A soft creak in the room above her made Emiran's ears perk up, even through her half conscious state. She peeled open her eyes to see an unexpected sight. Instead of the sparse but stylish bedroom she'd gone to sleep in, she was greeted by a dark wall covered in vines. Her pulse began to rise, and she sat up quickly.
No longer in her bed, she found herself on a dusty cracked table made of a dark cherry wood. There were a few yellowed scrolls and a lantern that looked as if it had seen better days on one end of it. At the top of the table by where her head had been, there was a thin golden ring with a strange circular pattern built onto it. A long handled ornate looking dagger sat beside it.
The rest of the room was empty, save for the twisted vines covering the wall in front of her. The vines were covered in long viciously curved thorns, and bright blue flowers. But from her vantage point she had spotted something that looked like writing beneath them. She jumped down from the table nimbly and went to brush the dust off her clothes, when it hit her that they weren't her clothes. In her confusion and haste to assess the room, she hadn't assessed her own state. She brushed the dust from the sleek brown pants, and crop cut black shirt that had replaced her pajamas.
Her short cut bangs fell in her eyes as she looked down, and she huffed in frustration. She pushed them behind her ear as she turned to pick up the strange ring and dagger. Now there was a new addition to the room. On the opposite side of the table, directly in front of her, was a woman that looked almost asleep.
She had dirty torn clothes on, and a long bloody gash on her arm buried underneath the layers of dust. She looked so much like her that for a few minutes, Emiran just stood there staring, not daring to move or speak. The other woman stood just as still. Her eyes were glazed over and looked far away. Emiran really couldn't tell whether or not this woman was aware of her.
After a few minutes of searching the rest of the room with her eyes, to make sure nothing else had changed, she decided to pick up the ring and the dagger. She needed the dagger to move the vines out of her way without risking the vicious thorns cutting her hands open. She also wanted to examine the ring more closely when she could. The strange crest it held looked vaguely familiar to her.
As she reached out for them, the other woman came alive, and her hand shot out grabbing Emiran's wrist. She was startled by the strength of the woman's grasp. The woman cocked her head to the side and her eyes bore into Emiran. A dry cracked whisper escaped her lips and they parted into a smile. She had no choice but to lean forward to try and make out her words.
As she did so, she caught the last few words "A darkness within will show the way..." and then she was suddenly awake in her own room. A heavy scuffling sound above her made her remember what had roused her to begin with. She set aside the strange vision, and threw her blankets to the side so she could scramble out of bed.
She reached under her bed and grabbed her heavy baton that she kept there for safety purposes. She stayed crouched in front of her bed listening to where the sound was going. It was definitely headed to the back room. She frowned and crept to her half open door. The only thing she used that room for was storage. It was a chaotic, disorganized mess, which represented how she felt about its contents. She rarely went in there, and she couldn't imagine who would want to be in there.
As she peeked through the crack, she saw a figure go quickly into the room and shut the door. From the view she had in the pasty darkness, she couldn't tell whether it was a man or woman. She glanced at the clock next to her bed. In bright technology green neon numbers, it informed her of the absurd time. It was 4:15 in the morning.
Bemused and irritated at the intrusion, Emiran flung the door open and made her way down the hallway, to the room the intruder had stupidly closed themselves in. She put a hand on the doorknob and sucked in her breath. As she pulled the door open, the intruder pushed through the door from the other side, knocking her off balance. The man pushed on and tried to flee down the hallway. Emiran huffed and ran after him, jumping on his back to drag him to the floor.
The man grunted in surprise and after a brief struggle, he threw his body into the wall, dragging Emiran with him and pinning her against it. It knocked the breath from her but she refused to let go. The man tried to pry her arms apart. When he couldn't break her grip he reached into the fold of his pants, a blade that looked almost like a mirror image of the one from her vision appeared, glinting in the moonlight that was shining down the hallway.
He slashed it quickly down the side of her twisted arms. The sudden sharp sting of it released her grip enough for the man to burst out of them and fly down the hallway, with all the speed of a terrified child. Emiran grabbed her arm and hurriedly pushed herself off the wall to go after him. But as she ran, her arm began to burn with a fire and her heart began pounding in her ears. She slowed her pace as she turned the corner, somehow knowing she was too far behind the intruder to be able to find him. She was fairly convinced he was long gone now.
She stopped and leaned against the wall, letting out a big breath and grabbing her pounding head. The blood running down her arm reminded her to look at the jagged wound the man had left her with. It was in the same place the woman from her vision had displayed. Emiran absentmindedly grabbed her shirt, and began clearing away the blood; she noticed faint grey/black lines extending from the edges of the wound, like spidery veins reaching out.
