7 yrs, Gone and Forgotten

Chapter 19: Not so Fast

      We spent the next morning implementing security measures in the house. There were a few small details that we took care of outside, but I didn’t feel that they were enough, only hoped that my feelings for the day were wrong, and I was just being overly suspicious. I had yet to meet the infamous owners of this company, but we were all reassured we would meet them at the event in the evening. Before leaving to go get ready for the event Scott gave us all our detail for what we were responsible for in the evening.

     Since Eva and I were the only females and only a select few knew of us, we were to blend in with the crowd and act as if we were there to only mingle. At no time were we to introduce ourselves as security detail unless there was a threat. The thought of it all made the adrenaline rush just a bit, I felt like we were fixing to walk into one of those action movies and we were the spies.      

      The day passed quickly, and I soon found myself standing in front of the mirror in the hotel room examining myself. The black belted jumpsuit that I chose was both elegant and allowed me to move freely. The top was sleeveless, and the neckline cut into a v down between my breast with the back being completely open. I decided to leave my hair down in a fish braid that laid perfectly in the outline of my spine. Looking at my skin I could barely believe it myself, all my scars were barely visible, and it left me feeling beautiful and new. I felt like that part of my life was slowly disappearing from my life, I opened my hand and examined the scar in my palm. It also seemed to be fading slightly, the feeling from it though was still strong, I could feel tingles every now and again that originated from it, and I found myself unconsciously rubbing it a lot.     

     “Time to go,” I turned quickly to see Eva standing in the door in her loose-fitting skirt and halter top with out jackets slung across her arm. “Whoa girl, you look gorgeous.”

     I just rolled my eyes as I laughed and slipped on my four-inch black heels. “Me, look at you.” I waved my free hand up and down. “Now let’s go.”

     Twenty minutes later the taxi stopped in front of the well-lit coffin of a building. My eyes went wide noticing all the vehicles parked to the side and people gathering at the front door. I paid the driver and Eva, and I exited the car, making our way slowly to the crowd. You could literally smell the wealth in the air with those people, their expensive suits, designer bags, thousand-dollar gowns and fancy hair and make-up. If it had been up to me, I would have been fine wearing a pair of jeans and sweater, but I understood after mingling in the crowd why Arthur had insisted on us dressing up a little.

      I stopped just before entering the door and closed my eyes taking a deep breath. I invited all the feelings I was feeling in with open arms; darkness, evil, fear, unknowing; all of them. As it washed over me like cold water, I opened my eyes smiling, “Now that that’s over, time to get to work.” I whispered to myself as I stepped through the door into the dimly lit corridor. I wasn’t going to be overwhelmed, I was going to take everything that came, and I was going to walk back out of there with my head held high and unmoved.

         The corridor opened into a huge theatrical size room with two industrial grey walls, and little to no decoration on the walls. The back wall was the floor to ceiling window that overlooked the tree line in the back. There were tables placed throughout the room where people could stand in groups and talk amongst themselves. There was a staircase on each side of the room that led up to a breezeway overlooking the room.

     “Time to work,” Eva whispered as she squeezed my hand and let go disappearing into the crowd.

     I slowly moved through the crowd looking for my advantage point until I spotted it. A dimly lit corner at the end of one of the staircases. I maneuvered my way through the crowd and sighed a breath of relief once I was standing comfortably in the corner, my back to the wall and my eye on the crowd. From where I was standing, I could see everything, and it left me feeling a little easier knowing that I could be a little better prepared.

      The room was buzzing with conversations, laughs, clanking dishes and glasses, as well as soft music. I casually let my eyes roam the room until I had visual conformation of where my crew was. Eva was the only one who I couldn’t seem to pinpoint but I knew if there was a problem she would come to me, so I didn’t think much about it.

     For a couple of hours, I stood there, I watched and observed everything. I was yet to meet the Light company owners, but I just shrugged off, I had come to a point where I really didn’t care if I met the or not. I often caught myself looking out the back glass and staring into the dark tree line wishing I was there instead of inside.  

