Inspiration Point (16 page)

“Well you just put yourself in a whole lot of trouble
kid,” Davis said giving Ian the signal to let him go.  Davis then pushed
Zeke towards us, “get over there with them.”

I pulled him to my side and looked over him. 
“Did they hurt you?”

“I’m fine Hayl’s.  What’s happening?” He looked
concerned and confused, but I could tell he was happy to be by my side again
too.

“We didn’t even get out of the carpark, they were
waiting for us,” I explained.  “We have to wait here until Spencer arrives
in the morning, he won’t let us leave the room.”

I sat down on the opposite lounge to my parents
helping Zeke to sit beside me.  We noticed Ian returning to the room with
a couple more phones, a letter opener and all the razor blades.

“Are we going to shave ourselves to death?” Emin
snapped at them.

Davis glared at him, “did you want to go to the toilet
or not?”

Emin nodded and stood walking towards the men. 
Ian raised his gun to Emin’s shoulder and followed him to the bathroom. 
He returned without much delay, which made me think this was more a test than
anything else.  He sat down in an armchair leaving my parents alone on the
other lounge.

“Is there anything to eat here?”  Ian said,
walking to the kitchen while Davis sat watching our movements.

I could hear him going through our cupboards, and I
knew there wasn’t much there. 

“Slim pickings,” he commented as he returned with some
biscuits, chips and a box of cereal.

“Well they weren’t planning on returning, where you
Knox,” Davis snarled.

They kept the chips and cereal and threw us a box of
crackers which we assumed was to get us through to at least tomorrow.  Ian
left the room again and came back with some bottles of water for him and Davis
and one for us to share. They were talking amongst themselves now, so we decided
to do the same, but we kept it to a whisper.

“How did they find out?” Zeke questioned.

“No idea, maybe this place is bugged or
something.  But we didn’t get ten feet from the car,” Emin answered him.

“I know, I was there,” Zeke said, looking over his
shoulder to see if the men were listening.

“What?” Emin said sounding confused.

“I thought you were still here?” I asked.

“No, I followed you.  I wanted to know as much
about where you were going as possible, in case I needed to find you.  I had
only just gotten to the carpark when I saw henchman number two put a gun to
your back.”

“So how did you end up back here?” My mother asked.

“I followed again, after seeing the way they had you
headed I guessed they were bringing you back here.  I took the short cut
on Whiley’s Road and parked in the street behind, so they wouldn’t see my
car.  Then I jumped a few fences and climbed up the tree to Hayln’s
window.  I didn’t know what to do when he came into the room, so I jumped
him.  I was doing okay until he pulled the gun on me.”

“Did he take your phone?” My father questioned.

“Yeah,” he said sounding deflated.

“I know it’s not terribly fair, but I’m glad you’re
here,” I said squeezing his hand between mine.

“Me too,” he said, putting his arm around me.

We all picked at a few crackers and shared the drink
around.  We knew we had nothing to do now but wait until the morning and
see what Spencer said.  My parents sat at either end of their lounge
spreading their legs out to get comfortable.  He handed her his tux
jacket, and she put it over her shoulders.

Emin kicked off his shoes and made himself as
comfortable as he could in his armchair, but he was much too long for it. 
Zeke pulled me closer to him so we could spread out too, but I knew I wouldn’t
sleep.

“I don’t think I'll be able to sleep,” I whispered to
him.

“I know what you mean.  I’d love some of that
warm milk right now,” he whispered back, I could hear the smile in his voice.

“Somehow I don’t think that’s on the menu tonight,” I
joked with him.

“It’s nice to have you back in my arms,” he said
softly.  “I felt sick watching you leave.”

“I felt the same.” I leant my head on his chest and
thought of how happy I felt to be in his arms again.

“Well one good thing came out of tonight,” he
said. 

I turned my head to face him, wondering what he could
possibly find positive about our situation.

“It’s incredibly easy to climb into your bedroom
window,” he smiled playfully.

“Well let’s hope we get through this so it becomes
useful,” I said.

“We will figure something out Hayl’s.  Now try
and get some rest if you can.”

“What about you?” I questioned.

He leaned his face right up to mine so I could feel
his lips on my ear and whispered.  “I am going to enjoy spending our first
night together, although it’s not exactly how I pictured it.”

I couldn’t help but smile thinking about what he said,
and I pulled his arms around me and snuggled into his chest.  Apart from
the men with guns watching us there is no other place I would rather be.

I relaxed in Zeke’s arms watching my family.  My
parents both seemed to be asleep, and Emin was dozing in and out, obviously
uncomfortable in his chair.  I threw him a cushion off the lounge, and he
tucked it behind his head.

After another hour or so, I was still awake, Zeke was
to.  He was tracing little patterns up and down my arms trying to get me
to relax.  I watched Davis and Ian as they took turns in watching over us,
never putting their guns down.  I yawned, and Zeke could see how close I
was to closing my eyes.  He kissed me on my neck gently.

“Sweet Dreams Hayln, I love you.” 

Happiness washed over me and I fell asleep in the
warmth of his arms.

I was the last to wake in the morning, the rest of my
family were sitting where they slept, still in their formal clothes.  I
sat up and stretched my neck while Zeke did the same.  With me resting on
him all night he must have gotten less sleep than I did.  I watched him
reach his arm behind his head to stretch his muscles and noticed he was wearing
a chain around his neck with my brass key hanging from it.  I reached out
and held it in my hand, I had to admit I liked seeing him wear it.

“I didn’t see you wearing this last night.”

“I put it on as soon as you left, I felt better
wearing it.”

