Bad Signs

I walked down the hall and by the kitchen last night getting ready for bed, "Aleck, you ready?" I heard Vander say. I assumed they were making dessert, but then I remembered that Aleck was at the store. "Aleck?" he asked again. I peeked around the corner. Vanderdecken sat on a wooden chair, with his arms held back behind it. "Aleck, where are you?" he looked back behind himself and realized Aleck wasn't there. Sighing in confusion, he looked up at me, and muttered something under his breath about Aleck starting without him. "OK, here we go, Ben."
"Huh?" was the only thing I could utter before he suddenly gave the impression of having to puke. He walked up to me kindly, and asked if he could use the bathroom. I nodded slightly, and he walked outside the door into the hall. Then he shoved me into the kitchen and took off toward the bedrooms.
I painfully got to my feet and followed after him, with an eery feeling of deja vu. His bedroom door was closed. "Ready? Turn of the lights now." I heard him say from inside as I approached the door. "Ben! How come the lights aren't off?" I stood at the door.
"Because the switch is on the inside..." I replied.
I could hear him pacing back and forth from the inside, "but I thought you could control them from there!"
"Oh no, you have to do that."
"Oh." he paced faster.
"Hey Vanderdecken..."
"Yes?"
"I think I'm forgetting something."
"Is it the voice duplicator?" he asked worriedly.
Then I realized. This was Operation Alchemy.
"Vandercken?"
"Do you have it?"
"Not yet, but listen, I'm going to come in. We need to talk first."
"No!" he yelled urgently as I opened the door, "we can't be caught. The cookie must be stopped!"
He yanked me through the door as soon as he saw me, then slammed it shut. Two seconds later, I found myself in a chokehold being administered by someone unable to perceive pain. "Vander, it's me." I croaked.
"Listen out there!" he shouted, ignoring my words, "I've got one of your own. So if you want him safe, you're going to let me go."
"Vanderdecken...I'm the only one...." he appeared to hear me, and weakened his hold, but then the front door opened.
"You despicable liar!" he yelled, "how dare you lie! Lying is evil. It hurts people!"
"Vanderdecken?" I heard Aleck run towards us.
"Aleck! Our plan has failed. We need a backup."
Aleck somehow detected immediately that the 'plan' VD12 was talking about was Operation Alchemy, and saw I was in immense pain. And, in fact, tears were streaming down my face. Not so much because of my struggle to gasp oxygen. No, but more because I knew I had lost my friend forever. "Abort the mission!" he said with an urgency never seen in him before, "forget it. Operation Alchemy is ended. Release the hostage."
Vanderdecken immediately released me and stood straight. "What are we to do now?"
Aleck hesitated before answering, another unusual trait, "They have given us this building as an expanded and temporary prison." he struggled to sound honest, "Unfortunately, it is completely sealed and inescapable..." he paused a few moments, "In fact, the one time I tried nearly led to my death. So we need to stay put, stay right here. And the best thing to do is watch the television." he tried to think of a reason why watching TV was good, "to, to keep up on current events. That way we'll be prepared when they release us" he winced at the unconvincing-ness of his voice.
"Well," VD12 sighed, taking the bait, "I don't want to get hurt. And we need to be alive to get the cookie, of course." Aleck and I heaved a sigh of relief, "Have any estimates on when we'll be freed from this prison?"
Aleck's eyes watered, and he rest his hand on Vander's shoulder, "Soon, my friend...very soon."
The moment Vanderdecken walked out of the room, Aleck buried his face in his hands, "Call Peter." he moaned.
I looked at him quizzically.
"Your debate friend." he explained, "I can't stand to lie to Vanderdecken12 again." he looked up at me, "And neither can you."