Hatred

Chapter-37

???, Greenland

The black sea waves crashed into the cliff below me.

A storm was coming. One of nature's making and one my own.

I took in the sight around me. Snowy winds swirl around me like a white vortex. The water meeting the cliffside sounded like a faint boom in the screaming of the wind. I turned back to a vast field of snow. It lay undisturbed with no signs of settlement except my footprints.

I exhaled a slow breath to see the mist curl before my face but it was blown away before it could even form. Taking one last look at the churning sea, I turn and retrace my footsteps through the snow.

A dark structure immersed in the distance. I sped up my steps till it turned into a looming compound. My lips twitched into a small smile at the sight of it.

The black walls rose high enough to block out a section of the sky. Black figures patrolled the top like watchful gargoyles. I walked up to the towering gate, once the guards caught sight of me, the gates were thrown open.

I strolled inside and the men on either side saluted me. The snow was constantly being cleared out, so I was able to move at a quicker pace through the ways between the multiple buildings.

An eerie silence hung over the area with the lack of wind. The buildings too were made of black stone and metal and rose like spikes out of the ground. Not a single window marred the walls.

Scarcely anyone except the guards was in sight and those who wore stark white gear and walked briskly. I continued my walk until I reached my destination.

This building was different from the others. For one, it wasn't as tall, rather it was only a few floors high and more spread out. Topped by a dome, it looked like an ancient temple housing bloodthirsty gods.

I walked through the front doors into a large hall with doors and staircases leading to different parts of the building. More people in white moved about and stopped to salute me before continuing.

The White Reapers.

That is what the guards had started calling them. A fitting name, I must say.

I walked up one of the several staircases and moved through several lobbies till I stood in front of a wall lined with elevators. I moved to the last one, the only one that had an eyeball scanner as well as a biometric one.

I put my thumb to it and brought my eyes in front of it. The screen turned green and the doors opened. I stepped in and pressed –F2. The doors closed silently and we started to descend.

I feel my heartbeat start to rise with every inch we drop. I hate underground spaces. It reminds me too much of Moscow.

I looked down at my wrist and found it bare. I rubbed my finger over the skin, at the phantom emptiness there, where an important and inseparable part of me had rested.

Releasing an inaudible sigh, I withdraw my fingers just as the doors open.

A cloud of much-appreciated warmth washes over me. I step out of the elevator into a metal hallway. It was similar to my prison facility on the north Atlantic island. But this one serves an entirely different purpose.

I shrug off my thick wool jacket, leaving me with only my trench coat. I bring up the map of this floor in my head and start forward.

After making my way through this maze of a building, I finally reach my destination. Several voices could be heard shouting. I turn another corner and everything comes into view.

Calling it a cavern would not do it justice but that's the closest word I could think of. The ceiling rose high enough till it was only darkness that could be seen. The space was so huge that even the drop of a pin would have echoed for hours had the walls not been modified to prevent this. What stood in the center made me smile. Several workers and technicians moved about it while White Reapers kept a vigilante eye on them.