“Please take this back, I don’t want it. I feel kinda guilty.”
“Guilty?”
“I should have gotten to her faster, should have jumped up as soon as I heard her scream. Could have probably saved her a lot of hurt if I had reacted faster.” I shook my head, “What I did isn’t worth this, please take it back. Nobody should profit off this.”
“My name is Gavin, my sister would like to see you Simon, if you are ok with that?” he said as he took the check back and folded it into his pocket.
“Yea, I’d like to see her.”
“Come by Delta later today, tell them Gavin invited you to see Mavin and give them your name.”
With that Gavin turned and entered the elevator, saying nothing else or giving any other indication that I even existed.
Back in the room Sammy was pissed off, “You fucking gave it back?! $50,000?! And you gave it back?! I have a fucking doorknob as a roommate, what the fuck Simon?!”
“I’m not going to take money from some girl’s family because she got beat up. That’s dumb.” I shook my head.
“No, dumb is saying no to a free $50,000 with no strings attached as a college student, that’s my yearly tuition! Fucking doorknob.” Sammy left the room slamming the door.
I remained unphased.
The rest of the morning was uneventful and solitary. It gave me time to reflect and compose myself, sort out my slight hangover and get a solid shower in. After a bit I started to feel dumb for turning down the money. Even as comfortable as I was in situation, it was a lot of money.
The walk down Greek Row seemed much longer in the daylight, twenty houses all on one side of the street facing the admin building, behind them a host of campus buildings and private labs.
Most of the buildings on campus were newer construction, lots of windows, skylights and well manicured lawns. Even the older labs had been refurbished within the past decade. The Delta building however was strikingly different. Solid construction, prefabricated concrete with large steel rivets for the internal support beams, it looked much more like a bunker than a campus building. No windows, just a set of double doors with the words “Lucazka-Delta” above them next to a camera and a small light.
I knocked at the door to no avail, after a few minutes I knocked again.
“Can I help you?” a voice buzzed from the camera above the door.
“Uh, Gavin invited me to see Mavin? My name is Simon.”
“Turn around and don’t say anything else Simon, just a minute.” The voice buzzed again.
I turned around and waited, the parking lot was pretty sparse, just a couple older cars, old model gas guzzlers. The type of vehicle high-schoolers are proud to own, college students are embarrassed to own, and engineers are too detached to notice as long as they work.
The door opened quickly and before I could react I had a bag over my head and was dragged through the doorway by no less than two men larger than me.
“What the fuck?” I yelled as they dragged me down a hallway.
“Simon, it’s Gavin.” A voice nearby said. “Chill out man, we deal with a lot of classified and top secret material here. Can’t have eyes on, you know. Just a minute and I will take the hood off.”
It was enough for me to stop fighting and relax for the moment. When the hood came off I was sitting in a chair across from Gavin in a sterile and completely empty room. Marks on the floor and dusty shadows on the wall said that only a few hours before the room had been entirely full, probably with desks and file cabinets.
“Look Simon, we normally don’t let anyone in this building. Like, anyone at all. But Mavin wants to see you and Mavin gets what she wants.” Gavin explained. “I can’t say I agree with you being here, you should have just taken the money and we could have been spared this whole thing.”
“No good deed goes unpunished.” I muttered.
Gavin gave me an odd look. “Come on then.”
A door opened into a sort of medical bay, medical monitors and wires led from machine to machine till around a curtain I came to the bed.
How do you describe love at first sight? Difficult to put to words, going from ones former self to being gutted, emptied and then filled all in the same instant. A rush of connection and the world stops just for a single non-descript point in time and the only things in the entire universe are her eyes and your heart melting. A rebirth as the person before that moment no longer exists; there is only the person after the meeting.
I said nothing, just stopped for that brief moment and then came to the side of the bed and took her hand into mine. She said nothing in reply and we just sat together for what seemed to be hours. At one point tears began to stream down her cheek, I didn’t let go of her hand and she just squeezed it.
“I’m Eve, but everyone calls me Mavin. You must be Simon.” She spoke full of emotion and probably a bit of pain.
“Yea, I… I am sorry I didn’t get to you sooner.” I bowed my head and she said nothing for several long moments.
“Thank you for helping me, for saving me. I was so scared.” She started to cry again.
“Who were those guys, did you know them? Why were they after you?” I flooded a litany of questions but didn’t expect an answer.
“Lasher.” She replied coldly.
“Mavin, no. Not here, not now, not with him.” Gavin barked from the corner.
It was enough to silence her, and end my questioning.
Gavin stood and spoke, “Simon you should probably go now, she just wanted…”
“He stays.” She demanded and gripped my hand stronger than I imagined she could, I sensed a sudden rush of panic in her.
At that Gavin sat back down and shook his head, visibly annoyed.
“Eve, are you going to be ok? Those guys…” I started.
“Broken wrist, three ribs, cracked collar bone and a screwed up leg. My face is all fucked, I know I look frightful.” She listed her ailments like a laundry list, with an observational detached reserve.
“I think you are beautiful.” I slipped, “Sorry I probably shouldn’t have said that, I…”
“Fucking hell.” Gavin stood up and walked out of the room.
