Chapter 5

The last thing I saw was the spy Checkmate had warned me about. He was wearing a black, half-face mask like I wore the day Sarah got kidnapped. His black hair are oiled in place, he's 6ft 2". He's got pale ivory skin and has brown eyes. He's wearing a slim, black t-shirt and black pants. He's got a heavy, muscular build. His image keeps on rolling in my head again and again, like a song you can't forget. I keep on studying him, looking for clues that might help me identify him in a large crowd. After him 10 times, I find one detail. He's wearing a slim-fitting shirt, so why is he not wearing slim fitting jeans? He's ashamed of his legs. He's hidden his legs for a reason. He's got the same symbol, I had seen on the lady's t-shirt yesterday, as a tattoo on his neck. Maybe he's got many tattoos on his legs? I try to study his feet, but, I never saw them.

I can hear Checkmate's foggy voice at the back of my head saying, "Chris? Chris please wake up. I had to do what I did. I'm very sorry. That man would've known where you live if I didn't do that. Please wake up. Wake up Chris."

I struggle to open my eyes and finally I can see better. My vision's all blurry, but, I can make out Checkmate staring at me with worried eyes. He's turned red. His eyes are teary. When he sees that I've woken up, he wipes his eyes. The moment my vision turns normal, I look at Checkmate. His nails are all bitten and he has scratch marks on his arms.

"What happened?" I ask, my voice all groggy.

"Um, I had to sedate you, so, that the spy would go away. I'm very sorry. Would you forgive me?" he asks, his eyes are shining in the light. I don't approve of what he did, but, his heart was in the right place.

"I don't like what you did. But, I know your heart was in the right place. That is the only reason I forgive you. But not until you tell me why you did what you did Sarah." I say.

"I used the protocol we have for these sort of situations. It's murder. This was a step down. She's lucky it was me. If it was someone else, she would be dead right now." he replies.

"You said, 'she would be dead right now', does that mean she's alright?" I ask, ecstatic about knowing she might be alive.

"Oh yes. I meet her everyday. She knows about everything. She knows her plight and she knows that I'm doing everything in my power to try and stop the bombings." he replies.

"That answers all my questions except 2. If it was protocol to eliminate the person interfering, and you felt that this rule was too extreme, so you thought you would abduct the person to make it less extreme. But somehow, you abducted Sarah, and you know that I know everything. How come nobody has come after me yet? My real question is that why didn't you treat me like all the other customers or victims that enter your store?" I ask him, desperate to know the answer.

"Because I was fed up. I was sick of working for Imeto. I thought that if I tell one person everything, no one would die. I was too late, I guess." he says.

"Right. What's your real name? It's not Checkmate."

"It's, uh, it's, Occulta Gemma. I like going by my codename. My name is a mouthful." he replies.

I look around. I can't recognise the place at all, which is surprising, since I know almost every place in Upper Church Town, Terra Pacis. We're in a dark shack. Through the windows, I see a road, and a huge pharmacy.

"uh huh, where are we?" I ask.

"In an alley behind your house. How'd you not recognise it?" he replies.

"I don't know. I've never noticed this place before." I say. "Wait, a second, what time is it?"

"It's 7:30. Why?" he asks.

"Oh no. I need to go home now. Bye Checkmate." I say, and run out.

I can see the Holloway Mansion. Mom had bought this mansion when I was 3. She had struck gold in her oil business. I guess dad taking over now. I look at our house as I make my way towards it.. It's three-storied and brownish-red in color. One story was for Zach, before he went missing, one story was for me and one story for mom and dad to share. The mansion is always shining, no matter what. It has so many lights on the outside. Inside, there's a huge garden. I have the top-most story, since it has the best view. I reach home, and ring the bell. Almost immediately, mom opens the door. I've never seen her more happy. Apparently, she thought that something had happened. Something did, technically, as I almost got abducted.

I make my way in. Dad's sitting on a sofa in the living room, smiling mischievously.

"I told you Renee, I told you he comes back late on weekends." he tells mom. "Your mom didn't expect you to come home late. She was a minute away from calling the police." he turns to me and says, laughing.

"That's enough, Justin. Now, why were you so late, Chris?" asks mom.

"Dad just told you. I'm not late. I'm bang on time, considering the usual time I come home." I reply, winking at dad. It's wrong to tease your mother, but, with mom, it's just so easy. And fun!

"Well, your curfew is 6. No ifs and buts." she replies.

I groan and go upstairs.

I go up to my room, and sit on my bed. I go over to my reading corner and sit in my comfy armchair. I take out the piece of paper on which I wrote down the number plate. I look at it, studying hard. There has got to be something I'm missing.

41 tr U15 m

As I look at it, I remember Conner telling us that it was not registered to anyone. There must be something I'm missing. A riddle inside the number plate. I look at it harder. I look at it from afar, thinking I might see something then. Then it clicks. From far, 41 tr U15 m looks like

Al tr UIS m

So that would make the number plate Altruism. Maybe there's something like this in the name of Checkmate's boss. His name is Marsulti Nunoi Imeto. Maybe the letters are scrambled. I study it harder and harder. Finally, I get it. Checkmate was trying to warn me. If Marsulti is unscrambled, it would be Altruism. Nunoi would be Union and Imeto would be Timeo, which means fear in Latin. So the message he was trying to give would be Altruism Union Fear. Fear the Altruism Union. I can't understand why Checkmate would tell me to fear them. The Altruism Union is a group of volunteers wanting to help people. Just full of do-gooders. Unless, they have a hidden scheme. I take my laptop from the secret drawer under my bed, and open it. I search about the opening of the rent-a-bike. It was opened by Occulta Gemma. If Checkmate was the one to buy it and open it, how did he get fired? The owner never gets fired, he fires other people. He has to be working for some other people.

This no longer about Sarah, it's about the fate of this town.