Tina Chan - imperfect

The kidnapper continued on, as if he hadn’t heard a word the other man had said. “Boss doesn’t believe me when I told her there was a secret room in the brick wall. But I saw you escaping into a hole in the wall with my own eyes. Now she thinks we’re going mad. Right, Steph?”

Steph nodded his head in agreement. The way Steph looked at black-shirt-guy with reverence and followed his every move reminded Kristi of Glenn’s followers. Naturally, this observation promptly made her dislike these two men even more.

Kristi removed her hands from the wall. Testing to see if she could walk on her own, she took a small step. Her head felt a bit woozy, but other than that, she felt fine.

“Take my electro-slate and my backpack if you want. Can I leave now?” Kristi took another step towards the exit.

Steph perked up and cracked his knuckles loudly, daring her to make a dash for freedom.

“No.” Black-shirt-guy threw down the drawstring bag with disgust; apart from the electro-slate, nothing else in the bag was worth any value on the black market.

“Can I see the slate, Wilson?” Steph asked.

“No.”

Black-shirt-guy now had a name: Wilson. This insignificant piece of information lent Kristi a small scrap of knowledge.

Wilson stalked over to Steph, clutching the stolen electro-slate in one hand. “Grab me some ropes. And be quick about it.”

Steph beat a hasty retreat, muttering under his breath, “Don’t want to make Wilson mad—he blinded his last offender.”

So, Kristi thought, Wilson’s temper is something to be reckoned with, a trait that probably often gets him what he wants . She was not at all comfortable with this arrangement; being alone in an unfamiliar room with a cruel man made her squirm anxiously.

Wilson slammed the door shut then booted a rickety folding chair into the middle of the room. Rust covered its metal edges.

“You,” Wilson brusquely pushed Kristi into the chair, towering over her. “Tell me how you escaped us today.”

“There was a hidden room behind the wall.” Kristi couldn’t think straight enough to even consider lying.

“I already know that. Tell me something I don’t know. Tell me how you got into the room.”

“I’m not sure how I got into the room. I just kind of slid my hand over a section of the brick wall and a gap opened—”

“Don’t lie to me,” Wilson said. The edges of his lips pulled backwards tightly, permitting his two silver tipped canines to show. Kristi involuntarily shuddered; his teeth reminded her of vampires. Wilson leered. “Tell me now or—”

“I got you the ropes,” Steph cut in.

Kristi let out a sigh; she was certain whatever Wilson’s threat was, she didn’t want to hear.

Wilson snatched the ropes from Steph and tied Kristi’s hands behind her back.

“Don’t try to lie to me,” Wilson growled into her right ear. “Steph would be more than happy to knock you around a bit. So here’s the deal. I ask you the questions and you answer truthfully. If I like your answer, you’re safe from Steph. If I don’t like the answer you give me, you’ll be hurting for a few days. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” Kristi whispered.

“Good,” he grunted. “Did you use a special key to get into the hidden room?”

“No.”

“Then how did you pass through the wall?”

“I touched the wall.”

“Do you really think I’m stupid?”

“No.”

“Tell me the truth if you know what is good for you!”

“I did.”

“Don’t sass me. I had my gang try getting through the wall and that included searching the wall for any hidden levers. How do I get into the hidden room within the walls?”

Kristi debated whether she should lie and please Wilson or continue telling the truth. She kept silent. Technically, she wouldn’t be lying if she didn’t say anything; not that lying to someone as vile as Wilson bothered her. Kristi refused to admit it, but she was too scared to speak for fear of infuriating Wilson.

“Answer me, ignorant child!” Wilson snarled.

She said nothing.

Wilson let out a yell of frustration.

She said nothing.

“Speak!” Wilson got a bit red in the face.

She said nothing.

Wilson’s face took on a dangerous hue.

She decided she better say something. Kristi tried to string together some words, but was too terrified to articulate any comprehensible sounds. Wilson mistook it for defiance and kicked the chair Kristi was sitting on.

“This isn’t over yet,” he said. Menace laced the edge of his tone. “We’ll finish this tomorrow.”

With that, he roughly shoved Steph aside and stormed into a different room. Steph bolted the door to the warehouse, followed Wilson and turned off the sole bulb lighting, plunging the room into darkness.

Kristi experimentally tugged on the ropes binding her wrists, but they were securely knotted. Exhaling, she wondered how exactly did she land herself in this predicament. She had received more than she bargained for by going back to the hidden room.

Kristi spent the next two hours searching for anyway to escape, but was unsuccessful. Eventually, her eyelids drooped with exhaustion and she muttered, “This is going to be a long night” before easing her way into an awkward sleep.

Troop switched his electro-slate into sleep mode, not wanting to continue the pointless argument with Jennifer. Once she set her mind on something, nothing could change her mindset. With no annoying instafications to bother him, Troop’s thoughts wandered to the topic of the upcoming VicDay.

VicDay—short for Victim Day—was a day of entertainment for some. For others, it was a day of humiliation. Troop had established VicDay a few years ago to secure his position on the social ladder. Once a month, members in Troop’s circle would cast names of students who had in one way or another crossed paths unfavorably with them to be their next target. The purpose of VicDay was simple: to send a clear message to everyone warning them not to upset Troop and his crew.

Richie Honston was last month’s victim. He had been caught kissing Darrel’s girlfriend. As a result, Troop had sent Jack, the school’s chief hacker, to hijack Richie’s electro-slate. All the answers of the test Richie submitted for the next three days were misordered, thanks to the virus Jack had implanted. Richie was expelled from Ludus High due to the five F’s he received on his test. A Perfect failing a test was frowned upon. A Perfect failing five tests in the matter of three days was unacceptable.

“Maya,” Tompkins said. “That’s the name of the girl who I think should be the next VicDay target.”

Troop completed a double-handed 360 on his snowboard then replied, “Did Jennifer set you up with this?”

“Yeah. How did you know?” Tompkins cleared a wide gap jump, catching a lot of air as he did so and obtaining a smattering applause from his peers.

Not to be outdone, Troop flawlessly completed the same jump with a midair corkscrew. Darrel let loose a wolf whistle and shouted, “I rate that a ten out of ten.”

“So?” Tompkins said.

“Jennifer has a grudge against Maya,” said Troop.

“For what?”

“Jealousy.”

Tompkins’s eyes boggled and he almost swerved into another snowboarder. He veered away just in time.

“ Jealousy? What does Maya have for Jennifer to be jealous of?”

“Long story short: Jenn thinks I’m into Maya.”

“But you’re not, right?”

“Right.” Troop’s eyes scanned the area, searching for his guys.

They skidded to a stop, sending a wave of powdery snow spraying before them. Troop unfastened his feet from the snowboard and ambled over to join the rest of the gang, ignoring the sycophants trying to impress him with their measly tricks.