Hallow new readers!
This is a story about Hamerton, a large school that has a lot of things going on, most of them being illegal and terrorizing. Natalie Bradley, an intelligent and talented girl from Brooklyn joins this school after her friend Caitlin who was allegedly murdered in Hamerton. She is agonized by the news of her friend's tragic death and she has to face up with Hamerton's bloody governance in order to secure the President's badge that has the power to decode a bomb that could cause a large massacre, soon.
Previously
on Hamerton;
The day before
yesterday.
“Hello?”
“Hi.”
“Natalie, right?”
“Yes.
Amh, Trevor?”
There
was a short laugh. “No, no dear. I wish that I could hear from him as well.
It’s Kenneth.”
“Oh…
Hi.”
“I
have been trying to reach my brother. Have you gotten hold of him lately?”
“No
Kenneth. His cellphone’s not picking up.”
“Mmh.
Okay. How about his girlfriends? Ingrid, Erin?”
“I
talked to Ingrid earlier. She told me that he was resting.”
“That’s
great. Are you going back to Hamerton?”
“Yeah,
yeah. I am.” She replied excitedly.
“Great.
Tell me what you know about Erin.”
“Well…
she’s Trevor and Ingrid’s friend. Mine too.” Natalie said and paused.
“What’s
her connection to the sect in your school?”
Natalie
took some time, thinking. “I can say deep but, she’s on our side.”
“What
about the president’s badge?”
“Are
you asking what I know about it?”
“Yes
please.”
“Well…
as I was told, it can decode the bomb that the sect are going to explode in
Hamerton.”
“Anyone
gave you the combination?”
Natalie
furrowed her eyebrows. “No. Is there’s supposed to be a combination?”
“Yes.”
Kenneth said and paused. “Listen, if you get hold of my brother, request him to
send me the Tick-Tock.”
“Tick
tock?”
“Yeah.
He’ll understand.”
“Wait
amh…” Natalie asked for some time to resolve. She drew in a deep breath. “Does
that by any chance mean Trevor’s wrist watch?”
“Yea.
The one my mom gave me before she died. Trevor has already told you about it
right?”
Natalie
gulped.
Wait… what????
“So,
Trevor’s diamond wrist watch… it’s yours. You gave it to him?” she asked.
“Not
exactly gave him but, my mom gave it to me. C’mon Natalie, I don’t have to
narrate to you the history. Just, request Trevor to send it to me.”
“Wait…
amh, Trevor doesn't have your wrist watch.”
“Don’t
tell me he lost it. It’s my heirloom. We don’t usually share things and I didn't give it to him willingly.” He paused, getting sentimental. “Well, he was
going to the operating room then and I let him have it. That’s all. The kid
kept it since then.”
Natalie
was silent, still worried.
“Okay.
Just tell him to send it to me. I have my own combinations there that might
match your badge. Goodbye.”
Natalie
was silent.
Today
Flashes
of various and similar incidents came to her mind. She turned to Natalie.
“Let’s go to the bathroom.”
Natalie
rose. “Okay. Where do you keep your tissue?”
“No. Not that. If it is occurring to me well, Erin was quite fond of
one particular bathtub in our bathing hall.”
“Oh… yeah!” Natalie said, just realizing it.
Ingrid took her hand and strode with her to the bathroom at the end of
the corridor.
The hall was large and white-tiled. There were at least 20 cubicles on
each side which had built-in toilets and showers. An empty space remained at
the center that the girls usually used to shower if all the bathroom cubicles
were filled.
The floor was wet when the girls entered. The sound of an open shower
filled the hall.
“One,” Ingrid began, taking her right hand direction across the
bathroom hall.
Natalie escorted her, counting the bathrooms.
“Two, three.” Ingrid called and stopped at one cubicle with a loosely
closed door.
The sound of the opened shower came from this cube.
Natalie looked down. She stepped on a larger paddle of water here.
Ingrid pushed the door open softly to reveal Erin’s favorite bathing
cubicle in its destroyed form.
The toilet tank was broken and the over flow tube let out water in a
violent turbulence.
“What happened here?” Natalie asked carelessly.
Ingrid looked around searching for the possible answer. She spotted a
folded piece of paper lying on the water paddle beside the toilet sink.
She walked forward to pick it up. “I have a lot of reason to believe
that, someone else was here before us.”
Natalie glanced at her and the paper that Ingrid was holding. “What is
that?”
“Let me read it.” Ingrid said after unfolding the paper. She begun and
as she went on, tears tingled her eyes. “I wrote this as I intended to talk
with Morningstar, I expected that I would not survive and so… I am not.” She
paused, sighing deeply.
Natalie covered her mouth, gasping and releasing her own tears.
Ingrid swallowed and went on. “I hope that you are Ingrid or Natalie or
both of you.” she smiled a little at that. It was both of them. “Turn the other
page.” Ingrid furrowed her eyebrows and did so.
The other page had the ink spattered because of the water.
Natalie paid attention, waiting.
“I don’t understand.” Ingrid confessed, spreading the paper in the air.
“It’s some kind of blue print but, highly distorted because of getting wet.”
She narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing it. Natalie had joined her hands anxiously.
“Wait… wait. I know these. They are boxes but, these boxes… they stand for
something.” She said and hurriedly took out the President’s badge. She took
Natalie’s hand and placed the badge in her palm. “Open it. It has a loose end
somewhere.”
Natalie looked at it. She tried cracking it with her nails. “What do
the codes as you say, mean?” she managed to pull the lid out of the back of the
badge.
It looked like the inside of a digital watch.
Ingrid traced the boxes on the print. “There are pack of resistors and,
and min-capacitors… right?” she said and lowered the print to hear Natalie’s
response.
“Yeah.” Natalie replied. “Is this supposed to be a device to decode a
bomb?”
“Yes.” Ingrid replied and took up the paper again. “There are words
here… amh,” she squinted her eyes. “Fill the gap.”
Natalie glanced at her. “What gap?”
Ingrid strode forward to Natalie, looking at the badge. “Check for any
gap.”
Natalie did.
“Wait, this does look like a watch.” Ingrid said, just realizing it.
Natalie blinked quickly, staring at the atmosphere, Kenneth did mention
a connection between Trevor’s watch and the President’s badge.
“There.” Ingrid said, placing her fingertip on an empty space between
red wiring.
Natalie looked at the badge again. “Yeah. I see it.” She dismissed the
thought of Kenneth in her mind for another time.
Ingrid drew back and raised the blueprint in front of herself. “It goes
on here… Fill the gap with the chip, amh…” she narrowed her eyes. “OMG this
sheet is all messed up.”
“The water ey?”
“Yeah. Amh… fill the gap with the chip…. In the… watch?” she read and
ended up in a queer.
Natalie’s eyes glowed with an enlightening. That must have been
Trevor’s watch!
“Watch?”
Natalie almost jumped back with a new voice that came behind her,
asking.
She spanned around quickly to incur Nicky’s sight.
She had made her way unnoticed as the girls were focused on Erin’s
message and distracted by the leaking toilet tank.
Nicky held a barrel gun, tapping it on her palm.
Natalie stared at her dreadfully. Fear traveled in her blood.
“I was kinda expecting, calculator or… I dunno. But, a watch?” Nicky
went on.
Natalie turned to Ingrid but, she was also holding a gun and pointing
it at her.
Natalie’s eyes widened with shock. What?
Who was Ingrid pointing the gun at? stay tuned to find out.....
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