I. New Discoveries

A couple of days later, Ivory decided to explore the rest of the base. She wanted to go on an odyssey and find out more answers to further explain what Swindle H and Chris told her. Ivory knew that no one could answer her because Blue's intentions were unknown. Blue was secretive and always popped out of nowhere.

Ivory hoped that he didn't discover her snooping around, she didn't want to be tortured. Visuals of him torturing her usually filled her mind when she was about to do something that she wasn't supposed to be doing, but the visions were always somewhat different from the previous. This time, she envisioned herself being in room seven, being electrocuted by Blue as Viper watched with Red holding her in place so she couldn't intervene, and it made her shiver. She could hear the electricity shock her ears, and she could hear herself screaming.

Ivory ignored her paranoia and took the elevator to the first floor; past the front door, kitchen, living room, and gaming room. She saw familiar faces and wanted them to ignore her. Ivory felt her forehead get heavy, and the people walked past her, not acknowledging her. Ivory was like Blue; she could move place to place and go unnoticed.

Ivory walked down the long hallway and, surprisingly, opened a hidden door to find a rather average-sized library. She went to close the door but observed the black, thin doorknob as it creaked. The doorknob was old, as old as Blue had run the Blue Dragons, perhaps even longer. She kept the door open a creak and looked around in shock, not expecting anyone in the base to read.

Gray eyes scanned the black shelves, Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mary Shelley, Grimm's' Brothers tales, Shakespeare, H.G. Wells, and many more filled the shelves. She saw books on Dracula, The Blood Countess, Vlad The Impaler, and many more deranged books with gruesome backstories.

Ivory made her way over to the end of the room to see books on science and pulled out an anatomy book. Ivory quickly contemplated as the dim-lit room was silent. She felt that someone would come out and attack her and slowly turned around after promising that she heard Blue's voice. She turned on a long, black lamp at the end of the room and examined the book's contents. Ivory figured that the Anatomy book was where Blue got his information on taking people's body parts. How else would he know how to incisions and know where all the body parts are, and how to cut through to get them?

Ivory speculated that Gerald was a doctor or something or had a degree in science because there was no way Gerald knew how to remove body parts unless he specialized in the medical field.

Ivory's new discoveries made her shiver, but nothing was a surprise.

Ivory walked back over and found a book on electricity in the science section and read through it. The book explained how Blue electrocuted people without having them die. Blue wanted people to feel like they were dying but didn't have the bolts so high that the victim would die right on the spot. That was how Blue and Gerald tortured people for hours on end.

Ivory went to the file cabinet and searched the room for keys. She found some in the desk drawer and opened the top cabinet and saw neatly folded file folders, one behind the other. Ivory opened one to see some blueprints of the base. She looked down in shock, yet in happiness as she discovered a new finding. She unfolded the blueprint, realizing that the base was more extensive than she thought. Ivory looked at the page titled "basement" and observed the rooms, numbers, and their use. Ivory gently placed the blueprint in her jacket pocket.

The curious girl searched the other cabinets but locked them after she was done snooping through them. When searching, she found indentures about the rooms' contents and hand drawings of the rooms' apparatuses. She stared abrasively at the one title 'basement' and saw the pictures of each room's tools and their purposes. The content made Ivory shiver; the items were used for pain-related pleasure or just extensive torture.

Ivory locked the last cabinet and put the keys back. She turned off the lamp and jumped when the door was wide open, but no one seemed to be in the room.

Ivory felt that Blue was in the library and needed to hide. She quickly but quietly made her way to the other end of the room, another bookshelf was in her way as she saw a dark figure on the other side of the room, seeking something. Ivory's hand tightly placed on one of the many stones indented into the wall when she felt herself fall back into darkness. She looked up to see the stone wall close and gasped. A moving wall! Ivory turned to see black around her, but the floor felt cold. She felt the wall, and her eyes widened—cobblestone!

Ivory slowly walked to the end and saw the stairs' shape at the end and walked down four, hitting the ground. She looked around and saw what looked like the beginning of the basement. She smiled, finding the place that she was looking for. She saw the familiar, long hallway and the same door that she entered through when Hawks and Lucky kidnapped her.

Ivory took out the blueprint, observing the paper and her surroundings and the hallway's familiarity, hitting her once more. She turned and looked at the wall, she remembered walking past this wall that day as well. It scared her as every detail was connected. Blue could find her at any minute, she decided to be quick with her secret tour.

