Genius (CENTURIES series: Book #2)

26

Mia knew the minute she stopped her car in front of the big, gray building the address had led to, she was in the right place.

It looked like a crossover between a factory, a small hospital, and a middle school. Located far away from the big city, a few miles away from a small town hidden behind a few hills, anyone would assume the place was abandoned or maybe getting rebuilt. That was the cover, anyway. The scaffoldings around the building showed that it was getting a new roof and front, but the giant, electrical fence told Mia everything she needed to know. She'd seen enough thriller movies to know that this was but a façade; A government one.

Turning off the ignition, she quickly sent a text to Zoe, telling her and Caleb that she was here and it looked promising, before she stepped out. Locking the car, she walked up to the giant gate, noticing the surveillance cameras follow and zoom in on her. She glared angrily up at it.

There was an actual intercom system by the gates, she discovered, when she stopped up in front of it and stared hesitantly at it. Like, how often did they get visitors here? Not often, she imaged. Mia pressed the button and then waited a few seconds before a guttural, gruff male voice spoke to her through the small speaker; "This sight is closed for construction. Please leave the property."

She scoffed. Sure it was. It was closed for human reconstruction. "I'm here to see my friend Elijah Greyson. Tell C.E.N.T.U.R.I.E.S I said hi. We might not know each other personally, but I've heard a lot about them."

After that, the intercom went quiet. She waited for minutes, knowing that they were probably having a conniption in there. Eli had blabbed to one more person, what were they going to do? She knew it was a risk what she was doing, but for Eli, all bets were off. She was thoroughly pissed and ready to take on whatever crap they fired her way.

Finally, the electric gates buzzed and opened themselves, clearly signally she had been granted entrance. Mia hesitated for another moment though, unsure if it was a good idea to step without anyone knowing, so quickly, she texted Zoe again and told her what was happening. Just in case. Then she gathered her courage and walked inside, slowly approaching the gray building.

Her heart was beating faster and louder than usual, and her pulse was racing. She could hear her breath come in through her nose and out through her mouth, but she was in control of each step she took. She remembered vividly what Eli had told her about this place. The things that went on in there. The people he had dealt with. It had all seemed so terrifying when he said it, but still, it didn't quite settle inside her before now as she felt the twist of panic in her stomach. It was real, he really came from living in a lab the last eight years.

And now she was heading inside that very same place.

Shit, Mia thought as she heard the gates shut behind her, just as she reached the big and solid steel doors of the building.

What had she gotten herself into?

~~~

"I demand to see him. I know what kind of place this is and I know what you do, but I don't care if he violated some corrupt contract you made with him, I want to see him!" Mia growled angrily, slamming her palm into the metal table of the interrogation room they had brought her into. After a frisk search where they took away her phone and car keys, and then a quick formal introduction to a certain Ms Hope, she had been led to this metal-plated, bright-lighted interrogation room where she now pretty much expected some Men In Black type-of-guy to walk in at any moment. This was insane.