Deception (Axyl, #1)

Chapter Five (unedited)

A/N: Okay, so I wanted to put this up right now and the editor I chose for this chapter is taking a while with the editing and constructive criticism. It's also a short chapter, and I want to add some things to it, but here you go! I hope you enjoy.

Oceania turned around from where she was standing, squinting over at the dark brown head as it came bobbing over to her. The darkness of the hallways didn’t interrupt her vision as it easily came to get used to it. She reached over, pressing the cold button on the elevator doors, holding it open for the other girl as she came into sight. The button was deathly cold under her grip, but she didn’t mind. She just kept her hand on the button, oblivious to the fact that it was cold.

Kaylie smiled as she entered the elevators, looking over at Oceania. “How are you doing?” she asked her, raising her eyebrows. Oceania could remember the time when she had first met Kaylie when she had first entered the corporation. That time had been a memorable one for Oceania. She smiled at the thought.

Oceania leaned against the back of the elevator wall, releasing her hold on the door and looked at the older woman in front of her. The red carpeted walls around them surrounded Oceania’s view of the compartment. Her heart started to beat faster and faster, and she took a deep breath, giving Kaylie a smile.

“I’m fine,” she told her with a little giggle. “How are you?”

“I’m pretty alright.”

Oceania nodded, running her hand through her hair. “That’s good to hear,” she said. Her mind started to wander.  “What are we going to do today?” They had always done about four things in the position that she was in: spy, investigate, corrupt, and research. Oceania always loved the first thing—spying—since she could always stay busy. With the other three things, they always got boring to her because she just sat around doing mindless things.

Kaylie gave Oceania a little shrug, her lips twitching up in a smile. “I thought we’d do some research about the DeLani family,” she suggested.

Oceania laughed, her eyes sparkling into Kaylie’s own brown eyes. “More?” Oceania already knew a lot about the DeLani family. Of course she would, they were the royal family of the world. Why wouldn’t she know them? Oceania’s first word, even, was probably DeLani or royal family. Her stomach clenched up at the thought of doing even more research about them.

Kaylie gave Oceania a small wink. “Yes,” she said, nodding, “but probably not the kind of information that you’re used to.” Kaylie stepped out of the elevator and strode over to her headquarters on the far left door of the hallway in front of them, her feet brushing against the green carpet underneath her.

Oceania furrowed her eyebrows together as she gingerly took a step out into the empty, pure hallway. There were pictures on the sides of the halls, which were illegal, but Oceania paid no attention to it. She had seen a lot of illegal things at the corporation, so it never really bothered her anymore than it used to. Her hands skimmed the white walls, trailing them behind her as she followed Kaylie over to the headquarters, peering into the sudden brightness of the halls. A window at the end of the hall infiltrated the hallway with light, and overhead lights above her helped boost the velocity of the brightness. Oceania’s eyes started to sting and she raised her hand, wiping away some of the tears that spilled over the waterline.

As Oceania glanced back down at the hall in front of her, she captured a black mop of hair. The hairs on her arms started prickling up as she narrowed her gaze, taking a step over closer to the black hair.

It disappeared from sight.

Oceania jumped before she started to move faster over to the headquarters, almost sprinting into the room and closed the door behind her. That was weird, she thought to herself. Had she just hallucinated? Who had that been? But she didn’t put much thought to it as she strode over to one of the red velvet chairs in the middle of the room, looking up at the tablet in front of her.