All Hail The King // Loki - Book 2 ✓

Chapter 2

THEY PULL INTO AN ABANDONED FACTORY, and Darcy shuts off the engine while they all climb out of the car.

"Come on," Darcy groans. "This is exciting!" Jane gives her a look, so Darcy motions to the intern. "Look! The intern is excited!"

He gives her a weak smile, "Ian."

Darcy ignores him, "You want the phase meter?"

"No," Jane tells her, shaking her head.

"Bring the phase meter," Darcy tells Ian, tossing him the keys. "The toaster looking thing."

He turns back to the car, frustrated, "I know what the phase meter is."

Anna follows Jane and Darcy through the abandoned parking lot, past piles of shipping containers still stacked in rows. The wind is blowing gently, lending an eerie chill to the desolated space. A large truck sits on its side in the middle of the parking lot, and Anna stares at it for a few moments before a ringing phone breaks her attention.

"How do I change the ringtone on this thing?" Jane asks.

Anna smirks, turning to see Darcy approaching them trailed by the intern, Ian, carrying the phase meter.

"An astrophysicist with three degrees should be able to change her own ringtone," Darcy says into her phone.

"Why are you calling me?" Jane stares at her, clearly unphased by the fact that she is standing not far from her.

"I didn't want to shout," Darcy reasons. "The intern says it's this way."

He grimaces, "Ian. My name's Ian."

Darcy shushes him, and the four of them head toward one of the abandoned building. Anna can't help but notice how some of the shipping containers are stacked on top of one another - some are vertical, with a horizontal container balanced on top. How they got up there, or why, she isn't certain, but it couldn't have been placed like that while the factory was operational. There's no way that placement would've been allowed by Health and Safety.

Inside, the building is a mess. Most of the interior has been gutted, while the outdoors slowly begin to reclaim the indoors. Birds swoop behind them, and she can't help but jump at the sound and instantly takes a fighting stance. Relaxing her arms by her sides, she exhales slowly before hearing footsteps thud behind them as well.

"I am not getting stabbed in the name of science," Darcy states. She raises her hands and shouts, "It's okay, we're Americans!"

Anna rolls her eyes, and Jane speaks up, "Is that supposed to make them like us?"

Rustling from around the corner causes her to take a step forward, slowly positioning herself between everyone else and whatever is coming. Although she's not keen on using her newly discovered combat skills in the real world, Anna decided it was smart to start training again to ensure she would never been caught in a situation like Restitution again. In this situation, she wagers none of her companions will be able to fight, meaning she's on her own.

Three small faces peek out at her, and her body instantly relaxes.

"Oh, they're kids," Jane sighs in relief.

One girl steps forward, tailed by two boys.

"Are you the police?" The little girl asks.

Jane smiles warmly, "No. We're scientists. Well...I am. She's a journalist."

She points at Anna, and Anna smiles at the kids as well. Darcy mumbles under her breath, but Jane ignores it as one of the boys begins to speak.

"We just found it," he explains.

Jane takes a step forward, now standing next to Anna, with a sparkle of curiosity in her eyes, "Can you show us?"

One of the boys leads them into a large empty room where a truck sits abandoned. The only light in the room comes through the ceiling, and the rest of the area is shrouded in shadows. Anna rubs her hand on her upper arms, warming herself from the cold - and from the bad feeling she's getting from this place.

She watches as the boy approaches the truck slowly, then he grasps the front fender with his fingertips. Lifting gently, the metal of the truck begins to groan loudly as it lifts into the air and begins to rotate. The boy takes a step back, allowing it to continue to float on it's own, while the rest of them watch in complete and utter shock. He begins to guide it until it rotates in small circles in the air.

"That doesn't seem right," Darcy says.

"No," Anna replies, pulling out her phone and snapping a video. "Definitely not."

The kids lead them to a different part of the building, walking through the shadows like they've been here hundreds of times. Their confidence helps Anna to relax, but there's still something...off. Walking up a stairwell, the kids stop them while one of the boys continues up a few flights. Everyone turns their eyes upward, and the boy lifts an old soda bottle over the railing and drops it. The bottle flies down the gap in the center of the winding stairwell, and all eyes are on the bottle until it disappears into thin air.

"Where'd it go?" Jane asks, confused.

The little girl points to the sky, and everyone follows her gaze. Waiting a moment, nothing happens until just above the little boy the bottle reappears and begins its descent once more. It picks up speed, then disappears into the same location as before. Heads automatically snap upward, waiting for it to reappear, and it does. The bottle goes through several cycles until one of the boys reaches out and snags it, a broad grin on his face.

"That's incredible," the astrophysicist turns and scours the ground for something to toss into the portal, settling on a crumpled soda can.

She drops it over the railing, watching as it disappears into the void, and all turn their gaze to the sky. The can, however, never comes.

Jane gapes at the sky, "What happened?"

"Sometimes they come back," explains the little girl. "Sometimes they don't."

Glancing at the hand-held device attached to the phase meter, Jane grabs it and watches the screen, ignoring Darcy as she asks for her shoe. Anna glances up at her, waiting for an explanation as to why her friend seems absolutely baffled. Granted, Anna is baffled too, but she's not the scientist.

"I haven't seen readings like this since...since..." Jane stutters, glancing over at Anna.

"New Mexico?" Darcy finishes.

"Don't touch anything!" Jane instructs, as she runs down the stairwell.

Anna's heart leaps in her chest at the mention of New Mexico, where she knows Jane first encountered Thor. The astrophysicist is clearly flustered, and a huge grin grows on Darcy's face. Twisting the knotted ring subconsciously, Anna feels her pulse speed up as her brain races through the implications.

If the readings are similar, then that must mean whatever is happening here could have something to do with Asgard. With Thor.

With Loki.

Now Playing: "Lights" by Ellie Goulding.

*****
AUTHOR'S NOTE

Double update, anyone? 

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