She saw no point in going back to bed now. She tiptoed through the slowly brightening hallway to the bathroom, so she could properly clean the cut and cover it before she set to work. She turned on the soft yellow light of the bathroom and stepped inside. Turning on the faucet and letting the water run down her arm, she stared at her reflection halfheartedly in the mirror. This was the third time this month she'd found herself in the strange room of her vision.
The vine covered wall was always there. But something had brought her out of it unsatisfactorily each time, before she was able to see what was underneath them. She washed away the last of the blood and stared at the long gash. Without a doubt, there were dark spidery veins extending away from the longest edge of it. She didn't recall seeing this on the alternate version of herself. But the cut was definitely the same. The visions were clearly meant as a warning or a message. Emiran's curiosity had peaked now, and she had to find out what the man had been after.
It meant she would have to set aside her feelings about the storage room and go through it all. An old and buried memory of a photo album came to mind. The ring from her vision was in a picture she'd been shown years ago, she was sure of it. A quick gauze wrapping tucked in at the ends, and she was out the door. She didn't bother turning out the light as she left. The door to the room was still standing open.
Emiran sucked in her breath, and tucked her short red hair behind her ears. She hadn't been in this room for 5 years. Since her sister had passed away and left its contents to her. Everything was covered in layers of dust and neglect. Her passing had been hard on Emiran, and she did her best to avoid all that remained of her earthly possessions. But now it seemed the past was calling her, and making it a call she couldn't ignore. So in spite of the splitting headache and the trembling in her chest, she reached inside and pulled out the first two of the boxes that might contain the photo album.
She set them down and peeled apart the aged cardboard flaps. Dust flew up and sent her into a sneezing fit. After what seemed an age, her chest finally eased and she cleared the tears from her eyes. She bent over the offending box, and started picking through its contents. There were 3 heavy leather bound books in it. Raising them into the light she read the titles.
All Points Together As One: A Guide To The Balance. The second one read, Satisfying The Sacrifice, Without Sacrificing Your Sanity. The third one bore the title The Anchor Point: How To Hold The World Together.
None of them provided an author on their carefully decorated spines, and none of them was a photo album. The books didn't seem familiar. She set them to the side and continued through the box. There were mostly yellowed papers, and a few odds and ends that looked like scientific instruments. She had no idea who this stuff belonged to. She didn't recall ever seeing it before, and wondered why her sister had left it to her. There was no photo album though. She returned the books to the box and set it to the side.
The second box had less dust than the first, but still she opened it more carefully. This box was definitely her sister's things. A small bound diary and some of her clothes were the first items on top. Emiran grabbed the diary and sat on the floor. An immense pressure in her chest forced her to take in a massive breath. She clutched the diary and let out a half growl, half scream as she sucked in air.
She had been so angry with her sister shortly before she was killed, so they hadn't been talking much for a while. For reasons that after 5 years without her, seemed so unimportant. They had been so close as children. Emiran let out a sob for a brief moment, and then pushed herself up from the floor. She didn't have time to grieve right now.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
She set the diary to the side, and pulled the clothes out of the way. There was nothing underneath them that resembled the photo album. There were several of her sister's favorite crystals; two more, small leather bound books, and a jewelry box that her sister had been given a long time ago. It was their grandmother's box at one time, and it had been passed on to her when their grandmother died.
She reached in and pulled out the two books and the jewelry box. Throwing the clothes back in, she quickly put the box to the side with the other one. After two boxes, Emiran was done with it. She left the two boxes where they were and closed the door to the room, clicking the lock on instinct. Emiran turned and gathered up the items she'd left out and went back to her bedroom.
Her head was pounding so hard that her ears were beginning to ring. She put the items under her bed with the baton, and crawled back into her blankets. She closed her eyes and sleep came crashing down on her quickly. Emiran tossed like an ocean in a storm, but the sleep kept its hold. The clock impatiently showed Emiran that it was now almost 3pm when she finally managed to pull herself out of her disturbed slumber.
Her eyes flew open and she leaped from her bed. She was going to be late to work if she didn't hurry. The headache crashed down with a fury as soon as her feet touched the floor. Grabbing the clothes from the day before, she dressed as if the devil himself were on her heels, and ran out the door.
She was halfway down the stairs when she realized the front door was still standing open. Admonishing herself, she sped back up the distance and clicked the lock. As she turned to leave, something inside her made her stop and glance down the hallway out of the corner of her eyes. Every fiber of her being was telling her not to move. Her hand remained on the knob and she cocked her head to the side.
