-Griffin King -
As the hours ticked on and I'd finished with a quick patrol outside to make sure there weren't any foul scents nearby, I returned to the gateway to a stronger smell of chemicals than usual. I frowned, moving up the stairs and looking in to the kitchen, no dust, no prints. Garner kept everything meticulous usually anyway, but every smell was drowned out with industrial bleach which burned up my nose strong enough to make me light headed. I checked in at my door, my bedding had been removed, even the mattress. The strong smell present here, too. A little suitcase at the mouth of my door, I assumed all my clothes were in it. Any of my weapons had been removed from the room already. I picked up the case and kept walking down the hall.
Under different circumstances, perhaps I wouldn't feel as much dread. But the pit of my stomach was carved up with it. I moved on, Garner's room, and Rin's, had been treated the same way. Only no suitcase. I didn't touch anything, I knew what was happening. Going into the lab, a good deal of equipment had been packed up into metal cases. There were still many things out, ringing with the scent of bleach and clean of any prints. The safe was already open, the ReGenisis serums packed up.
Garner appeared from inside the elevator, barely glancing at me. "Got your suitcase with you?"
I didn't respond, except for picking up one of the metal cases in my other hand and placing it down in the lift. "Got the weapons somewhere accessible?"
"Those you may need, yes. Most of them are already in the van." Nicodemus muttered, preoccupied with carrying another metal case over to the lift. I helped him with the last two and we both stood in silence inside the elevator as it whirred down into the Sanctuary.
We moved quickly into the garage, a room within the Sanctuary with our own acquired armoured van and a long tunnel way out. In case we ever had to move location. I helped load up the van, securing the metal cases in place with care. There was still room for seventeen of the Sanctuary's residence to fit in at a squeeze, but the ride would be more than a little tortuous for some of them.
Geoff wouldn't be thrilled to scrunch up amongst the others, a full time baby-sitter who believes he is better than his work, but cannot do much else, having his own hypersensitivity to light. He was the useful kind of useless, fortunately, and as much as he disliked caring for those in need he would no sooner do them any harm. One of the reasons he ended up amongst the unwanted; he disliked getting his hands dirty. For a new and inexperienced lab-coat working in Trinity Science this was not an option. So in one of Doctor Daniels' fits of frustration, he took an incomplete serum to Geoff's neck some seven years ago. But it didn't kill him or shift him into some deranged killer or even a fearful, subservient who would get their hands dirty to avoid more similar situations or having bright light flashed in his face. Geoff became better at stubbornly digging his heels in. He'd experienced enough pain not to care. Instead of kill him back then, he was simply locked away to go insane or lose himself enough to pledge loyalty to T.S. When they realised that it was not going to work, he was tossed into the pile of unwanted ones to be beheaded and burned like disease infected cattle.
The day we broke with Trinity Science, I hadn't even known his story. I had never met him, as he'd been in solitary with nothing but his own mind and protein pellets to go on with. Yet, I never would have if Rin hadn't started asking questions and making plans. Many of the unwanted, that I had yet to meet at the time, would have had their stories end and then buried six feet deep in lies. Forgotten before they could even be known.
* * *
Molly greeted us on the way back into the Sanctuary's halls. Her bright eyes glistening anxiously, she hugged me the moment she saw me. She'd likely miss this place, it had been our home for three years. That we hadn't had to move sooner was a miracle.
"I don't think Nicodemus is waiting to see if Kate returns when Rin does." As she spoke, her half deformed mouth quivered, more so on the side that drooped down from the burns.
"I don't think he's waiting for Rin either." I murmured low, trying not to look her in the eyes. But peripheral vision is a bitch when you wish to avoid seeing panic and pain. I tried to focus it on Nicodemus, who passed us on the way to start gathering occupants together. The least affected and those not so easily distressed, to begin with. His muscles had stiffened at my words, but he acted as if his ears had not picked up on them.
Molly shivered back, staring after him, too. "Why wouldn't he wait for Rin?" The strain in her voice enough to make me regret suggesting it to her.
What violet light there was in the hall flicked out as Nicodemus turned them off. Molly automatically searched me out in the dark, unable to see for a moment, until she dug into her dress pocket and pulled out night vision glasses for occasions such as this.
