Rewired: Project Insula

Chapter 7

Daniel walked back over to the window, this time clutching onto a cup of green tea. He placed one finger gently downwards on the blinds, peering carefully through the gap.

Meera sat behind him on her small dining table situated between her open plan kitchen counter and her living room sofa.

She had begun to slowly recover thanks again to Daniel's magical green tea that he seemed to have an unlimited supply of. The awful worry that there had been something sinister banging at her door shook her to the bone, and managed to heap on further to the mental battering she had received over the past few days.

Although he was acting strange and was not as calming as their first encounter, Daniel didn't fit the profile of a sinister monster coming to kill her. She figured she would rather be confused, but accompanied than clear headed, but alone.

“Okay, I think we are in the clear” Daniel said to Meera without turning.

Meera stopped gazing into her cup and shot her attention up to the back of Daniel's head.

“In the clear?” Meera asked.

“Yes, whoever it was that escaped the van, doesn't seem to be causing distress anywhere near here.” Daniel replied, slightly more upbeat.

All Daniel had told Meera about this situation since arriving, was that a man had miraculously walked away from an ugly crash, leading Daniel to assume that he was under the same influence as the man at the hospital. The forensic police confirmed to Daniel that for the man to of been able to walk away, unaided, would be nothing short of impossible.

What she had figured out by herself, was that Daniel was afraid. After all, he knew all about the cases he had been observing, but he had never witnessed one of these cases in the flesh. That sense of unknown to such a terrifying and surreal thing, could break the strongest of people.

“I just hope nobody gets hurt.” Daniel eventually added, removing any upbeat tones from his voice, still staring out the window.

Meera took a final sip of her lukewarm tea and placed it down on the table.

“So?..” Meera said after a few seconds of silence.

Daniel removed his finger from the blinds and turned, leaving an awful snapping sound as the blind snapped back into place.

“So…” Daniel replied before trailing off in thought.

Meera waited a few seconds to allow him to continue, but he stayed trapped in his head it seemed. She widened her eyes and with a shake of her head and a raise of her hands, Daniel was pushed to answer.

“So we go and find him.” He said, smiling nervously.

“You're joking!” Meera shouted suddenly, standing up quickly.

She felt light headed as she stood up, she couldn't make out whether it was because she stood up too fast, or whether she had sub consciously gone into a small state of shock at the idea of potentially coming face to face with another one of these things.

She stumbled backwards slightly and put her finger and thumb above her eyes to try and repair her equilibrium.

At the sight of this minor episode, Daniel came rushing over to her, getting behind her and putting his hands on the back of her shoulders. He gently helped her back down onto the seat she just got up from.

“You okay?” Daniel asked, as Meera sat down onto the chair.

Meera took a breath through her nose and out of her mouth, closing her eyes whilst doing so. Her face felt ice cold, and she could feel sweat dripping down her forehead with a strange prickling sensation; the last thing she wanted to do right now was talk, out of fear of vomiting.

Daniel crouched alongside her, putting his hand on the back of her chair.

“Meera are you alright?” Daniel asked again.

With a sudden frustration that is normally common when one is trying to recover from feeling dizzy and sick, Meera let out an angry sigh.

“Ugh! Do I look fine? What is wrong with you?” She snapped.

Daniel looked taken aback by this unexpected outburst.

“I don't understand how you have suddenly gone from being really helpful and sympathetic, to like a little scared boy!” She continued, every word making her feel increasingly worse and angrier.

“It's easy for you to say ‘Oooh lets go and find this man that could be a f*****g invincible psychopath’, when you haven't experienced it before!”

Daniel didn't make a gesture or sound throughout the rush of emotion, he instead let her finish and looked down at the floor.

“Were you even being genuine the other day at the station when we first met?” She said, her voice starting to break.

Meera took a moment to quickly evaluate her sudden change in mood.

Was it justified? Well considering she felt like she was going to either blackout or throw up, she thought it was perfectly justified.

Daniel was being insensitive. Wasn't he?

He did seem different from the first day they met. Or did she just need him more then?

Daniel still sat silent besides Meera as she put her forehead onto the surface of the table to try and make sense of her thought ridden mind.

“Meera.. I..” Daniel began slowly.

“Just don't. Not right now.” She replied, her words muffled by the distance between the table surface and her mouth.

Daniel nodded and got up slowly.

He walked over to the coat stand which stood just beside Meera's front door. Her eyes secretly following him as he moved. He took his coat off of the stand and began putting an arm through the sleeve.

“s**t, maybe I was too harsh with what I said.” Meera thought to herself.

She clenched her eyes shut out of frustration. Why did she say those things? Maybe she was justified in getting angry at his suggestion and for bugging her when she thought she was going to be sick, but did he deserve that? Really?