At the far end of the hallway, that was otherwise empty save for Emiran herself, stood a man. His clothes seemed very out of place for this day and age. Even though she'd never seen the intruder's face, she was sure this was the man from this morning. His eyes stayed fixed on Emiran, watching her hand. He seemed to be waiting to see what she would do.
Every hair on her body stood on end. Being a detective, she didn't scare easily. She'd been in some rooms with truly despicable people. Nowadays, true psychopathy was a rare trait. But it still happened. None of them had ever made her feel like this. It was as if his eyes were scooping out the very pit of her soul, trapping her body in an almost paralyzing fear. Time was at a standstill. She remained motionless for what seemed to be an eternity, until he took a few steps towards her. The blood froze in her face and she swung around to face him.
His murky grey eyes continued to hollow out her chest, and his lips twitched into what may well have been a smile. Had he not given her such an empty feeling, she would have sworn that's what it was. Her breath caught in her throat as he came within reach of her. A pained look came over his face, and he reached out a strong, heavy looking hand towards her face. He stopped just millimeters from her cheek. Emiran could see as he reached out, that his hand held the very ring she was seeing in her visions. But a piece of it appeared to be missing.
His hand hovered just above her cheek, and what could only be explained as an electric shock of energy passed between them. Just as quickly as he'd appeared, he turned and walked away, without speaking a word. As soon as he turned away from her, Emiran bolted down the hallway and flung herself down the steps so fast, that she had to have jumped half of them without touching ground.
Her heart pounded in her chest and the blood roared in her ears. Once she was safely in her car she stopped to catch her breath. Her head was spinning and she leaned out the door to puke. After she had emptied herself of the remnants of last night's dinner she felt a bit better. Her hands were shaking and her arm burned with a fury, like a hoard of angry fire ants.
She peeled away the gauze and looked at the angry wound the man had left her. It was definitely infected. It was a 3 inch long, almost semi circle along the outside of her arm. The faint grey streaks had become darker now and extended farther down her wrist. She grimaced at it and wrapped it back up. She would have to redress it once she got to work.
Starting the car and getting out of the parking lot proved to be more of a challenge than Emiran was expecting, and as she gathered speed she contemplated going to the hospital instead of work. But as she got further from home she seemed to calm down some. Her stubborn streak won out and she shook her head to clear it, continuing to work at a speed that was not exactly legal. She had never been late since she started working for COLO, and she wasn't about to start now. She stepped on the gas harder, and pulled into the parking lot with three short minutes to spare.
She was out the door and chirping the lock seemingly before the car had even come to a full stop. As she ran in the front doors of the building, she tried to straighten down her clothes and clip on her name badge with her still shaking hands. The guard sitting at the front desk gave her a peculiar look as she passed by him but said nothing, and she continued hurrying to her floor, trying to look as if everything was normal.
It was her decision to work for COLO that had started the fight with her sister. They, not entirely undeservedly, had a reputation for being nothing but a bunch of wannabe vigilantes under the guise of the law. But Emiran didn't take much stock in conspiracy theories, and it was one of the best jobs you could hope for in 2043. She thought her sister would understand that. She kept insisting though that if she didn't leave, then there would be no stopping the events she was putting in motion, until COLO wanted her as a specimen too.
Emiran had just shrugged her off, counting her among the overly paranoid that she encountered on a daily basis. Eventually after months of her hounding her about it at every opportunity, she had started avoiding her. Yes COLO was a company deserving of its shady theories. But the whole time she'd worked there, Emiran had never personally seen evidence of unethical work. Granted she didn't interact with every department it encompassed, but she hadn't heard anything internally either.
Elanore wouldn't listen to her though, and just kept urging her to leave. The last time Emiran had talked to her, she had been adamant and scared. After having the same argument for the 200th time, Emiran lost her cool and said some rather unkind things. Then she kicked her sister out.
The next day, she was informed by one of her coworkers that Elanore had been found dead. She had been stabbed to death down on the old ferry dock, her throat cut from one end to the other. Emiran had been barred from helping with the investigation for being personally involved. She'd seen her body at the funeral home though.
At her funeral Emiran had been lost and in her own mind, only barely listening to the chatter of the people around her. She felt guilty. Her sister was gone, never again would she be able to ask her advice or touch her face. It made her question her job for a long time after. But she had made a commitment and she continued working for COLO.
The Conglomerate of Law enforcement Officials consisted of 5 distinct branches of operation. She worked in sector 3, investigating the crimes in her assigned quadrants of the country. The only other sector she had worked with was sector 1. Emiran had done her best to bury all feelings about her sister and pushed hard into her work.
