Death Cursed (Death Touched, Book One)

Chapter 4

Jack walked down the hall with his ward in tow. Her eyes flickered to the left and right as she took in her sterile surroundings. They reached the elevator and stepped inside where Jack pressed the lowest floor on the pad of elevator buttons. The doors shut and the floor shifted as the elevator took off.

Nena took a spot at the back of the elevator. Jack stepped back and joined her by her side as he leaned against the rear wall.

His eyes flickered to his companion. Her arms were wrapped around herself and she shivered. "You cold?" She nodded without looking up. He slipped off his overcoat and gently laid it over her shoulders. "Not the best smelling, but it's all I've got."

Nena grasped the front of the coat and drew it closer around herself. "I appreciate it." She lifted her eyes to the stranger and studied his handsome visage. "Um, Doc said your name was Kent?"

"O'Kent, but you can call me Jack," he told her.

"I'm Nena."

He smiled and held out his hand to her. "A pleasure to meet you, Nena."

A ghost of a smile appeared at the corners of her lips as she shook his hand. His gloved touch was cold. "Um, thanks," Nena returned as she drew her hand away. She looked at the floor and bit her lower lip. "Could. . .could you tell me who I'm going to see again?"

Jack's face fell and he folded his arms across his chest as he stared hard at the elevator doors in front of them. "He calls himself Scratch, and he's the leader of the Agency."

Nena lifted her eyes to his tense face and frowned. "But why does he want to see me? I don't know anything."

He pursed his lips. "I wish I could tell you, but I don't know, either. I can tell you to watch your step around him. He's not somebody you should make a deal with." Nena shrank into herself and stared at the floor. Jack sighed and set his hand on her shoulder. "Hey, don't worry. I may not look like much, but I'll have your back."

Nena bit her lower lip. "After I see Scratch, can I go home?"

His face fell. "It's not that easy. Death-" The doors to the elevator opened. Jack stepped out and turned to Nena. "Come on. We're almost there."

Nena swallowed the lump in her throat and followed Jack forward down a carpeted hall. The floor was crisscrossed by two halls in the shape of a lowercase 't' that cut the entire area into four neat squares. The walls were still white, but paintings broke the monotony. The scenes were a tapestry of nightmares. There was fire and destruction. People screamed and writhed in pain. Nena shrank from the horrible imagery and stuck close to Jack's back.

Jack stopped at the end of the hall where stood a pair of tall, wide wooden doors. He stepped to one side and held his hand out to her. "I'm going to need my coat back."

She blinked at him. "Wha-oh." She slid the coat off her shoulders and handed it to him.

"Don't take it personally. We'll just say I wouldn't want him to have one up on me," he replied as he draped the coat over one of his arms.

He rapped the back of his knuckles on the entrance. Each knock sounded hollow, like the other side was an endless cavern.

The door on the other side opened. Nena distinctly missed the quick beating of her heart as she leaned to one side to catch a glimpse of the interior. Much of the room lay in darkness, but she could make out a small office. A filing cabinet and half of a wooden desk with a tall black leather chair behind it stood in her view. In the opposite wall was a large window that looked out on a dark night and lit office buildings.