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It was easy for one's nerves to rocketeer in a place where you had no idea what could be waiting for you as you turn around the corner. So far, the unlikely trio didn't have any unlucky encounters— which, by 'lucky encounters', meant Raph didn't have to resort to knocking people out (something that Raph complained about). Despite that, Talia couldn't help but feel uneasy. Every door, left or right, had a likely chance of containing a surprise she wasn't sure she and her friends were prepared for. And after what they had seen— those people lying in their beds with strange bite marks— the trio had a feeling that whatever else they found wouldn't be as pleasant.

There were a few doors that were slightly open, which served to entice the three teenagers to take a peek, but they thought twice when voices were heard inside. Then there were doors that were kept under lock and key, and there was no time to pick the lock, so dead end, too. Talia and her friends were starting to run out of rooms to check out, and they were running out of time. It wouldn't be long before the two chemists on the roof deck wake up and alert their boss about intruders.

Talia and her friends continued walking, reaching the floor where the living & dining room would be at. Instead of any kind of furniture one would find in a lounge or eating area, the room was nearly vacant, with the exception of several cardboard boxes spread oddly across the room, with some even strewn like empty toilet paper rolls. Raph checked one of the opened ones and grabbed the contents of it, coming eye to eye with a familiar-looking vial.

"Ketamine," he said, wiggling it between her fingers.

"After seeing that makeshift hospital upstairs, I have some pretty good guesses on what the ketamine is used for here," April said.

Talia and Raph waited for her to share, but she didn't. Next, the trio walked downstairs to what they thought was the kitchen— which looked like it wasn't used for prepping any meals. Apple plucked an apple from the fruit basket— the only thing available for eating— and felt it too soft and crumbly when she slightly squeezed it (she did this for fun whenever she grabbed an apple). The redhead put it back in its original spot, feeling grossed out.

Meanwhile, the pungent odor of various chemicals being mixed together grew stronger by the second. Talia knelt to the floor, sniffing it and then looking up at her friends. "It's coming from down here," she claimed.

"You mean like a basement?" Raph said.

Talia nodded. "Most brownstones have basements underneath the kitchen. If you want to 'cook' something illegal, the basement is one place to do it."

"Great. So let's go."

Raph and Talia started to walk, but April stayed where she was. She kept looking around the room, as if she were looking for a lost valuable. Her lingering made Talia notice, who lightly tugged her forearm.

"What's wrong?" Talia asked, a layer of concern covering her voice.

Whatever April was thinking, she snapped out of it. A brief pause and then, "Nevermind," she decided. She muttered a brief saying before heading past Talia.

The staircase leading downstairs was easy enough to find, but nobody attempted to take the first step down. The trio only traded looks at each other, even coughing as an indicator that someone should go forward.

"Um, you go first," April said to Raph, shoving him forward. "Just to check if it isn't boobytrapped or anything."

Raph rolled his eyes. "Whatever happened to ladies' first?"

"That rule doesn't apply here in a drug laboratory. If something happens, Talia and I will know at least what to expect."

Another eye-roll. Talia figured this was one of Raph's favorite gestures, but she couldn't help being a little concerned. If he rolled his eyes so much, wouldn't they eventually get stuck in the back of his head? And then what? How would he roll his eyes again?

Making her way downstairs had Talia's heart feeling like a ticking time bomb, in which detonation would surely cause panic to spread to every inch of her body. Staring at the descending darkness ahead had her mind playing tricks on her, thinking that more and more stairs were added per minute, thus making the journey to get to the basement seem like forever. There were also no light sconces to illuminate the way, so the team had to rely on April's phone flashlight. But even that tiny source of light served no good to Talia, who still felt like the darkness would snatch her away and turn her into a shadow.

When the trio stepped off the last stair, they saw it right in front of them: a door— their last door— the door that possibly contained their last hope for answers. Talia took a step toward the door and reached her hand out for the knob, only stopping when her fingers grazed the cold metal. She didn't— in fact, no one didn't— knew what could be on the other side of the door. It could be anything. She wasn't sure why a second ago she wanted to rip the door from its hinges and take everything that was inside, but now she was feeling hesitant.

"Are you going to open the door or just keep staring at it?" Raph said.

He was right. Talia couldn't remain standing there and complement whether to go with the plan or not. A mission was a mission. She had to see it through to the end.

Talia turned the knob and threw the door open. April felt her hand against the wall for a switch, found it, and flipped it on. The basement was immediately lit up by a fluorescent ceiling fan, revealing rows of lab tables racked of equipment one would see in a chemical lab— Bunsen burners, tongs, test tube racks, flasks, syringes, and various glassware. In the corner, two steel pots were being heated on top of a propane gas stove. When Talia got closer, the strong chemical smell almost knocked her flat on her butt. She peered over one of the pots and inside saw a dark liquid boiling.

"They're trying to be Breaking Bad so badly," April scoffed.

"Breaking Bad?" Talia said.

"Yeah, where the main protagonist turns to the meth business after being diagnosed with lung cancer. I'll have to make you watch it with me someday."

The three split up to cover more area. April thought it was a good idea to record everything she saw. Talia went to a particular lab table, so far seeing nothing of interest. It was only until she got to the end of the table where she saw it: a green powdery substance sealed tightly in a clear bag. One couldn't tell what exactly it was or if it's even a drug at all, but it had to be significant.

