Chapter Twenty Three
It only took a few minutes to check on the guards, and get them the help they needed. Valeska was obviously at the top of her game, in both ability and intelligence. No wonder the Elementus Populas had failed to detect her. She was as cunning as she was capable. The fact that she was able to take down numerous ex-military soldiers in a top secret bunker in several seconds proved how ferocious she was.
Aura pulled Timothy to his feet. He couldn’t open his right eye, because it was so badly swollen. Aura went to touch it, and he flinched as she caressed it lovingly. He smiled down at her, and I thought that they might lunge into a kiss, but they didn’t.
“We have to go!” Niyol declared, making his way speedily towards the exit.
“No, you cannot!” A guard barked, leaving the telecommunications room that was located a few feet behind me. Niyol stopped in his tracks, unsure what to do as the heavy set man trenched towards him. He pushed past Aura, Timothy, myself and the other guards so that he could stand face to face with Niyol to intimidate him. Niyol isn’t exactly a small person, but next to this guard he looked like a little child. Niyol puffed out his chest and clenched his fists by his side. He wasn’t going to let this man belittle him.
“We’re going to catch Valeska. We have to find out exactly what she is up to and exactly who she works for. We’ve already wasted time by helping your colleagues, so we have to leave right now!”
Niyol span around, glaring at Aura and me, indicating for us to follow him. The big guard grabbed Niyol’s left forearm and pulled him aggressively backwards.
“I can’t let you leave… ARGH!” Sparks of lightning surrounded Niyol’s arm, electrocuting the burly guard. He immediately let go, jumped backwards and howled in pain as Niyol glowered at him defensively.
“Don’t touch me,” Niyol ordered. The man shook his hand, hoping that the searing pain might end, but it probably wouldn’t for some time. Niyol continued to make his way towards the door at the end of the corridor.
“Come on!” He cried out, expecting us to follow. I gazed at Aura, who seemed frightened but determined. I began to follow down the corridor, making my way through the guards who stepped to one side to let me through. I heard Aura and Timothy following behind. Just as I was about to sprint down the hallway, after Niyol, the huge guard stood in front of me, blocking my path.
“You can’t leave!” He ordered belligerently, thinking that his imposing frame would make me feel like a little girl. I smiled at him kindly. He was confused and didn’t know how to respond. I tried to squeeze past him, but he moved so that he was still in my way. I tried again, but he wouldn’t let me leave. I didn’t want to hurt him, but I wasn’t going to let him block my path either. I held my hand up, just in front of his heaving barrelled chest, and gripped the air around him. I felt his large outline, which dented the atmosphere, and focused on it. The floating pieces of air latched onto his arms, legs and head. He was now in my power. I threw him backwards, lifting him off of the floor, and pushed him against the wall on my right. He tried his best to struggle against it, but there was nothing he could do. I held him in my grip, or at least the air did. The air that I controlled. He gritted his teeth as he tried with all his might to release himself, but he wouldn’t be able to. I locked him against the wall, and he would only be set free when I commanded it.
“Please!” He pleaded as I waltzed past him, “Please, don’t go!”
I looked ahead, where Niyol was waiting impatiently. “Please,” the guard continued, “this is a code red emergency! I just received word that the Assistant Director of the Elementus Populas is on her way! She must speak with you!”
I continued walking, not caring about the political side of the organisation, but I noticed that Aura and Timothy had stopped. I spun around, realising that he was holding her back.
“What are you doing?” Aura snapped at him impatiently.
“The Assistant Director would not come here to see you unless it was incredibly important!”
Niyol began running down the hallway, back towards us. The sound of his feet slapping against the metal floor reverberated around us. Aura looked up at Timothy nervously.
“What are you waiting for?” Niyol balked, standing next to me with his hands on his waist.
“I think you should stay,” Timothy suggested reticently, clearly afraid of what Niyol might do to him.
“We have to get Valeska before she escapes!”
“She’s probably long gone by now!” Timothy argued, “She has planned this for years. She knows more than anyone else about you and your powers and she is working for the enemy. You’ve got to trust me, sir! I was in the army. This is a tactical play. She’s trying to lead you outside for a reason. It’s dangerous for all of you if you follow her. She’s already proven how intelligent she is, who knows what she could do next?”
I smiled. So did Aura. Timothy had a good head on his shoulders. Aura looked proudly from Timothy to me. I raised my eyebrows in approval. He seemed like a very good catch. That was, if we could trust him. We couldn’t seem to trust anyone these days.
“And how exactly will staying here and waiting for the Assistant Director help us?” Niyol questioned.
“She’s in charge of the Supernus, the fifth department of the Elementus Populas that supervises the other four. That means she’s second in command of the entire Elementus Populas! She probably knows what the Inimicus is planning. She’s very smart.”
“Why thank you Lieutenant!” a strong, confident female voice replied. I shifted around to see an older woman standing in the open doorway. She grinned and then began to march towards us, several armed guards escorting her. I hadn’t even heard the door open but I suppose it must have done.
