Something Unfinished

Ed got out of his car, walked around, out the garage, and pushed the button so the doors would roll shut. He looked up at the sky and took a big, deep breath. Somehow, he felt brand new, having cut his hair, and right after telling CNet to stick it wherever it could possibly hurt to boot. He then walked to the mailbox and checked it for whatever it was that he had just seen the mailman deliver, got out a bunch of envelopes, then headed in through the front door – something none of them had really done ever since staying in that house.

      He threw a bunch of random envelopes onto the kitchen island as he checked the names of the recipients, but stopped when he came across a letter addressed to him. Slowly making his way to his room, he opened it up, and immediately felt his face settle as he read whom it was from – the agency that wanted to publish his yet-unfinished manuscript.

      He sighed and fell down on his bed as he read the contents of the letter quickly, then threw the letter onto his desk and laid down. He could hear JR’s music blasting loudly from his room, and had even thought of going in there and asking him how he had felt now that he was part of the organisation they were starting to form again, though decided against it and instead opted to close his eyes for a little while. Only a few minutes. He slept for the entirety of the day.

Ian had bought Danny some lunch at the hospital as she had a little break between the double-shifts that she was working. Neither of them had a lot to say to one-another, but that was normal for couples that had spent quite a while together and started settling with long-term plans. It was silence that both of them had needed, actually, and it definitely trumped an awkward silence where both parties had run out of things to say.

      “How is Ed?” Danny asked after finishing the lunch Ian had bought her. “I haven’t heard from him since he got back yesterday.”

      “He’s fine. I think he is a bit rattled – supposedly heard Aaliyah speaking to him during one of the Counsel’s little…visits. I don’t know what to make of it myself, though.”

      Danny thought about it for a while before one of her interns interrupted her. She then got up and kissed Ian softly. “Maybe he just needs time to think about things. He can be quite rash at times,” and then left in a hurry.

      Ian sat for a while and thought about it. In all honesty, he was worried about Ed and about all that had happened during the past month. Then his eyes shot wide open as he remembered something that Ed had told him about during his time in captivity.

      Grabbing his wallet and keys, Ian got up and left the hospital.

Dev found himself sleeping more often than not, though he knew it could be attributed to the cuts and bruises he had been dealt with when facing off against that bastard of a thing in his office. He forced a smile as he made eye contact with a blonde executive in the seat across the aisle. This had been his second transfer flight, and he had one more to go. His destination was at the end of the flight he was currently on, but he had booked an extra transfer just in case he might have been followed.

      He had no intention to eat, but knew that he had to keep his energy levels high, so he had ordered two portions of the Beef on the first flight, and had already asked for the second portion of Chicken on the current flight, though it was still on its way.

      His eyes flung open as he felt himself give in to the dark void he knew as rest. Both Ian and Ed would call him paranoid, but it had saved his life in more ways than one in the past, and he did not plan on becoming vulnerable anytime soon.

Ian came to a halt in front of a huge house in Alberton. It had three floors; all lined with private balconies for each room, with a gondola sitting in its supports in the north western-most corner of the lot.

      A security guard glanced once at Ian, promptly turned around, walked up the driveway, and pressed a button that made the gate slide open. He then waved in the direction that Ian had to drive to park.

      “Mr Erasmus, follow me.”

      Ian followed the guard up the main stairs and into the house. The floors, connected by one huge spiral staircase, was lined with glistening marble tiles and an acute sense of the immaculate. Two huge shelving systems lines the back walls that undoubtedly lead to the study and library rooms, and Ian could see no trace of any form of technology, besides the chandelier, and an old 1920s radio in the living room to his right. The outside of the house definitely did not mirror the inside.

      “Please wait here.”

      Ian watched the security guard leave, and then leaned against the staircase’s marble railing. It did not take long for the man he wanted to see to come down from the second floor, pipe in hand.

      “Ah, Mr Erasmus. I was wondering when you would show up,” the old man said as he stepped onto the first floor. He looked almost exactly like Stan Lee, except for a much more furrowed face and huge moustache. It was only after Ian looked at the old man that he noticed the hundreds of commemorative medals and awards hanging on the wall before the staircase. “Edward told me of you in our…brief conversations.”

      “General,” Ian began and stopped. The old man lifted his hand at the mention of his rank, making it clear that his days of service was well behind him, and Ian figured after the whole incident at the facility that he would want that forgotten as well. Ian contemplated what his next words was going to be. He knew that the very people his friend is now busy trying to find and destroy had once hired this man, and he also knew that this man held some respect for Ed. Though how far and how materialistic he was, Ian was unsure of – though if his house would be any indication, Ian would say extremely. “Is she really your daughter?”

JR had been walking along the edge of the woods that lined the edge of Stronghold Prime’s premises. He had heard Ed come in earlier that day, thought left shortly after without even saying goodbye. He felt as if he needed to be by himself for a while, though the isolation was short lived as one of De Beer’s men – or rather, women in this case, had joined him as he stood still for a little while and stared into what seemed like an endless set of trees.

      “What the matter with you?” she asked, getting straight to the point – a typical trait of many of De Beer’s team.

      JR looked at her once, then back at the trees before them. “Want a smoke?”

      “Thanks,” she replied and retrieved it from him. “So you’re the new kid. I saw you flailing about in the training room… you could use some more help.”

      “Tell me something I don’t know.”

      “Hey now, chill out!” The two of them then stood in silence again, both enjoying their cigarettes. “You know, I could always lend you a hand.”

      “Yeah?”

      “Yeah why not. I know how it feels to be the new kid. ‘The Sapling’ they used to call me. Morons.”

      “The Sapling, hey?” JR said with a smile.