Chapter 7

Helping Jahko consists of following him around as his personal pack mule as he shoves various items in my arms. Due to the size of the suite, Jahko moves almost too fast for me to keep up. The amount of rooms and offices to search isn’t surprising, however the service elevator hidden behind a false wall is a shock. He presses his hand against the wall, which in turn slides open to reveal an elevator. 

“That’s handy,” I say while adjusting the loose mass of items in my arms. Looking over at a sound behind me, Drahvo comes jogging in the room. He’s not carrying anything, except for a computer bag slung over his shoulder. “What’s in the bag?”

He doesn’t say anything; just stares at me until I look away. 

The three of us enter the elevator and the metal box drops at a speed faster than I was anticipating. I steady myself using the wall nearest to me with my shoulder, doing my best not to drop the collection of items in my arms. When we arrive at the bottom, the doors slide open silently to reveal a cavernous room with minimal light. 

Jahko steps through the opening first, with Drahvo and I in his wake. Suddenly, off to the right, a man comes towards us. I recognize the guard from the front entrance.

“Sir, I – ”

The speed at which he moves is astonishing. Jahko grabs the man by the neck and slams him with  tremendous force against the concrete wall. I recoil from the disgusting snap of his neck, and the sound his body makes as it connects with the wall is something I’ve never heard from a human body before. Again, I’m scrambling to adjust the awkward weight in my arms while I stare at the blood stain now spreading across the wall. The body of the guard slides towards the floor. 

Unsure of how to address such an aggressive act of violence, I stand silently, staring at the wall. 

“I don’t take betrayal lightly.” 

He dusts himself off and walks into the darkness. My focus is on the singular point of contact made by his fist connecting with the wall. I swallow nervously thinking of the damage I just witnessed and how that could one day happen to me. I tear my eyes from the cracked concrete and follow Jahko to a black SUV hidden away. 

The truck is an expensive SUV that I imagine would transport a dignitary or someone else important. Of course the windows are tinted far darker than legal limits allow, and the closer I get, the more I notice the paint job seems to have a certain hue to it. Jahko jumps into the driver seat and I open the rear driver-side door, however a heavy hand grabs my shoulder and spins me around. 

“You. In the front,” Drahvo says while nodding with his head to send me off. I can’t even muster a response. Everything seems to be moving so much faster than I can process it. I scurry around the truck to the passenger side, hop in, and close the door behind me. 

Peering over my shoulder, I see Drahvo removing a computer from his bag; his cell phone is lit up next to him showing a strong signal of some kind. Without asking questions, I turn and face the front just in time to be thrown back into my seat. 

The stark-white, luminescent headlights shine the way ahead through the pillars of the empty parking garage. When we reach the end, a faint red light bulb marks the entrance to a ramp that I hope leads to the surface. Without knowing how far the elevator descended, I’m not sure how deep underground we are, but Jahko expertly navigates the circular exit until I notice daylight snaking its way back towards us, bouncing off the immaculate concrete walls. 

A brief debate begins inside my head about vocalizing the obvious question of what will happen once we’re topside, when suddenly the truck hits the last section of the ramp and we erupt from the tunnel into the daylight. 

Out of the corner of my eye, I check to see if Jahko is still there next to me, or if it’s…less…of him somehow. I have a hard time hiding my shock when I see him calmly grab a pair of sunglasses from the cup holder between us and slide them onto his face. He looks at me and chuckles. 

“Don’t be so naive, Clayton. Of course we’ve thought of everything.” 

Still staring into nothingness between him and the dashboard, the blaring horns of lunch-time traffic snap me back into the present. Jahko maneuvers the car expertly, swerving in and out of traffic, getting as much distance between us and the building as possible. He might be the luckiest person in the world, because somehow he’s hitting every green light. But then a thought enters my mind, and I turn to look over my shoulder at Drahvo. The computer screen is illuminating his face in flashes, and his fingers are tapping ferociously across the keyboard. 

It seems this group has no shortage of resources, which continues to nag at me. The frayed edges of a larger picture that I find hard to see myself in. Why me? Now is probably not the time to ask, but the longer I let it stew in my mind, the more anxious I become. 

Almost as if he can read my mind, Jahko slows the truck to a normal speed. Rather than weaving through traffic as he has been, he’s now settled in behind someone in the right lane of the freeway; even his posture has become more relaxed. 

“Quite the day,” he says. It takes me a moment to realize he’s talking to me. I open my mouth to speak, but he interrupts me. “You know, you can set all that stuff down. You don’t have to hold it on your lap the whole way there.”

The comment forces me to look down at my lap, and I swallow nervously. My hands are beginning to cramp from gripping everything so tightly. A few of the items drop to the floor while I relax. 

“Where is there?” 

The words escape my mouth before my brain can register they left. 

