I. Unfinished Business

It was the next day, and all the gang members but Ivory were excited to leave the cabin. Blue told the gang that since their main base was underground, they would remain in another base located somewhere in Staten Island. It would take forever to get there, as Staten Island was far, but Ivory guessed that that was the point.

When everyone finished packing, one-by-one, all exited the back door and into their separate cars. Ivory was stuck deciding who to ride with, as she didn't have her driver's license and positively refused to ride with Blue again. Unfortunately, her decision was made as Blue ordered her to place her suitcase in his trunk, and she followed his orders as she fought back her defiance. She got into the back seat and looked out the window as Blue reversed back and went forward, driving off. The others followed but eventually dispersed since it would look suspicious if a group of ten to twelve BMW's rode along together.

The ride was silent as Blue focused on the road, while Ivory looked out the window. Everything was in the gutter; within a year and a half, she went from running away to being kidnapped; her abduction got her intertwined with New York's most dangerous gang. Roxie was murdered, cremated, a random woman killed, her own life threatened to be taken, and her best friend was in jail. It had been a crazy couple of months. Ivory watched the cars speed by and the scenery out her window, as she got a weird feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Something was odd about the gang. Why didn't Ms. Campbell admit that she knew Viper and try to help?

***

A couple of hours later, Blue and Ivory reached Staten Island. Blue drove a little longer before going through a fenced area, with a sign that warned to persecute trespassers. Blue drove down the long, dirty road as trees surrounded them. There were two pathways, but instead, he turned right and moved toward two giant trees.

"Blue, what are you —" Ivory began.

"Quiet," he ordered as Ivory swerved in her seat and feared for her life.

Blue went down a steep, grassy cliff gated by trees. He continued to drive as they passed by a swamp. After a couple of minutes, he stopped near a small open land of grass near the shallow part of the marsh and some trees. Blue slowly parked his car over something that made echoing noises when weight was on it. Ivory looked down to see heavy grass below them but wasn't expecting the next step. Blue locked the doors, and Ivory knew that something was about to happen. She began to feel nervous. Blue clicked a button in his car, and down they went, hitting pitch black. Ivory looked up to see them going underground. The two were down pretty deep; the air above was warmer, as the air below was much, much colder.

Ivory began shivering.

They halted to a stop as the small trap door above (concealed as real grass) closed, leaving them in plain darkness. Blue turned on his blinker lights, and he slowly drove down a narrow tunnel. Ivory looked back behind her, knowing that she wouldn't be able to see anything anyway or escape. After about five minutes, a spacious room hit them, and bright lights turned on, blinding Ivory.

Ivory saw that she was in a large parking garage.

Blue unlocked the doors and got out with Ivory following him.

"Blue, what is this place?" she asked as he got their luggage out of the trunk.

"My other base," he smirked at her.

"How far are we underground?"

"Don't worry about that, Ivory. You ask too many questions," he said.

"I wonder how you pulled this off," she said, looking around. She was mesmerized at the detailing of the metal garage but knew that Blue could pull off anything.

They entered through the garage door and entered the new base. It wasn't much different from the other base, just bigger, darker, scarier, and colder. The corridors were partly gold instead of metal but took the appearance of old tunnel walls. It was quaint and old fashioned while keeping its modern physique. Everything was much more spacious — Ivory like that. The only noticeable difference is that they entered through a long hallway that took them to the living room, not the basement where scary things took place. Ivory liked this base better than the other one, even if it was still dark and cold, she didn't have to see sharp and deformed tools.

Blue and Ivory entered an elevator; Blue clicked the button to the second floor. When they got off, he led her to her room, which was smaller than her own at the original base. She set down her luggage and looked around. She noticed that all of her belongings were placed inside. Ivory then remembered that Harley, Spike, and Rover were upstairs, moving things around. Her things being in the room had to be them.

"You would be on the third floor, but there are changes."

She turned to look at Blue.

"I can't have you hacking anymore," Blue said.

"Why?" Ivory asked. "I like it."

"Well, when your friend is released from jail, you can thank her for your downgrade," Blue said, eyebrow raised. Though, he was clearly smirking at her. He was doing this on purpose.

Ivory felt that Blue was trying to punish her because of Viper.

