by Andrew Yake
“We should probably send her over first.” I point toward Allison.
“Me?! Why?” Allison is finishing closing her coat. It looks huge on her and rather comical to me. She seems like a child playing dress up.
“Because you look like a little girl who has lost her way. The guards will be more likely to let you in.” I reach over and take the scrunchy out of her hair so that her hair falls around her face. She looks younger this way and she looks pretty.
“Hey!” Allison reaches for the scrunchy in my hand.
I pull my hand back and take a puff off of the cigarette. “After we get in you can have it back.”
Allison gives me a huffing sound and her eyes are like daggers, but she does not fight me further. She simply looks both ways as we approach the street. She waits for an opening in the traffic and walks across. The gigantic coat flowing in the wind in such a way that I think she may get blown over by a strong breeze. She pulls the coat in close to her as she gets closer to the door. The sleeves are far too long for her small frame and that only adds to the illusion that she is a helpless little girl.
I smoke my cigarette and look to Alex on the left of me. He nods at me. I look at Zack on my right and he smiles at me. I can see the top of his chest and I can see the hilt of a blade he has strapped to himself. I reach over and close his coat more so that the weapon is not obvious. He simply looks at me as I maneuver the coat over the end of the handle. I return my attention to the entrance across the street. I watch as Allison speaks to a guard. I can hear her crying and making some sort of scene. I am glad that I sent her over. She is good. I smoke my cigarette and wait for Allison to enter and then return for us.
******
Allison:
I look into the building through the glass doors and see two guards sitting behind a desk. One is bald and one has dark hair. That is all I can tell from this distance while they are sitting behind a desk. I knock at the glass door and get the attention of the two guards. One gets up and says something to the other. The one who starts walking over is bald and of average build. He is wearing a night stick on his belt along with a gun. His uniform is pressed and there is a white plastic name badge that is hanging from his left front breast pocket. He is maybe about 5’8”. I watch as he pulls on some keys that are attached to his belt by a retractable string. He unlocks the door and opens it slightly.
“Can I help you little girl?” He has not opened the door completely.
I force myself to start crying. “I’m sorry. My friends left me at a party and I got lost because some guy tried to… you know…” I pause for effect and look up at the guard with tears streaming down my face. Hot damn I am on fire! “I just grabbed his coat and took off… ya know…” I sniffle. I hate being seen as a helpless little girl, but it does have its advantages. “Can I please use your phone to call my Dad?” I burst into tears. It works. The bald security guard is totally taken in by my act.
“Sure, come on in.” His voice seems concerned and he immediately opens the door wide to grant me entrance. He puts a hand on my shoulder and guides me in. I almost feel sorry for what I am about to do, almost.
“Thank you so much.” I say through sobs. “I’m so sorry for all of this.”
“You don’t have any reason to be sorry, honey.” He guides me to a chair behind the desk. The other man is sitting there and seems to be concerned for me also. He is a bit heavier set, but not fat. He reaches for the phone behind the desk and positions it for me.
“Thank you.” I say again as I wipe tears away with the long sleeves of my jacket. I only wish that I had some mascara on right now to make the crying even more dramatic. I once took part in a school play and I was good at it, of course.
“Sure, no problem. You can take a moment if you would like.” The bald man is talking to me from my right.
I smile at the two of them with tears still running down my cheek. “Thank you, but I really should just call my Dad and get out of your hair.” I pick up the phone and act as if I am about to start dialing. I start speaking into the phone, but I am not talking to anyone on the other side of the line. I am casting a spell that I learned to knock out the guards. It only takes a moment before they both collapse.
I put the phone down and turn to the unconscious bald guard to my right. I take his keys and name badge. I noticed that it had a barcode on the base of it and figure that it will probably grant us access to different areas of the building. I stand to my feet. I walk to the area in front of the desk and turn back toward the desk. I smile and bow toward the unconscious men as if they are my audience as I say, “And… scene.”
I return to the glass doorway and unlock the door once more. I stand at the entrance and wave over my motley crew. I watch as they cross the street. “Hurry the hell up, it is cold out here.” I say this with the door open. I am not lying. I really do want to get back to the warmth of the lobby.
******
Zack:
I see Allison come back to the entrance of the building only a few minutes after she went in. I think how motherly Jane is about making sure that my coat is closed. Of course, she is not like my mother, but I suppose that is a good thing. I cross the street.
“Hurry the hell up, it is cold out here.” Allison speaks to us as we get up to the door. She does, indeed, look cold.
I take a look around the lobby and see the feet of a guard sticking out from behind the front desk. I walk over to the desk and look behind to see that they are unconscious. I smell that they are fine and I see no trauma. I turn to Allison. “What did you do?”
“The scene of a lifetime.” She grins at me. “You would have loved it. Of course, you would have been knocked out along with them if you had been in here, but you would have enjoyed it.” She seems to almost skip as she comes over to me smiling while she is talking. Her smile is sassy. She hands me the guard’s name badge. I take it.
