The Esoteric Design Page 19

  “You’re not going to your apartment?” she asked solemnly.

  “No.” He rocked back and forth on his heels, his dress shoes clacking against the cement. “I’m gonna go check up on Dovian, see if I can’t get him out of there today. Besides, Mr. Clarke wanted to see me anyway, and he told me to meet him in the detaining facility.”

  “Should I go with you?”

  “Naw.” Troy gave her a reassuring smile as he loosened his tie. “He said to let you get some rest for a change.”

  The elevators swung open simultaneously. Aria began to enter, but Troy stopped her.

  “But I’ll stop by later tonight, alright?” He gave her his boyish grin as he handed her the colorful sack. “To have a little celebration?”

  Aria fought back a smile and reluctantly took the package from his hands. “Am I the only one that forgot today was my birthday?” She looked inside and pulled out a large bottle with a homemade label titled ‘Majestic.’ It was her favorite neon-blue drink she always ordered at the bar and grille.

  “Well…I was reminded of it constantly the past few weeks,” Troy faltered. “But don’t drink all of it before I get there!”

  “How did you find this?” She gave him a curious look. The bottle didn’t look professionally wrapped or designed.

  “Uh, I pulled a few strings with the bartender at Chester’s. He mixed me up a whole bottle himself for you.” Troy nervously scratched the hairs on his chin.

  Aria looked at the blue liquid and ran her fingers over the homemade label and cork, no doubt made by Troy himself. She giggled quietly to herself. It was one of the most unique gifts she had ever received.

  “If I can get Dovian out of there, I’ll bring him by, too.”

  “Thank you, Troy.” Aria lifted her eyes to his.

  The man stared back at her with the corner of his mouth slightly quirked. “Erm, no problem. Happy birthday. I’ll see you later.” He quickly moved into his elevator and gave a small wave as he shut the doors.

  Aria watched his elevator sink back into the chute and fly horizontally toward Bio-Tech. She then boarded hers and rode it in a similar fashion to the side and then upwards to the 60th floor. She stared blankly out the glass windows, passing by the cranes and construction beams that had been placed in preparation for reconstruction of the upper floors of the building. Apparently, the safety nets had been rather successful and had kept most of the building intact. It only took a day to get the power back on and to get the structure secure enough to allow people back into the building. Unfortunately, no one was allowed much past the 60th floor due to recovery and removal of bodies and debris. The place was rather depressing, but once the elevator opened to housing, Aria sighed with relief. She was home. Making her way to her apartment door, she swiped her wrist and entered the cozy residence. The smell of coffee invaded her senses, and she felt her nerves calm a bit as she removed her military trench and slipped off her tall black heels.

  “I still think that is a lovely dress and suits you very well,” Ivory called from the hallway.

  Aria didn’t respond but gave the other woman a small smile in return. She wasn’t used to being around women, let alone having one live with her, but Ivory was different than most. She was kind and sweet and was the first female Aria had ever met that she didn’t feel somehow threatened by. Aria took a seat at the bar before the kitchen. The blonde woman walked quickly, nearly on her bare tiptoes, into the room. She was wearing a pair of Aria’s shorts, appearing very short on the female’s long, pale legs, and a baby-blue t-shirt. This was also the first time Aria ever had to share clothes with another person. Once things calmed down, Aria would have to take Ivory out shopping for some better fitting garments.

  “Aren’t you cold?” Aria asked.

  “No.” Ivory shook her head. “I’m fine. Coffee?” she asked cheerfully as she handed Aria a mug of the chocolaty brew.

  “Thanks.” She tasted it and raised a brow. “How’d you know I like it this way?”

  “Well, I was looking at the settings on the refrigerator and noticed your grocery order. It seemed every month you restocked on that kind, so I assumed it was safe to say that was your favorite.” Ivory beamed.

  Ivory seemed to have good skills of deduction, that’s for sure, especially since in order to look at Aria’s grocery order, one would need to enter a passcode.

  “Oh, look! What a pretty sack!” Ivory pointed at the bag sitting on the bar beside Aria.

