Child realised she had forgotten her keys when she reached her flat. She stared at her door and then rooted angrily through her pockets and her bag. The keys were entirely absent. Child swore. It was half past nine and she wanted to get inside, have something to eat, watch TV and sleep. For security reasons none of her neighbours had spare keys and most of her family lived outside of her town. At this time of night the roads to her sister’s village would already be closed. Her only option was to go back along the motorway and back to the facility. She could visualise her keys, sitting on her desk. Muttering darkly, she strode back to her car and started it.
The road was relatively clear. Child was able to drive the whole way almost without stopping, pausing briefly for a loo break and some coffee. Eunomia would be in bed already, so it would just be Stern sat there. Child was a little worried about him, about how he was acting. He seemed twitchy and distracted; more than usual. Child wondered if maybe he was still cross about Eunomia. The thought made her nervous. Her fingers tightened on the steering wheel, her foot pressed down on the accelerator.
“Evans?” Child called, leaning over the reception desk. He still wasn’t there. She wrote her name down on the sign-in sheet and walked on down to the office. It was coming up to half past eleven. Down in the depths of the facility the late hour had little effect. Time seemed to have no impact, and day and night simply merged together. Child reached the office and pushed open the door. “Hey Stern, forgot my-…”
The room was in darkness. There was someone standing near the door on the far side of the room.
“Eunomia? What are you doing up?” Child asked, switching on the light. Eunomia’s pale face looked at her impassively. Her forehead was wrinkled slightly, a faint look of anxiety.
“Stern went out. There was an unknown man with him.” She answered, walking over to Child and standing near her. She didn’t reach out or touch her, but being close to Child seemed to make her feel less anxious. The faint wrinkles on her face dissolved. Child frowned at her.
“An unknown? What did he look like?” Child asked. Stern did not have visitors often, and never at this time of night.
“I didn’t see. Only heard. They went downstairs.” Eunomia said, looking towards the door.
“Downstairs.” Child went to her computer and pulled up the security camera link and began combing through the lower levels.
“Did you hear what they were saying?” Child asked quietly.
Eunomia shook her head.
There was movement in the basement. The light wasn’t on but Child could see vague shapes moving. She turned to Eunomia. “Found them.” She said sharply. “Come on.” She went for the door. Eunomia hesitated, before hurrying out into the corridor and down the stairs with Child.
Their footsteps echoed loudly in the empty hallway. Child tried to lighten her footsteps. She reached for Eunomia’s hand and squeezed it tightly.
They finally reached the bottom floor. Child could hear voices, open and laughing. She didn’t recognise one, the louder one.
“Hello? Stern, are you down here?” She called. The voices abruptly fell silent. She heard a voice, she thought it was Stern, murmuring faintly. She let go of Eunomia’s hand and approached the door. She pushed it open and stepped inside. The room was dark, she couldn’t see anyone. There was a sound, comical and muted, and then a stinging feeling in her side.
It was 23.39.
“What did you do?! Why-…Why…” Stern’s mouth gaped open. Sheckle stood next to him, the gun still raised. His face betrayed no hint of abhorrence or regret, he looked business like as normal. Slowly he lowered his arm. The light was switched on, and the room was bathed in light. Eunomia stood in the doorway.
Sheckle raised the gun again.
“No!” Stern shouted, wrenching Sheckle’s arm down. What happened next sent his mind into disarray, left him blinking and stunned. One moment he was holding onto Sheckle’s arm, the next he was clutching nothing but thin air. The man had completely vanished.
Stern stared at the empty space for a few bewildered moments, before his eyes flicked back to Child and Eunomia. The girl was kneeling by Child. The hem of her little paper gown was soaking up blood like a sponge. It was on her hands, dripping from her fingers. Her expression was unreadable, but her eyes were wide, fit to pop out of her skull, and focused on the spot where Sheckle had been. That stare sent a shudder all down Stern’s spine.
“Eunomia, what did you do?”
“He has been punished.” She said, fluently. It was like another person was speaking. Slowly she lowered her gaze, closing her eyes and rolling her shoulders. Her hands drifted back to Child’s body, laying them on her shoulders.
Stern didn’t dare approach. In his mind he ran through the possibilities. Could Eunomia have killed Sheckle, erasing every cell somehow, vaporising the man, flesh and bone gone in an instant?
“Eunomia…?” Stern said. He looked at Child. She wasn’t moving, and the pool of blood beneath her had expanded like a gaping mouth on the floor. She seemed to be beyond help.
“She’s not alive anymore.” Eunomia whispered. She removed her hands from the body and placed them in her lap. Stern didn’t know what to say. He stared mutely at the corpse. He put his head in his hands and groaned.
Bailer awoke to the sound of a phone, his phone ringing in his trouser pocket, hanging on the back of a chair. He got up, careful not to disturb his wife. He scooped up his trousers and left the room, fishing the phone out of the pocket and putting it to his ear.
“What?” He muttered sleepily. “What’dya want?”
The person on the other end of the line spoke and Bailer went cold. He stumbled back and hit the wall.
“How? How is she dead? What happened?” Bailer said. His voice began as a whisper, before rising to a shout. “No, I want to know. Stern, what’s going on? God…dead. Where’s Eunomia? Is she alright?” He asked, trying to keep his voice down again. His son was sleeping just down the hall.
“Ok. Ok. I’ll get there. I’ll be there in thirty minutes. Just-…I don’t know.” He hung up. He held the phone in his hand and ran the other through his hair. He leant against the wall. Stern had said Child was dead. Bailer couldn’t believe it. It didn’t fully sink in until he got into the car and started driving.
Continued in Part 9 --->
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Moth's Tales
Since I tend to turn my avatars into characters, I thought I might expand on the whole idea a bit. Comments and feedback are greatly appreciated.
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