Jane and Alex look around the lobby and then walk past the guard station without looking behind it. “Come one you two.” Jane says. She is looking around as if something about this place bothers her. Alex looks as if he is on guard, but then he always seems that way. I sniff the air and do not feel anything that is dangerous in the air.
“What is it?” I start walking closely behind Jane.
“I don’t know. Something just seems…” Her voice trails off and then goes silent. She stops cold in front of a large picture. The picture is almost six feet tall with a gold frame. I look at the picture and see a middle-aged man in a gray pinstripe suit. He is wearing a white shirt and red tie. He has a beard that is closely trimmed and is without any gray hairs. His eyes suggest that he is in is late forties or early fifties, but the rest of his appearance looks more like he is in his late thirties. He has longer hair that hangs down about halfway on his face and is perfectly groomed to seem very professional. While his appearance is striking it is the person to his left that he has an arm around that is the shock.
I see a stunning red-haired young lady. Her hair is shorter, straight, and is brushed back behind her ears. It is parted on one side. Her eyes are intense. She is wearing a black and gray pinstripe business suit top with a white shirt under it. She is wearing a matching suit skirt with black pantyhose. She does not smile and seems as if she is posing for a business magazine. Her look is severe and beautiful. Her eyes are a stunning pale blue. I look around at the rest of the group and realize they too are taken in by the picture. Jane is especially shocked by what she is seeing and reaches out to touch the picture.
I realize, as I am sure that my companions have, that this is our Jane. I have to wonder if her home life was even more messed up than my own. I look at Jane more closely and see that she is just as stunned as I am. “Um, Jane? Why is there a picture of you being all angry at the world on the wall of this law firm?”
******
Jane:
I am staring at myself in disbelief. How is this possible? Who am I? I read the small engraved strip of metal on the base of the
picture, Donald and Janneth McKenna. I touch the metal engraving and look again into the face of the man who must be my father. I feel nothing of facial recognition, but there is something of dislike growing inside me as I continue to look into his smug face.
I hear Zack ask, “Um, Jane? Why is there a picture of you being all angry at the world on the wall of this law firm?” I snap at him with my response as I turn toward him.
“Do I look like I know? Let’s keep moving. If we run into any other guards maybe we can use this to our advantage.” I start walking toward an elevator and look back to see that they are still staring at the large creepy picture of me and my father. “Let’s go.” I say this in a hushed tone, but it is obvious that I am growing impatient.
Alex turns and starts walking, “Well, I did not see that coming.”
“How could you?”
“I tried to do some research on you remember?”
“Yeah, I remember you saying that you did.”
“Well, nothing really came up.” He says as we reach the elevator.
“Now we know.” I repeat softly. Zack slides the guard’s name badge along a slot next to the number pad and presses the number for the top floor. We ride in the elevator in silence. I take off my jacket and let it fall to the floor as we near the top level. I look over and I see the others do the same. Allison seems relieved to take off the coat and looks much better without it. I look at the floor as I wait for the elevator to stop moving. I can feel butterflies in my stomach with the anticipation of what is to come mixed with the apprehension of what all of this may mean to me personally. The elevator stops moving at the top floor and the doors slide open.
The top floor is beautiful. The pink marble floors are offset by the white pillars and glass panel walls that look into a conference room directly in front of us. There is a deep mahogany secretary station with a marble top that is laced in gold to the right of the elevator. I have no doubt that it is real gold. I almost did not see the lady sitting behind the desk, due to taking in the amazing architecture. She looks like she is Chinese and she has long black hair. She looks up and does not seem surprised to see us.
“Good evening Miss McKenna. Your father is waiting for you in his office.” The woman has no accent and motions to my left as we exit the elevator. I glance over at Alex who is giving me a worried look.
“Is my father expecting me?” I say to the woman.
“Oh yes. He said you would be arriving this evening.” She looks down at, what I assume is a computer screen and does not look back up.
Just freaking great! So much for surprise being on our side. I walk to the large double doors at the end of the short hall. I open the doors and realize that the opulence of the entry room was nothing by comparison to this room. It is large and open. There is a row of book shelves to my left that is full of books. It appears that there could be a hallway at the end of the bookshelf, but I am unable to see it from here. There is a black leather L-sectional couch that looks very comfortable in this same area. The long coffee table in front of the couch is the same deep, rich, earthy tones as the trim that goes around the room. To my right is a small Koi pond with some large Koi fish swimming in the lit water. The walls from the end of the book shelves around to the right are glass. The view of the city is breathtaking even from my vantage point in the entry way of the room.
There is a large desk at the far end of the room where several armchairs are lined up in a semicircle opposite of the desk. There is a person sitting at the desk and looking to his left, through the windows to the city below. A large dog is chained in the corner of the room. It is Orion. He whines at the sight of me. I regard my father as he sits behind the desk. I do not know how Orion came to be here or why he is chained and unable to move from the area beside the desk, but I have no doubt that it is part of some elaborate game my father is playing.
