You Don't Belong Here

Chapter Seventy Two

The taxi ride from the airport had seemed as if it had lasted hours when in reality it had only taken about half an hour. The cab drove up to what was once the Brooks Foundation and Brielle stepped out onto the barren ground. Where a vast building once stood, now an expansive pile of rubble took it's place. The surrounding are had been cleared of all flora and foliage had long since been destroyed leaving behind nothing but an expansive patch of scorched earth. It was painfully clear where the blast radius had spread leaving nothing in its wake.

"YOU WEAR MINIATURE ATOM BOMBS LIKE BRACELETS?! WHO DOES THAT?!"

"Survivors." Brielle squeezed her eyes shut as she struggled to catch her breath. The group had been able to make it through the makeshift security perimeter in the woods and seek shelter in the cargo hold of the ship just moments before the shockwave reached them. "Do you understand now?"

"No, Ghost! I don't understand! Is your entire species comprised of lunatics, or is that trait limited to you stooges?!"

She grinned as she reminisced on the events following the explosion.

There was evidence of vagrants nearby: tents, sleeping bags, piles of random clutter that had been collected throughout the city over a number of years...surely they had gathered anything of value from the wreckage - if anything had survived, that is.

She could very nearly smell the traces of blood and chemicals in the air as they leaked out over the years.

Small droplets of rain began to splatter on the ground and atop her head. She looked to the sky almost hopeful that it's tears might wash away the weight of her transgressions.

The taxi horn beeped in an attempt to pull her back to reality. She breathed deep before walking to the yellow eye sore.

She had gotten what she came for: confirmation that the forsaken wreckage had not been rebuilt following its creators death.

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The scent of the female was strong in this room. It was sullied with the stench of chemicals and additives, but it was undeniably hers. The scent was days old now, but to the trained senses it was as if she'd been here only hours ago. It was where she slept; that much was known...and the smell itself was enough to nearly drive one to their wits end with anticipation.

The intruder moved throughout the apartment, memorizing the layout and taking notice of every detail down to the placement of her various household items.

They stepped closer to inspect a single photo that was hanging on the wall in the kitchen. The image was of a female child with an older male and female standing behind her. All three had deep brown hair while the male had brown eyes, the older female green eyes, and the child had shining grey eyes.

They all appeared extremely happy in the photo. The intruder leaned closer to inspect the image of the child, but quickly turned at the sound of the front door unlocking.

At last it opened to reveal a blonde man dressed in tight fitting clothing talking on a cellphone.

"Yeah, she's out of town for a few days so I'm housesitting for her. No Johnny, you're not coming over and we're not banging on her couch. I basically just get the mail for her and check on her apartment a couple times a day to make it look like someone is home." He was inside now and secured the door behind him.

The intruder slowly backed down the hallway to retreat back to the bedroom, mindful not to bring any unwanted attention to themself.

"Johnathan you are so dirty! But no, we're not doing that either. Sam's a good friend and it would be weird to know that she could potentially sit on one of our jizz puddles when she curls up to innocently watch murder mystery shows with a bag of kettle corn in her lap."

The blonde man continued to speak to the second party as the intruder began to look for an exit point in the moonlit room. The two windows were locked and they couldn't risk trying to open the devices lest the man hear their retreat.

They opted to stay to the shadows and wait for the new arrival to depart, but alas the man's footsteps continued down the hallway into the bathroom and then the bedroom.

"Yeah, well I'm going to hang out and take a nap so I'll call you when I'm headed to your place. Just make sure you keep an eye out for me. I don't want to get snatched up by some psycho killer!" The man laughed at his last statement and professed his love to the one known as Johnny before hanging up the phone.

He slid the device into his pants pocket and fell rather heavily onto the neatly tucked blankets upon the bed and clutched a pillow tightly against his chest.

The intruder let their annoyance get the better of them. How dare this man have the gall to not only enter this residence without permission, let alone invade the woman's personal space. This weakling was encroaching on their territory and he would pay dearly for his transgressions.