Hidden Crimes

Chapter Eight

Chapter 8

Daniel was about to raise his hand but Madison stopped him by immediately holding his hand. Daniel tried to get hand off him but she used her other hand to cup his and used her strength to stay his hand down. Daniel was stronger than her but he was lazy to exert effort to go against her.

“No,” she said. “We can survive. I could not believe you are about to back out. I thought you are brave. The man said we could change our lives. Are you not tired of the port?”

Daniel looked at her with a cold stare. He did not care about changing his life. He was, in fact, tired and a mess. What was he fighting for? He did not know. But there was a part of what she said provoke him.

He is brave. He is not a weakling. He thought to himself.

They were all brought inside an enclosed space. On the middle, above the ceiling, was only a small lamp focused on the table. Daniel looked at outside through a window. Across him was also a room that was the same as his. It had a big window that allows the person from both sides to see each other and what was within the room, very easily.

Across him was Liam, he was sitting on a monoblock chair just like him. Liam was looking at him, too. Daniel did not know what was Liam thinking.

The person who was in front of him stole his attention by knocking on the wood table. Daniel immediately moved his head to face him. Daniel was right. They were using an over-the-head masks that could really replicate a human’s face. It really looked very realistic. But he was wrong about the mouth aspect, they could move their mouths. They could not just open it the way how a human with a bare face moved their mouths.

The man in mask stood up and moved the window blinds down to cover the big window.

Daniel looked at the thing in front of him that was placed on the table. It looked like a report’s clipboard.

The masked man went back to his seat and opened the clipboard.

“We have to get your information,” the masked man said as he clicked his pen.

“How do you picked the people here?” Daniel asked.

The masked man just looked at him for a few seconds and went back to the paper in between the two of them.

“Randomly,” the masked man finally answered but Daniel did not believe it. It looked like he was hiding something. He was looking on the upper left corner which means he was remembering something.

“Name?” the masked man asked as he tapped the end of the ball pen to the table.

“Daniel Pesci,” Daniel answered.

The masked man looked at him for a minute and then he went back to the paper and wrote what Daniel answered.

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-Four.”

“Your highest school attainment?”

“Grade 12 - Senior High school.”

“Do you have any family?”

Daniel stopped for a minute because of the question. He felt his hands shook which were placed above the table. He pulled his hand and placed it below the table.

“I do not have one,” he answered as soon as the shaking of his hands started to slow down.

The man noticed it and looked below the table to see his hands.

“Why are you shaking?” the masked man asked as soon as he sat straight.

Daniel tried to calm his hands. “Nothing,” he answered.

“How are you physically?”

“Fine,” he answered. Despite of eating less, he had been exposed to heavy lifting, his endurance was top notch and he had a great body built.

Daniel saw that he pressed something below the table and he felt a buzz that he had to pull back his hand away from the table.

After a few minutes, a person in a full personal protective equipment suit entered the room.

It went towards Daniel and it checked Daniel’s eyes and mouth. They wrote a report after it and handed it to the masked man but the person in personal protective equipment was not done yet.

“Are you drawing me some blood?” Daniel asked but the person in personal protective equipment did not answered and proceeded in extracting blood from him. His blood went inside the vacutainer.

The person stood straight afterwards and faced the man in mask. “We will release the result after the day.”

The masked man nodded and the person in ppe, which was according to its voice was a woman, went out of the room.

“You are fine for now,” the masked man said. He brought a scanner out from his pocket.

The masked man also handed him a pen and paper.

“What is this?” Daniel asked.

“A waiver indicating that the company did not have any liability when something happens to you,” the masked man directly said to him.

Daniel looked at him for a minute and immediately reached for the pen and signed the waiver.

“Good. Next, your finger,” he commanded.

Daniel placed his index finger on it and he heard a sound after a few seconds. The man brought out a camera.

“Stay still, the flash is bright,” the masked man warned. Daniel stayed still and after a few minutes the flash illuminated the entire area.

Daniel immediately felt that his eyes were watering because of the bright flash.

The masked man stood up afterwards and went towards the door.

“After you adjust, follow me.”