Jahko seems to mull the question over in his mind. He’s still looking ahead, but I can see his eyes are searching for the right words. Afraid to be caught staring, I divert my eyes again and look at the car ahead of us. We’re exiting the freeway now and that spikes my adrenaline. The seconds tick by like minutes. My nervousness overwhelms my timidness and the second question slips out before he can respond. 

“How big is your group?”

This time he does look over at me, and long enough to warrant the car behind us to honk aggressively for his attention at the green light above us. Jahko’s eyes dart to the rearview mirror momentarily while he depresses the accelerator and moves the car forward. I wonder that if we weren’t rushing, would he have handled the situation with the car behind us differently. 

“We have a…network…of sorts throughout the world…”

“The world?!” 

Once again, I speak without thinking. The shock on my face is equally as sudden. 

“Yes. You’ll come to learn more when we reach the safe house. Maybe it’s best to keep your questions for then.” 

Taking the hint, I nod quietly. He turns on the radio to a local rock station and turns it up until I can’t hear the clicking of the keyboard anymore. My mind begins to wander.

Who am I meeting at this location?

How big is it? 

If they are worldwide, where is their base of operations? Europe? I guess it would depend on how long they’ve existed. Maybe the U.S. is a new venture for them. 

Huh, venture. Like a business. I chuckle quietly, but a snort sneaks out alongside it. Luckily the music covers it. Why do I find that so funny? I settle in for the remainder of the ride while my mind dances across the possibilities. 

—————————————————————————————————————-

Carrying the load of electronics through the hallways of the safe house, I can’t help but wonder what surprise will shock me around the next corner. However, I’m left unsatisfied. The building is very plain from the outside. I didn’t expect any glitz or glamor, but after seeing the elaborate operation in the office building downtown, this is much more understated. We haven’t come across anyone else yet, but Jahko is still using a keycard to grant us access throughout. 

Finally, we arrive in a room that must be central to the building, if my mental map is correct, and Jahko interacts with this door a bit longer than the others. Peering over his shoulder, I see a data pad with a biometric lock on it. He presses his hand against it and receives a green confirmation. The door slides open to reveal an elevator. I laugh to myself, and it doesn’t go unnoticed.

“Something funny?” Drahvo asks over my shoulder. 

“You guys really like these secret elevators.” 

Drahvo remains quiet, and Jahko ignores me as we enter. The awkward smile on my face slowly fades as the silence between us erases any bit of humor. The tension grows as we plummet, and I begin to wonder if I’ll see the surface again. 

When the elevator doors finally open, my mouth opens with it. 

The large opening is filled with all sorts of technology, both old and new; monitors on the walls, and large tables with papers strewn about. Various doors pockmark the walls, giving the feeling that this is just the center of some ant hill with passages everywhere. Two rows of extremely wide pillars stretch from one end of the room to the other.

My feet refuse to move while I digest the scene around me. Somewhere between 20 and 30 people are moving about the space, completing various tasks, and holding various conversations. There’s so much going on that I lose track of my two companions and a random person with a tablet in their hands approaches me. 

“Are those the electronics from the downtown location?” she asks while adjusting her glasses. I continue to stare with parted lips, dumbstruck by the scale of the room that I’m in. She clears her throat and somehow that grabs my attention. 

“Yes, they are. I’m not sure wh – ”

“Great! Liam! Over here, please grab these items from the doctor. He’s needed in the conference room.”

A younger man comes over, pushing a cart that is already half-filled with various pieces of equipment. He mumbles under his breath to the woman and starts collecting things from my arms. I lean over and awkwardly try to drop it all into the cart without breaking anything. 

“Thanks,” I say, but he keeps his eyes averted and immediately turns around to push the cart elsewhere. 

“Please, Dr. Isaacs, this way,” the woman with the data pad says and hurries off without me. 

Realizing the last thing I probably want is to get lost in here, I jog after her as she turns a corner into a long hallway with even more doors. Once I catch up, I try to match her stride, but find it difficult. She’s not much taller than me, but her legs move so fluidly that I can’t help but awkwardly speed walk to keep up. I’m sure I look ridiculous and awkward.

“Jahko and the others have much to discuss, so we’ll need you to spend the night here.” 

She hasn’t stopped tapping away on her tablet, so it took me a minute to realize she’s talking to me. 

“Oh, but my family? I can’t leave them – especially if they’re in danger. Please, I…”

“We’ve thought of everything, doctor,” she says as she opens the door to a large conference room. As soon as I clear the doorway, the sweetest, and least expected, sound greets my ears.

“Daddy!”

Serena comes running to me with her favorite doll flopping at her side. I squat down and pick her up as she showers me with kisses, but my eyes immediately lock onto Kathryn. She’s standing to the side of the room, showing almost no emotion, but I can see the worry in her eyes. I try to ask every question in my mind through my eyes to her, but all she does is slowly shake her head. 