"I think I found something," Talia announced. She held up the tiny plastic bag.

"Finally some good news." Raph stopped checking out his lab table. "See? I told you it would be an in-and-out job."

Talia felt herself smile. She was just happy they found another lead, another piece of the puzzle.

Just as they were about to leave, however, they heard distant footsteps that only grew louder, coming in their direction. Talia felt her heart drop. Of course some chemist was going to come back here and resume their work. And of course, they just happened to return when her and her friends were about to leave!

Talia forced herself to calm down. "It's alright," she murmured. "Maybe whoever is coming will just be here for a few minutes."

"I guess a team always has to have an optimist, am I right?" Raph muttered.

Talia quickly rushed to turn off the light and hide behind a stack of boxes that were piled up quite high, allowing the perfect cover. Raph and April did the same. Dreadful seconds go by before the trio heard the door open. In the total darkness, no one could tell who it was. That all changed when a voice said:

"We're moving as fast as we can, I swear."

Talia covered her mouth to suppress her gasp. There had to be a mistake. Her ears must have a hearing problem because there was no way the person who just spoke could be here.

April must've sensed the change in Talia because she whispered, "Who is it?" But Talia kept her mouth shut, unable to string any words together.

"Clearly not fast enough," a different voice, one that had a foreign accent, said. "My master didn't pay millions just for this deal to be delayed."

"You know that's not our fault," the first voice tried to keep steady. "You know that the original formula was-"

"Tell me: what do you do when a door closes in front of you?"

"Well-"

"You open it back up. That's how doors work. What happened with the original formula for this drug is not my problem. You work for The Count, which also means you work for my master, too. Do you want to know what happens to people who don't give my master results?"

"L-Look," the first voice stammered, "I don't want to disappoint The Count or your master. We want to produce the best results, which is why the development of this drug is taking a little longer than expected. It will be all worth it in the end, I promise."

"We'll see. But I didn't come all the way here just to tell you that. Why did you agree to meet up with Talia Elbaz that day when my master told you to do the exact opposite?"

"She came up to me, okay? I didn't have a choice."

"Because of you she came snooping around Genesis's warehouse. You know, it would be absolutely tragic if something happened to Talia. Imagine the headlines: 'heartbroken teenager dies of an overdose, just weeks after her mother's death. Police rule it as a suicide.' Is that really what you want? Her death on your conscience?"

The foreign voice may have spoken calmly, but Talia still heard an edge of deadliness to it, like a knife inching closer and closer to someone's throat. After all, the most deadliest threats are the ones that sound the most subtle.

"Talia doesn't know anything, I swear," the first voice swallowed. "Nothing was left in that warehouse."

"I wouldn't count on that, but for future notice, make sure she stays out of the way. Or else Talia won't be the only one who'll need funeral donations."

"I. . . I understand."

"My master will be leaving from Japan soon. The drug better be ready by then, Ms. Singh."

"You'll see to it that it will."

April and Raph's minds drew blanks. Singh?

That was when a loud ringing sound erupted all of a sudden. Talia froze up and blinked stupidly, her mouth open wide. As it turned out, it was coming from April's phone, in which the redhead slowly took it out from her pocket and stared at it in disbelief.

"Even I would've turned my phone off," Raph said curtly.

There was no time to lose. Talia knew they were busted and they had to get out as quickly as they could. Fortunately, Raph had one more smoke bomb left and used it to provide cover for him, April, and Talia. As soon as they left the basement, a blaring alarm hit their eardrums, forcing the trio to cover their ears as they navigated through the uprising chaos.

One scientist burst out of his room and grabbed Talia by the sleeve. The scientist had a firm grip, so it wasn't something Talia had an easy job squirming herself out of.

"Um, guys? Help!" Talia cried, her attempts becoming more and more frantic.

Raph kicked the scientist in the face, freeing Talia from his grasp, but the amount of force in the scientist's hand allowed him to rip a chunk of Talia's lace sleeve. The trio ran like fire to make it to the roof deck. They didn't look back. They didn't dare to.

At last, they made it outside. Maybe it was the adrenaline pumping in her veins, but Talia climbed down the fire escape faster than a bear climbing down a tree and sprinted toward Donnie's Buick. Once she and her friends got in, Raph reversed and stepped on it.

"Okay, what the hell was that?" Raph used one hand to remove his mask. He spared a second to glare at April.

"I get it, alright?! It's my fucking fault!" April snapped. "He never calls me around this time. . . he never does. . ."

Talia kept shaking her head back and forth, hyperventilating. This can't be. This can't be. This can't be.

"You know who this Singh person is?" Raph demanded.

Talia couldn't think anymore. It was like metal bands wrapped themselves around her brain and threatened to squeeze it into bits. She had lost the ability to calculate seconds or minutes.

"It suddenly makes sense." Talia sounded hollow, lost. Hurt. "Why she avoided me after the funeral. . . led me to the warehouse. . ."

There was a moment of silence before Talia opened her mouth and then said in a resolute, yet dry voice: "One of the people we heard in the basement was Priya, my mom's best friend."