Chapter 17 (K)

“The government? Which level?” I ask.

“Provincial. Or maybe even federal.”

I’m taken aback. That high up? That’s insane! “But why would the provincial or federal government be so invested into two minors?” I run to catch up to Marc.

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” he replied. “They must have something they’re trying to hide, and we’re too close for comfort.”

“Wouldn’t they just dismiss us as nosy kids? Trying to kill us is a bit extreme, don’t you think?”

“Well that’s the whole mystery, right? There’s something wrong with the death of Lukas Morgenstern, and the government’s trying to hide it. But why?”

“Well, I have a question, first of all. How’d you get involved into this whole mess?” I ask. I’m curious to know.

“Curiosity. I saw the news about how he disappeared from the hospital. It was on almost every channel and every site. Then all of a sudden, it was like that never happened, and he was reported dead. No one seemed to have noticed, which was weird. I did manage to find one article that escaped from the cover-up, you know, the sheet you picked up when we bumped into each other.”

I just nod thoughtfully. Hm, so he doesn’t know that Lukas is somehow connected to the conspiracy. That’s one piece of information that I want to keep to myself for now.

“Hey Kaya,” says Marc as we reach the front of the school. “We’re both in this together now, so what do you think of an alliance?”

That takes me back in surprise. Marc was the last person I would think of asking for an alliance. I did want to figure out this whole thing on my own but, it just might make my life easier to have an ally.

I give him a crooked smile, and hold out my hand. “A temporary one. Just until this is sorted out.”

He takes my hand and shakes it firmly. “Of course, Kaya. Of course.”

Marc and I go our separate ways, and I run up to my art class on the second floor. The second bell had rung when Marc and I were talking, so with luck I’ll my teacher will be forgiving.

I’m only a few minutes late for class, so my teacher doesn’t go make me get a late slip, thank goodness. I sit down in my seat besides Hillary.

“Are you alright? You’re never late!” she asks, concern etched into her expression. I wave her off, and she gasps. “Uh, Kaya, you might want to look at your arm.”

I glance at my arm, and I see a long scrape from my elbow almost to my wrist. It’s probably from my fall at lunch when Marc pulled me back. The blood oozes out slowly, a dark rusty brown now. Some blood has gotten onto my shirt, where it’ll probably stain.

“Damn,” I swear under my breath. “You wouldn’t happen to have a band-aid, would you?” I ask Hillary.

“I think that’s going to take a lot more than just a band-aid,” she says, gaping at the gash. “Ms. Winters!” she calls the teacher over.

“Hillary, what’s wrong—oh my!” she exclaims as she sees my wound. “Kaya, you better get yourself to the office and get some gauze or something. But go to the bathroom first and wash off some of that blood!”

“Thanks Ms. Winters,” I say. I rush to the bathroom and turn on the cold water.

The cut starts stinging, and I wince. The water underneath turns a light red colour as whatever was bleeding went down the drain. I grab a paper towel and dab at my arm, being careful of not pressing too hard on the cut.

Already fresh blood is reaching the surface, so I run down to the office. One of the office ladies looks up as I shut the door behind me.

“Uh, can I get something for my cut? I fell and scraped my arm…” I lifted up and pointed to the gash.

“Oh yes of course,” she said, getting up and opening a drawer. She takes out a roll of gauze and medical tape. “Here you go,” she hands them over to me. “Just keep it, you look like you’re going to need the whole thing.”

“Thanks,” I bow my head graciously. I head back to class after stuffing the gauze and tape into my pocket. I enter my art class, and have Hillary help bind my arm. We didn’t do a very good job, and a section of my arm looks like it belongs to a mummy. It’ll have to do for now.

We’re supposed to be doing contour drawings. I hate them, since I can never draw the right proportions. I scribble notes in my black notebook, which I hide within the pages of my sketchbook.

The notes are abstract, just ideas as to why everything was happening. My short conversation with Marc had thrown my mind into turmoil.

Why would the government want to cover Lukas’s disappearance? Do they want something from him? And if Lukas is connected to the conspiracy, then the government must be involved as well. But how? And why? Isn’t the government the ones trying to solve this conspiracy, trying to stop the deaths?

I draw a blank. There’s got to be some sort of logical explanation, right? But logic didn’t really fit into this situation. I sigh. I think I’m going to have to use my alliance with Marc a lot sooner than I really wanted.

Surprise, Marc and Kaya are allies! More revealing of the plot... it's so hard trying to reveal just the right amount of the plot... enough to keep your attention without revealing too much!

To those of you out there, thanks for reading! We're already at 17 chapters... whoa! I can't express my gratitude enough to those who take the time to read this novel. And please vote for a title (I added some new ones)... I'm sorry if you've already voted in the first poll but I kind of need more than 3 votes -.-"

Thanks again!