"I think we should concentrate on getting people ready to leave." I put my hand on her shoulder, guiding her down the hall. Hopefully the work would keep both our minds busy. Because I didn't like the answer to the question either.
Geoff appeared along the hall, his most recent read tucked under his arm. "My, my, what an improvement." He took a long, deep inhalation, "darkness falls in the halls and I can finally see."
"Speak for yourself, I hate living like a mole." Molly crossed her arms, stepping away from me. "It was dark enough to begin with."
"Says she who has never seen the light. I saw it, it was dreadfully overrated." Geoff rolled his wide, cat like eyes with a heavy sigh.
"As is everything in your opinion. Death is a boring eventuality, life a tedious task. I'd rather look on the bright side and feel something instead of nothing at all." Molly's mind was forever on the bright side, even on her more delicate days. She was an innocent, but not one to be pushed around. She was not a killer, and thus not only was her being tossed out amongst the unwanted to cover up the reasons for her being given a new agonising life, but because she could not make herself a valuable asset. She was always just too... normal. Butchered in form, but not in being.
* * *
The van loaded up, everyone secure inside. Molly and I were just waiting for Nicodemus to be done rigging up the elevator and whatever else he intended to blow up to ensure that as little of our being here was left behind. Knowing him, nothing would happen until long after we'd vacated the premises. Assuming this whole thing was pre-emptive. He wasn't one to give people an early tip-off to our actions.
When we shut the door on the inside of the garage and pressed in a key-code Molly left me to get into the front of the truck. Not that it was a good idea, but there was no stopping her, especially as she was stubbornly concerned about the others having room in the back. As it was they were all sat on the mattresses from the beds upstairs. No other comforts or safety measures. I could still hear some of them wailing through the sound proofed metal. Mostly routine wailing, still it was disconcerting to listen to.
I approached Nicodemus where he lingered by the door. "How long did you have this move cooked up?" I glanced back at the van as the passenger side door clipped shut. Molly safely out of ear shot.
"Since we heard the name Firethorn." He brought his dull grey eyes up to me.
"We, so the fact you're leaving before Rin's back means she also knew exactly what was going to happen when she walked out of here with Kate?" My hands balled at my sides, teeth set on edge. "I can assume she made it clear she may not be coming back. But, what is it she may not be coming back from Garner?"
"She knew she'd have to trade Miss Andersen back to her father through Ides. It was just a matter of making sure someone was there to intercept the girl." Nicodemus flinched a little as my fist hit the black metal wall of the garage.
"Ides?" I growled, taking an exaggerated step back. Trying not to hit Garner with the same force I'd applied to the wall. "If it backfires..."
"Griffin, we've more important things to worry about." He snapped, starting towards the van.
I was incredulous to the idea of more important things. It seemed we were covered, the unwanted were covered. Rin and Kate were not. "Why wasn't I told she was thinking of a trip through Ides?"
Nicodemus opened the driver side door, not even glancing in my direction. "You'd have stopped her. At least for Miss Andersen's potential benefit."
The anger swelling inside me hadn't simmered down, but the realisation he was right at least allowed me to control it. "Would that have been so bad?"
He looked back at me, an iron expression coating his face. "Yes, now get in."
* * *
The new location was much less sophisticated. No high-tech scanners or codes, no lab. Just a block of ordinary flats Nicodemus had called in a favour to procure for our use. We were closer to the City Centre, which meant any action taken against us would be more obvious and would need an elaborate story if we were found. But it also meant, being found would be much less difficult. Perhaps that was my pessimism.
This place was certainly no Sanctuary. Although whoever Nicodemus had called upon with such short notice to prepare a place for us, had gotten black out shutters put up over all the windows on three floors, those set aside for our use. It was risky sharing a building, but for paranoid Nicodemus to have approved it, he must have had something up his sleeve.
It took much longer to get everyone inside than it did to load them into the van in the first place. We had to pace everyone's going in as a start, and deal with keeping any one of them from freaking out on the way. Those who were at least mostly functional beings were able to simply walk in, wearing sunglasses. We waited until last to get those with the highest light sensitivity in, as it involved switching all the lights in the halls and stairwells off for a time.
