Guardian

Chapter 25

"Where are you taking me? What are you going to do with me? Where's Dark?"

The man kept ignoring me. I gotta admit, this guy is good.

Suddenly, I heard another door open and the man tossed me inside. I landed on the hard tile floor with a thump, hurting my shoulder in the process. I moaned in pain as I sat up, glaring at the man still standing in the doorway.

"You'll stay here until Steros is ready to see you." he smirked.

My eyes widened and I quickly staggered to my feet. Before I could do anything though, the door shut and I was trapped once again in a small white room. How many of these rooms does Steros have? I'm pretty sure this is a different room than before. It's smaller, the walls seem like their closing in. I don't like this, I don't like this at all!

I slid my back against the door until I was seated on the ground with my legs curled up to my chest. The shoulder that I landed on didn't really hurt anymore. I didn't really feel anything anymore. I was just tired. I had the feeling of wanting to go home, but...well I guess I don't really have a home anymore. I just want to be with Dark.

I sit there, curled up against the door, for what feels like a long time. I was just starting to doze off when suddenly, the door opened and I fell back, yelping in surprise!

Looking up, I saw the same man from before. He looked down at me with one eyebrow raised. I sighed and lifted my arms, "I won't give you any trouble this time. After all, you're just doing your job."

He huffed at this, and I could see he was smiling just a little. This put a smile on my face as he rolled his eyes and picked me up. He didn't hold me as tight, but still tight enough that I couldn't escape. Looks like I have appealed to some of his better nature. This is where being smaller (and cuter) than most boys my age comes in handy!

After what seemed like an endless maze of white hallways, he stopped in front of an elevator door that was, suprise surprise, white. The man put me down but still held onto my arm as he swiped a card in a slot then pushed the up button.

As we waited for the elevator, I looked down both ends of the hallway but didn't see a single person and we hadn't seen anybody on the way here either.

"I thought a lot of people worked here? Where is everyone?" I asked.

"Working." was his simple reply.

I got the feeling this guy wasn't much of a talker.

The elevator arrived and we entered. The inside was white as well with silver railings and gold buttons. He pressed the button for the top floor and the doors closed.

"Do you ever get tired of all this white?" I asked, "I mean, I feel like I just wanna take an open can of paint and just splatter color on the wall!"

He chuckled at that, but still didn't answer my question, nor did he look at me.

It was silent once again, both of us watching as the numbers went up. We were almost there.

Out of curiousity I decided to ask, "What's your name?"

I saw him flinch when I asked that, and his grip on me tightened. He glanced down at me, but when he saw that I was looking back at him, he looked away again. I started to get very worried, and my worry increased with every floor we ascended. Why won't he look at me? What's going to happen next?

A ding sounded, signaling that we had arrived at the top floor. Just as the doors opened, he said, "Ian."

My eyes widened, I didn't expect an answer. I didn't have time to respond as Ian began pulling down hall. We went through a door and entered a room full of office cubicles. I couldn't really see anyone, but the furious sound of many people typing filled the room. Towards the end of the room, we passed by an open desk that had a name pate on it that read "Holly Chao".

Ms. Holly ..... She works this close to Steros? No wonder she trusts him.

Then, Ian stopped walking. I looked up at the door in front of us. In big letters, the name plate read, "DARREN STEROS CEO OF STEROS CORP."

I gulped as Ian knocked on the door. A muffled "come in" responded, and Ian held the door open for me. I took a deep breath and looked up at Ian with the best smile I could muster. "Thank you...Ian."

His stone expression faltered for a second, but then he shoved me inside. I stumbled into the room but caught my balance again before I fell. I tried to quickly get one last look at Ian but found that he had already shut the door.

"Ah, Mr. Walker, welcome."

I flinched at the sound of his voice. Slowly, I turned around to see Steros calmly sitting beind a giant glass desk. Behind him, the walls were made of glass revealing an amazing view of the sunny forest.

Steros cleared his throat, directing my attention back to him. He gave me what I suppose was an attempt at a friendly smile.

"Why don't you have at seat," he asked, but it sounded more like an order, gesturing to a silver straight-back chair diagonal from his desk.

I took another deep breath as I focused on getting my legs to stop shaking as I walked to the offered seat. I was aware that my every movement was being watched as I pulled the chair back a little before sitting.

"My, you look absolutely awful! When was the last time you had a proper shower?" Steros tsked.

I finally looked him in the eye, but said nothing. I gave him the best glare I could, trying to regain any confidence I once felt. Suprisingly, it seemed to work! I felt this itch inside me, a rage, or somehing. I wanted to yell and scream at this man for everything he's done and will do, but I held my tongue.

Steros' face remained ever stoic, but I thought I caught a glimmer of curiosity in his grey eyes.

"Hmm, I'll arrange for you to be cleaned up in the medical wing. But first," Steros leaned towards me, "I have some business to discuss with you."