“Don’t worry about him, what girl wouldn’t want someone to tell her she is
beautiful? Especially after being beat up in a dark alley by thugs.” She made light. “Seriously Simon, thank you. I wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for you.”
We said nothing else for the longest time, just held hands in silence, the lights low and the glow of the monitors reflected around the room.
It was as if having an itch you couldn’t scratch for years, then sudden contentment and calming. Being near her was an almost sublime feeling.
I fell asleep with my head awkwardly perched on her bed while I sat next to her. Even in her sleep she refused to let go of my hand. The events of the previous night had obviously traumatized her.
I awoke to doctors talking and Eve caressing my hair behind my ear.
“What?!” I sat up straight in the chair, startled and for a moment unsure of where I was.
“Shh.” Eve put her hand on my shoulder, “let them finish.”
“You will have to rest for the remainder of the week Mavin, you can’t overexert yourself. A collapsed lung is no minor injury, you will recover fully but you have to rest.” One of the doctors rattled.
“I’m not going to spend my one week in a hospital bed, we get one week, one week. I am not just going to sit here.” She demanded.
“Mavin you can’t just…”
“I told you, she isn’t going to do it. This week is too valuable to her, to all of us.” The second doctor pushed. “Look if you absolutely must go out, seriously no exertion, your collar bone will keep you mostly still and calm, but you won’t be able to walk for at least the week. We will have to put you into a wheelchair if you want to go outside.”
“Fuck, that’s going to be real inconspicuous.” She replied.
“You can argu
e all you want, but the second you try and stand up you will agree with me. Mavin your body isn’t going to keep up with your demands this time.” A doctor said crossing her arms.
“Simon, help me up.” She slowly edged her way over.
“Eve you should listen, you are pretty hurt, shouldn’t you…” I tried to support her small frame but any pressure on her and she winced in pain. The second her feet hit the floor and her weight shifted, pain riddled through her body and she cried out. I caught her as she fell, but it caused her to scream in even more pain. The two doctors helped her back into bed.
“Time to go Simon.” Gavin pushed, not going to be refused.
I turned to Eve and brushed my hand against her face. She was in too much pain to argue or press the issue.
Gavin escorted me back down the hall, blinded as before. The door closed behind me and Gavin removed the hood.
“Don’t come back here Simon, it won’t work out between you. Mavin is leaving in less than a week, after this incident she may never come back. It would just be best if you went back to school, pledged with your Gamma Lodge and forgot all this.”
“Leaving?” I asked.
“I can’t explain, but you won’t ever see her again. It’s just, not possible. Goodbye Simon.” Gavin shut the door and I was left in the darkness of an early morning.
Chapter Four: Wednesday
The more I thought about Gavin’s assertion that I would never see Mavin again, the more I got angry. His whole demeanor seemed off putting and detached, even though he did seem to care for her deeply. I didn’t care what happened next week, or next month; I just wanted to share time with her today, tomorrow, as long as we had. I wanted to know everything about her, but in a larger sense I really wanted to be with her to make her feel safe.
“Still thinking about her?” Sammy asked, he could tell I wasn’t sleeping.
“What time is it?”
“Almost noon, I had a pretty late night too. But not as late as yours.” Sammy laughed in the darkened room, thanks to blackout curtains from my mother.
“We should get up, I’m hungry. You hungry?”
“Café is off breakfast by now. Just dry sandwiches, pizza and burgers.”
“I could do with a burger.”
“Alright.” Sammy said as he got up.
“Ugh.” I moaned as I pulled myself out of bed. “Dude, you really gotta buy some sheets or something. You bring a girl back here, you think she is gonna wanna chill on your laundry pile of a bed?” I attempted to appeal to his baser instincts, as civilized methods of persuasion had yet to have any sort of effect.
“I will get to it, I got a set I just haven’t unpacked yet. Sigmas been keeping me busy.” Sammy made excuses.
“You have been with Sigma less than two days man.” I laughed.
“Burgers. I could eat four.”
Sammy and I staggered down the hall in search of food, both of us in pajama bottoms and tee shirts.
The café was full, prime lunch hour and there wasn’t much else to do. The freshmen were all still feeling each other out, making contacts, friends. Not everyone bought into the Greek plug and play relationship method.
“So, how did it go last night? Did you see her again?”
“Yea, she was in the hospital, sort of?” I made a confused effort.
“How are you sort of in the hospital?”
“It’s hard to explain, she had doctors and everything, but it’s like a private thing. I think she is some important researcher or something. They have like military guards and shit, it’s a total spook show.” I explained a bit more.
“Weird, I still can’t believe you turned down that money.” Sammy balked.
“I don’t wanna talk about it; maybe I should have taken it. But it’s too late now.”
“You seen any more of the Gammas?”
“Naw, I probably should. They seemed intent on me joining.”
“Yea dude, you’re like a hero now and shit.” Sammy gave a light mocking golf clap.
“Shut up.” I shook my head and laughed it off.
Sammy and I split seven burgers between us; I couldn’t remember the last time I had eaten. I was always horrible about that, remembering to eat.
