Convergence

Chapter 14

Allafair lay on his back, staring at the warehouse ceiling. No one had spoken very much after Edmund had made his first vocal appearance. Even Gregory spoke little, cloaking the room in an eerie, unsettling quiet. Occasionally someone might cough, or shuffle about, but the day had gone on in a long, dreary silence broken only by Eloise's declaration of a switch of the guard. Allafair was lucky to find a watch amongst the supplies scattered around the warehouse and used it to mark the time at which the guards switched. He hoped that this information might help him when he formed a plan of escape.

Allafair shifted beneath his blankets and checked the time. His watch read 11:44 P.M. Ever since he had laid down to sleep, Allafair had been unable to drift off. He seemed to be stuck there in the warehouse, able to think only of the fact that he could not leave. This was not one of his missions where all he had to do was punch a few things, then press the device in his ear to summon reinforcements. He was trapped. Locked in a room filled with people who despised one another and refused to work together. The idea of freedom seemed a joke.

The sound of feet moving across the cold floor called Allafair away from his thoughts. He propped himself up on his elbows and squinted into the darkness while a shiver crawled down his spine. He reached out to his side and fumbled about for the sweater he had procured earlier. As he pulled it over his head, Allafair kicked the blankets to his feet as quietly as he could. He slipped a pair of socks over his feet, then, carefully, rose to his feet.

He tried to keep low as he searched for the source of the movement. He finally spotted the outline of woman moving across the warehouse. She appeared to be headed towards the heavy door of the warehouse. Suddenly, she froze, and Allafair was seized by the fear that she had seen him, but when she continued to move towards the door, he sighed in relief.

He followed from a distance, hoping to get close enough to the door that he could watch her. Allafair spotted a pile of crates near the door and made his way towards it. He slipped into his hiding place and waited. After a few moments, he was startled by the sound of metal grinding against metal, and he realized that the door was opening. Confusion knit his eyebrows together and he strained his neck towards the sound.

"What do you want?" a man's voice said in a low and harsh tone. Allafair's confusion was deepened when the voice sounded something like Edmund Crockett's only much clearer.

"I want out," came the man's answer. Allafair's throat tightened when he heard Melline's voice speak.

"Out? I can't let you out," Edmund replied.

"Why not? I've done your dirty work. You have them all here. Why can't I just go?" Melline said angrily. "I want to put this all behind me, disappear..."

"You can't disappear, Melline, you have an addiction," Edmund told her with what seemed like a smile in his voice.

"I can at least get away from here...away from you," Melline spat back.

"What about your Allafair?" Edmund asked. "You would leave him here to suffer with the others?"

Melline didn't answer for a few moments. "He is lost to me and you know it," she finally said. "And that's your fault."

Edmund scoffed. "How is any of this my fault? You manipulate and hurt people for a living, it was only a matter of time before they realized that you can't be trusted...or loved," Edmund said.

"I could have had Allafair back if you hadn't stuck your nose into my business!" Melline said, her voice raising ever so slightly. The noise caused a stir of movement from somewhere in the warehouse.

"Hush, you might wake them," Edmund said. After a long while of silence, he spoke again. "Melline, go back to sleep. You have a lot of work to do in the morning." With that, the heavy door closed, and all was silent.