Chapter 36: The Control Room
J U L I A
Having no other choice, I walked and walked without knowing where I'm heading to. I'm not worried about the others, and relying on them is not a choice, well, for me. Independence is a must in my life. Being the only one in my family that can possibly be successful, the pressure and responsibility are all on me. People call me a breadwinner, but I consider myself as the black sheep.
The only good thing about me is my talent and brain, nothing else. I don't have the perfect body of Thea, the drop-dead gorgeous face and guts of Naomi, the fun and rich family of Alexa, and the flawless emotional handling of Nike. Yes, I am jealous of my own friends, especially Naomi.
She has everything. Loyal lover, rich family, bewitching beauty, sexy body, unrivaled talent, top intelligence, and the savage way of handling emotional tortures. I envy her so much, that it became the cause of my betrayal in the past... I regret it and she welcomed me with open arms just like the first time we met.
Lost in the thought, I bumped into a hard surface, a man's back. Rubbing my head, I looked up to meet Elijah's yellow eyes. "You should look at where you are going, idiot," he stated, making me feel embarrassed.
"How did you find me?" I asked, changing the subject.
"I should be asking you that," he answered, making my blood start to boil. Can't this guy give a better answer? Sighing, I walked past him and continued the endless stroll on the empty, dim-lit, black corridors.
"Where do you plan to go?" He asked, following me.
"To wherever my feet bring me. We don't have any other choice," I replied. Suddenly, we heard a mouse squeaking from behind. As it gets louder, our footsteps became bigger and faster. Slowly, the sight of a hurdle of a mouse running towards our direction was revealed, making us run for our dear lives.
Making multiple turns, we ended up in front of two doors. Both are identical, making me confused about which one I should choose. Walking towards the right door, someone suddenly pulled me to the left and we entered the left door.
Panting hard on the floor, we looked wearily at the door, hoping that no more mouse will be able to enter. Our wish was heard and no signs of it were heard or seen. As our breathing calmed down, we stood up and examined the whole room. Seeing how there are a bunch of screens and buttons, I can only assume that this is the control room.
Everything was black with blue highlights. As my gaze travels through the monitors, it stopped at three screens in the middle. It displays the room where the three are stuck. Thea and Kyousuke are inside a room that is being filled by water; Nike and Apollo in a room with walls that are slowly moving towards them; And Alexa and Ares who are in a room with poison gas, are lucky enough that the gas flow is slow.
Searching in the other monitors, I saw Chase with Naomi. I heaved out a sigh of relief at the same time, I felt a pang of jealousy. The guy I like is with my best friend that I envy the most. Reverting my gaze to the other couples, I felt someone's fury even without looking. Seeing their situation, the one in the worst situation is Alexa and Ares. If we won't be able to make it, they would be the first ones to die, meaning the end of the world. A mad Naomi and Elijah is not something anyone could handle or stop.
Out of nowhere, Elijah kicked the only chair inside this room, pushing it to the wall and destroying it to pieces. If I were to get a direct hit, I doubt that I'll survive it. He needs comfort but there is no way I can comfort him. I just hope Naomi and Chase won't encounter anything like this, I don't know what I might do if that were to happen.
Summoning my courage, I tapped Elijah's shoulder. "Calm down, we need to stop it," I tried to speak slowly, in a comforting tone. He then gave me a sharp glare, making me raise my hands on the sides.
"How can I calm down?! Alexa is dying! The only lady of my life is on the brink of her death!" His voice echoed throughout the room and I only stared at him with disbelief.
"We won't be able to save her if you won't calm down!"
"Just because Chase is safe, you would act as if no one is dying! Six people, six friends of ours might die!"
Out of reflex, I slapped him in the cheeks. "Calm down and think! We won't get anywhere if you keep panicking! I know she is important to you and I feel the same way!" Slowly, he calmed down and his expression became serious.
"I'll be taking my revenge later, but for now, let's save them. We probably need to solve this cipher to help them or assist us in these controls. Do you have any clue?" He stated, in a serious tone. This is the first time I saw him act like this, but I guess when you love someone, you can be anyone for them.
Looking at the table beside the controls, there are five broken digital clocks. Each displays the time that doesn't change. The numbers displayed are; 6:20, 2:10, 6:30, 6:10, and 4:30. What is the significance of these numbers? It seems familiar though...
"There is a keypad here, do you think it's important?" I heard Elijah said, giving me an idea.
"Hey, Elijah! Come here." He did as said and looked at me with a questioning look. "I got it."
"How? What's the answer?" He asked and I smiled.
"It's the keyboard cipher. Alexa and Naomi used it on us before. You know that the number in a keypad has equivalent letters, based on how many times it was clicked, right? With that, the first number is the number of the button, and the second is the number of times it will be pressed." After explaining, I typed it based on the code, then I formed Naomi's name.
It made a clicking sound, making me close my eyes, hoping we got the correct answer.