nobody will ever know

The doorbell rang. Steven Berkley sighed and got up from his comfy green chair, closing his book. He slowly took off his reading glasses and picked up his cane. He made his way over to the door as the ring of the bell echoed over and over again.

“I’m coming!,” Steven said gruffly, rubbing his forehead, “I swear, if this is that weird religious group again…” he mumbled, turning the doorknob. He opened the door a crack and peered through the opening. “Hello?” He opened the door a bit more and heard a loud crack ring through the air. Something whizzed over his head as he ducked, slamming the door shut. His lungs rattled as he tried to come to his senses. He hobbled back to the chair and reached under the folds, pulling out a small box.

“Well, Steven, I am impressed,” Came a low voice from his kitchen, “Of course, you can't hide forever-” A man dressed in a brightly colored coat in a strange color scheme came into the living room, looking confused as he took in the room.

“Where’d he go?” Asked another man walking behind the man in strange garb. This one was holding a large gun. There were three more that walked in, all of them carrying weapons, staring blankly at the chair where Steven had been, seconds before.

“Enough,” The man in strange garb glowered, “Search the house and leave no evidence behind. Two, get the fire kit. We can’t let anyone know about this.” The man he’d addressed as ‘Two’, jogged back out through the kitchen while the others split up. Noticing a small table next to the comfy green chair, the strangely dressed man made his way over. Next to a small portrait of a younger Steven with a woman with kindly green eyes and wild brown hair and a small child about eleven years old, a pink sticky note with small writing on it was lying with a strange symbol underneath.

“Why, it seems our little game must continue. I’m happy to oblige.”

At a spa resort in Virginia, an old man with a wooden cane came bursting in through the double glass doors. Immediately, he stumbled towards the front desk where a young woman named Sarah was positioned. It took her by surprise, and as she tried to understand the garbled words, she looked over to a woman in the waiting area who was reading a magazine. The two women made eye contact, and Sarah fidgeted with her earring. The magazine woman nodded surreptitiously and slowly got up, setting the magazine down. She made her way over to the bathroom that was located near the front desk and entered. Sarah smiled at the strange old man.

“I’m sorry, could you please repeat that?”

“Look,” He leaned on his cane, annoyed, “I made a reservation here, I know I’m late, but it wasn’t my fault. Traffic was just horrible, (seems like everyone and their mother was out on the town), and then I had to park far away,” He shook his head with a sour look on his face, “Goodness, the parking here is horrible! This better be worth it. My late wife used this place so often, and she had a lot of credit left, so here I am. Now, if you could just-”

“Sir, we are actually full right-”

“My name is Howard Francis. I’m sure you’ll find it easy to find.” Sarah frowned and typed the name into her computer. Her eyes widened and for a moment her character broke. She blinked and her mask slipped right back on with a smile.

“Alright, sorry about the confusion,” She checked something in the binder on her desk, “head just down the hall, and to your right you’ll find exactly where you need to be. Enjoy your time here!” 

“Thank you for that.” The old man grumbled. Sarah pursed her lips as the old man made his way down the hall, then whispered, “Let’s just hope we made the right decision.”  

Danny turned around and bowed sarcastically with his arms outstretched, “After all these years, standing in front of me, the infamous Steven Berkley! Or should I say George Davis? Maybe, Jarvis Noel?,” A young man with blonde hair handed him a file, “Thank you Calvin.” He opened the file, adjusted his glasses, and chuckled, “Ah, here we go! Welcome, Howard Francis.” Danny grinned at the old man standing before him. Danny raised an eyebrow, waiting.

“What do you want?” Asked Steven, exasperated with the younger man. Danny turned and started walking slowly, making sure Steven was following him, “Well, frankly, we need your help,” he blanched as Steven barked a laugh, “It has to do with the Project. We found a way to prevent them from continuing.” Steven said nothing and just shook his head, smiling sadly to himself. Danny sighed and continued down a maze of hallways until they reached a neon green door marked, ‘TY 54’. Turning the handle, he opened the door, allowing Steven to enter before him. They came into an enormous room filled with technology and people in lab coats. 

“They found me you know,” Steven’s eyes flitted around the room, taking in every detail, “I have no idea how, though I suspect it has something to do with my daughter.” He frowned at a multitude of pictures lining the walls.

“Don’t worry Howie,” Danny winked, leading Steven through the room to another door, this one pink, “We only need you for a little while. Then you can go back to living your lonely life.” he opened the door and they entered a small room, empty except for a few chairs and a table. He took a seat and chuckled when Steven remained standing.