  Aria scoffed. “Oh, yeah. It’s got some gifts inside.” She pulled out the blue bottle of liquor and the tiny black box.

  “Oh, wow! Look at that color! Is that a drink?” Ivory leaned in close. The glow of the liquid reflected in the woman’s blue eyes.

  “Yes, one of my favorites. We will have some later with Troy if you’d like.”

  “Troy will be visiting? How lovely! What’s the occasion?” The woman swayed back and forth, resting her elbows on the countertop.

  “Um,” Aria hesitated, watching Ivory pick up the black box, “I guess it’s my birthday today.”

  “It’s your birthday?! You didn’t tell me that!” The slender woman placed her hands on her hips. “Gosh! I need to make you a cake, don’t I? How exciting!”

  Aria sighed. This woman had far too much energy. And judging by the look of things, Ivory had cleaned the entire apartment while Aria was away. Maybe she was worth keeping. It made the older woman feel bad for making her stay inside the apartment all day, but it was for her own safety. Even though they lived in a military complex, Ivory was still subject to being harassed by others due to her appearance. And though Aria barely knew the woman, she already felt a bit protective of her, like she was Ivory’s big sister though Aria was shorter, but that didn’t matter. The thought was a little appealing. Aria never had a sibling but always wanted one when she was younger.

  “Oh, look! It’s a kitty cat! How cute!” Ivory’s cheerful voice drew Aria’s attention back to the woman. “And its tail moves!” She giggled like a child as her finger flicked the cat charm’s tail back and forth. “Did Troy get this for you?”

  “Um, no,” Aria mumbled cautiously. “Gavin did. Well, his mother did. She said he had bought it for me. He was initially going to give it to me today, I guess.”

  “Oh.” Ivory lowered her head and set the necklace on the countertop. Her pink-lipped smile quickly turned upside-down. “That’s sad.”

  “It’s Okay,” Aria said quickly, closing the black box.

  “Don’t do that!” Ivory grabbed the box and opened it again, removing the piece of jewelry. “You should wear it! It’s terribly cute! Besides, its green eyes match yours!” The blonde walked behind the other woman, placing the silver item around her neck before clasping it.

  Aria looked down, running her finger over the happy fat cat resting against her collar bone.

  “See? It looks good on you!” Ivory clapped her hands. She then decided to change the subject. “Oh, I love this! Here, let’s make it a cheerful day!”

  Ivory made her way to the large floor-to-ceiling window inside the kitchen. She placed her hand against the glass and pulled the weather map up. The forecast was sunny with a chance of rain–fabricated rain–later in the night. After a couple clicks and pokes, Ivory made the whole expanse of the kitchen wall fade into a bright-green pasture surrounded by blue skies and puffy white clouds, much like how the outside world was supposed to look.

  “Beautiful, right?” The younger woman grinned as she filled her mug with more coffee.

  Aria nodded slowly and sipped from her own. It was going to be a long day, especially if Ivory had one more pot of the caffeine-enhanced brew. She would have to remember to tell the ditzy woman the hazards of having too much of the stuff.

  “How’s he been?” Troy asked James. Everything was black in the room outside of the dull beams of light that bordered the giant, horizontal one-way mirror.

  “Well, he’s been surprisingly cooperative…until this morning.”

/>   Troy approached the bulletproof window of the detaining room. Inside was a metal table with a matching chair. The brilliant white walls reflected light from the glass-tiled backlit floor and ceiling. Dovian sat in the center of the room with his arms bent behind the backside of the chair and cuffed. His hair was slightly disheveled; his eyes were fixated into a contemplative glare, smoldering in an electric heat.

  “You have him handcuffed?” Troy asked. “But you said he’s been cooperative.”

  “He was until he threatened a guard this morning and nearly shoved him through the glass.” Mr. Clarke pointed to the edge of the mirror on the left side. It was splintered with cracks.

  Troy sighed. “What happened?”