“Daniel, wait.” Meera said, her ear now pressed against the table as she looked at Daniel.

“Meera don't worry, I should never have asked that of you. It sounded better in my head, I was stupid.” He said sounding genuinely sorry.

“Daniel, don't. I'm not fully in my own head right now.” She replied, her cheek squishing up against her mouth, making her words come out weird.

“Look. What you said was right. I am a scared little boy right now, but the least I can do is try and find this guy before we have another Rhys on our hands.” He said, avoiding eye contact.

He looked back over at Meera.

“I came here because…” He trailed off again.

Meera sat up, her face returning to its normal shape.

“You're the only one that will believe me. I need you on this case.” He continued.

Meera squinted her eyes briefly, but avoided looking at Daniel.

“So… I wasn't in any danger?” She said blankly.

“Well I mean, you could've been? I was a little bit worried about you…” He said, smirking.

Meera tried to be angry at this, but she simply couldn't.

It made sense. He can't work this case alone, and nobody but her would help him. And who knows, by the time he finds another Meera, perhaps it will be too late. Perhaps this could become bigger than just a few cases across the world.

“Give me a minute” She said, as she slowly propped herself up to standing.

Daniel stepped back slightly; a concerned look came over his face.

“Are you going to be sick?” He said, looking slightly horrified.

Meera looked over at Daniel, finding his silly squeamish facial expression hilariously out of character.

“Ha! No you knob.” She said playfully, with both hands flat on the table. Maybe it did look a bit like she was going to vomit. She quickly removed her hands from the table, straightening up at the realisation.

The disgusted expression left Daniel's face, albeit slower than it came on.

“I didn't realise you were squeamish, I'll be sure to never be sick near you.” She said, with a contrasting tone to her recent outburst.

“I'd appreciate that.” Daniel retorted.

“What I meant was, give me a minute to go and get ready. I’ll meet you outside in 10?” She said, pushing the chair underneath the table, now spotted with sweat from her forehead.

“I'll wait here” He said.

Meera was slightly disappointed by his reaction, she was expecting an ego boosting excitement to stem from her unexpected answer.

“Besides, I am worried for your safety. Remember?” He said, showing that cheeky smirk again.

“Careful” She said, as she walked towards her stairs.

…

Without noise or turbulence, Daniel's brand new Tesla soared gracefully through the streets of London. The feeling of returning to normal had taken a brief battering when Meera had some time alone in the shower, but had returned now she was back in the company of Daniel Green.

The noon was bright, infact brighter than most summer days were. The sun made many attempts at penetrating the tinted windows with its glare, but it was fighting a losing battle with this ridiculous machine they were travelling in.

Bystanders often stopped in their tracks to marvel at the car, some even putting their glasses on to try and snap a quick photo; that was if they hadn’t already been wearing them.

“So where is it we are actually going?” Meera asked, fiddling with a dial located in front of her.

They hadn't actually talked much since getting in the car; aside from the obvious small talk regarding the new car and the weather.

Meera found out that these new Tesla models were currently being offered to certain Private Organisations at a great discounted price. She also found out that Daniel would have preferred the vehicle in “cherry red” rather than the jet black it was currently styling.

“Beggars can't be choosers!” Daniel had told her, which she found hilarious, given the topic of conversation and choice of words.

“Well, I thought the best place to start would be – Hey!” Daniel stopped abruptly as he looked over at Meera.

“Don't touch anything, please.” He continued with a forced calmness.

Meera let go of the dial and sat back, eyes widened in a playful state.

“Ooooh, sorry!” She remarked sarcastically.

Daniel smiled, keeping his eyes locked forwards.

“Well, I thought we would try the abandoned tower block down Windcott Street.” He said, still smiling and facing forwards.

Meera suddenly felt her heart skip a beat.

“The drug den?”

The smile from Daniel’s face slowly left and his hands tightened around the steering wheel.

“Yes.” He replied.

Meera looked over at Daniel, puzzled.

“You are taking us to a Drug Den?”

“Well yes! Look, the guy hasn't been found or caused any harm as of yet, so he is surely somewhere where there aren't people, right?” Daniel explained, concentrating on the road during.

Meera shook her head.

“R-right.. Or… He could've ran home? Maybe he is scared? Didn't know what to do?” She replied.

“Yes, which is why I already organised a squad of police to check his home address and parent's home address. Nothing there. And before you ask, no he doesn't have any siblings.” Daniel said calmly.

“So your idea is to take us to one of the most dangerous places in London?” She finally asked, sarcastically with a hint of fear.

“Oh don't worry about that, I know one of the..” Daniel stopped midway through his sentence and bit his lip.