      “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,” A manly voice rang out through the building causing everyone to direct their attention to the breezeway above.

     I directed my full attention to the group standing up there, the man standing center was tall, lanky, blond haired and from where I was looked to have piercing blue eyes, he reeked of arrogance and the first thing that came to mind was the name Lumen. My eyes drifted to his side where a short pale skinned girl, with bright red hair, and a mask of make-up, and like with the man, the name came to mind, Claire. Hate was not an emotion I was familiar with, but looking at the I could barely contain it, I wasn’t sure why I felt so strongly toward them, but I knew with every ounce of who I was they were evil, and I hated them.

    I closed my eyes a few seconds to regain my balance in my mind and opened them again looking back to the breezeway. That was when I noticed Mildred standing next to Claire and my mind went numb, I blinked a few times, and I was no longer there. I was standing in front of Mildred; pain was radiating through my body, and she was yelling at me about what I had done and how useless of a child I was. I grabbed my chest as I felt the breath hitch my lungs and just like that I was standing back in the room and still looking to the people on the breezeway. I quickly shook the flash off and let my eyes roam to the other side of Lumen, the boy was tall like Lumen but thicker built and oozed with just as much authority as Lumen. I studied his features for a few seconds trying to figure out where I knew him from, and a flash crossed my mind of the small boy calling me chicken.

     “Dylan?” I whispered and watched as he tensed up and his eyes immediately started searching the room. Could he have heard me, no there was no way he heard me over everything. Maybe he just sensed someone staring at him. Yes, that’s what it was. I ducked a little further in the corner where I was sure he wouldn’t see me and watched them.

      “We would like to thank all of you for coming out tonight to help welcome our new partners to the Light Company.” Lumen stuck his hands out above the crowd. “Now if you will give a big round of applause, I would like to welcome Marlette Security Consulting and Training tonight. Come on up guys.”

      I watched as my group slowly started to ascend the other staircase toward the breezeway. Everyone was there except Eva, I couldn’t spot her anywhere, and I knew I wasn’t going up there, I just needed to find her.

      “Not so fast!” A deep, heart stopping growl came from the center of the room and everyone froze in their spots. “I believe it’s my turn now.” The voice boomed again and I felt my knees go weak, from what I wasn’t sure, because fear wasn’t something I was feeling at all.

       Everyone seemed to be frozen in their spots and out of the corner of my eye I noticed men slowly easing through the crowd into different positions in the room. My heart sped up for just the briefest of moments when Jake’s words rang out through my ears; this place will be raided. I searched the room quickly for the face of my crew and made a mental note of where each one was stationed in the room. Lumen was speaking something from above, but I was completely unfocused as I continued to look for the source of the deep voice, but I wasn’t having any luck.

     Lumen and the unknown man continued to bicker back and forth, the crowd was slowly starting to migrate toward the exits, and I noticed Lumen’s security detail that we had met earlier in the day started moving slowly toward the staircase and taking their positions. On the other side of the room Scott and Theo had already taken a position about halfway up the stairs and Lance and Lane were standing guard near Arthur.         

      “Lumen this is the last time I will ask, I am giving you the option to come peacefully with no blood shed, or I am prepared to take you by force striking down everything in our path.” The deep voice demanded. That final demand brought so much authority laced within it you could visibly see the crowd shutter in the places. The aura surrounding the person was so strong it was almost suffocating, but I found myself wanting to run that direction, it took everything in me to stay firmly placed in my spot and wait for what was to come next.

       My job was security and no matter how much I felt hate for the people standing on that breezeway I was there to protect them, after all I didn’t even know why my feelings were so strong.

     “Have it your way, but we all know you aren’t as strong as you once were.” Lumen taunted from above.

      The crowd became so silent you could hear a pin drop and the lights went off, my heart skipped up a beat and soon the back ups kicked on leaving only the floodlights to come back on, and just like that, all hell broke loose.