Into The Aether

Chapter Twenty-Three: Shared Memories

We all stood watching the tension rise between the two men. There was an unseen current which electrified the air and kept us all on edge. Primis stood his ground as Richtofen threateningly hovered a gloved finger over the trigger of the wunderwaffe.

The leather whined under the tension.

Then, the air was suddenly cleansed of malice and Richtofen lowered his gun before turning to the rest of us. He pouted a little and furrowed his brow before he became animated and upbeat. He jolted to attention and marched to the edge of the stage to begin his announcement.

"Vell! I shall now begin. Ve must continue to keep zhe building secure vhilst I find a vay to get us back on track", he joyfully explained.

"Vhilst jou vere all cleaning up mein patients I sought out an office to conduct mein research. If any of jou dishturb me I vill cut out jour shpleen und feed it to jou", he sang with a disturbing grin.

"Until zhen jou are all on vatch duty", he snapped before glaring at Primis and I and stomping off.

Primis smirked to himself but I made sure to hide that I noticed as I tried to make sense of Richtofen's behaviour. Dempsey shook his head and mumbled an insult towards Richtofen before we all gathered together to decide how to divide the work.

We ended up spending the rest of the day clearing bodies and securing the rest of the building. Takeo and Nikolai secured and cleared out the second floor whilst Dempsey and I kept an eye on Primis who was now eyeing the teleporter on the stage. We finished carrying the last body out the main entrance and went to wash up.

I headed to the ladies room to clean myself up whilst Dempsey went to the men's room. The door swung open and I immediately went to the sink. The cold water rushed through the pipes and into the basin as I scrubbed off the dried blood which snaked its way up my forearms.

Once I had gotten most of it off, I turned off the faucet. I looked up at my reflection in the cracked mirror in front of me and gasped. I was shocked as I looked almost unrecognisable. My face was grimey despite my best efforts and my dishevelled blonde hair that fell past my shoulders was becoming increasingly matted and tainted by my darker roots.

I narrowed my eyes and looked into the mirror more closely as I could make out a print from a boot on the off-white tiled floor behind me. But I knew it was not mine - it was far too big. I began to feel eyes on me and immediately suspected it was Richtofen. He had been locked away in that office all day and had not shown his face. I had suspected he would pay me another visit sooner or later but I was tired and did not want to deal with him right now.

So, I decided to conceal my discovery by playing it cool and finished drying off. I adjusted my hair and turned to leave expecting him to make his usual sudden appearance. But no one intercepted me and I was able to successfully make it to the door. No angry German tried to make me jump or grab me.

And strangely, I felt more creeped out by this behaviour. I deduced that he really must have thought he was hidden this time and was intentionally not wanting me to know he was there.

I shuddered at the thought.

I made my way out into the hallway to find Dempsey leaning against the wall nearby waiting for me. He had walked up to where he could still keep an eye on Primis who was examining the teleporter with childlike curiosity. I laughed as I walked up and looked at him.

"Aww, look at him. He's all taken on by it", I chuckled.

Dempsey let out a smile and nodded in agreement.