“What do I need to do? As long as it doesn’t involve my daughter, I’ll do it.” Steven’s forehead wrinkled as Danny smiled. Steven realized too late that there was someone else in the room with them. A hand holding a handkerchief came around his head and covered his mouth and nose. His knees buckled, and felt someone holding him so he didn’t hit the floor. As his eyes fluttered shut, the last thing he thought was, ‘At least I get to take a nap.’

“Lincoln!” A shrill voice pierced the air, and the man with the strange coat pinched the bridge of his nose. Setting down the pen he’d been using, he turned to look at the woman marching through his door.

“Mandy, what is it? I’ve told you time and again, don’t disturb me during Thinking Time!” He frowned as Mandy waved a file in front of his face.

“We’ve found it. We’ve found it!” Her face lit up and her eyes were wild, Lincoln sat up straight, Mandy shook with anticipation “After all this time. All we have to do is prevent them from getting there first.” Lincoln breezed past Mandy, snatching the paper from her trembling hands. 

“Don’t worry, I have them taken care of.” He burst out of his office and into the common room. He stood on the nearest desk, ignoring the young man sitting there. The room went silent. People of all ages turned from their work to look at the man who had promised them good fortune.

“It is time,” Lincoln said triumphantly, looking gleefully at the stunned faces of his subjects, “The game is about to end, and a new one will soon begin.” The room erupted with cheers and shock with the news. “Everyone, get ready to receive your new orders. This is our time. The Project will remain victorious! For the people!”

“For the people!” Chorused hundreds of hopeful voices.

Poppy Berkley grinned widely as she saw the plan coming together. Really, all the hard work Lincoln put into all of this was amazing. And now they were about to find the Source. She leaned back in her chair and watched everyone rushing around, preparing for their new plan. Soon, She thought with a small smile, Soon.

“I’m sorry for all of the dramatics, but this is a top secret facility. Very few people know where it is.” Danny smiled down at the old man sitting in front of him. He handed Steven a glass of water.

“I suppose you know where it is then?” Steven said, accepting the glass reluctantly.

“No, Howard, actually I don’t.” Danny sat across from him and pulled out a stack of papers, “One of our scouts found intel of a source of power the Project are trying to gather. We know where it is, we just have to figure out when they are going, and how we can stop them from getting it.” He pulled out a file from the middle of the stack. “Here, we have the location,” the picture was of a canyon with trees in the center, “We have been informed that the source is supposed to be in the midst of these trees.” He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and pointed to a closeup of the section of trees, “Right here, there is a small space where there should be another pine tree, but instead there is a small bush.” He frowned as Steven picked up the file.

“So we just have to assume that this is the place.” Steven said.

“Well, this is all the information we’ve received and we have no other choices but to follow this lead. We have others zoning in on the Project’s base, but right now we need to stop them from getting this source.” 

“What do I have to do with it?”

“You are the key.”

Danny arrived at the proposed location with his team, and pulled out a hand drawn mapp “Alright, Leana, you take your group around to the right, we’ll go this way. We need to find the weak point.” Leana nodded and Danny turned to a young blonde man, “Calvin, you stay here and scout to see if they start to arrive.” Danny led his group to the canyon and looked up, adjusting his glasses, as he heard a whirring sound. The wind started to pick up and dust formed a cloud.

“Danny!” cried Calvin, “We need to get out of here!” he waved from the trucks, but Danny didn’t move. He stood still, frozen in shock. A great boom could be heard from all around, and the ground moved under everyone’s feet. A wave of sand and dirt rose and fell, and all that was left was a broken pair of glasses, and soon, even those were gone.

Lincoln grinned wickedly when he heard the news. Mandy quietly exited the office as he shouted his own congratulations. 

Steven sat quietly on a bench on the front stoop of his old place. It wasn’t long now. 

Sure enough, the man in the strangely colored coat showed up after Steven had made himself a cup of coffee. He sighed wearily and invited Lincoln over to sit with him.

“I suppose you’re going to kill me now.” Said Steven calmly, “Did you get my note?”

“I did, and she wants to speak with you.” Lincoln responded in a bored tone of voice. Steven closed his eyes, and when he opened them, Poppy stood in Lincoln’s place.

“Hello Father,” She said in a sickly sweet voice, “hand it over and everything can go back to normal.” Steven glared in response. Before he could move, Poppy had him in a chokehold and held a knife to his neck, “I know you have it.”

“Darling, I’m sorry.” A hot tear streamed down his neck as he drove the blade of the knife he’d had hidden in his sleeve into the stomach of his only daughter.

“If I can’t, no one can.” Poppy slit the neck of her father, and blue blood dripped off of it. Father and daughter looked at each other one last time, then it all was gone.