The Unusual Tales Of Winfrall.

Chapter 8 : Warehouse 65

Nicholas’ POV. 

"Amelia, come on," I said as I carefully took my girlfriend's fragile hand, "why can't you just drop it?" She had been upset with me about something since the past few days and I had absolutely no clue why. 

This wasn't the first time; no matter what I did for her, willingly or well, unwillingly, which was mostly the case, she always had a reason to be upset. Can the girl understand that no relationship is 'perfect'? And can someone bloody tell her I don't even want this in the first place. 

"Nicky, I feel like I don't know you. You seem distant. You don't tell me things." She said quietly which wasn't her usual tone. Looking down at our hands, she continued, "I want you to tell me things. I want to know." She intertwined our hands together. 

I had no answer to her requests so I kept staring at nothing. 

She probably got her answer so she quickly gave me a peck on the cheek, and said "See you tomorrow!", I might add a bit enthusiastically, and closed the door of her penthouse flat leaving me in isolation. 

I dragged myself to the elevator and before I could press the button, it slid open. I felt my lips form into a smile as my gaze landed upon her. She was the last person I expected to see here. 

"Hey. I didn't expect to see you here." I voiced my thoughts, retracing my steps when she stepped outside. I however, didn't realise that I missed the elevator and would have to wait another 60 floors for it to get back. 

"So, you friends with Amelia?" When she didn't answer I asked again. My assumption was doubtful since I had never seen them hang out together. But then why else would she be here? 

Audrey looked at me with what looked like disgust in her eyes and opened her mouth a bit. However, she didn't utter a word and just let out a loud sigh. 

"Oh you live here?" I stood behind her as she dug into her bag. 

"Ugh!" She exclaimed in annoyance. I hadn't seen her look so frustrated before, it almost looked fake as if the next moment she would burst out into laughter. And I couldn't help but let out a smile at her innocence. 

As she continued searching for whatever she was looking for, my eyes landed on a pair of keys lying on the floor. As I bent down to pick them up, Audrey quickly snatched the keys. 

"Just tryna help" I quickly threw my hands up in surrender. She just gave me an aggressive stare, unlocked the door to the penthouse flat right in front of Amelia's and slammed it on my face. 

Why was she giving me the silent treatment?

"My tarot reader did say 'Girls Will Slam Doors.'" I justified myself to the air. 

***

I pulled over my Maybach at the town hall parking zone. I needed answers. Daniel thought he wouldn't blurt them out and keep everyone in the dark, but I had other ways to find out. 

So here I was, at his main work place. Taking advantage of the fact that Daniel had gone out of town for some 'business' and wouldn't be back before nighttime. So I was here to see his secretary. 

Being the stepson of the mayor has its own perks. You can walk in at anytime. Nonetheless, I was asked to wait for a few minutes before I could finally see Tristan approaching me. 

"What brings you here? Your father isn't working today. Aren't you aware he's out of town?" Daniels secretary put up a fake concern on his face as he bombarded me with questions. 

"I'm not here to see him. In fact, it's you I had business with." I stared directly into his eyes, and slid my hands into my jean pockets.

"Business? With me? What do you mean?" He raised an eyebrow rather amusingly. He was dressed in his usual attire the same black blazer. He probably had a set of the same blazers. 

I knew what I was doing, Tristan isn't someone who could be easily cracked so I had to keep my calm. 

"I wanted to help my father in his absence. Just here to keep a check on," I cleared my throat as I tried to come up with something. 

Tristan looked at me with doubtful eyes and then his expressions changed as he recalled something. He retrieved an envelope from under his blazer and handed it to me. 

"Here. Mr Smith was right." He nodded at the envelope, "He said you'd drop by." He gave it to me and got back to his office, leaving me confused and speechless. 

The plain white envelope was inscribed with 'CONFIDENTIAL' in block letters. I opened it to remove the letter from inside. 

