With Fear or Without

19- The Key

She couldn't keep her eyes glued to the floor forever. She knew she would have to look up to see the building, to go inside, but she liked the idea of putting off another splitting headache and honestly embarrassing collapse.

So as she walked she focused on Cassian's black shoes as they stepped over and over along the stone path. Behind her, Andy and Charlie seemed to have gotten the message from Cleo's silence and didn't bother her. But Cleo knew, just knew, they were giving each other apprehensive and concerned looks behind her back. Which she ignored.

Cassian's shoes stopped moving. She stopped herself just short of running straight into him. She took a breath, bracing herself. In her head she tried to tell herself that if she wasn't expecting it, she wouldn't be caught off guard. She wasn't totally convinced. Once she gathered the nerve to lift her head, she exhaled in relief.

No sudden dizziness, no headache. No shifting mirage, either. Just a simple, ordinary one story building with that gold glow around the base. The red and white bricks were quite jarring after the gold and ivory palette of the rest of the structures. Four short pillars lined the front porch, arched windows crossed the front wall, and a set of double doors were set into the center. Cleo noted the obsession with dramatic double doors.

Once all three companions had caught up with him, Cassian strode up the front steps of the building and heaved open the left door, swinging it wide and holding it open with his foot. After seeing him open doors with glowing lights, watching him open them the normal way seemed wrong and out of place.

"It's just the lobby," he said in response to their completely valid hesitation.

"But... it was just... how...?" Charlie stuttered, their finger drifting in space to point at the building.

Andy wore the same expression of sudden disbelief. "It's... normal. It wasn't normal a second ago."

"What you saw before was just a trick. An illusion, I guess," Cassian explained. "We should get in there."

Feeling frustration and more than a little confusion settle in her stomach, Cleo glared at Cassian before striding through the door he held open.

She found herself in a small room like a lobby, with three wooden doors leading to more rooms on each wall. There was still no discernable light source, though the room was well lit. The light cream walls were pristine, bare, and spotless. It was sparsely furnished; two cushioned benches flanking the entrance door and a dark wooden desk in the center of the room being the only objects. The desk was more like a counter with its raised lip on the closest side that covered any paraphernalia behind it. The only thing they could see was a small silver bell, like the ones in old hotels and in old movies.

The lanky boy sitting behind the desk gave Cleo a sneaking suspicion that he didn't have much work to do on that desk. He had young, almost timeless features that suggested he was either fifteen or twenty-five. He had cropped dirty blonde hair and eyes hidden behind black curved frames. His chucky brown boots were propped up on the desk in front of him as he leaned back in his chair. Before he noticed them come in, he was deep in concentration with what looked to be a friendship bracelet. His young and boyish expression was contorted with focus, following each different colored string as he wove them together. And, of course, a thin glow traced his arms.

Cleo was halfway to the desk when he noticed her footsteps. Quickly, he shoved his little project to a corner of the desk where it sat hidden from their view. He took his feet down from the desk and popped up to his feet.

Cleo heard the door swing closed as her friends joined her, Cassian making his way around the trio.

"Hey Cas," the boy smiled brightly at Cassian, immediately showing a lighthearted and positive attitude. As if he didn't have a care in the world.