He was Josef.
Cevil froze. He should have noticed that earlier. Josef's brown hair was slightly lighter, while Marco's was darker. Josef chuckled and stood up, his hands pressed on the wheelchair's armrest, lifting his weight. "Yes, son?" He smiled, "I'm just experiencing the life of a disabled person." He tapped on the armrest, "This is a very good wheelchair, would you like to try?" Cevil's mind was racing. He felt incredibly awkward. "No, thank you," Cevil backed away slowly, hoping they wouldn't notice. Silence was slicing Cevil down, making him feel even embarrassed and uncomfortable. "Are you lost?" This time, it was Konrad that had spoken, "Looking for a washroom? It's in your room, if you're smart enough, you can find it." Konrad shoved his hands into his pocket. Cevil was glad, Konrad had found him an excuse to leave immediately. "Yes," Cevil spluttered, "I'll go back now," he added, confused. Had he imagined Marco calling him CEO? Cevil stepped backwards, then turned around quickly and headed for his room. "There isn't a rule that you can't leave your bedroom," Konrad added, as Cevil scanned his card to open his door. Then Cevil hurried back into his room, not replying.
The next day, Cevil was awoken by a knock on his door. Half asleep, Cevil slammed his card onto the device beside his bed, annoyed. The door opened with a beep.
"I'm sorry, did I wake you?" KJ asked as he noticed Cevil's frustrated expression. He waited at the door, hesitating whether he should enter. As Cevil saw KJ, his face turned into a slight smile, "Good morning. I thought you were one of those," he paused, "creeps." KJ felt relieved the moment Cevil replied and entered the room, then he rested himself beside Cevil.
"So, what happened to Josef?" Cevil suddenly remembered. Wasn't Josef in KJ's room, unconscious? Why would he suddenly be outside in the corridor? "Well. At first, I half trusted Konrad, but not fully. There wasn't enough proof to show that they were on our side. But last night, after you left my room, Josef just stood up. He was just cooperating with us, pretending to get knocked out," KJ said slowly. "Why would he do that? Then what happened?" Cevil asked, nervously. KJ shrugged, "He just left the room, then I went to sleep." Then silence invaded the boys, until a second knock came right after Cevil thought of another question to ask. This time it was Josef inviting them for breakfast.
Cevil was surprised that it was already half past eleven. He had no idea of the time until he entered the same dining room that they had entered the night before. Everyone else was there too, in the exact same seat as yesterday's night. The dishes were already served, but just briefly before they entered. Cevil noticed the heat coming out from the food. Everyone ate in silence, there weren't even any breaths that could be heard. The boys ate quickly and were about to leave Cevil was called to stay. His heart almost stopped when a cold voice mentioned his name. He glanced at KJ, signaling for help, but KJ nodded briefly and left the room with Josef following. Slowly, Cevil turned around as the door slammed closed behind him, staring at Konrad and Fate with fierce eyes to hide his nervousness. Konrad was smiling in a complicated way that no one understood as usual, when Fate was watching everything, expressionless.
"Cevil, someone would like to meet you." Konrad said slowly, "He is waiting in the room opposite yours." Then he lifted his cup of Apfelschorle and took a sip silently. Cevil didn't move, still leaning on the door, both hands behind his back, ready to grab the handle and run. "Who?" he asked, suspiciously, his eyeballs focused on Konrad's smile that gave him an uncomfortable feeling. "Well," Konrad said, as he placed the cup on the table gently, "You'll know when you enter." He gestured, then Fate reached into his pocket and revealed an access card.
Cevil stared, then reluctantly accepted the card from Fate and left the room. As he walked unhurriedly along the corridor that was at least fifty metres long, he considered heading to KJ's room instead but cancelled the thought. Afterall, he was in the hands of a group of terrorists that, without a reason, was surprisingly treating them well currently. It would be better to obey and not risk anything. He began to wonder who he was about to meet. When he was struck by the thought of Marco. It was possible that it would really be Marco, after he combined all the things together. He had once heard a voice calling him "CEO" by his ear, although when he opened his eyes, Marco wasn't in sight. "CEO" was something only Marco would address him as. Secondly, he had heard Konrad mentioning the name "Marco". At the same time, Marco was missing, and his body wasn't found. After taking a deep breath, Cevil scanned the card at the scanner and waited in front of the section of wall that was sliding open slowly.
Cevil's jaw dropped.
This room was completely different from his and KJ's. This room was luxurious and twice as large as Cevil's bedroom. The walls were filled with famous artists' paintings – Van Gogh, Da Vinci, Pablo Picasso – their popular paintings could be found in this room, and the floor was made of hardwood. The first thing Cevil noticed was a QLED television with surround sound speakers on the left side of the room. Beneath the television where a floating cabinet with two compartments was, was filled with gaming consoles like Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo Switches. And instead of couches, there were three Osaki massage chairs that looked completely new. In between the chairs and television, there was an interactive table and a small aquarium coffee table with a smart speaker – Amazon Echo – placed on top.
On the far side of the room opposite Cevil, there was a HomCom multi-level modern computer desk and an ergonomic black chair. On the desktop surface of the desk were two monitors that Cevil recognized as one of the worldwide desktops known for having a large capacity storage, high-performance computing and its efficiency. Below it, there was a backlighting keyboard and a wrist rest. Besides it was a Logitech MX Master 3 mouse placed on a rectangular cloth mousepad with a non-slip rubber base. On the left lowest section of the desk, there was a high-end computer speaker that Cevil couldn't imagine how much Konrad had spent only for the items on this table. A high-end headphone lay still and silently on the second section of the desk's shelf, while there was a single photo frame exposed on the highest section of the shelf.
Without noticing the other parts of the room, Cevil allowed his curiosity to bring him towards the desk to examine the photo in the frame. However, before he was close enough to observe the photo, there was a beeping sound, Cevil started. The wall was rumbling quietly in a small movement and was sliding open inch by inch. The sudden entrance of somebody got Cevil panicked and thoughtlessly, he frantically swung open the wooden wardrobe next to the desk and hastily climbed inside to conceal himself. As brightness was sucked away and darkness was rapidly invading the wardrobe, Cevil found himself buried in a pile of unorganized clothes, the naked hangers dangling above him. It was when Cevil realized that it was unnecessary to hide. He entered the room according to Konrad's request, not sneaking into the room without permission. Even so, he decided to understand the situation in the room before revealing himself, hence, gently and slowly, he pushed the wardrobe door open, leaving a tiny gap for him to peek out.