He looked over to Meera and shot her a guilty expression, which was returned by a disappointed Mother’s.

“Alright, alright. I went to school with him and…” He bit his lip again.

“And?...” Meera asked, folding her arms.

“Lets just say, he helped me out once and I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him.”

Meera kept her arms folded, but her expression lit up slightly.

“So you helped him out in return right?” Meera quizzed.

“Actually no, but I need his help again. Maybe these attacks are drug related somehow, and maybe he knows where this van guy is.”

“And if he does know, you're just going to let him walk? What about the people who have suffered from this? What about Rhys?”

“Meera, if this guy is in anyway responsible for these attacks…” He trailed off slightly.

“I will bring him in. You have my word.” He looked at Meera as he said this, his small glittering eyes looking directly into hers, she knew he was telling the truth.

They didn't talk the entire way to the Tower Block. Meera kept her eyes out the window, her arms folded. All she could think about was this made up scenario in her head, where this guy that Daniel had known was responsible for the attack at the Hospital, meaning that in her head, she was on the way to meet Rhys's killer.

This wasn't all that troubled her. Daniel's affiliation with a gang member, gave her an uneasy feeling in her stomach and in her heart.

…

The not “cherry red” Tesla pulled up outside the checkpoint to the 3 abandoned tower blocks, which formed an eerie formation that looked like something from a sci-fi movie, no thanks to the overgrown grass and the long-condemned buildings.

The checkpoint was initially used by private security companies to keep an eye on who was coming in and out of the estate back when these blocks were populated with residents. This was to help stop gang crime, which ended up becoming so big that the security checkpoints were closed and the tower blocks condemned.

Now the checkpoints were manned by men who operated from the furthest north Tower, under the gang “The Leadheads”, named after their infamous founder who had survived a bullet to the head. He didn't however survive the knife to the liver which was delivered by a rival gang member 3 years ago.

The Leadheads operated without any police interruptions, which stood as a mystery to the public of London. Most believed it was due to the Prime Minister and Head of London Police being payed off, but others simply put it down to the ever-growing police cuts that had been getting worse and worse for nearly 2 uninterrupted decades under a Tory government.

Besides, if they stay holed up in this estate, there would be less crime in the streets. They had no need to come out of their little fortress, plus there was always the danger of being caught alone by a brave copper.

“Checkpoint looks empty..” Meera muttered, peering nervously over the dashboard.

Daniel didn't reply, but kept staring on towards it.

“Wait here” He said suddenly.

Meera didn't bother arguing, she just continued to peer over, as Daniel opened his door.

She watched as he walked over to the checkpoint, his confident swagger ever present as his hands stayed stuffed in his jacket pockets. She saw him peek into the small booth, stare for a few seconds and then begin to walk back.

Daniel opened his car door and reached under his seat.

“What did you see?” She asked, as if whatever was in that booth caused him to come back.

Daniel's reply was muffled as he was trying to find something underneath his chair.

“What?” Meera asked, unsure what he was trying to say.

Daniel stood up, holding a handgun in is hand. He seemed out of breath just from that minor activity.

“I said… Have you used one of these before?” Daniel asked, catching his breath back.

Meera stared at the gun in Daniel's hand and back at him. She began feeling under her seat to see if there was one for her.

“Meera.” Daniel spoke loudly.

“Have you used one of these before?” he asked again.

Meera stopped fondling under her seat for a moment, now realising how weirdly tiring it was.

“Yes, in my trai-.” Before she could finish her sentence, Daniel had lightly tossed the handgun at her. Meera caught it clumsily with both of her hands and looked at Daniel, shocked.

“Good.” He said.

“I haven't the foggiest how to use one of them things.” He continued, looking down at her from outside.

Meera still held the gun in the clumsy way she had caught it and looked up at Daniel. She didn’t know what to say. Although she had used a gun in her training and she was a pretty good shot, she assumed that he would be the one doing any of the firing, if it came down to it. She didn’t realise she was going to be the one that was basically in charge of both of their lives.

“Daniel… I…” Meera said, stuttering.

“I don't know if I can…” She continued.

A sympathetic expression washed over Daniel's face.

“Hey listen, we probably… You probably won't have to use it. I just don't like how there isn't a guy at the checkpoint. Something is a bit… Off. You know?” He said, now slouching slightly to talk to her.

Oh grow some f*****g balls Meera, she thought to herself.

She looked the gun over and confirmed that the safety was clicked on. She then ejected the magazine to see that it was full, without a bullet in the chamber.

Daniel watched her inspect the gun, impressed.

She placed the gun into the inside pocket of her jacket, trying to mask the shakes.

“Alright” She said, looking back up at Daniel.

“Let’s go.”