“What a mess we’re all in!” she joked, almost upon us. All of the soldiers from the base, including Timothy, rushed to the sides of the corridor, instantly standing straight and tall to salute her. I didn’t move. I didn’t know what to do. I just stood there awkwardly as I waited for her to introduce herself to us. She headed to Niyol first and shook his hand as her smile grew intimidatingly wide.
“Hello Niyol. I’m Assistant Director Ayres. It’s lovely to finally meet you.”
I stared at her. She was thin and wore a tightly fitted and very expensive suit that looked lovely on her small frame. Her hair was a bright grey and was cut very short, but was styled to make her look glamorous. Her face had some wrinkles, but was generally very smooth and youthful looking. Her wide dark grey eyes sparkled energetically, and her big mouth was open so that she could show off her perfectly straight white teeth. Even though she was quite small in stature, slightly shorter than me, her commanding presence filled the entire corridor, smothering us all with her fearsome spirit. She made me feel incredibly intimidated.
“Hello Sefarina.” She thrust her hand into mine and shook it, hard. “I’m Assistant Director Ayres, and it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Her smile lingered for just a short while after she had made her introduction, and then she was off. She barged past me and took Aura’s hand.
“Hello Aura. I’m…”
“Yes, I know,” Aura interrupted rudely. Aura was not the sort of person who liked people, especially women, who she saw as overconfident and arrogant. I could tell immediately that they were not going to get on.
“Well, at least someone is paying attention,” Assistant Director Ayres replied. Her face remained neutral, and I couldn’t tell if she was making a joke or was absolutely furious.
“How did you get here so fast?” Niyol barked, standing over her threateningly. Aura pushed closer towards her too, and it seemed as if they might suddenly attack her. I saw Ayres’ guards stagger forwards to alleviate the threat, but Ayres scrunched up her nose and waved them off. She knew they wouldn’t dare hurt her. I admired her confidence, and wished that I could be more like her. Instead I just stood there, doing nothing.
“Well Niyol,” Ayres began warmly, “I conveniently happened to be
only a few minutes away from this very base, so as soon as I was informed of the ruckus, I came over as quickly as I could. On the way we managed to run into our little traitor, but she didn’t see us. We allowed her to escape so that we could follow her. Hopefully she’ll go straight to the Inimicus, but if she doesn’t we will continue to monitor her.” She grinned, baring her teeth.
“We were going to catch her,” Niyol began, before being cut off.
“No you weren’t,” Ayres patronised. “You wouldn’t have been able to. Valeska, as we have discovered, is a woman who knows exactly what she is doing. If she wants to escape, then she will. Fortunately for us, she didn’t know that I was just around the corner, monitoring the entire situation. So hopefully, she also doesn’t know that we are tracking her.”
Niyol didn’t say anything. He just frowned. Aura did too. I was the only person in the hallway, except for Ayres herself, who was cheery. I liked Ayres. She was remarkable.
As if she was reading my thoughts, she turned and faced me, staring straight into my eyes. Hers darted behind me, and then caught me again.
“Your handy work I see?”
She pointed at the guard, who was still pushed firmly against the wall. He looked longingly toward me, hoping that I would set him free.
“Oh!” I cried out in embarrassment, remembering the helpless man that I was holding captive.
I felt through the air and found the air clips, unhooking them from the guard. He fell into a crumbled heap on the floor, next to Ayres’ feet. Within seconds he jumped up, staggering to a place next to the other guards, trying his best to hold a salute. His body quivered and quaked as if he was very dizzy.
Assistant Director Ayres pursed her lips and then twisted them into a half smile half snarl.
“Why on earth did you do that to Captain Harris?”
I shrugged. I felt like I was at school and was being told off by the headmistress.
“He wouldn’t let me get past him.”
Her fierce expression suddenly broke into a real smile as a loud, deep roaring laugh exploded from her throat. She clutched her stomach and threw her head back manically as she continued to chuckle. She suddenly stopped, and her face went back into a neutral position.
“I like you,” she told me, before spinning herself around and storming off down the corridor towards the dining hall. Her bodyguards followed her, pushing past me.
“Captain Harris, Lieutenant Walters and the Ventus Trio will all accompany me in the mess hall, now.”
She wasn’t the sort of person you could say no to, so I was worried with how Niyol and Aura might react. I looked to Niyol to see if he was going to behave obediently. He began towards the dining hall, and I was pleased. I followed him. Aura rushed past us and stood in our way.
“We shouldn’t be listening to her,” she informed us.
“And why not?” Niyol argued.
“Because she can’t tell us what to do! How do we even know she is who she says she is?”
“Do you really think all of the guards here, including your boyfriend, would salute her if she wasn’t the Assistant Director?”
Aura thought about it, and then threw her shoulders back in reluctance.
“I don’t like her,” she admitted.
“Neither do I,” Niyol agreed, “but she must be here to help us, so we might as well hear what she has to say and then decide if we are going to listen to her.”
Aura nodded. “Okay. Fine. Perhaps she knows about the suit.”
She caught my eye, and I nodded. We all made our way back into the dining hall. Even though I was terrified, I was also excited. I wanted to see more of the Assistant Director in action.