Chapter 30 Indie #2
My words try to convince both of us, and despite my body radiating with uneasy vibrations, she nods, her gaze focused on the tablet as she walks towards it.
I glance over the books fitted into the shelves. God, I don’t even know where to start. A lot of them look old, some tattered on the edges.
Slowly, I edge along them, reading the various writings on the sides.
Some of them seem to be in Latin, others in English. The above row catches my eye, and I notice they’re all a deep gold, the leather spines matching, black embroidered writing on the sides. The further along they get, the more they look like time has damaged the quality.
I pluck the first two books that look newer, walking over to the table as I set them down.
When I open one, I glance up at Regina. “You okay?”
She’s tugging at the drawers, the desk rattling with each of her pulls. “I didn’t bring a cable to get into the system, and I’m scared to turn this on in case it triggers anything. These are all fucking locked and I can’t find a key.”
Shit, I didn’t think of that; the cutters won’t help either. “Just leave it, come take a look at this.”
She walks over to me, placing the tablet beside us as I flip through the pages. I only know some Latin, but there seems to be something embossed on the front page.
“What is that?” she asks, and I shake my head, checking the other book which has the same.
The image is of a black and gold iridescent snake, wrapping itself around a sword, gold coins and jewels littered at its feet.
“I’ve no idea, but this must be something to do with that group, look.”
I put the books side by side, the words ‘Sumus’ intertwined with the images, and a slogan of some sort at the bottom. I don’t read it, because I don’t know what any of it translates to.
Regina walks over to the bookcase behind me, pulling one of the older ones out. She coughs as dust erupts around her, waving her hand as she wafts it away.
“This one has it too, but it looks…hand drawn,” she says in a strangled voice, turning to show me it.
“Does it have a date?” I ask, squinting before turning my attention back to the book in front of me.
The book I have is from this year, the other from the year before.
“Nineteen…Jesus, this is from like a hundred years ago.” She shoves the book back, coming over to see the information that’s turned my blood into ice, and a strangled gasp from my throat.
“Oh my God,” she breathes, and my finger flicks the pages faster, and I do the same with the other book.
More names appear on both.
“This…this is a list of all the rich families in Harrison?”
Every name my eye catches paints a picture.
Wealth.
Power.
Untouchable.
The words burst past my face the quicker I swipe through. A select few on the book from the year before matching. Like they’ve introduced the members as they take over.
“Ten names?” she asks, and I count down the list under each year.
“Yeah, and look who’s right at the top of this year.” My voice grows smaller, my eyes burning as I see Conrad and George placed right at the top.
Regina sighs next to me. “What the fuck does all this mean? Is there anything that says what this Sumus is about?”
I turn more of the pages, the words and names burning together, mixed in with a dead language I don’t know much about.
Only the names are in English, and underneath each of them, looks like a droplet of blood from a fingerprint.
“I think Sumus means…highest or supreme.”
The books aren’t large, the older ones seemingly thicker than the two I have.
“I’m going to take a picture,” I say, pulling my phone out and capturing the names on both books.
Names we’ll be looking into when we get back.
If Regina and I get the entire bookcase, we can find out every single person who’s in this group.
Regina’s arm grips my wrist, and a flicker in the corner of my eye catches my attention.
My lungs tighten as I watch the live feed from outside.
“Fuck.” I scoop the books up in my hands, running to shove them back in the shelves. Regina shoves the tablet back into her bag.
“What the fuck do we do?” she gasps.
Someone’s standing near the gate, cladded in the same blacked-out gear we have, and they’re unlocking it.
My panicked eyes frantically search the room; we can’t get out the way we came in, and I have no idea where the other exit is below.
I look at the opposite end of the room as we move. “The window.”
My fingers reach under it, pulling with all my strength to open it, and Regina joins me, a creak groaning as it slowly lifts.
It opens just enough for us to duck out, and Regina looks at the tablet again, picking it up from the floor. “I’m gonna need to freeze these again if we’re gonna make a run for it.”
Oh God.
This is not ideal.
“You go first.” I take the device from her as she slips through, watching the split screens as the individual walks towards the front door, their head twisting to each side, checking if they’re being watched.
My body vibrates, and I glance at Regina as she drops down. “Pass me the tablet and fucking move, Indie!”
She doesn’t need to tell me twice.
I slip my leg through, fear waging war on me as I struggle to get through, my limbs rattling so much it’s stopping me sliding through.
Fucking breathe.
I drag in the air, trying my best to slow it down as I eventually get through, dropping down onto the roof.
Regina catches me as I roll my ankle; the pain causes me to wince as it shoots up my shin.
“This way,” she whispers, but with the wind picking up, and the balaclava covering my ears, I miss anything else she says as she turns away.
We reach the end of the lower roof, the drop at least ten feet, and I know my ankle’s going to give out.
“I’ll go first and catch you,” she says, like she can hear my thoughts—or read them purging through the worry in my eyes.
She slides off the edge, dropping down with ease, turning with her arms up.
“Indie, come on, please!” she calls from below me, her voice quiet, but the panic in it rising.
I whip my head round one last time, checking no one’s dangling a fucking gun from the window.
Dropping onto my ass, I turn as I ease off the ledge on my stomach. But the shadow that slinks past the window beside me—with a phone to their ear—has my grip leaving my body, and I drop like a dead weight off the ledge.
I land on Regina with an oomph, the backpack protecting her fall as I land on top of her.
“Sorry, sorry!” I whisper, turning to pull her up.
“Thank fuck your gun has its safety on. I think it’s indented into my hip,” she groans.
Jesus, I need to get a grip. I could have killed her.
“We need to run; they just walked past the window,” I say as my gaze frantically travels the mesh fence, waiting for an opening to come into view we can run through.
“There.” Regina tugs my arm, and we run to the opposite end of the building, slipping through another part where the fence has partially collapsed.
When we crash through to the protection of the trees, my hands drop to my knees, and I drag the brisk cold air into my lungs as they burn.
My gaze flicks straight at the building, watching it stand stark against the night sky. It feels even more eerie, like watching something from a horror film.
One where we actually escaped this time.
I don’t know what the hell we just uncovered, but I have a gut feeling that Regina, Jenna and I might not be the only victims of whatever the fuck this is.