Read Battlefield for Free Online

Lead the way,” JD said.
    â€œRight,” Orlando mumbled and made a weak hand gesture for them to follow him inside. JD had a hard time keeping up with him because every so many feet he’d stop to gawk at something: the crystal light fixtures, the marble floors; it was all like something out of a fairytale for him.
    â€œI can give you a grand tour after we eat if you want. Then you can be amazed and stare as much as you want, but I’m kind of hungry,” Orlando said.
    â€œSorry.” JD bit his lip and tried to contain his curiosity for later.
    There was grilled cheese waiting for them in the kitchen, and he was pretty sure there were cookies in the oven, too.
    â€œI didn’t realize you liked us enough to bake,” JD said as he grabbed a couple of sandwiches and poured himself a glass of lemonade.
    â€œHate to disappoint you, but my sister made lunch.”
    JD and Cadence exchanged a glance and shrugged. Conversation was weak at the table while they ate, but they were only there for business anyway.
    â€œSo where are we going to work on this? Do you have a place where we won’t be bothered by any unwanted visitors?” Cadence asked.
    â€œOf course.” Orlando flashed her a smile as he collected the used plates. “Lyssa is good about keeping her nose out of where it doesn’t belong, but there are a few nooks and corners she doesn’t know exist. My dad, when he designed the building, littered this place with secret passages going all over the place. I know a good one. It goes to a completely separate wing of the house. She doesn’t know how to get there.”
    Orlando led them through the hallways, down the stairs to the basement level, and into a bland, dirty, and spider-covered storage closet.
    â€œAnd you found this how?” JD asked with wide eyes, a tingle of excitement running down his spine. An entire secret wing to this mansion? He’d always wanted to live in a house with secret passages. Now his jealousy was doubled.
    Orlando rubbed at the back of his head, glancing back at the other two. “Random chance.”
    â€œThis is gross,” Cadence said. “Like really gross and unsanitary.” She picked a spiderweb from her hair and checked to make sure no creepy eight-legged beasts were crawling on her.
    Orlando stared at her with a raised eyebrow. “And I was looking for spiders so I could continue to practice my black magic,” his voice rich with sarcasm once more. “Actually, I have a den not too far away from here that I’ll hang out in sometimes. I was playing around with a ball, and it rolled in here and to the back.” He motioned for them to come closer. “When I picked it up, I found this.” He pointed towards a barely visible crack in the wall.
    It would have looked natural, but when they followed the crack for long enough, they found it separated into the shape of a square exactly five inches by five inches, on a set of hinges. Orlando demonstrated how to open it, and inside was a small lever. After he pulled it, a section of the wall released for easy maneuvering.
    â€œI got curious.” He gestured for them to go through first.
    â€œThis kind of makes me feel like I’m in a horror movie,” JD said as he walked through the wall and stepped into a tight hallway made of cement blocks.
    â€œYeah, you caught me. I’m a serial killer who likes to collect shrunken heads. You better run away as fast as you can,” Orlando said as he closed the wall behind them. He gave JD a nudge forward. “There’s nowhere to go except to the other side.”
    The hallway itself was fairly long. It went the rest of the length of the house and then turned left. Almost immediately after the turn was a door with a keypad lock. Orlando entered the code and opened the door. On the other side was a completely empty room the size of Cadence’s one thousand square feet, two-bedroom