  “Well, for the past couple days we’ve been asking questions about who he is and where he came from. He’s been good at giving answers but leaving out the whole story. He likes to shroud himself in mystery and seems to hold quite the revulsion for all of us though he’s good at revealing it in a condescending manner with a smile.” James smirked to himself.

  “Yeah, well, that’s Dovian for you.”

  “Some of the police have been riled up. A lot of them seem to think he’s the one responsible for this whole mess. They’ve been blaming and trying all the reverse psychology they can on him, but Dovian only proves his greater intelligence each time by throwing the hypocrisies back in their faces. He’s good at making one feel like quite the sinner.” Clarke shook his head and added with amusement, “Even I felt like I needed to confess when talking to him. But some are taking offense to his antics. This morning, one of the guards who were keeping watch in the room with Dovian kept prying for answers. Dovian responded simply, but you could see he was getting angry when the man started mocking his religion. The idiot was trying to measure up, said some rather uncouth things to Dovian about his beliefs, and that’s when the Sorcēarian moved from his seat to the guard and smashed against the window. All within a blink of an eye mind you.” The President laughed to himself. “It was actually quite the show. It took five men to pull him away. But, once he was calmed, he gladly accepted the handcuffs.”

  “I’m glad mocking him is entertaining, sir,” Troy muttered.

  “I am not amused by the behavior of my men. I agree it was uncalled for. The officer was promptly demoted and is on probation for his verbal taunts.” James straightened his posture.

  “Not to sound like he’s a pet of some kind, but can I keep him?” Troy asked, watching the Sorcēarian through the glass. Dovian seemed to be staring back, a smile spreading on his face.

  “I’m working on that. Mr. Walten has requested all video feed of this interrogation. He’s also had General Feyette observing everything.” James nudged toward the opposite side of the room where Feyette was on guard, arms crossed. The man stood tall and proud wearing his military suit, all his adornments covering his sleeve. His hat was tilted slightly on his head, covering his dark hair and chocolate eyes, and casted a shadow over his hard, frowning face. Coupled with his black military dress and abnormally dark skin, Feyette was often dubbed as Walten’s shadow, his cold visage fitting the role of his nickname.

  “What does Walten want with all this? Isn’t this kind of a top-secret matter?” Troy eyeballed the statuesque Feyette. “And you know how I feel about that guy.”

  “Walten believes he has the right to know everything that’s going on with his company. Feyette’s his lapdog and does everything Walten commands. He also keeps no secrets.” James spoke quietly near Troy’s ear. “I’m not sure what’s going on, but I feel like those two are hiding something or know more than they are letting on about this situation. Rumor has it that there were some coded files missing the other day from Dr. Camery’s lab. I’m not sure which ones exactly, but now they are magically secure and back in place.”

  “I’m not liking the sound of this.” Troy eyed Dovian. The white-haired man moved his cuffed hand from side to side, waving a hello to the soldier.

  “It’s like he knows you’re here.” James gave a curious look.

  “He probably does.” Troy shrugged carelessly.

  “Strange….” Mr. Clarke watched Dovian through the glass an extra moment before returning his attention to Troy. “Anyway, I believe you should keep your friend close by. He’s been asking us about our progress on this investigation, and we have to keep lying to him though I think he sees through all of it.”

  “And how are we doing?” Troy asked.

  “Not good. We can’t seem to sniff them out. More and more attacks occur each day around the world, and they are all random. There’s no way to tell where they are coming from.” Clarke frowned. “Dovian seems very concerned and eager to leave now. I’ll let him out if I can keep the doctors away from him.”

  “What have they been doing to him?”

  “Taking blood samples, doing physicals, measuring brainwave activity, stuff like that.”

  “No drugs, right?”

  “No. But they have been making him fast.”

  “Fasting? Why?!” Troy squeezed the bridge of his nose.

  “Not sure. Probably to keep track of the effects of dehydration and lack of nourishment.”

  “When was the last time he ate or drank anything?” Troy asked with anger.