I know this man is my father. I know this because of the picture, but there is something else about this place. It feels familiar. The way that he disregards me and has someone I hold dear chained, captured, for his pleasure’s sake is familiar. I know that this is my father because I hold distain for him.
“You made it.” Mr. McKenna speaks without turning to greet me or my companions.
“You could have just called you know.” I reply to him and walk forward still looking around the room.
“You wouldn’t have known who I was.” He turns to regard us now.
“Why is that?”
“It was a test. I had to know your resolve.” He sits back in his chair and tents his fingers.
“A test? Why test me?” I can feel myself becoming irritated. This man has no reason to test me nor does he have the right.
“You made it and you brought me an offering I see.” He waves an open hand toward Alex. My blood runs cold. Was this what he wanted? He just wanted to know who my team was?
“He is a friend.” I say coldly.
“No. You have friends, but he…” My father stands and lifts his hand slightly. Alex is raised off of the ground and suspended in air. “…is a hunter. He and his band of merry men have been making quite the mess of things for me.”
“Father Stop!” My voice is harsh.
“You don’t need them. I did all of this to test you. You passed. You are ready to come home.” His eyes are upon me. He does not release Alex.
“Let him go.” I have my gun in hand in an instant and I am aiming at him. He does not seem worried.
“You shouldn’t make threats like that. Put it away.”
“I thought you wanted to test my resolve.” I see a flash of realization in his eyes right before I pull the trigger. I miss, but I do not know how I missed. The window behind him explodes from the impact of the bullet. He does drop Alex now and I feel myself lifted from the ground. I hear a scream from behind me and see that each of my companions are holding their heads in pain and kneeling on the ground.
“You have no idea what you are dealing with or who you are and you want to attack the one person who can…” I fire again. I hit the shoulder of his suit and I fall to the ground. I missed his body again, but hitting his suit seems to have surprised him.
I run toward him firing my gun. I miss each time. More glass shatters behind him as he walks around the desk calmly during my approach. I am almost to him when I am tackled by someone, actually something. I look down to see massive hairy arms wrapped around me. I am pulled to the floor. I see my father walking toward me. I see more of the creatures and humans entering the room from the hallway next to the book shelves. I crane my neck so that I can look back the direction I came from. I see more people coming from the entry way. I look back to my father and see him standing next to me now. He crouches down so that his face is near me.
“Welcome home Janneth.” He touches my head.
My world explodes all around me as I see bright lights and a rush of movement. I hit what I think is soft ground and then I sink. The room is dark. It feels as if the dark room is filling with a thick fluid. The same fluid that I fell into. I look around and see no one else. This room has no windows or doors. I know that there is no escape. I feel helpless and I am afraid.
“HELP!” I scream out. Then I see the fluid stop rising when it gets to my chest. A doorway appears above me and the janitor from the hospital drops down. He does not sink into the fluid. His clothes are different. He is no longer in the janitor’s outfit, but his eyes are the same. “Please help me.” I plead with him. I don’t really care who he is or how he got here right now. He has the only way out.
“I am about to.” He says to me.
“Take my hand and help me up.” I say as I start trying to make my way through the thick fluid. My progress is slow and difficult.
“That is not how I help you. I have done it before and it only serves to slow you down.” He cocks his head to the side and regards me.
“What are you talking about?” I try desperately to get to him, but the more I struggle the harder the fluid becomes.<
br />
“I have tried other ways, but they seem to work out about the same. So, here we are and there we were.” The janitor stands and paces across the fluid as he talks. “What to do is what hasn’t been done. I have to give you time. Time is what you need to balance yourself so that you can balance us.”
“I remember why I knocked you out before.” If I could reach him I would probably do something similar again. I pull back my rising anger and remember that he is my way out.
“Yes, yes, that you did and have done before. If only I could have helped you then, but I have such a difficult time talking to you.” He stops pacing. “Ask Alex he knows.” The man looks at me again. “Time, I will give you time. I can do that.” He walks over to me and puts both hands on either side of my head.
My eyes go wide and I see images fly by. There are too many emotions for me as I feel every emotion that I have ever felt flood through me. I remember everything and I feel my soul hurt as I am wracked with remorse. I am flooded with visions of how my father has tested me all of my life. I see how I finally became overwhelmed by the tests and how I decided to fight his designs for me. I still worked with him, but I would use the knowledge that I gained while working at the firm to undermine his every move. I hated him with a passion.
I was overcome as I saw my father murder Aiyanna with the gift I had given her. I remember the cold fire of hate and how I have used it to fuel my actions. It was after I had destroyed one of the summits that he had set up with an important wolf pack leader. I remember running from him and his wrath. I remember working with John, Max, and Alex over the last year. I remember meeting Matt. I remember him talking to me in hushed tones in the hospital. I remember how he opened my eyes and how I became who I am. I remember how to break free.
I open my eyes and Matt is gone, but I am out of the hell that I had been in. I am being dragged out of my father’s office by one of the several wolves. I see that Alex is unconscious on my father’s floor still. My father seems to be eyeing him with malevolent intentions. It is time to act. It is to express my will over this situation in the only way that I know how.