Ivory walked down the empty and silent hallway, imaginary screams and cries hit her ears. She felt like someone was watching her, and often looked to see no one else around. She could hear the chain saws and drills moving and bones crunching in her head. She feared being in any of the rooms that surrounded her. Ivory slowly peeked inside every room, the few people that she saw trapped in the cells almost a year ago were nowhere to be seen, no evidence was left behind to prove that they once existed and were kidnapped for Blue's pure pleasure.

Ivory followed the blueprint and found room seven, and opened the door to see a white mattress at the far corner of the room with black streak marks and dried blood; some of the blood so old it was dark red or brown, some of it looked relatively new. Chains hung from the ceiling, manacles connected to the wall, a large metal table with sharp items, whips, and electric rods by the door corner, facing her. The room smelled of electricity, blood, and burnt flesh.

Ivory exited the room, closed the heavy metal door, and proceeded down the hall. She past room thirteen and looked around some other places; one, in particular, had a king-size bed and whips. She guessed it was for sexual pleasure and closed the door. Ivory made a right and went down another hallway, but something caught her eye. On the right-hand side was a gray metal door. This caught her attention as the gray door wasn't on the blueprint. Nothing in the particular hallway was sketched on the diagram. Ivory looked around, noticing that this was the only door in the hall, she saw two more which held a staircase and an elevator, but that was it. The stairs and elevator were sketched as well.

Ivory then realized that Blue designed it that way because he didn't want anyone knowing that the gray door existed. Ivory was very suspicious. She went to open the door, but it wouldn't budge. She saw a weird glass pad plastered to the wall. She put her hand on it, but nothing happened. It was evident that Blue was the only one that could enter, and that the hand pad was set up to only allow him access.

"What are you doing down here?"

She jumped and turned, relieved that it was Hawks. "Hawks, you scared me."

He glared at her. "Be glad it was me that followed you down here. If it were anyone else, you'd be in big trouble."

She looked at the sizeable gray steel door. "What's behind that door?"

Hawks looked the door up and down, "No one knows. Blue never told anyone. He's the only one that goes inside."

"The only one? Doesn't that make you skeptical? Doesn't it make you more curious about what is hidden on the other side?"

Hawks raised an eyebrow. "Why would it? You need to keep your nose out of everyone else's business. It'll only get you into trouble," He looked at the door one more time, "Come on, let's go; it's creepy down here."

Ivory followed Hawks up the staircase, which led to a door at the front door corner. Hawks led Ivory into the gaming room. They both sat down on the couch, and Hawks turned on the T.V., ignoring her. After a while, Ivory's nerves go the best of her. She decided to walk back to the library, only to see that the door was closed. When she went to open it, it was locked. She quickly ran upstairs to her bedroom, leaving Hawks to raise an eyebrow at her discomfort, but turned back to the movie.

Ivory found herself in Blue's office.

Ivory looked around to make sure no one was around and closed the door. She noticed that Blue's office was spotless. She sat down on his blue chair and turned on his computer. She needed the password to open the computer and thought about what his password could be. Blue was filled with secrets, which meant that his password could be anything. She thought about hacking his computer but deemed it risky.

Ivory decided that discovering her reason of being recruited was a reason that she'd have to risk. Ivory tried hacking Blue's computer but soon realized that his network was connected and coded differently from the other machines. Blue's network wasn't connected to the Blue Dragons' private router, which meant that he was hiding something and that it would be more challenging to hack his computer.

Ivory copied his I.P. address and installed a Trojan. Many different codes popped up, and she saw one that spelled out a word that she had never seen or heard of before: Croxastea. She clicked it, and his computer unlocked, and his home screen flashed her eyes. Ivory wondered what the word meant, but figured that it was either a secret code or random letters that Blue put together so no one would know his password or his password's meaning. Ivory searched through his files, but stopped when she clicked on a folder with hers and Viper's files inside it, along with the other gang members' private records.

Ivory's heart had begun pounding, and she began wondering how he got her personal information. Ivory guessed that he hacked the orphanage's computers. Ms. Campbell wouldn't willingly give out those files without consent. She noticed that Blue's records weren't with the rest, and guessed that he had his records somewhere where it wouldn't be easy to acquire them.

Ivory closed the file and searched through another that caught her eye; a photo of Earth, but something about the pictures felt weird. There was a spiritual meaning behind the images. She searched the file some more and came across an odd web address copied and pasted into the record. She clicked desperately, seeing that the web address took her to a website without a copy and paste web address, but it showed a close up of the said planet.

All of a sudden, the video went blank, and the computer crashed. As the screen went black and started to reboot, Ivory ran out of Blue's office, closed the door, and sped off to her room, not noticing someone watching her in the dark.