wrong way so he could hold his right hand as high as possible and rudely gesture at Odin. The corner of Odin’s lip curled, but he didn’t respond; he just watched Adonis get pulled away with a disdainful air. He sassily leaned on one hip and tightly crossed his arms on top his chest until the unorganized tapping of the guards’ boots faded. His thoughts roiled with disgust and anger, goading him to chase down Adonis and force him through the drugging as well. He was quite proud of the concoction; a mixture of many hallucination-inducing powders, both wakefulness and drowsy medications, and a pill that was basically compacted acid. The small amount of acid was strong enough to worm through guts and burn their walls, damaging blood vessels and internal organs, but not strong enough to burn through the brain or skin or heart. Strong enough to make people want to enter heaven’s gates, but not strong enough to actually bring them there. Odin knew that Adonis deserved this treatment, but he did actually need at least one of the agents for the calls. He could call the agency himself, but since he was a new hire, he knew there would be a big chance that the agency would not fully trust him. Plus, the shock from Odin whispering those choice words to Adonis should be enough to abate his fiery tongue and teach him a lesson. He ignored the vengeful thoughts in a practiced way and with a twitch of his wrist, he dismissed the remaining guards to wait outside of the library and fixed himself in a chair to listen to the call again. The screen recording lowered the quality of the call, but despite the metallic edge to their voices, Odin could still decipher the words. Now I just need to figure out what Adonis is saying. As he listened through the whole call, he wrote down each word Adonis said and tried to guess the code from it, but he had no clue what the combination of words meant still hours later. He relistened to the call many times, scribbled and rewrote the words, lining them up vertically, reorganizing them, scrambling to find patterns. He found nothing but frustration at his own stupidity to not record the first call.
Selena found frustration as well. She was forced to fixate on and labor over Adonis’ words too, but her load was lightened considerably by the pattern key and by Trinity’s wit.
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““There’s been a big snowstorm, which is messing with us a little bit. But, we are marginally ahead by keeping inside; nearby giant drifts of snow have destroyed the power lines. It’s hard to work at our pace, but we’re dedicated to finishing at that deadline. Oh, plus little Sammy ain’t near this call. He’s got a cold right now, but I think he’ll be back here for the next one, right, Jeff?
“Perfect. Well, actually, I think that wraps this up, Selena. That’s where we’ve gotten to since we last talked.”bwaMAbKINGdoshdtpl oPLsANtc WAITtwtus
making plan wait
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The morning trickled into afternoon. The sun slid from a distant high point in the sky to a low pinprick hidden behind fields of looming anvil clouds. The clouds reflected on the dimpled lake, a strange half-world, matching the real life with an inverted and wavering version. The civilized part of the valley hummed with life and potential; but the natural landscape around it seemed devoid of color. Everything was in flat, grey-tinted colors with no definition. The sky was menacing and the trees foreboding. Adonis bounced his lockpick in his hand, the repeating slap of the metal piece smacking his palm the only sound in his room as he paced quick circles around it. His eyes glinted with every bounce of the key, the shiny metal reflecting brief flashes onto their glassy surfaces. Pausing his pacing for a second, he glanced out the window to observe the sun’s low hiding spot. It had only just passed three P.M., but the sun was already fixing to set. The clouds were a threat too. He hoped there would not be another storm coming, but knew it was feeble hope. Another storm like the storms I made up in the call. I’m surprised Odin let me get away with my lies, but he probably doesn’t care much what I say to Selena. It’s all lies anyway. He had heard Francis go into Sam’s room a long time ago, but the guards hadn’t given him an opportunity to sneak over yet. He was growing impatient and worried that Francis would end up leaving before he even got to see him. We have to strategize today! We can’t stay here much longer; firstly, Odin is getting way too suspicious, and secondly, I’m going to die of boredom. I’m so sick of doing the same things every day. He abandoned pacing to lean on the edge of his dresser and anxiously tap it with his fingernails. Spaced out at the floor and lost in his thoughts, he jumped when he heard his door unlocked and only had enough time to slip his lockpick in the waistband of his pants; he would hide it better later. “Hey, prisoner, this man wants you to go to Sam’s room,” the guard nonchalantly called in, barely cracking the door. The guard’s hesitation in opening the door fully allowed plenty of time for Adonis to slip his handcuffs back on, a result he was pleased with. Adonis didn’t know if the guards actually knew about the fake handcuffs, but it couldn’t hurt to keep the ruse going for as long as possible. “Wow, it’s impressive how you don’t know my name or the name of the guy trying to take me out of my room,” Adonis toyed with the guard, smiling. “Shut up. You’re a prisoner; that’s what your name is because that’s all you’ll ever be,” the guard wrenched the door fully open and glared at Adonis. Though Adonis was young, only twenty-three, the guard was still years younger. Adonis almost felt remorseful, as he knew the guard was likely in the same forced position as him, but he couldn’t push aside his hatred for his captors completely. “Can I get him now? Please, sir, it’s urgent,” Adonis restrained a big dopey grin as he recognized that voice as Francis’. The guard grunted, but stepped aside and allowed him inside. Francis spoke in a level, professional voice, “You. Come on, your friend keeps asking for you. He’s very sick, you know.” Adonis nodded and hung his head. Francis walked over and pulled Adonis up with his shirt and dragged him out. Adonis had to keep his eyes trained on the floor to compress the giggle building inside of him; he knew that if he looked at one of the guards’ unsuspecting faces right now he would laugh. “I don’t want any shenanigans. Sam’s door is going to stay open for the whole time-” Francis exhaled loudly and stopped right at Sam’s threshold. He dramatically rolled his eyes, carelessly tossed Adonis into the room where he tripped and sprawled onto the rug, and turned back to the guard. “I think the door will stay closed the whole time, sir.” “N-no I don’t think we’re even supposed to let Ado-the prisoners see each other s-so this