Section 55: The Start of Inhumanity

-Aria POV-

"Since you'll be staying here, I'm going, to be frank" Caleb coughed. "We need a hand for the rabbits".

"Rabbits? What rabbits?" I asked the hazel-eyed leader.

He pointed toward the bunny cages with several children taking care of the rabbits.

"Listen here, I can't stay here for long! If I were to disappear from the camp, Vladimir would be awfully pissed!" I growled. "I don't want to spend a day here, I can't risk myself staying here!

"Or else he's going to silence my beloved!".

I accidentally blurted what's on my frantic mind, that's right 'my beloved'. I covered my mouth after I spoke those embarrassing words.

"That man is taking someone you love as a hostage?" Caleb asked me deliberately.

"Not really, but he's on the bed heavily injured" I sighed. "If something were to happen to that person, I would-".

"You're too stiff" Caleb cuts me off. "You're literally torturing yourself".

Elizabeth came between us, she offered me a bowl of cereal with a warm smile.

"You must have been hungry from the long journey, here's a meal!" she smiled.

"Ha! Why are you using our supplies for strangers!?" Caleb groaned at the female next to him.

"Well, she helped Cindy!" Elizabeth pouted. "That just tells how good she is, she's not like them".

"Them?" the word 'them' from Elizabeth stuck inside my mind.

"Anyway since you said that you will provide us with Vladimir's information, can you tell me anything about that man?" Caleb switched the topic as fast as lightning.

I rubbed my chin as I tried to think of anything that was related to Vladimir. He's one manipulative man that's for sure, another thing that I know about him is that he has all the drones, blueprint models. That's what helps him survive through the drone attack, the blueprint stated the weak spot in each model.

I have yet to check the blueprint since Vladimir hides it so well, he didn't even reveal it to us. He might have a hidden plan in regards to the blueprints. I told them about the information I had about Vladimir so far, they nodded to every information I gave.

"That sounds like him," Caleb nodded in agreement. "So he's hiding the drones' blueprints inside his office?".

"Most likely, yes" I nodded. "He's not the type of person who trusts people easily, I think the only one he trusted right now is Kallen".

"Oh, that boy?" Elizabeth looks surprised. "Why him?".

"He considers Kallen as his son, and so is Kallen" I sighed. "But all I can see is him manipulating Kallen to do his bidding".

Caleb and Elizabeth crossed their hands, somewhat annoyed at Vladimir.

"So that boy doesn't know anything?" Elizabeth spoke in sorrow.

"Yes, I think so" I sighed.

"Poor kid, well as long as he doesn't make any trouble" Caleb flashed a kind smile. "Maybe we can shelter him".

"Shelter?" I asked them again, this time in curiosity.

Their camp is awfully full of children and teenagers, they also know each other pretty well. Maybe they're raised in the same house, like an orphanage or some sort.

"Orphanage?" I asked again.

"Not exactly" Caleb shrugged, somewhat looking hesitant to share.

However, Elizabeth then pulled Caleb to her. She whispered something in his ears that made Caleb look more depressed than ever. I decided to stay silent until both of them start talking, maybe I'll get a chance to know this camp better.

"You know what, maybe I'll share" Caleb sighed. "About Vladimir and this egoistical city".

Elizabeth frowned as she heard the painful tone in Caleb's voice.

"Elizabeth, go watch over the kids" Caleb frowned. "I'll talk to Aria, you don't need to remember about the incident".

Elizabeth nodded in silence as she left the premise with a hurtful expression. I wondered what happened to these children and the two of these young adults. Their past seems to be complicated and painful, perhaps I shouldn't intrude. Caleb leads me to the archive room we stopped by before, the bulb already fixed so the room looks brighter than before.

"This is where they keep their documents for the project" Caleb sighed. "You can check if you want, every misdeed that cruel man did is in here".

There are piles of papers everywhere in this room. However, I found something shiny on the floor that seems to be out of place. I kneeled toward the floor and found a hairpin, a bracelet with the initials 'CT'. The bracelet is wonderfully decorated with seashells and pearls.

"What's wrong?" Caleb stuck out his head next to me.

"Oh, nothing" I shrugged as I quickly pushed the bracelet inside my pocket.

I decided to rummage through the piles of papers inside a box. My eyes skimmed through the papers meticulously and noticed something missing. There are few pages missing from the piles of papers since the papers are neatly ordered with the experiment numbers.

"There are three missing papers," I thought to myself as I looked at the paper. "Should I ask Caleb for the missing papers?".

I turned around to Caleb who's eyeing me intently like a walking CCTV. I cleared my throat and asked him anyway.

"Everything is here?" I asked him again, uncertain.

"Yeah, Vanya always stack these files up in the proper place" Caleb nodded. "She's pretty diligent, if there's a missing file though maybe she accidentally mixed it up in other boxes".

"I see" I nodded.

I thought it was Tristan doing like maybe he stole the files in a hurry without fixing it up. Maybe it's just my imagination, I just hoped that he stays invisible for now. I continued skimming the papers and noticing the experiment label on the children and teenagers.

"These labels...are they lab rats?" I asked Caleb.

He sits next to me with a heavy frown on his face, the hazel-eyed man nodded heavily.

"Yes, we're all victims of the government project" Caleb sighed. "Even Elizabeth".

"Project? Is it the Alpha Omega Project?" I crossed my leg as I listened to Caleb intently.

He nodded with a heavy sigh, powerlessness could be seen from his expression. Perhaps, it is not my place to push him for an answer. However, since he offered to explain that there's no harm in knowing more about the project.

"Vladimir is involved in that project" Caleb sharpened his gaze of fury on me. "That's why he's our enemy".