Somewhere, there's a particular man in a particular room. He stood ramrod straight beneath a bright, narrow light, staring at the barely visible outline of another person. That other person was seated in the darkness consuming the rest of the room, left cheek rested on the knuckles of his left hand. His posture suggested an amiable air, but the man in the light was not at ease, waiting for the other to speak.
When he did, it was not good news. "An observer tells me they found the facility."
"That's impossible sir!" The man under the light couldn't stop the denial from rushing out, even when he knew it was a mistake, not to mention pointless. His master wouldn't say that unless it had happened, not being one for jokes.
The man in the chair's tone didn't show any sign he took offense, even as he replied, "I recall you telling me as much several months ago. Yet the impossible has occurred."
The man under the lights tried to will himself not to sweat, to no avail. "I'm sure they won't find anything."
"As sure as you were they wouldn't find the location at all?" The question could almost be mistaken for playful teasing. With another person, that might even be what it was. The man in the light knew it wasn't, and even having a sense of how this would end, had to try and save himself.
"Let me deal with them! It can serve as their tomb!"
"I already made arrangements for that some time ago. You underestimated them, but I did not overestimate you."
The slightest lift of the index finger on the right hand from where it sat on the arm rest, followed by the sound of meat being cut. The man in the light reached unsteadily for his throat before pitching forward onto the floor.
The one responsible was still in shadow, only the weapon and the hand it rested in visible. The blade had just a thin stain of blood on it, its ivory handle gleamed under the light. The hand was pale, long fingers curved loosely around the ivory, fabric visible at the base of the hand the orange of a stubborn bloodstain washed many times. The person holding it made no further movement or sound, but the seated figure perceivd something nonetheless.
"If this doesn't work, you'll have your chance. Let's see how the others do."
***
In the abandoned building, Cassanee and Calvin reached the top floor, pushing open the door carefully. Unlike the below, this floor consisted of a long hallway lined with offices. Other hallways intersected at right angles further down. They paused, listening for movement. Hearing nothing, they advanced, pausing at the first pair of offices. One door was closed, the other ajar, and they approached that one first. Calvin pushed it open with one hand, as Cass peered in from the other side.
A desk sat in front of a window. Cheap metal, cheaper particleboard top, dusty papers and pens scattered over it. Empty bookshelves in the corners. Cass stepped in, Calvin following after making sure the door across the hall showed no signs of opening. All drawers and cabinets were empty. The papers showed only random doodles, lines drawn in aimless patterns. Calvin glanced out the window on the weedy parking lot. No one had messed with his car yet, at least.
"I wonder what's in that lab. CAP really wanted to go in," Calvin whispered as they crossed the hall to the other door.
Cassanee tried the knob, but found it locked. She raised her leg to kick it open, but was stopped by Calvin's hand on her shoulder. "Let's check unlocked rooms first, try to keep a low profile."
The young woman nodded and continued down the hall. After a few steps, "They want to make sure Pollock doesn't destroy any evidence."
Several months in close proximity hadn't improved Cass' opinion of Pollock, Calvin noted as they reached an intersection. He hadn't really expected it to, and as long as they held off on killing each other, that would be enough. Checking both directions, they saw nothing but windows at the end of the halls and more offices. They took the right hallway first.
"That's a possibility, but Panda was concerned about something they smelled when Pollock cracked the door open. The hair on their neck went up."
Cassanee paused, watching him over her shoulder. "If there's a threat, why not warn the rest of us?"
Calvin didn't look up from poking through some torn up papers that had spilled into the hall from a kicked over wastebasket. "I'm guessing it wasn't a threat, but something a person would rather not find."
The hall ended at a broken window. The carpet squelched under their feet, the odor of mold and rot strong. They stared out the window, at a dense tangle of woods. From this vantage, there was no hint of what might live in those woods. Calvin's eyes drifted to the sky and he saw an outline reflected in a bit of glass still in place.
He whirled, pulse racing. At the far end of the hall, in the empty pane of another broken window, sat a raven. But nothing more.
"Something wrong?"
Calvin clenched the bat tightly, trying to get his heart to throttle down. He glanced at the woman next to him, watching him from beneath her orange hood, curiosity mixed with concern. Cass' instincts weren't telling her anything was wrong; why were his?
He shook his head. Probably just because he was less sure he could handle trouble than she was. "Thought I saw someone. Guess not."
They returned to the intersection, then across and down the opposite hall, towards the raven. It flew off as they approached, but not before calling, once.
Calvin couldn't decide if it was a laugh, or a warning.
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