“Please don’t!” Carol cried, putting her hand up.to stop him. “I will go with him, Alex. I will go to Edwin and Co. with him and get Siobhan back.”
Alex stopped moving. His eyes were glazed over and he continued to stare at my pathetic state on the floor with Carol cradling my head on her shoulder. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t look like he could utter a word as he stared in a trance. I coughed and blood sputtered out of my mouth. Carol cleaned it up her face etched with worry lines.
“I d-don’t…” I managed to say.
“You have to.” Her voice was firm, her tone strong. “Come let’s get you away from here,” she said as she helped me up. I took a few steps, grunting in pain as I did and came to stand in front of Alex. He didn’t move out of the way but Carol steered me away from him and helped me as I walked away from the room.
I heard a thud and went I glanced back Alex was on his knees on the floor. I looked away but I didn’t hear his sobs as he cried and wondered how he could have beaten me up the way he did.
Still, after a few days of recuperating, Carol took matters into her hands and bought everything I would need to begin life as a student of Edwin and Co. Somehow she wrote letters in my dad’s name and sent them to Edwin and Co. ahead of our arrival.
At the airport, Alex was there but since the other day when he almost beat me to death, he barely said anything to me. I’m not even sure he knew what was happening as he watched me and Carol get ready to board the plane. Some of the less inconspicuous gang members were there to wave us goodbye and wish us well on our way out of Mainland.
Carol had thought of everything. She had a fake passport with a new name: Carla Rios. She had a wig to match my raven hair, contact lenses, and makeup to match. Everything about her was altered to make her look like a convincing twin sister. I didn’t know she was such a master of disguise, in fact, I feared that her passport would be revoked at the airport but whoever made it had thought about the details and done a great job.
She was like a whole new person, taking on the operation of the gang.
Alex on the other hand while remaining the leader of the gang barely took any action since the fight between us. As the plane taxied on the tarmac I worried about him. We may have had that big fight and I may hate him for what he has become but it doesn’t change the fact that he is my brother and nothing can ever replace the bond we share.
“He will be fine,” Carol said to me and I looked away from the window to look at her. Strange how if I didn’t already know her I would believe she was my sister. Her disguise was that good. “He wants the best for you too you know?” she said as if she was reading my mind.
I looked away from her and stared out the window again, watching Mainland fade away as the plane rose to higher heights in the air.
But I already made up my mind. It didn’t matter who was in charge of the gang, it could be Alex or Carol or Dez or even Dad! Whoever it was didn’t matter, I will not be affiliated with a gang. This is my one and only chance to escape and do something right with my life. I decided there and then that in Edwin and Co. I will figure out a way to escape and leave everything behind. I will deceive Carol as best as I can and make her believe I was willing to bring Siobhan home but as soon as I have her trust I’ll find my way out, change my name and start a new life where neither Carol nor Alex will find me.
That was what I thought until I became the new kid in Edwin and Co. and got caught up in the drama of love and hate. I thought using Siobhan to play on Carol’s intelligence would be easy until I fell for Bianca Davis over again. I couldn’t seem to stay away from her. For her, I didn’t want to run away but I was caught in the mess of using Siobhan to throw Carol off my back and getting Bianca to trust me and trust in my feelings for her. But Siobhan herself had other plans. She wanted me as the new kid in school and of course it didn’t help that I was good-looking, while she betrayed her best friend on the side. I had to play the part of the bad boy to cover my tracks and make my plans work. If Carol knew what I was planning no doubt she would step in to thwart those plans.
In fact, I am sure she did suspect my plans because we had clashes too many times to count. She always reminded me, “Remember why you are here! Don’t lose your head!”
And in response, I got aggravated with her and told her off.
Unable to take it anymore I changed my plans. I decided to tell Bianca everything but first I needed to be sure that the feelings I had for her were reciprocated and they were even though the stubborn girl wouldn’t face the truth and confess that she loved me too.
I should have known that the drama I found myself caught up in made Carol angry. If I hadn’t been blinded by love and hopeful teenage dreams I would have sensed the dark change in Carol. I should have known she was jealous of my love for Bianca. If I had been more careful, if I had planned my moves better…if only…if only…Bianca would not have been abducted...
**
Present Time.
“What just happened?! What just happened?!” Siobhan cried looking frantically around at everyone for answers. “Bianca! Bianca was taken! My best friend was abducted! What is happening?!"
Everyone was crowded together crying and wailing. Jonathan the chief security and his subordinates were searching the entire school for signs of entry. Mr. Jorge was cursing loudly as he yelled at Jonathan, cursing him for being incompetent at his job. He was crying as he demanded answers. Everyone was crying. The Concierge and Miss. Dana were on their phones calling everyone’s parents on Mr. Jorge’s orders so that they could come take their kids home.
The junior students who were in the care of the prefects cried the loudest. The festivities of tonight’s party had been turned into mourning.
I wanted to close my hands over my ears to block out everyone’s cries. I wanted to turn back the hand of the clock to the day I met Bianca at the beach. If I hadn’t gone back home…if I hadn’t come to Edwin and Co…if I hadn’t met Carol…if Alex wasn’t my brother…
Jonathan and his men returned after hours of carefully searching everywhere.
“We found the entry point. They broke the fence and had a getaway car parked outside.”
“Well, can you find them?! What about the missing students? How many more missing students do we have?” Mr. Jorge demanded.
“No we can’t find them right now but if we had time…”
A furious Mr. Jorge hit Jonathan but the other man was a thick, tall, burly man so the punch had almost no effect on him. Even he looked gravely remorseful that he couldn’t protect the students tonight. His eyes were angry as he took in the overturned party chairs and other things that had been destroyed while we all frantically tried to protect ourselves and I suspect that his anger was directed at himself for failing at his job.
“We do not have time! I will lose my job, the parents will sue me and you will suffer for it if we do not get to the bottom of this!”
“We will find the missing girls. So far only Bianca Davis and Carla Rios are missing but I assure you Mr. Jorge that we will find them.”
Because I knew what just happened I also knew that there was no way Jonathan and his men would easily find Bianca and Carol – Carla. I know Carla, she is cunning as fuck. She has everything planned to detail.
I thought I was the cunning one. I thought I was doing a good job of convincing her that I was all in with the plan but unknown to me she was making plans of her own. If only I had seen the signs I would have stopped this before it happened. If I had been fast enough…if I had listened to Bianca when she said we should spend the party in each other’s arms instead of going out to the dining none of this would have happened. If I had just listened to her.
The signs were all there after the first attack. I had confronted Carol and asked her about it but she was so convincing when she told me she wasn’t behind the attack. And like a fool, I believed her. Now I have lost Bianca and who knows what plans she has for her.
Just the mention of Bianca’s name sent everyone into hysterics again and Siobhan cried the most. She held on to me and cried choking sobs. Aaron on the other hand…I can only imagine what is going through his mind right now.
It wasn’t long before parents and chauffeurs started arriving to take students home. I bet that by this time tomorrow, the news of Edwin and Co’s invasion would be on the news.
I watched as one by one everyone got into cars and were taken to the safety of their parents' houses.
Siobhan and I were one of the last people to leave but I had no one to come pick me and I couldn’t run away now, especially not with the turn of events.
“Come with me,” Siobhan offered.
I took her offer mostly because she needed comfort and I wanted to place to strategize and think of the best course of action to take to recover Bianca.