'Nicholas , 

Stay away from my business. Do not pry or make an effort to investigate. These are political matters and it is advisable that you stay the farthest away you can. I am the government here, and this isn't something an eighteen year old should get into. If your mother hears about this, she would be really upset.'

I flipped the page over to uncover more writing but there wasn't any. The sheet was blank except for a stamp at the right bottom of the page. 

'Warehouse 65'. 

"Warehouse 65?" I asked myself out loud. I wondered what this place was. Or where it was. What work could he have in a warehouse? Not like he had some business of his own. Or did he?

Questions kept flooding my mind and I brisk walked to my car, as I mentally kept repeating the places name. Somehow, the words sounded familiar but I couldn't put my finger on it.

I revved the engine and headed for the outskirts of Winfrall. I knew I had seen it before. Most of the times, when I would be left alone, I'd take my car and drive around the town aimlessly. And once when I did, I somehow ended up in the outskirts and noticed an industrial set up lined with warehouses. 

I slowed down my acceleration as the numbering of the various warehouses had started, and I looked around for the specific number. There was no person in sight, as this route was hardly used by the citizens of Winfrall.

Because, if they crossed the industrial setting, they would be welcomed with a thick forest ahead, which no one wanted to visit. 

I took a sharp right turn as I saw it. 

There it was 'Warehouse 65', written next to a factory building. The whole place was next to a huge barren land, which had heaps of metal scrap and other old machines. 

The backside of the factory had a high fencing with sharp electric wires on the edge, and I looked up to see a chimney emitting gases from the building. 

I took my car to the gate, and beyond it stood two grey buildings, one slightly taller than the other. There was dead silence. This location had been given a calculative thought as hardly anybody visited this part of the town. 

Two guards stood at the gate, one at each side, wearing the same uniform as MIB. This was it. This was where I was getting all the answers, these guys work for the same 'boss'. 

They motioned me to stop my car, and one of them stepped forward towards the drivers window and asked for identification. 

"Nicholas Smith." I said in my most 'everyone-works-under-me' tone. There was a ninety five percent chance they wouldn't let me in. But I had to try for the other five percent. 

"Do you have a permit?" The guard looked at me with a serious look on his face. 

"My father has sent me to have a look on how things are going, he isn't in town so someone has to take charge." I continued in the same tone after I saw them exchange looks in confusion when they heard my name. 

"Show us some ID." The other guard demanded as he stepped forward. He was way taller and muscular than the other. I pulled out my drivers license and handed it to him. 

"No family allowed. Go home kid." The guard said in a monotonous tone as he gave my ID a look, and gestured me to take a turn back. 

I felt a spark of fury on hearing that sentence. I had to get inside. And I decided I would. 

"Now listen carefully," I placed my hand on the seal of the car window and point my index finger warningly, "my father has given me strict orders to get inside and study the samples which have arrived, I presume?" I said slowly and felt turbulence inside but I had to mask it off by keeping calm on the outside. 

"So either I go inside or you get kicked out of this job, I'm giving you a choice." I added. "And I don't have all day, Simon." I read off his name from the batch tailored to his uniform. 

They both heard my words carefully and Simon was the one who quickly nodded in slight fear and slid the huge iron gate doors open. 

As I drove my black Maybach inside, I wondered if it was me mentioning the 'samples' or threatening their job that made them let me in. Whichever it was, I was glad that I made it. 

I got out of my car, and realised I could have simply used chronokinesis, but I rarely gave into it since this world was meant for normal people, and there was no place for people like me in it, which is why we had no choice but to blend. 

My eyes landed on the various locks placed around the entrances and realised that I would need someone to unlock them all, for me to get in. The tight security further made me wonder what exactly was Daniel trying to hide from suspicious gazes. 

Simon had appointed a man who was wearing a jet black warehouse uniform, to unlock the doors for me to enter. And he mechanically just did what he was told, without even making small talk.  The lock was a certain digital code to be punched in for the metal doors to slide open. I noticed that in order to get inside one room, the man had to unlock three different doors, and I didn't even count the checking part. 