is special and I don’t want to get in trouble, so it has to stay open,” the guard’s true youth finally showed as he stumbled over his explanation. “Sam is very sick. He needs Adonis because they have known each other for a long time, and he is the only familiar face in this damned hell-hole,” Sam coughed loudly to punctuate Francis’ sentence. “The door is going to stay closed unless you want to see and smell body sores and vomit and quite possibly diarrhea. I will take full blame if Odin finds out,” Francis said with finality. He pulled the doorknob from the flustered guard and shut the door by himself. Stepping away, he turned and dusted imaginary filth from his palms, squinting his eyes and turning up his face. Sam snorted and Adonis cackled into the plush rug. Francis knelt next to Adonis and unclasped his cuffs for him, asking why he was summoned to Sam’s room again. Sam reached for the remote and turned the television’s volume up unreasonably high. “We need to get out of here. Now.” Adonis’ simple statements took both Sam and Francis by surprise. Sam had known that their long-term plan was to get out sometime before Christmas, he just hadn’t known that it would be so soon. Francis simply thought that any and all escape from the manor was practically impossible. Adonis spilled his basic plan he had been constructing while Sam had been in the basement. The first part required as much outside knowledge as he could get; the only outside source he knew was Francis. Francis told him everything he thought could be important as quickly as he could; about the village’s children being captured and brainwashed; about the propaganda; the food deliveries, the guard rotations he knew about, the staff’s names who might be sympathetic, the servant’s passageways, social media monitoring, hidden cameras, broken and working golf carts, storm drain locations, where the garden shed was, even the strange sickness, corona, the trucker had warned him about. Adonis knew three things; one, they needed a clear way out of the mansion, two, they needed a nearby and hidden place to live after they got out of the mansion, three, they needed to plan their way into the future. First: out of the mansion. Adonis asked more specifics about the servant’s passages, corona, the storm drains, and the garden shed. Second: where they would go after they got out of the mansion. Adonis, and Sam joined in too, querying about the food deliveries, corona, and monitoring. They also asked about Francis’ house. Third: informing Selena. They would need one more call, meaning one more code. Adonis realized he forgot the pad of paper and pen in the other room, so Francis harassed the poor guard about needing to write down all of the serious medical conditions Sam was having at the moment until the guard produced a small notebook and a stub of a pencil. After two and a half hours of rushed planning, they had a hasty plan that relied mostly on Odin not finding out anything until the eighth of December, still days away. On the fifth, Francis was going to call in sick. He was going to need two weeks off, since the national doctors advised that two weeks of self-isolation was needed for this new virus. All of the English news stations were blocked by Odin, but a couple of the Spanish news stations made it through the firewall; Sam and Francis worked together to get snatches of information about the virus from the news. On the sixth or seventh, Sam and Adonis expected another call. They would give their final message to Selena then. On the eighth, at exactly eleven thirty-seven P.M., Sam and Adonis would let themselves out of their rooms and sprint down the hall to the closest entry to the servant’s passages, carrying backpacks Francis would smuggle to them. The backpacks were going to be stuffed full of the clothes they had been provided, as well as a towel, the small toiletries and anything else they thought could be useful. They had timed it so the guards shouldn’t see them leaving, but at that point, it wouldn’t matter. Adonis and Sam were going to memorize the servants’ passages from a map that Francis sketched, and the guards wouldn’t be able to follow them as the majority of them didn’t even know of the passages’ existence. They were going to follow the passages in a somewhat-circuitous route to the bottom of the manor and get out using the laundry room. From the laundry room, they were going to dash to the garden shed and pause momentarily to make sure no one was following them, or if they were being followed, the prosecutors were not directly behind them. One of the storm drains on the property was behind the garden shed, about ten feet into the forest and covered in a tangled knot of overgrown weeds and grass. This was the easiest part of the plan; all they had to do from that point was get in the storm drain and follow the grid pattern into the center of town, where they would turn left, right, straight, left and climb out again. The drains followed the streets’ patterns above them, and those were the directions Francis had memorized to his house. They were going to stay at Francis’ house. His wife would be there because she was allowed to keep her job as cashier at a clothing store, so she stayed in the house. His children would not be there. As soon as he got home on the fifth, he was going to carefully check his house, street, and houses around him for cameras, microphones, or any possible thing Odin could be using to track people. He couldn’t destroy the cameras as the head of security would get suspicious, but Sam taught him how to loop videos, occasionally throwing in new videos for variety. They would stay at Francis’ house until the nineteenth at the latest, as that was exactly two weeks away from the fifth. However, they hoped that they would be able to be finished with their master idea long before the nineteenth. Their call with Selena tied majorly into the third part. The call would be long because they needed to fit in two major things: they were leaving the manor on the eighth and likely would not have any more contact after that, and that they needed a ton of backup sent in discreetly on December eleventh. Their plan wasn’t solid, but any and all help, from any department, was going to be needed on the eleventh. Adonis felt his anxiety rising from what they were going to do; he was overwhelmed, it had been his idea, but it was so much more than he thought it was going to be, there was not enough time for it all, Odin was going to kill them, his throat was closing up already- Both Francis and Sam reached for one of his arms. They breathed deeply together. Adonis calmed and explained the code he and Sam had been using. So, at the end of their two and a half hours, they worked on yet another calling code.
Unfortunately, they never noticed the small crack in the doorway. The small crack that the flustered guard was listening very carefully through.