When he left to go chase after some Sigmas he saw walking by I was glad to be alone. People watching, especially in a public college space is always incredibly revealing.
There was the obligatory brooding guy in the corner trying his best to look like he wanted nothing to do with anyone, conspicuous enough to seethe desperation and a desire for attention; unfortunately for him being totally surrounded by people with no time for his nonsense.
The group of girls who still thought they were in High School, down to their full makeup, cardigans and knee-high socks and loud talking about designer clothes and celebrity gossip.
The small pairings of people, probably all roommates like Sammy and I, sharing a meal with an acquaintance.
“Dude are you Simon, the guy that saved Mavin at the Gamma Lodge?” a guy barked as he walked up to me.
“Yea, I guess. It was no big deal, I am just glad she is ok.”
“That is crazy man, do they know who did it?”
“I think so, I’m not really involved.”
“Well shit man, good on you for saving the girl.” He shook his fist at me and walked away.
The Gammas weren’t lying; Mavin had an almost legendary status on campus. Most people attributed it to a family resemblance and the fact that students spent as much as eight years at UPT, and some never left at all, becoming teachers or employed by the various research labs.
Still, I heard a lot of conspiracy talk both about her, her brothers and the Deltas in general. They really did seem to go silent most of the year, and the more prolific faces only ever showed their faces around rush week right before the start of school. Ross and Gavin did a lot of administration work around campus but Mavin just seemed to drop from party to party for a week, and then disappear until the next year.
I sat in the café for most of the afternoon, chatting with a few people about the Deltas, Mavin, music, sports, chemistry and any number of other small talk as passers by would try and connect and feel me out. I was too tired and distracted to put forth much effort in making friends and slowly came to the conclusion that joining the Gammas was probably a good idea, if for no other reason than to have a social connection built in and easily made.
“There he is, how you doing Simon?” Tammy seemed excited to see me.
“Oh, hey Tammy.” I sat up.
“Pajamas around the dorms already? You work fast.” She teased.
“Well damn, if I knew I was going to see you I would have done my hair and everything!” I laughed and so did she. “You don’t stay in the dorms do you?”
“Oh no, I live in the Tau house. I’m just here to see my friend Mackayla.
“Cool. Wanna have a seat?” I invited.
“Sorry, not now. I just was walking by and wanted to say hey.” She resisted, “I hope you are doing ok, the other night was rough.”
“Yea, I’m good. The girl is too, banged up of course, but she is better than we imagined last night.” I offered.
“Oh shit, you saw her again? Mavin?” Tammy suddenly took the seat I offered, finding the gossip irresistible.
“Yea, she wanted to see me and say thanks.” I shrugged.
“Simon,” she looked around and lowered her voice to a whisper. “Be careful around the Deltas they are… hardcore. I have done a bit of freelance for them and getting involved with them is…” Tammy stopped.
“Is?”
“It’s a rabbit hole, its deep. Just be sure you know what you are getting into before you leap.” Tammy stood to make her exit.
“Thanks Tammy, I appreciate it. I doubt I will see any of them again, they don’t seem to want me muddying their waters either.” I laughed. “I will see you around.”
“You are a good kid Simon, the Gammas will be lucky to have you.�
�
Watching Tammy walk away of course piqued my interest; she was beautiful and looked extremely adult in real clothes. The whole toga motif of party night had created an aura of mythos and intrigue around all the Tau girls, but seeing Tammy in daylight in real clothes was awakening.
Upstairs, Sammy was getting ready for another party.
“You could come if you want its open invites. Besides, the Sigma guys wanna meet you after all the shit you got into at the Gamma Lodge. When they found out you were my roommate, they made me promise to invite you.”
“I think I’m going to stay in, I was up all night last night. Probably just watch a movie or play a game.”
“Boring! This is college man! The fuck you doing?! Go out, party! In a week we will all be buried under a mountain of classes.”
“Yea, I know. Just not tonight, I need a recharge.”
“Fine but if you are going to pledge Gamma you should really go over there.” Sammy said as he left.
I was still in pajamas and planned on doing nothing, even a shower didn’t sound appealing. I couldn’t get Eve out of my head. I wished I was holding her hand again.
I started a movie and just spaced out staring at the ceiling instead of watching it.
The first knock at the door was so light, I wasn’t sure if was from my door. The second was soft too, but loud enough.
Outside in the hall was Eve. The first thing I saw when I opened the door were her mary-janes, green and white leather covered slightly by dark green corduroy bell bottom pants with a large brass buckle. She wore a black cardigan hoodie and under it a blue velvet corset. Her hair, black at the roots, and then bleached white with long blue tips.
I stood and stared at her both excited and terrified as she looked up at me from her wheelchair.
“Hi Simon, mind a visit?”
“Eve! You look a lot better!”
“The wonders of real clothes and fresh air. Does a body good!”
I stood there like a dumbfounded idiot holding the door. Truly in wonder of her.
“So uh, can I come in?” She pressed.
“Oh shit, sorry I am an idiot. Please, come in.”
“Give me a shove? It hurts to push the wheels on my own.”
Deltas: Delta Horizon Book One Page 3