"I didn't know that she was going to leave the base, Blue. I swear," Ivory said.

"I know. I can't risk anything. You can take over Viper's job for the time being."

"How long will that last?"

"When I say that you can hack again," he sneered at her. "Unpack your stuff, and get used to it here," he smirked. "You start tomorrow."

"Okay," she said, but was secretly annoyed.

Blue wrapped his hand around her face, forcing her to look at him. "Keep in mind, my dear, no one will find you down here. And there is no way for you to escape unless you exit through the tunnel. There's a special button in all of the cars that open and close that trap door. Each button is placed and modeled differently for all the cars," he leaned closer to her. "You'll never find a way out. When Viper leaves jail, she'll never know to look here."

Ivory tried to pry his hand away, but it stayed in place. "This base is much larger than the other one. There are parts to it that you will never uncover. Do me a favor, and don't snoop around. You'll inquisitiveness will get you nowhere."

Then, he left, but not before slamming her door.

Ivory stared at the door before unpacking quickly. She laid on her bed, thinking about what Blue said. She then remembered the metal door that was in the basement of the original base. She wondered what was inside of it, and if whatever was behind that door was also destroyed. She looked around her dimly lit room, deciding to take a sleepless nap.

***

Later that night, Detective Justin was outside the police station, taking a call in the chilly night. The phone rang for what seemed like hours until he heard the familiar voice on the other end. Detective Justin and the mysterious voice caught up on current personal events before getting down to business.

"I know, Boss, nothing about the case makes any sense to me."

"Let it go, Justin. Viper's mentally ill, don't blame yourself. We've dealt with the mentally ill, and we will continue doing so. She belongs in a psych ward."

"I understand."

"No one's angry with you; they think you all did great.

Justin smiled. "Listen, boss, I have to go. I'll speak to you soon."

"See you soon," the boss said.

Detective Justin hung up.

He found himself back in the station as the other officers and detectives were on the first floor, on a dinner break. Three boxes of pizza were crowded on the table with different types of iced teas and sodas. Detective Justin helped himself to a couple slices and a soda, but as he ate, his conscience told him that something was about to happen. He looked around, his colleagues talking and laughing. He looked up at the cameras and felt that someone was watching him.

Detective Justin placed his dinner down and slowly walked up to the camera, staring at it. The camera lens made a noise and zoomed down at him, and he widened his eyes.

Someone was watching them, and whoever the person was wanted Justin to know that they were up to something.

The power then went out.

Everyone stopped laughing and talking and looked around — the shock of what just happened to prevent the officers from any action. Justin looked at the camera lens again, seeing it shift back into its normal position. He looked around, but couldn't make out anything as it was too dark to see. The station was dark as night; the prisoners in the holding cells began to wake up, wondering what was going on. The computers didn't turn back on, but when one was rebooted, it had a screen with different letters, numbers, and codes.

Someone was hacking into their database.

The room dark, the air stiff, and feelings frozen, the police got out their guns and separated, each disappearing into different police station areas. Detective Justin ran upstairs with a couple of other Detectives, seeing their policemen and women quietly, yet quickly, gliding the smooth floors with their guns out.

Detective Justin then stopped, he thought about Viper. He got a bad feeling in his stomach. Something wasn't right. His heart was telling him to get Viper; see if she was okay.

Then, glass crunching could be heard, screams from nearby prisoners filled the quiet air. The noise was so loud that everyone on the top floor stood in the hallway, realizing that it was coming from the holding cells on the second floor. The lights somehow turned back on, and the computers started to reboot.

Detective Justin, Johnston, and another cop ran to Viper's holding cell, to see that she had vanished. Another cop was ordered to unlock the door, as Justin ran and looked around the tiny cell, seeing no trace of her disappearance.

"No," he whispered to himself.

He ran to the barred window, seeing a blue car driving past the police station, turning into the next block into the night.

Wherever Viper went, Justin just hoped that she didn't find herself into trouble. Detective Justin wondered how she escaped, but sighed and left her room, defeated. Justin thought that something was wrong, but thought nothing except throwing her back in jail. Detective Justin was angry because he wasted his time on Viper. She started this mess, and then escaped? He didn't understand, but he didn't care about understanding.

Detective Justin didn't care how long it would take; Viper played the system, and she'd pay.