White Noise (The Inadequate Experiments 1)

15. The Carrier

Sera

The sun was just rising above the theatre, but it brought no heat with it. The air was cold, my breath forming clouds before me – yet the closer we got to the theatre, it seemed to grow so warm it was suffocating. The exterior had almost been rebuilt, yet the ghost of flames still hung over it like a cloud. I tried not to show how uncomfortable I felt. This was important – Calliope hadn't mentioned a cover story. Oliver thought it best to have one – for his parents' sake if nothing else.

He squeezed my hand and pulled me forwards. "Come on," he said, "unless a miracle has happened, Dad will be in here."

I just nodded.

As we crossed the road, Oliver raised a hand, waving to the workers. The one closest to us nodded before running over to the chain-link fence and separating two panels so we could slip through.

"You here for your mum?" The worker asked.

Beside me, Oliver stiffened. "Mum's here?" He asked carefully – this wasn't part of his plan. His father would accept our story without a second thought, too distracted with rebuilding the theatre, but his mother would be hard to convince.

But the worker shook his head. "Just missed her, actually – and you'll be glad you did. She's never in a good mood when she comes here."

Oliver scoffed. "She's never in a good mood at all these days." Then he motioned to me. "Uh, well, this is Sera – she's the main reason we're here to see my Dad. She's my Soul Mate, and I figured I should introduce them, but considering he's hardly at home these days..." He shrugged, and the worker nodded in understanding. Then he rushed forward and shook my hand.

"It's great to meet you, love." He said, then his eyes narrowed slightly. "Say, have we met before?"

My brow furrowed. "I... uh..."

"Henry helped in the initial clean-up after the explosion. Maybe he helped you get out?" Oliver offered.

I shrugged. "I wouldn't know – I was unconscious remember?" I turned back to the worker – Henry. "But I do work at The Java House around the block, maybe you've seen me there before?"

Henry clapped his hands together as if in excitement. "That's probably it!" Then he turned, scratching his head as he assessed the worksite. "Well, I should let you guys go, the boss'll be mighty pissed if he sees me slacking off. I'll see you later, Ollie – and it was great to meet you, Sera!"

We said our goodbyes and he ran off, but for some reason, his words stuck in my head. Had I met him before? I felt as if I recognised his voice from somewhere, but I couldn't remember. It must have been from the Java House. I shook my head and followed Oliver into the newly built entrance of the theatre, pretending to ignore the shiver that ran down my spine.

Thankfully, we didn't have to look very far to find Edmund Jackson.

"Why have you been following the old plan?" He was asking a worker, his voice echoing around the bare foyer. "If we wanted the foyer to look how it used to, we wouldn't have bothered drawing up new plans at the meeting last week!" He ran his hands through his hair – the same near-platinum blond as Oliver's.

"Sorry, sir, I'll—"

"I don't want your half-assed excuses." Edmund Jackson snapped. "Send this carpet back to the suppliers. Follow the new plans from now on, or find another job."

The worker flinched. "Yes, sir."

Then Edmund met Oliver's eyes across the room. His face softened. "Hey there, Ollie." He called, making his way over to us. "You just missed your mother, I'm afraid."