  “Once since he’s been in here. They gave him a small meal with a glass of water, took a blood sample, and have come in every day since to see the effects. Strangely, he’ll show signs of hunger and thirst by the end of the night, but when he awakes the next day, everything seems replenished and back in good standing!”

  “That’s not surprising,” Troy scoffed. “Why are they running such stupid tests? He’s not a lab rat!”

  “Don’t ask me. Walten’s orders.” Clarke shrugged his shoulders.

  “Please get him out,” the soldier requested with irritation. “It’s Aria’s birthday today, and I don’t want to give her any more bad news. Can I just take him home?” he asked quietly, feeling Feyette’s burning gaze upon him.

  “I’ll let you take him. I’ll deal with Walten, but I suggest you guys keep on the down-low. Try to get out of here as soon as you can. I’ll say you’re leading the investigation. I think he’s gotten wind that Aria’s got that girl.”

  “What’s going on here?” Troy whispered.

  “I don’t know, but I fear for your friend’s safety. Walten’s got a whole other investigation going on behind my back, and there’s nothing I can do about it. Usually, I’d abide by all the rules, but with you and Aria being involved…I worry things may get out of hand.”

  “I hear ya.” Troy nodded.

  “I’m letting the detainee go. Please let Mr. Moreau through,” Mr. Clarke ordered to Feyette. The general remained still before the door.

  Troy trudged over to the man and waited impatiently. The two looked each other up and down.

  “Please?” Troy asked sweetly between his teeth.

  “By Mr. Walten’s orders,” Clarke said in a deep tone.

  Feyette stood his ground momentarily before finally stepping to the side.

  “Good boy,” Troy said mockingly before slipping through the sliding door into the detaining room.

  “I wondered how much longer I was going to be sitting in this horrible, filthy place,” Dovian muttered, looking over his shoulder to peek at Troy. A sideways smile crossed his face.

  “Yeah, well, someone’s been causing trouble, so I get to take you home now. Playtime’s over.” Troy bent down to remove the cuffs from Dovian’s wrists. He cringed at the purple and black marks left by the restraints.

  The Sorcēarian laughed. “You heard about that?”

  “Kind of hard to miss the shattered glass that’s supposed to be bulletproof.”

  Dovian stood, facing Troy. “Aw, but I only broke a couple of his ribs.”

  “Jeez, Dovian. Please behave yourself. These guys already think you’re the cause of this whole mess,” Troy whispered to the taller man.

  “I’ve given them no reason to
believe so. My attack was with rightful cause.”

  “That doesn’t matter. You can’t just do that to police officers.” Troy led the tall man through the door, making sure to stand between him and Feyette as they exited the room. Dovian held his hand outwards toward Feyette waving his fingers impatiently.

  “Your weapon will continue to be detained for further analysis,” Feyette’s deep voice commanded.

  Dovian glared heatedly upon the general.

  “Give him his staff,” James ordered with annoyance.

  Feyette huffily opened the large locker beside him and retrieved Dovian’s weapon and shoved it into his hands. Dovian gave a cockeyed smirk to the President to which he nodded in response. Rushing to the elevator, Troy punched the button for the doors, waiting in aggravation for it to climb the levels.

  “Police officers are also not supposed to provoke,” Dovian continued the argument before entering the elevator. He laughed to himself as he rubbed his wrists. Troy frowned at the man. “Funny…they thought that would keep me from attacking.” He met Feyette’s angry stare as the doors closed silently.

  “You’re going to be the death of me,” Troy sighed irritably.

  “Or, I could be your savior.” Dovian smirked.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Hm,” he chuckled. “You will see, I suppose.”

  “You make me nervous, you know that?” The soldier eyed the Sorcēarian and then the city surrounding the glass elevator. The scene was already dark, the skyscrapers blocking out the sun.

  “As every human should be.”

  “Stop it.” Troy pointed a finger.

  “What?”

  “Your smugness. You need to learn to socialize with people.”

  “You’re surprised by my lack of social skills after I’ve been alone for thousands of years?” The Sorcēarian gave him a sly smile.