After I was successfully inside, I started walking around the place expecting to see drugs lying on the floor. h****n? c***k Cocaine? I wondered which one he supplied. 

Or maybe they dealt in guns, weapons and stuff. 

I had to walk for a while because the part of the room I was given to enter was filled with boxes. But as I kept advancing the length of the vast area, I noticed that the walls were getting whiter and the tiles were covered with reflections of bright lights hanging from the ceiling. 

 I spotted three people who had writing pads in hand and who stood professionally in lab coats. One of them held a beaker in his hand which contained a yellowish liquid and it looked like pee.

What the f**k are these science guys doing in a warehouse?

I knew something was definitely up. I walked further into the place and came across man sized steel coffins, getting opened. 

A few of the science guys noticed me, but didn't bother to stop and interrogate. I wanted to approach one of them and ask what the hell was going on, but that would have looked suspicious enough to kick me out. 

The steel coffins made my eyes widen for a few seconds, before I recollected myself and picked up a balance sheet from a table nearby, and pretended to examine it. But my focus was on the coffins and what laid inside it. The science men took their positions as it seemed like they had done this before. 

Two of them stood on either side of the coffin with pen and paper and the other positioned himself to open it. A bearded man, about 6 feet tall had an injection gun in his hand, with the same yellowish liquid I'd noticed previously. 

They all nodded to each other, and the coffin door was slowly opened. The outcome emitted a hissing sound and smoke fumed out of the narrow box. My eyes tried to search beyond the fog which was created by the suspension of the thick air, but couldn't see anything. When my eyes did settles on what was being removed, I couldn't believe what I saw. 

To my horror, they took out an unconscious man from inside and put on him on a stretcher. 

I slowly placed the balance sheet back on the table, walked further inside the place, and noticed that the same thing was going on in every section of this vast room. 

I realised this warehouse only looked like a warehouse on the outside. On the inside, it was actually a makeshift laboratory with scientists in lab coats and unconscious bodies on stretches. 

I felt a shudder go down my spine at the thought of why those bodies were brought here. My hands were slightly trembling and I ran a hand over my sweaty face, as I couldn't process what was happening here. 

One man wearing a lab coat stood near man sized glass tubes and injected the bodies inside with the yellow substance. Once injected, the person opened their eyes within thirty seconds, and started walking around in groggily. 

Thump! 

The man who was injected couldn't even walk for five seconds before he fell on the ground. I was about to walk towards the man and help him up when suddenly he energetically got up himself and began laughing loudly. The lab men shook their heads, which I guessed was disappointment and ganged up on him where they injected him with another liquid. 

The chemical made the man unconscious, and he was laid down on a stretcher, which meant that they were going to repeat the sick process again.

It hit me late, but this was my cue to leave the goddamn place and never look back. But  I couldn't just leave like that. This wasn't drug dealing, this is human trafficking. But these people weren't here for labour or their body parts. This was entirely something else. 

"Sir you are not allowed. I may have to ask you to leave. Immediately." All of a sudden a hand gripped my shoulder tightly. 

"Alright I was just seeing how loyally you do the work." I nodded at him and turned in about turn to leave. 

I drove my car out of the mess and pulled it over near a farm when I was inside the town. I was far from the warehouse, but could still see the images of it in my head. 

My hands shaking, I was trembling. I have never been so terrified in my entire life. 

"What kind of a sick twisted human are you, Daniel f*****g Smith?" I thought aloud with disgust and terror flowing through my veins. 

Whatever it was, I was going to put an end to it.   But I was clueless how. I leaned back in my seat and closed my eyes briefly as I longed to tell this to someone. What I had seen was too much to take in, and I couldn't loosely tell this to anyone without knowing the depths of it. 

I stayed in the car for hours, and kept mulling over the scenes which I witnessed. The sun was setting and I realised this was time as well for me to collect myself for good, and think of possible ways to put an end to this.