“We will first remove all ‘whatever this is’ from where they are buried so we can be able to leave the village” Willow announces to us

We are in his beaded house, where we had initially planned to create our escape plan in. Since from the looks of it, our captors will have no idea what happens here unlike the hotel that is brewing with cameras

It has not been long we had returned from the border and the rest have already been waiting for us

We only took time because we were trying to wait long enough for something to happen at the brick house and still no sign of anything so we gave up when our patience ran out

“Then we will need a vehicle that will convey us to the beach, Olivia’s friend had left a boat for her we can use it to leave this place” I say, looking at Olivia and she nods along

Apparently she had filled the girls in on what she told me so we didn't have to go through that again

“we saw a packed vehicle outside a house and that house was virtually empty” Willow continue

“let us not forget that these people have manpower and then is the thing about the shadows” Tony says

“I think the shadows cannot operate outside the village, so once we leave the border it will have no lease over us” Thelma says crossing her legs

“unless it stops us from leaving in the first place” Rose says tugging her jet black silky hair at the back of her both ears

“that is a point, so we will need a plan to shut that one off” Willow snaps his finger impatiently

“what about the men?” Thelma asks

“we didn’t see anyone” I respond playing with my hair. I and Willow were the only ones standing so I leaned on the wall near the door

“what if they have other hiding places!” She asks again

“we don’t know that yet. But for now we should focus on removing whatever it is that is preventing us from crossing the border” Willow says again with a breath in his voice

“He is right, while we are taking them out we might come across something that would clue us towards the men” I say

But I personally don’t think they are actively inside the village, they even have their storage house outside” Tony points out slowly and Thelma nods as her face loosens

The red in her hair is fading and she has it tugged away in a loose bun

“how are we going to take it all out without being noticed?” Olivia asks and we all face her startled by the question

“she is right, the longer they don’t know the greater our chance of survival” I say, looking back at Willow

Apparently he had taken the leadership using his extra knowledge as leverage

“if we were playing a game what would be our next line of action towards uncovering the tales of the shadows?” Tony asks

“I would say to gather information from the villagers about the family and what each of them know about it. and then probably going to the mansion to check it out” I respond

“wow, can we not include going to the mansion?” Rose blurts with panic growing in her voice

“I think we should, if they hear us they might clear it out for us and we just tour the area and return still confused” I suggest, very aware of how stupid what I said sounded. But since they used our plans to script their attacks in the past, this would not be an exception

“so, how should we do it?” Thelma asks

“easy, we divide ourselves, some will remain with the villagers and ask innocent questions about the family and the others will plan to go to the mansion but will branch and dig out some before heading to the mansion” I respond gesturing my hands to relay the message better

Maybe Willow should stick to our actual escape plan, while we focus on fooling our captors, if we are fooling them

“that would require us coming up with excuses for at least five days and we don’t have that time” Thelma counters me and I rub my chin with my thumb, silence erupts us as everyone retire to their own thoughts

Something clicks and I raise my hand pulling their attention to me “we should have a fight” I say looking at their faces for reaction but they just look at me confused

So I continue “someone leaves in anger and roams the villages and digs up enough, someone else goes to find the angered person and digs a share too and then in the end we all go to find the person the next day and dig the rest” I say maintaining the string of excitement in my voice

“when we start talking about taking care of the men and the shadows we could use the first excuse” Willow respond grinning at me “because then we could be better grounded in knowledge about these people and their organization”

“that is clever but we have to make it real and after the person leave we can ask the villagers about the mansion. I am sure we will get something useful from them too” Tony says and we all nod along

“that rules out going to the mansion ourselves” Rose's pleasant voice is clear now. She must be so glad we didn't have to go to the mansion. I am glad too inwardly but if it becomes a necessity then it has to happen

“we need to head back to the hotel” Willow announces looking out the tiny window space.