I couldn't see that this place would be safe for long and so I had to assume it was only a stop-over whilst something better was concocted.
There were already beds in place, and one room had some medical equipment waiting. All recently placed in the room. Only two of the kitchens were loaded with supplies, including cups, plates and cutlery. The others were part of our wards apartments and even having a cooker connected up could be dangerous when left with some of them.
It took a while to get everyone settled in, for the most part I left it to Garner, Molly and Geoff. My mind was on keeping an eye out for trouble, and wandering towards thoughts of Kate and Rin's safety.
"Griffin," Nicodemus grumbled, holding up a little black cell phone. I held my hand forward and caught the disposable as he threw it. "She left this with me, in case she needed to contact us."
I stared down at the screen. Blank. No new messages. I flipped the phone closed and sluggishly pocketed it. "Nothing in more than eight hours..."
He lowered his eyes to the floor, a heaviness settling upon him. "We'll get by."
"What about Kate? We have no idea if your suicidal mission succeeded. They could both be trapped somewhere... or dead... what then?" My cool had been lost, but instead of thrash about the room or storm from our new housing, my jaw was loose. I was panicky and agitated.
"Bloody typical," Garner grumbled, throwing his hand over his face. "You have no doubt in Rin to break us and the Unwanted out of Trinity Science, or any other mission she has embarked on in the past." He paused, puffing his white hair. "But include your hormones in the mix and suddenly," he held his hands up to point to my fidgety state. "This."
My shoulders arched a little at the suggestion, but my head dipped in submission. "Perhaps if I'd been included in the plot, Rin would be back with us and we'd know Kate was safely back with her father." I snapped, unable to conjure the words 'I'm sorry' where they hid at the back of my mind. "All we have to go on is that Rin's track record is pretty good. But in the past, Amy was always there as backup. She'd have been the contact... Poof, Amy's gone, no real back up for Rin..." My knuckles had turned the colour of milk, a blue vein running alongside the middle one and curdling it no matter how tight I held my fist. I hadn't realised until then that it had been bugging me, the thought that Rin and Kate could end the same way, without my knowing and no chance of resurrection, like a candle being blown out by the wind in another room.
Garner slumped down into a little kitchen chair, unable to hold himself steady. His eyes set on the floor as his dark skin ran pale. He was trying hard to breathe and swallow, but the air was getting stuck in his windpipe and he was choking on it. He wasn't a man to cry, but there in his eyes were tears and I realised as his image became a little foggy, they were in mine too.
We exchanged a look. Rendered wordless by grief. A look was all we could afford whilst we fought hard to suck the emotion back, the sound of footsteps down the hall and Molly's approach forcing us to put on a brave face. She opened the door to our little apartment and peered in quietly, sensing the electric atmosphere, and tiptoeing in as if a little ballerina girl.
"Rin would have contacted Jake, it's not the same arrangement, but..." He took a hard breath down, "We can be assured he'd have done all in his power for both girls, him and his unit. What's left of them."
My head low again, contemplating the thought of Jake working with any one of us again. My stomach curdled, a confused mixture of the sadness and joy of memory and anxiety. Like Geoff, many of my emotions had run on an innocuous level. It took so much to feel anything after travelling through hell and coming out alive. In less than four days I'd had my fill and the odd awakening didn't seem to be petering out any time soon.
"I for one always liked Jake, he was considerate... never seemed to fit in." Molly interjected a joyful smile as she spoke, wiping away any of her nervousness. Out brave facing the bravest face. "I don't understand why you didn't just give him the option to leave with us three years ago, he would have.. then Amy wo-..." Molly trailed off, lips turned down from a smile into a sickened frown.
"She wouldn't have stayed there to keep an eye on him, and she might still be alive?" I asked incredulously, I could feel the thunder in my facial expression, but I couldn't wipe it away despite making her quake back a little in fear of it.
Molly shook her head. "Sorry, I speak my mind before I know it. The unattractive side of being human."
Just then a low grumbling sound emanated from Nicodemus as held breath turned into a hearty chortle and broke the building tension. I had to join him after a moment. Molly simply stood there, looking between us with the most quizzical expression, her cheeks bright red. "If you think the unattractive side of humanity is honesty...I am not convinced you grew up at Trinity!"