The Conspiracy Theory of June 17

13.

A loud knock at the door wakes Jada from her peaceful slumber. The first two times she ignores it, drifting back into sleep, but the third time it sounds annoyingly deafening and urgent. Groaning, she drags her half-asleep body out of the bed. She quickly fixes her shirt and runs a hand through her wild hair before answering the door.

"Jada." In the darkness Drew is camouflaged, the whites of his eyes the only thing lighting up. "We need to go. Now."

Jada senses the urgency in his shaky voice, so she grabs a jacket before heading out the door. She doesn't even bother to look back to check it the door is closed.

It would be an understatement to say that Jada trusted Drew with her life. They'd known each other their entire lives, even before this year. She wasn't a dependent or a passive person at all – but she believed every word he said, and especially in these situations where he was more experienced than her, she believed he could lead her in the right direction.

Of course, there's always that dangerous feeling of hopelessness of fear if he wasn't what he posed, but she always pushed that thought away.

Likewise, Jada pushes all thoughts of doubt and confusion to the back of her mind and walks fast behind Drew.

She wonders where they're going, where the others are. So far they've walked many metres away from the hotel, both of them now walking in the dark, quiet streets of Edinburgh. Occasionally a dim street light manage to light up parts on the street but in no way illuminates the streets like moonlight would.

The cold air pricks at Jada's bare face, and she wonders one last time where they are actually headed – and more importantly, whether the rest of the team are.

At this point Drew abruptly stops, snapping Jada out of her thoughts and the rhythm of her walking, left right left.

"Where-" she starts, but the silence is interrupted by Drew's phone.

He, much to Jada's surprise, reluctantly grabs it out and answers it slowly. The person on the other end of the line is audible to Jada, but unintelligible.

Drew practically shouts down the line, "I'm out, ok, Kevin! I'm not doing it! Get someone else to!"

After a couple of angry mutters from the other side Drew hangs up. He places in neatly in his pocket and turns around.

Jada frowns and crosses her arms. "What was that all about?"

Drew almost cowers at her remark. "Um," is all he says before Jada hears another group of voices from behind her.

"Jada! Drew! Is that you?"

***

I run up to Jada, who turns around to stare at us in shock. "I thought you guys were-

"I thought you guys were- " Jessie stops. I look at both Jada, and Drew, one by one. Behind me, Damon starts to talk but I interrupt him.

"Ok, whatever, you're here now. Here's the deal - we're going to 218 Murdoch Street again. Mrs Renee, Flynn and Shayleigh are not here right now, obviously, but we've filled them in so they'll catch up."

Drew nods and Jada comes to stand beside me, giving Drew an evil eye. I don't ask.

The five of us now walk quite haphazardly across the road, all eager to get to the address once more. Damon runs over to the footpath and stands in front of a shop, and we follow him over.

Once we all arrive, panting but ok, I shake my head in disbelief as I stare at the shop – well, what once was a shop.

A tall building made of sparkling glass like crystals stare back at me. Inside, all the lights are on, and the grand floor is full of people, dressed in red carpet attire. The weirdest thing about this is that it's the only building in the street that's practically glowing and busy with people.