T.N - Chapter 48

I sat in my room, with the door locked and no way of escaping. If I tried to leave out of my 2^nd floor window, the men would spot me and just bring me back in. Damn Kyle. This is exactly why I didn’t want him to know about the secret passage. Being the eldest, he had an unfair advantage over Dennis and me. As the heir of the company, he had nearly the amount of power that Grandfather does, and when Grandfather’s away, it’s Kyle in charge. I’m guessing that at that moment, he was abusing his power on everyone downstairs.

There was something strange about what Kyle was saying, and I wasn’t quite sure what it was…things have been all too strange in general to pick out exactly what was bothering me.

Since it was obvious to me that I wasn’t going to get out of the house anytime soon, I changed out of the now dirty dress into more casual clothing. I slipped on a pair of well-worn jeans and found my favourite black button-up shirt.

I was almost finished buttoning my shirt when my closet door creaked. My instincts kicking in, I immediately jumped into action and flung the door open. To my surprise, two familiar figures toppled onto the floor. The one with dark brown hair landed face first, while his blond companion fell on top of him.

“Dennis? Charlie? But how—“ I asked, but my question was cut short by Dennis.

“My dear sister, I think you should finish dressing before I answer questions,” he said drily, and it was only then I realized that my shirt was still half open.

I straightened up abruptly. I calmly buttoned my shirt up, and tried not to blush. “Next time maybe, you should knock first. I wasn’t expecting any visitors in the first place.” I finished doing so, and held out my hand to Dennis. “I had forgotten about the secret passages. I thought Grandfather had holed them up.”

“I think he did block off some of them, but he left yours open. The one in the main hallway closet is also open. I think he meant to keep it as an emergency exit for you to discover,” Dennis said.

“I would’ve gotten out of here by now if that was the case.”

“I think you should help up your friend here…he got the brunt of the fall unfortunately,” Dennis pointed out. Before I could extend a hand, Charlie was already sitting up.

“Dennis is certainly a fascinating person,” Charlie said to me. “And he’s not like my older sister. She’s annoying, always being the all-knowing one who orders me around. Besides, he also showed me the second passageway I’ve seen in less than 2 weeks.”

“Good to hear,” I said. I turned to Dennis. “Don’t let that get to your head,” I told him, and he just smirked. “Now what brings you two here?”

“When Kyle interrupted our conversation downstairs, did you find anything…odd about his actions?” asked Dennis, sitting down on my bed.

I was tempted to say something along the lines of how Kyle is always strange, but I knew that Dennis was being serious. “As a matter of fact, indeed,” I said, and sat next to Charlie. “But I’m not sure what. He’s been busy these past few days with his darling Selene that I can’t think of any suspicious behaviour except for what happened today.”

“Ok, so let’s recount what he said,” said Charlie.

“So first he enters the conversation by saying that the animal names for each of the people mentioned in the notes as pseudonyms,” said Dennis, “to protect their identities from everyone including each other.”

“How would he know that?” asked Charlie.

“I’m not sure,” I said. “To continue, you,” I pointed at Charlie, “told us about how Kyle entered the room that the mole was in without making a sound. That makes him suspicious…”

“And then he grounded you because you withheld information about Grandfather’s disappearance that he really wanted to know. Afterwards, he practically disowned me and then sent off Kent,” added Dennis.

“Why would he really want to know? If I gave Kent the information, then Kyle could just ask him about it since he’s the acting Justice League head.” I paused to think for a moment. “Something’s not adding up, and I can’t think of anything.” I looked over at Charlie. “Have you noticed anything else strange?”

“No…at least, I don’t remember anything odd,” he replied, his eyebrows furrowed in thought.

“Well we can all agree that this all seems more than a little suspicious, right?” asked Dennis. Charlie and I nodded our heads in agreement. “I think that’s enough proof for now,” he said. “I think now is the time to act.”

I thought back to the helipad rescue earlier for some reason. I had a little idea. “All right then,” I said. “I think I know what to do.”