Not now.

I can’t help but think, if not now, then when? We might not have a “later” at this point. 

Jahko steps forward and tears my attention away from my family. 

“Doctor, please, take a seat and we can discuss our current situation.”

Still holding Serena, I nod and take a seat in the chair offered to me. Serena huddles close to me, playing with her doll while leaning her head against my chest. Holding her in my arms, I find a sense of strength. It feels like home with her here, and with the events of the last day, home is something I desperately need. 

But then the realization of where we are, surrounded by this group of individuals, brings about a sense of dread that is impossible to ignore. It weighs on me like a dense fog that you can taste on your tongue.

The rest of the group take their seats around the large conference table. Jahko hits a button off to his right, and the large wall at the other end of the table lights up in an array of monitors. Different faces fill each screen. 

“Jahko, it’s good to see you.”

The light blue border surrounds the face of an older gentleman. The background on his video is blurred, presumably to help hide his location. I notice the others are blurred as well. 

“Sir. Sorry for the delay, we ran into some complications. I – ”

“You’re not the only one. There have been three other attacks on our facilities today, and not all have been as lucky as you. All personnel and data in the Houston location have been lost. We were able to wipe most of their data remotely, but some was taken. We have to assume the worst.”

Dead silence. 

It feels like the sense of dread that was only infecting me, has now infected everyone. Some around the table bow their heads. Some share looks, with unspoken words passed between them. Thoughts of concern or hopelessness maybe. Either way, emotions are a powerful thing and the tide in this room seems to be rising. I squeeze Serena, and whisper in her ear to go sit with her mother. She slides off my lap and skips towards Kathryn to sit on hers. 

“Ahem. Sir, if I may?”

The speaker is another gentleman around my age, with a receding hairline and thick glasses. The leader nods in acknowledgement and mutes himself on the call while sitting back in his chair. The man with the glasses clears his throat again. 

“With all due respect to those lost, the silver lining for our meeting today concerns the advancements in our antidote. My team has done a tremendous job over the last few weeks, and the results from our test subjects have been extremely positive. With the addition of our newest member today, I have a feeling we’ll have our answer any day now.”

Most of the heads around the table are now nodding in the affirmative, and even a few of them have cracked a small smile. Relief spreads down the table. It seems this antidote means an incredible amount to them. After a second or two, it dawns on me that the man on the screen mentioned a new addition, and I see some heads turning my way. 

I look around, not sure if I should speak up, or wait for the man to speak again. The microphone on our end is still activated, so I can’t address the call. 

“This is the doctor leading the investigation into the work I’ve been asking you to complete from your office. His name is Markos Strauss,” Jahko says. “He’s been working on this antidote for two years, and is very grateful for the data you’ve been able to collect for us.” 

I’m not sure what to say, so I nod and try to swallow the lump growing in my throat. Serena and Kathryn are still off to my side, partially out of sight. I peer over through the corner of my eye, worried that looking directly that way might draw unnecessary attention to them. The anxiety rising inside of me is tied to the perceived danger that they are in. However, they seem perfectly safe. Serena is giggling, playing with her doll, and Kathryn is sitting with her legs crossed and arms folded. There’s a slight smile on her lips; I wonder why the sudden relief for her. Nevertheless, I’m glad she feels better.

“Glad to meet him,” I manage to stammer out, bringing my attention back to Jahko. 

The doctor on the screen continues speaking. 

“Furthermore, an added benefit has been discovered in some of our latest trials,” the excitement in his voice is mounting. Whatever it is they’ve discovered, it must be important. “Sir, this is something we’ve believed to be an impossibility, but thanks in part to the restructuring of the cells via the antidote, we now believe that a future without fear of ultraviolet light is closer than ever before.”

A few around the table can’t hold back their excitement, and their exclamations take me by surprise. The realization of what was just said dawns on me, and a cold sweat starts dripping down my back. 

“And now that we finally have our hands on the test subject we’ve been looking for years for, we believe this future is quite literally in our grasp. I – ”

His audio is cut, but I can see the elation on his face in the video, until he realizes he can’t be heard and happiness is replaced by confusion. Jahko adjusts a dial on the table in front of him, so when the leader starts speaking again, we can’t hear what he has to say. I look over at him with my head cocked. It seems the doctor is being scolded for something. The look of embarrassment on his face is only rivaled by the anger on the leader’s. 

Suddenly, the screen goes black. The call must be over. 

“Clayton, what you’ve done for us is something that will never be forgotten, and in more ways than one. You’ve been an asset to our cause, and you will be rewarded for that.” His words sound warm, and thoughtful, but the warmth dissipates too quickly. Possibly due to the boardroom filled with monsters…

 If what that doctor said is true, these things could become even more of a danger to the world. A few hours ago, I barely understood their footprint, and now…becoming immune to sunlight seems like an enormous step forward in advancement. I’ve already seen their level of technological skill, and from the sounds of it their medical prowess is unmatched. Where does it end? What possibly holds them back from infiltrating governments and corporations around the globe? Have they already accomplished that? With their longevity, and how extensive their operation is around the globe, nothing seems out of reach for them. I start to feel light-headed just thinking about the possibilities. 