The ding of the elevator opening roused her from her reflection and she hurried into the elevator, suddenly uncomfortably aware of the guard at the desk still staring at her. The doors closed and the sway of the elevator moving made Emiran's head swim. Her vision started to tunnel as the doors dinged open and her office was in reach. She half ran, half fell into the lobby and then she passed out.
Emiran could hear whispering in her ear. The voice was unmistakably familiar. "Don't be afraid to be true to your nature. No matter how much grief it brings you. It was meant to hurt. I'll be waiting on the other side of it." She opened her eyes to harsh white lights, and a group of people looking down at her. Their faces were a mixture of concern, surprise, fear, and what seemed to her to be suspicion. She couldn't quite place why they would be suspicious of someone fainting. The reaction seemed oddly out of place.
As Emiran sat up, the circle of people dispersed. Her friend Tariah reached her hand down, and helped pull her to her feet. She walked Emiran to her office, casting glances over their shoulders at the people standing around, still watching them. She rushed her inside and closed the door. When Emiran was seated Tariah grabbed her head and looked her in the eyes with concern.
"What the hell was that Emiran? You look like hell. You really shouldn't be here. Are you ok?" her eyes fell to Emiran's arm and her eyebrow raised as she said "What happened?” Emiran shook her head in a dismissive manner and pulled her arm away. "I'm fine. I had a late night visitor and they got the jump on me" she gave a half hearted smile as she added, "But I gave him a few lumps of his own."
Tariah smirked, and shook her head as she chuckled. "Well that must have been a doozy of a criminal to get the jump on you Emiran. In five years I've never seen anyone take you down." She went to the door and cracked it open to look outside. "What are you going to do? Is it safe for you to go home? I really think you should be resting right now. Trust me; sectors 14-16 will be safe without you for a day. You know I'll cover you.” Her dazzling blue eyes sparkled mischievously.
Tariah and Emiran had been partners for three years. At first they hadn't really gotten along. They were a mismatched pair. Tariah was a vibrant and bubbly woman, with lovely blue eyes that always betrayed her mischievous spirit, no matter how serious she tried to be. Her thick brown hair curled around her face, giving her the look of a cherub.
Emiran was more reserved. She was rather fiery in temper, true to her red headed genes, and preferred to keep her feelings more under the surface than out for everyone to see. She had to work hard not to push people away. Her attitude had gotten her in more than her fair share of trouble. But Tariah had more than enough attitude of her own to match, and pretty soon she had broken through Emiran's armor.
"Yeah yeah, just put me in the old folks home already so you can take over" Emiran said. She pushed herself up and walked over to the door. "I know you'll cover for me. You're a good friend" She opened the door and Tariah followed her over to the elevators. The people had disappeared and Emiran let out a sigh of relief.
"I think I should follow you home to make sure you get there." Tariah said "You really don't look well. Are you sure you're ok?" As she contemplated her answer, Emiran heard a faint whispering and looked up in confusion. "What did you say?” She asked as she looked at Tariah, who repeated her question. "Not that. I heard that part." Emiran said impatiently. "That was all you said?" Tariah cocked her head to the side and said “Yes that’s all I said. But I think you’ve answered my question. You're acting really weird. You need to go back home and not come back until you're feeling better."
She lowered her voice mysteriously as they stepped into the elevator and with a smirk added "If you're not careful, you'll attract the attention of sector 5. We wouldn't want that now would we?” Emiran made a face at her and jokingly hit her arm. "Don't worry about it. I'm fine, I promise. I think I will take a few days off though. I want to try and find out who my visitor was."
She frowned and her voice faltered a little "He was trying to get into Elanore’s things. And he never spoke a word. I want to know what he was looking for." Tariah's eyes fell and she squeezed Emiran's hand briefly. She knew like everyone else in sector 3, what had happened to her sister. It was still an open case. That was rare. Most of the crimes they investigated in the city center were closed pretty quickly. But those were also petty and low level crimes. Murder didn't happen often, at least not in the densely populated cities. And when they did happen, sector 4 made sure they were thoroughly and quickly solved.
So everyone knew about what happened. Her sister's unsolved case followed Emiran around like a shadow, giving her a sort of infamy that she couldn't get away from. Most people at COLO had the good sense though, to not bring it up around her if they could help it. She was glad that Tariah understood and said nothing.
The doors opened up on the ground floor, and they remained quiet as they walked down the hall and past the guard. Again he was staring pretty intensely at Emiran. It made her wonder what was so fascinating. She hurried out the door and Tariah had to pick up her pace to keep up with her.