Walk in the light: Legend novella

Day (32)

Day

"Daniel Wing?"

"Yes, that's me, who-"

"Good, we're coming"

"Wha-"

The receiver clicked and the line went flat. I stared dumbly at the phone for a second before tossing it onto the countertop where it bumped into a ceramic plate still filled with half-eaten lasagna. I tossed it into the trash, noting that somehow I fell asleep somewhere around four in the morning and apparently had only downed half my late dinner before collapsing in exhaustion. I checked the clock. 7:02- Eden would have just left for work. There was a note next to me on the counter.

You need to rest more. She'll be okay.

I hoped he was right.

**********

The water stung my skin and dripped back into the sink just as the first knock came. I was thankful for the excuse to leave the bathroom- I had been avoiding looking at myself, knowing what a mess I must have been having not slept in almost three days. I whiped my face dry with a hand towel while walking into the living room, tossing the towel onto the couch on my way.

Halfway through the second series of knocks I swing the door open, the guards were not even fazed looking at the mad man picture I must have been, and I grugginly gave them credit for that.

"We're here to escort you."

"To where?"

"Tell you in the car."

I usually would have been incredibly annoyed by the secrecy the military always held, the way they wouldn't budge. Humans were not meant to be robots, but the way they acted did make it easier mentally for me to pretend I wasn't hurting someone when I fought them. Today I was too exhausted to care.

"Okay." I stepped into the hall when one of the guards moved forward.

"Do you have it?" I furrowed my eyebrows. It was one thing to be secretive, another to be talking in code when the receiving person did not know the code. The guard behind him must have noticed my confusion because he reached up in a casual manner and fixed his already perfect collar. Soldiers never made grooming movements on the job. At least I had never seen any.

It dawned on me and I nodded, suddenly aware of the consistent pressure at the top of my thigh, the weight in my pocket swinging slightly everytime I took a step. I had kept the pendent in my inner coat pocket, never letting it leave my sight ever since I pulled it out from behind the stand. Those stupid investigators wanted to take a look at it, to test for clues and after an immense struggle with me I rode to the laboratory with them and it was back in my palm the moment the tests were over.

I didn't want to get my hopes up, but I knew that Anden wouldn't send people to fetch me just to have a casual conversation. And if something was disastrous, the guards wouldn't be acting calm- right? After all, June was their Commander, but then again of course they would only know as much as their Captains told them. There would be emotion in their Captain's voices. Still, I didn't know how far this news was in terms of clearance. Probably pretty high. In my line of thoughts, I had already got situated inside the government speciality vehicle, with one-way windows that you could only see out from, not in. It was spacious enough, but I still crossed one of my legs on top of the other, forming a lazy triangle between the two. All to make sure I had enough personal space, with a guard in the seat next to me. He seemed to get the message, sitting with perfect posture, his right side pressing against the seam where the base of the car meet with the door. I doubted I needed to send the message in the first place, suddenly aware that my stance was much less formal than his and probably the driver's too. To hide my distaste I leaned my head against the window and closed my eyes, not caring enough to ask them where we were going anymore.