OLDAVAI
I decided I'd be late showing up to the AO office because I still wanted to throttle Shorn and knew it was in my best interest to do exactly not that. I had tried to mind speak to Dove this morning, only to get an unbreachable wall. There was no indication that she was on the other side of the connection ignoring me, much like she did last night. I could only guess that she was with Shorn and he was putting a barrier against me... again.
The sigh I made was huge and dramatic as I plopped myself down on the bench. For once I hoped that people would stay away with the spectacle of my awkward adolescent body while I basked in the sunlight searching for calm. It took longer than anticipated.
When I did finally enter the building I could almost feel my pupils dilate to make up for how dim it was. I timed it as I always did, while jogging up the stairs, cataloging how long it took for them to adjust. Demon eyes were different, we had the ability to focus instantaneously on what we wanted, the lighting making no difference.
My body swayed into the deserted public area, all gangly arms and legs. Vacant because it was the afternoon, but it also could have been Shorn's brimstone leaking from his space that caused everyone to scatter. At that moment the highlight of my day was to not see the Darkness pulsating in the framework to his office, like an entryway into a very dark cave. Life was looking up until Ila calmly walked out of his office and shut the door firmly. I knew she'd guess it was me without looking like my incubus self.
She passed me calmly and asked without stopping, "Oldavai?"
I turned, following her movements, she was full of dread, "Yes."
She stopped at the elevator and turned to me, "I might have miscalculated."
Her palm forcefully slammed the blue evacuation alarm next to those sliding metal doors. Every floor had them for any number of potentially scary and fatal reasons. The drill was, as I knew Dove would pun with a corny smile, drilled into everyone. The sound was loud, ear piercing, and resulted in an immediate assault of anxiety straight to my core from the entire building. I quickly shut it out.
What kind of bullshit did she pull now?!
Ila fast tracked it to the fire stairs. She startled when I slammed my body into hers, hands wrapped around her biceps. I was being gentle with my grip, but my teeth hurt from how hard I was clenching them.
"What did you do?"
Hands shoved us harshly out of the way as the entire third floor departed quickly. Supes were all fast. I pulled her into the open area, "What did you do?"
I hated repeating myself.
She pushed me away and I let her go, she ran to the stairs. She didn't shout, but I heard her all the same.
"I miscalculated how much she meant to him."
My camouflage stripped away as I turned to Shorn's office. Darkness leaked out from the thinnest spaces around the door. Where was Dove that I couldn't get in contact with her? More importantly, where was Dove that Shorn couldn't find a way to have her by his side?
The ravenous Darkness flowed out. It seeped out the bottom of his door onto the floor like black opaque water. It rose up the walls, floated down the hallways, diaphanously like smoke. It moved closer to my feet and the emotion of Shorn's dissonance fractured through my body like the soundtrack to a horror flick.
I left.
I found Ila in the crowd outside the parameters of the pentacle. Dark had already seeped out Shorn's window and was spiraling in all directions around the building.
We all watched with rapt attention. The guards were split between stationing blockades and shoving the last of the workers out the doors. I highly doubted that everyone got out in time. Behind me I could already hear the cluster of traffic being re-routed outside any visible perimeters.
I cleared my throat. Found I couldn't talk and cleared my throat again, "Ila, you now want to tell me what happened?"
Neither of us looked at each other, just continued to watch the spectacle happening in front of our very eyes. It was a work of magnificence. The Dark had paused at the boundaries. A flat, straight edged star made of black. I don't know if the magic held or if Shorn stopped himself.
Darkness encased the whole building, but it wasn't just a void, it was a candle running big bulbous drops of wax. The top of the building where the prison would be had stalagmites of Dark wax surrounding it, dripping.
I grabbed her arm again, harder than last time, hating her a little more than I already did, "What did you do?"
She turned her head, focus following slowly, almost unable to look away. She finally looked me straight in the eyes.
"I drafted Dove as a sentinel."