My hand immediately reached for his medallion, “I know
what you mean.”  As I looked in his beautiful eyes, I couldn’t believe how
much I loved him.  In only a matter of days, he had become the most
important person in the world to me.  I wanted to be in his arms again
when I remembered I probably didn’t look or smell the best after spending the
night on the lounge.

“I think I better go to the bathroom, and get changed
if that’s allowed,” I said loud enough for Davis to hear me.

“Grab your things and Ian will take you,” he grunted
back.

I went to my bag to find my cargos and a t-shirt, my
family also started looking for a change of clothes.  I grabbed what I
needed and headed to the toilet while Ian followed me, still carrying his
gun.  After going to the toilet, I splashed myself with water everywhere I
could, trying to freshen up, then I got changed.  As I walked back to the
lounge I noticed the table where Davis was that had our mobiles on it, mine was
flashing with a message.  I leaned over to take a look as Ian grabbed my
shoulder and pushed the gun into my back.

“Keep walking,” he yelled at me.

As he pushed me further into the room, I tripped over.

Zeke reached for me while Emin lunged at Ian, yelling
for him to leave me alone.  Ian saw him coming and hit him hard with the
back of his hand, the gun still clenched in his palm.  Davis stepped in
putting his gun in Emin’s face, and we all froze.

“You are all going to go back to the lounge.  You
won’t move unless I say so,” he said carefully making eye contact with all of
us. 

We all moved back to our seats, no-one taking their
eyes off the guns, which were still pointed in our direction.

Emin wiped the blood from his mouth, grabbed his
clothes and went to clean up.  Everyone else took turns of going to the
toilet and getting changed, making sure they didn’t stray when being escorted
back and forth by Ian.  Emin threw Zeke some of his things so he could
change too.  Then we sat down and picked at the last of the biscuits while
we waited for Spencer.

It was another two hours before we heard a car pull up
out the front.  Davis went to the window to see who it was.  I
suddenly felt sick in case it was Tyler coming to check on me.  The last
thing I wanted was someone else caught up in this mess.  I relaxed and
knew Tyler was safe when I saw Davis turn to Ian and nod, signaling Spencer had
arrived. 

I thought he would be taller and that he would have
arrived with more men, but he came on his own.  He looked tired and broken
but as soon as he saw us, he composed himself and focused on the task at
hand.  He was a short man with sandy blonde hair that was starting to thin
from his forehead.  He wore a suit but it was badly crushed and, his tie
was crooked.  He talked quietly to Davis and straightened himself up
before he spoke to us.

“Good morning Knox, thank you for being patient until
I got here,” he said walking to the center of the room commanding all our
attention.  “Of course, if it wasn’t for your little escape plan, we
wouldn’t have your whole family under house arrest would we?”

“I assume, now that you've arrived, they will be free
to leave,” my father said hopefully, although we all knew the answer to that
one.

“I'm afraid not,” Spencer said shaking his head. “Your
decision to make a run for it has meant we've had to change our plans a
little.”

“Now, I think it is time for introductions don’t you?”
He said walking towards us.

“You have become acquainted with Davis and Ian no
doubt,” he said holding an arm out to them. 

“This of course is Evelyn,” he said nodding towards
mum.  “I must admit, I was surprised to hear you were with your
husband.  I was to lead believe you were separated.”  He waited for a
response, but she didn’t say anything, just looked at him blankly, so he turned
around again. 

“And you must be Emin,” he appraised him from head to
toe but soon looked away once he found Emin glaring at him.

“Which means this is the famous Hayln.”

He stood right in front of me, staring.  I
couldn’t tell from his expression whether he was jealous or disgusted, but he
was so close I could smell that he needed a shower more than I did.  Zeke
put his arm between Spencer and I, Spencer took a step back, frowning at Zeke.

“And who is this?” He gestured.

“His name is Ezekiel Banner,” Davis said showing
Spencer his license.  “He was hiding upstairs when we arrived, he seems to
know what's going on.”

“Well Ezekiel, I'm afraid you will have to stay here
for the time being until things are sorted out,” Spencer said as he walked away
with Davis to talk about something out of our earshot.

They had been gone a little while, but when he came
back he seemed pleased about something.
 
“That’s
an impressive laboratory downstairs Knox, I think it will do just nicely.”

“Were staying here?” Dad questioned.

“It does solve quite a few problems,” he said rubbing
his chin with his thumb and finger. 

“Although we will have to get some extra security
including cameras and apparently there is nothing to eat here, but that will be
sorted out shortly.”

“Now Knox, I expect you to provide Davis with a list
of what you will need in your lab, to achieve our goals as quickly as
possible.  You have a lot of…. well let’s call it motivation here now, so
I wouldn’t try anything unless you are happy to see one of your loved ones
hurt.”

My father looked sick, we were all going to have to
stay here until he could adapt his chemical strain of DNA to an adult
host.  And they were going to use us his incentive. 

“Now, Davis and Ian will be setting up cameras
throughout the house.  This means nothing you do will go unnoticed. 
But on the plus side once set up it will mean you are not restricted to the
lounge anymore, which should make things a little more comfortable.”  He
nodded to Ian who walked out the front to the van to start unloading their
equipment. 

“Ethan and Hayln will be expected to work in the lab
during the day, the rest of you cannot leave the house so you will have to
entertain yourselves, within reason of course.”

Ian brought in a trolley full of electrical equipment
including cables and screens.  He left them with Davis and headed back to
the van for more supplies.  Spencer watched him leave again and then
seemed to smile to himself.

“So if you can just be patient a little longer we can
get you all settled back in,” he continued.  I watched him closely, he
seemed to be getting smugger by the minute.