The Innocent Life of Valerie Vale

Elements

Elements

Aria was cold – wrapped in a frozen blanket of whistling wind and autumn air. Leaves were blown from the trees, they danced along the ground. They fluttered to the clouds above and descended on the lake. They floated on the water’s edge, the depths of which would take.

The campus now was busy as students rushed about. Their lives amass with gossip – with silly tales and simple things. That was how it had to be, the innocent needed peace. Had they known the truth, how would they react? Had they seen what she had seen, would their virtue be intact?

Aria moved so slowly, with every step considered. She tried her best to focus but she was far away. That memory of hers not long ago, haunted her heart still. Was Jack right? Was Valerie dead? Was she lost to them? She knew at heart that he was wrong, her death was not a fact – but without the help to save her friend, who was she to act?

‘Aria, hey, wait up...’ came a sudden voice from behind. Aria quickly turned around. Casper stood before her. He was out of breath, gulping in the air. ‘Hi...’ he said, breathing heavily still, ‘I... was, just over... there... and, I... saw... you.’

‘Hi,’ Aria replied, ‘are you ok?’ Casper didn’t answer. He was bent over, his hands against his knees. Finally he nodded in reply – he was fine indeed.

‘Yeah... good,’ he said at last, ‘I just ran... from over... science building... I, never mind... what’s up?’ Casper stood up straight, griping himself in pain – he’d given himself a stitch.

‘Yeah, I’m ok,’ Aria lied. What was she supposed to say? She could hardly tell him the truth? What was she to do? ‘I was just on my way to class,’ she lied again, ‘how’ve you been?’

‘Good, actually,’ he said, ‘eh, pretty busy actually... college is busy!’

‘Yeah, it is’ Aria replied, frowning slightly. Inside she was struggling for words.

‘I got that internship after all... yay,’ Casper said in a self deprecating tone, ‘so that’s been cool, I actually spend most evenings in the lab.’

‘Oh, the Finch building,’ Aria offered. She had gone to orientation. She was one of the few students who stayed awake as the President gave his speech. How proud he was of the building – what a boring speaker he made.

‘Yeah, eh... no actually,’ Casper corrected, ‘I study there sure, but the internship is over with Astra Tech in Chesham. I go there after class... a research facility, pretty high tech... it’s run by my professor, you remember the guy? The Japanese guy? Dr. Azakura?’

Aria shook her head. She was clueless. Why didn’t she remember these things? He must have thought she was stupid! ‘Wait, eh, yeah... of course... Azakura,’ she lied, pretending to remember now. ‘That’s cool!’

‘Yeah pretty cool,’ Casper said, ‘they have us working on all kinds of hypothetical problems. Sequencing made up DNA, multilayered genetic integration, digital coding...’ Casper realised he was losing her. ‘Anyway, I wanted to catch you because... well it’s been a while now and I still haven’t heard anything from Valerie? I just thought I’d ask you... you know, in case you’d seen her or...?’

‘Right,’ Aria said, ‘of course, yeah... I saw her, she’s fine.’

‘Really,’ Casper asked, ‘she is?’ Aria had surprised him.

‘Yeah... she’s fine, totally fine,’ Aria lied. It was becoming quite the habit. ‘She, went to stay with family... out of town, because of her house... and the fire and all, but yeah she’s ok.’

‘Wow,’ Casper said with a sigh of relief, ‘well I’m glad to hear that! Ha, I was actually pretty worried.’ He laughed nervously.

‘Yeah... no, don’t be, she’s ok,’ Aria said, shaking her head. ‘She...’ suddenly Aria froze. In the distance she noticed a man who was entirely out of place. Between the crowd of students, a man walked with pace. He wore sunglasses, bright clothes and had thick and messy hair. He had been the one – the attacker with the gun. He had taken Valerie, hurting her for fun. ‘Raul,’ she whispered softly.

‘Rawr, what’ Casper asked, ‘are you ok?’ Aria didn’t reply. Instead, she watched in silence as Raul approached a man. He was dressed in a suit, he was Asian and she had seen him before – Dr. Azakura, she remembered after all. ‘Rawr, like... tiger noise,’ Casper asked?

‘What,’ Aria replied, slowly snapping back. ‘No... never mind,’ she said, her eyes focusing on the men who were busy in discussion. ‘Casper, that’s your professor right,’ she asked, ‘Dr. Azakura... do you know who the other guy is?’

‘No, actually... I don’t,’ Casper said, turning around to look. ‘Mature student maybe?’

‘I don’t think so,’ Aria said. ‘Wait, where did you say your internship was?’

Casper looked confused. ‘Astra Tech, over in Chesham... it’s a subsidiary of Finch Industries, why?’

‘No reason,’ Aria replied, ‘forget I even asked.’ Aria squeezed his arm and kissed him on the cheek. ‘I gotta go,’ she said, as his legs felt weak.

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