Fragmented

Chapter Twenty

TW: Slight abuse

Sabre sat at the kitchen island, his head resting on his right hand. His thoughts raced furiously as he attempted to think of a solution to their problem. He was normally the thinker of the group. The idea man. This time, he couldn't think of anything. Everyone else was outside enjoying the warm weather except for the Professor, but this problem weighed too much on his mind.

Professor Red had told both Sabre and Alyssa that the second sample was different from the first. "The second vial has more power," he had said. "His consuming souls must be increasing his strength."

As he reflected on this, he felt something brush up against his leg. He looked down and saw Amber's bushy tail curling around his ankle. Foxes didn't have to worry about such problems. They were innocent, unconcerned with power over the world, unlike the beings that he knew.

Amber continued on and, as he watched, began tugging on something behind the counter. She jerked her head back and a burlap sack emerged. Dragging it across the floor with her teeth, she entered the living room.

Curious, Sabre followed her quietly. Maybe she wasn't as innocent as he had previously thought.

He peeked around the corner at her. Amber had climbed up onto the couch armrest and was leaning over the side table. She bit on the metal knob and pulled, opening the drawer. Her head dipped inside and came back out with an extra battery for the remote in her jaws. She hopped off the couch and carefully dropped it into the sack, then stood up on her hind legs and pushed the drawer back with her front legs, concealing any evidence that she had been there in the first place.

What a thief, Sabre thought to himself. He silently followed her from room to room as she collected random items lying around on tables and in drawers. A half-used roll of packing tape, a stubby pencil, a small screw... The objects were seemingly random.

After picking up around a dozen and filling the sack halfway, Amber made her way to the basement stairs. She nudged it off the ledge and watched it tumble down the steps noisily, stopping at the bottom with a thud. She raised her paw to begin her descent, then froze as her ears perked up attentively. Swiveling her head towards him, the fox stared him down. Somewhere deep in her eyes, he could sense a craftiness lurking beneath the surface. He had a small feeling that she knew he was watching her.

Without another moment's hesitation, Amber bounded down the stairs to the sack. She began dragging it once more, this time to the Professor's room, where he now spent all of his time. Lucas had pulled out a mattress, blankets, and a pillow from storage for him and left the extra bed upstairs for Alyssa, which she did not object to other than blushing slightly. She and Light were never in the room at the same time other than to sleep.

Amber nudged the door open with her snout and trotted in. Sabre could hear the Professor's voice from inside.

"Good work. Now bring it over."

She faithfully came back over and pulled the sack to the Professor. He could be heard rummaging around in the bag, occasionally humming with interest. The objects clanked and rattled against each other.

Sabre decided to look in and see what he was up to. He watched the Professor inspect each individual item through the crack that Amber had passed through earlier. Holding each up to his eye, he carefully placed them down in orderly rows on a metal cookie tray that Lucas had lent him for the time being.

Amber rubbed up the Professor's leg like a house cat, looking up at him expectantly. Almost like she was demanding something from him.

"Yes, yes," he grumbled. "I haven't forgotten. Here." He stooped down and offered a slice of cold ham from the refrigerator. She took it nonchalantly and strutted out of the room, glancing once more at Sabre and flicking her tail at him, like a haughty girl tossing her hair over her shoulder.