Blueprints & Death Prints

"Here are all the things you asked for," Calvin told Marcus, placing the stuff on the table.

The squad was at Old Bob's Abandoned Garage. Marcus had requested Calvin to print the blueprints of Arabella Academy, his aim to try and locate the dungeons. The six of them surrounded the table at the semi-trailer, trying to locate the possible places where the so-called dungeons could be.

Marcus was acting restless. He kept pacing up and down the cabin, fidgeting. He kept urging the others to look closely at the blueprints, stating that time was of the essence. However, it was as clear as day that his mind was not in the garage, perhaps wondering far away. Jeff finally got tired of Marcus' uneasiness and addressed it in front of the others.

"Enough Marcus. What is it that's getting you worried? And don't get us started on how you didn't tell us what happened yesterday with the old man," Jeff complained.

"Yeah, Marcus. What the hell happened yesterday? Did you find William's child?" Michelle asked, as curious as the others. Marcus looked at them apprehensively, as if he wanted to tell them but was afraid to tell them.

"I'll tell you guys later, but for now we need to do everything in our power to find that necklace. Our lives may as well depend on it," Marcus explained. Michelle approached him and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Marcus, you need to calm down," she spoke. "Now, tell us what happened yesterday, and why you are suddenly in this mad rush to find the necklace."

Marcus sighed and moved to the table, supporting himself on it. The atmosphere suddenly became very quiet, each one suddenly interested in what he was about to say.

"Everything went fine yesterday at the orphanage, that is, until we got to Mother Superior's office," Marcus began.

"What happened?" Maxwell questioned.

"We inquired about William's child, and we finally got what we were looking for," Marcus answered.

"Who is he? Do we know him?" Luis inquired. Marcus kept his gaze at them.

"Yes, you do," he answered, his answer sending waves of shock through everyone's spines.

"William's child was born on the thirteenth of March in the year nineteen eighty-six, the exact day my mother was born," he revealed. The faces on each of the other five were worth dying for. Shocked could not even describe what they were feeling.

"Do you mean...William... the school's principal... our school principal... is your grandfather?" Jeff asked, petrified. Marcus sighed at him.

"No, William's not my grandfather," Marcus said, now causing confusion.

"Wait. Didn't you just say that your mother was born on that exact same date?" Calvin asked, perplexed.

"Yes, but I didn't say that she was William's child," Marcus clarified.

"But why would you tell us that we know his child if it isn't her?" Jeff questioned.

"That night there were two kids admitted into the orphanage. One was left at the gates while the other was brought in from the hospital. My mother was the one left at the gates," replied Marcus.

"So who's the other one? And where do we know him from?" the questions were now getting endless.

Marcus took a deep breath.

"The other child was given the name Rocco," he finally said, and the waves of shock were back.

"Please don't tell me it's the one and only Rocco I know," Maxwell pleaded.

"From the way Mother Superior described him I'm pretty sure it was him. One bad eye, blonde hair, troublemaker," Marcus explained. He was also astounded, the truth that maybe his mother and Rocco were raised together hitting him hard.

"Geez! Does your mother know him? Does William know that his son is a terrorist?" Jeff asked. He felt sorry for William. All those years away from the truth only to realise that his son was dangerous.

"No way! I couldn't tell him that his son was part of some criminal investigation, or that I had seen with my very two eyes him killing someone in cold blood. It would break the poor man's heart. And I didn't have time to talk to my mother; she came home from work late," Marcus explained.

"Is he trying to find him?" asked Michelle.

"I honestly don't know. He seemed hurt enough by Mother Superior's description of his son. I'm not sure he'd be motivated to search for him," Marcus replied. He then turned to the papers on the table.

"That's why I'm trying to ask you guys to hurry up and find out any hidden spots in the school. We can't let Rocco or Stevens or this Joel find the necklace before we do."

"Speaking of Stevens," Michelle started, turning to Calvin. "How are you holding?"

"I'm fine, but I'm not sure for how long that will be. My only prayer is that this nightmare ends so that I can be finally free and land that son of a bitch in prison," Calvin answered. He then turned to the group. "So does anyone have a fucking idea where the dungeons are?"

"I've actually come up with a theory," Jeff suggested, the others turned their heads at him, waiting for him.

"So we all know that the south-west corner of our school has never been explored, right?" he began, bringing out a school map and placing his hands over the south-west area of the school. "Well, since William is my Geography teacher we sometimes get to ask him questions about the school. So I remember one day he was asked why we couldn't access that part of the school, and he responded by saying that his superiors had told him not to touch that section. My guess is that maybe he was saying that as an excuse to maybe cover up for the fact that the dungeons are there.

"That's so smart babe," Luis remarked, impressed by Jeff's reasoning.

"I usually don't think when I'm around you," Jeff told him and kissed him, causing Marcus and Michelle to glance at each other awkwardly.

"So what's our plan to get in there?" Maxwell asked, curious.

"We'll try and sweet-talk the watchman into letting us in. If he doesn't, there's always a rat route into any school, however secure it may be," Marcus said, winking at Jeff. Jeff smiled for he already knew what route Marcus was talking about.

"So we sneak in, check that ground for any abnormal marks and regroup to share?" Luis asked and everyone nodded. He then stood upright and shrugged.

"Let's go find those dungeons then, shall we?"

***

The group finally arrived at the school, and they approached the school gates, setting their plan in motion. They had just turned the corner leading to the school when something made them stop in their tracks. The school gate was wide open, something unusual since it was a holiday. They proceeded with caution, wary of any peril. Their fears were confirmed when they arrived at the watchman's booth and found the watchman lying down inside, knocked out.

"Someone's beaten us to it," Jeff managed to say what everyone was thinking.

"We need to proceed with caution, anyone might be inside," Calvin said.

"Let's use the corridors and hallways inside. We can take advantage of them and keep out of sight," Marcus suggested. They unanimously agreed and moved carefully inside, everyone watching out for anything peculiar. They finally reached the tuition block and hopped inside, happy that they weren't out in the public. They then made a run for it inside the hallways, trying to get themselves out of plain sight. They had just taken a corner when they were met by an obstacle that made them almost fall with panic. Their faces went pale as they realised who were before them.

Stevens, Arnold and Clement.

Armed with guns.