Chapter 120: Eyes

Chapter 120: Eyes
Stacy went to the last place she could think of – the dungeon. She had been to every room in the clubhouse but there was no sign of Chad anywhere. Even Hank wasn’t in his room. Even though she wasn’t willing to go down to the dungeon after what happened the previous time, she had no choice but to check it out herself.
The stairs leading down the dungeon were as creepy as usual. Cold air hit her skin as she descended lower into the darkness. Soon, lights from the fire around the space came to view. She walked out into the open. It was eerily quiet.
Men who should be there weren’t there. Even the prisoner was gone. Her heart skipped a beat as she did a double take. The place where George was placed was empty. She squatted down only to pick up a broken chain. He escaped.
Stacy looked around the room. It was brightly lit with the torches tied to the walls around the space but there was no sign of a living being.
“Think.. what am I missing here?” She mumbled to herself, hoping that her useless mind would suddenly send her the part of the lost memory. As she focused hard, her head throbbed painfully. She tried massaging her temples at first but as the waves intensified, she had to hit her head hard to numb it but to no avail.
Still, she wasn’t about to give up trying. She tried her best to think, trying her best to extract information from her lost memory which she wasn’t sure of. “The man..” her thoughts drifted to the creepy man she met at the stairs earlier. She recalled the way he reacted and his eyes. Yes, his eyes.
What was it with his eyes? Stacy took a deep breath and calmed down enough to try to analyze that look he gave her. No, it wasn’t a look. It was as though someone else was watching her through him. Monitoring.
Her eyes widened at the thought. Was that man a human? How was that even possible? Why did she feel like she had seen that kind of monitoring somewhere..
Her head panned to the other side of the room, to the pole George was tied up on that time she visited his interrogation. The memories of that event played in her mind as she tried her best to recall every detail.
‘You won’t understand,’ George said when Hank questioned him about his loyalty and reason for siding with Gus. Then Hank asked, ‘what does he have on you?’
What happened next? Her eyes focused on the pole. George raised his head slowly and looked up with his eyes. Eyes. Stacy’s brows furrowed in concentration. “Eyes,” she mumbled as she tried to connect the dots.
When she really thought about it, George always kept his eyes down or closed when he wasn’t doing something. Why did he do that? Was he always acting that way?
Right. That night when she looked into his eyes, she had the same unsettling feeling, just like how she felt when she saw the creepy man earlier.
Her frown deepened. Gus wouldn’t be so cruel, would he? Was it even possible to install something in a person so that they could monitor what he sees from a distance? If that was what happened, was it also the reason why Gus seemed to always be able to counter their every precautions? And how many of those people were living together with them in the clubhouse?
The realization caused her heart rate to increase. She had to tell Chad, or at least Hank, Zalen, or anyone she could trust immediately. In a hurry, she turned to get out of the dungeon, only to come face to face with the man. That was the last thing she saw. Something hard hit her head, and she blacked out immediately.

He closed the distance between them. “Look, I don’t know much about you and am still trying to trust you. Out of all the members, I know Chad for the longest time. I know him well and if he trusts you, I’m going to try doing the same. I’m still convincing myself so give me reasons to trust you, would you?”
Stacy tried to process whatever she just heard. She opened her mouth but nothing came out. Taking a deep breath, she looked him in the eye, saying, “I’ll give you an answer. I will sort all of it out and give all of you an explanation. Please give me some time to sort it out. Trust me on this?”
After a few beats, he unclenched his jaws and nodded. Then, he turned to walk away. “Zalen,” she called out and he stopped, not turning back. “Where can I find Chad?”
“He’s in the garage,” Zalen said and walked away.
Enough of hiding and running away. It’s time to face the problem and solve it. She left for the garage to look for Chad.
He was there with a few others. Slowly, she approached them. Mark, the grumpy guy, was there as well.
Chad was having his back to her, leaning down to work on his bike. Mark cleared his throat as she approached. “Hi,” she tried smiling at him. He nodded and ignored her.
Chad turned around and his eyes landed on her.
A frown formed on her face. He didn’t have eyes. It was an endless pit of darkness.
Her heart skipped a beat. She knew she should run but her feet were planted on the ground. Tears rolled down her cheeks.
“Can we talk?” She asked despite everything. He continued staring at her quietly, unmoving. When she thought that he wasn’t going to react, he took a rag and wiped his hands. Throwing the rag back on the shelf, he turned to leave the garage. She took it as a sign for her to follow.
They strolled quietly around the clubhouse. It was quiet for a long time and she started to feel uncomfortable.
“You know, I can’t go through this anymore,” she said, “can we figure out another way to repay you for whatever you have done for me this whole time?”
She didn’t know why she said that but the words seemed to have been pre-scripted. She had no say in the words coming out of her own mouth.
He continued standing there, unmoving. She felt a wave of immense disappointment, as if it was coming from him. It hit her hard, overwhelming her with emotions.
“That’s what you got to say after all that I’ve done?”