And I’m still not sure how this will end for my family. After seeing everything we’ve seen, I can’t imagine they’ll just let us walk out and return to our lives as if nothing ever happened. Maybe they have some sort of amnesia-inducing concoction they’ll inject into each of us. 

I hope it doesn’t affect Serena negatively. 

“Clayton, did you hear me?” 

Suddenly, I realize I’m staring at Serena playing with her doll. The realization that my baby girl is sitting, playing, in this den of creatures brings back my focus to the brick of dread in my belly. I can tell the others around the table are looking between me, Serena, and themselves. 

Something feels off. 

Clearing my throat, I decide it’s time to take a stance. 

“Listen, Jahko, I appreciate your, uh, team bringing my family here and keeping them out of danger, but if it’s all the same to you, I think it’s best if my involvement comes to an end.” My confidence is starting to rise as I speak, and I sit a little straighter in my chair. “You obviously have quite the operation going on, and some very intelligent minds. I have to imagine you can complete this project without me and my family, don’t you?”

More looks are shared around the table while seconds tick away. I look down at my hands and realize I’ve started picking a spot on another finger and blood is starting to well in the cuticle. It’s not a lot, but it’s enough for me to bring it to my mouth and suck it away. Feeling more eyes on me, I look around the table with my finger still at my lips. 

Did I just do something really stupid? Can they smell this? I’m sure they can. Is one of them going to leap over the table at me? 

Slowly, I bring my hand back down to my lap. I can tell one or two are watching me like vultures and it takes everything in me to try to hide my uneasiness. Based on the glint in their eyes, I can tell I’m not doing a good job.

Jahko is now walking around the table; I didn’t even see him rise. He places a hand on my shoulder, and I expect him to stand behind me, posturing, to remind me who’s in charge, however, he continues past me. I turn my head to follow him, praying it hasn’t come to this, and I see him stop next to Serena. Neither Serena or Kathryn make any adjustments or acknowledge that Jahko is now within striking distance of them. 

“Clayton, I was hoping you wouldn’t force our hand. You’ve played nicely for so long, but I guess an act of defiance would come sooner or later.”

His fingers wrap around the back of Kathryn’s neck. She doesn’t move. My eyes widen in terror. Why isn’t she struggling, or fighting back? I try to scream at her, but realize my voice is nonexistent. My whole body is frozen to the chair. The brick of dread in my stomach has cracked and is oozing its icy contents through my veins. 

This is it. 

This is how it all ends. 

Except, it doesn’t. 

Jahko’s fingers never constrict. Kathryn’s neck doesn’t snap at an awkward angle. There’s no sound of broken bones. Everything is fine. At least that’s how I feel. The dread that was only moments ago spreading throughout my veins and capillaries, has now been replaced with a warm sense of comfort. I look over at Jahko and see him staring back into my eyes; into my soul. A smile spreads across his face. 

It’s time you know the truth.

Strange. I hear the words in my head, but I never see Jahko open his mouth to speak. 

Everyone has been lying to you. I’m truly sorry to be the one to break the trend and tell you the truth.

Instinctively, I try to cock my head in misunderstanding, but my body is frozen. I’m at a loss for words for a variety of reasons, all of which center around how this man and his posse has entered my life and subsequently ruined it. It suddenly strikes me how unfair this has all been. Why me? Why my family? What do we have that he wants so badly?

Serena.

The mention of her name snaps me back to reality. I’m once again staring lasers through Jahko’s eyes. 

“Don’t say her name.”

The words never come out. I try with all my might to fight and scream, but nothing comes out.

“It’s always been about her, Clayton. I’m sorry to have misled you this whole time, but we had no other choice,” he says, out loud this time. No one else in the room has moved or made a sound. Everyone is still as stone. 

Jahko’s eyes look over to something behind me, and then move slowly back to me. Is it just me, or has an inky blackness spread across the whites of his eyes? They remind me of shark eyes that I’ve seen on nature documentaries. Before I can say anything, I feel a pinch on my neck. It’s so subtle that I barely notice it.

My eyes are heavy. So heavy. My brain tells my arm to reach for whatever it is on my neck, but neither arm responds. I realize I can’t feel anything at all. It actually feels quite nice; warm, even. I let my eyes begin to close, but what about Kathryn and Serena? My eyes open again. I can’t leave them. They need me. At least I think they do. This warm feeling is unbelievably cozy. I’m sure they’ll be fine. There’s no need to fight it. 

No need at all.