Chapter 3

CHAD MALCOLM

Chad Malcolm's day could improve. Dramatically.

He stared at his computer screen and the graphs and boxes and little flashing icons and resisted the urge to sulk and glare like a petulant child. A bad attitude would fix nothing.

More employees had left Leviathan Inc. Some cited that they just didn't want to be a part of a company with such terrible claims against it. Others stated that they didn't want to work at a company with so much uncertainty. And more still said that they didn't want to have so much chaos and drama at their workplace.

Leviathan Inc. used to employ nearly ninety thousand people, almost a fifth of Waverwell's five hundred thousand citizens. But Chad knew the number of their employees had fallen dramatically. He didn't want to know the number now.

But many stated that they would not go anywhere.

Those were the ones Chad wanted on his team. Those were the ones Chad wanted working at his company. Those were the ones who would keep the serpent alive until the leviathan could be rebuilt once more.

xxxx

As Chad walked by the reception desk in the lobby of Leviathan Inc. on his way back from getting a coffee for himself and Darcy, he saw someone new in the chair. Not Freya's usual flowery blouses and frizzy hair pulled up into loose styles and bright stickers decorating her name tag. This new person struck Chad as just... muted. Freya's opposite in every way. No warmth radiating from the front desk and into the rest of the building. No professional smile that also seemed so genuine.

But Chad could never fault Freya for not being there.

Felix had seen something horrific, and now he was missing, taken by the same people he had witnessed commit a horrible act against another.

Work should be the last thing on Freya's mind. She should be focusing on helping to find her brother.

It didn't feel quite right for Chad to say he was glad Freya left, but if she had stayed, Chad would have given her the same offer he had Felix— as much paid time off as she wished, no strings attached, take all the time she need and come back whenever she felt she was ready, however long it may be. It was the least Chad could do.

The new person working reception wore a green top that matched the color of Leviathan Inc.'s serpent logo far closer than Chad thought possible. They wore patchy makeup, like they hadn't quite known how to apply it, and their hair appeared to have been cut unevenly. Their gaze remained focused on their computer screen, and they chewed on the end of a pen as Chad approached.

"Hello," they greeted. "How may I help you today?"

"Hello," Chad replied, adjusting his grip on the two coffees he held. "I am Chad Malcolm."

They paused. "I-I-. Uh, my apologies. I didn't recognize you."

Chad gave a professional smile. "Apology accepted. I happened to be passing by and wanted to see how things are going."

"They are going smoothly."

"I'm glad to hear it."

"Whatever happened to the woman here before me?"

Chad held back a frown of confusion. He was somewhat surprised they asked, but he also wasn't going to offer up personal information. "She is taking a leave right now."

"Aww, that sucks. Hope everything's fine." The new receptionist wrinkled their nose, and the makeup cracked, revealing a red line that trailed down their cheek.

"As do I," Chad murmured. "Have a nice rest of your day."

"You, too, Mr. Malcolm. I'm here if you need anything."

Chad bid them farewell and walked over to the elevators, pushing the up button with his pinky. An employee moved to the side to make room as he got on, and they exchanged nods of acknowledgement and a brief smile. Neither spoke. The employee got off after a few floors, and Chad rode the rest of the way up before making his way down the hallway. He adjusted the coffee cups in his hands before opening the door.

As he walked back into the office he shared with his wife, he saw Darcy sitting at her desk. She shook her head when Chad set down one of the coffees. Chad started to pull it back, but she grabbed it from his hand.

"No," Darcy grumbled, typing away one-handed as she took a long sip. "I want it."

Instead of her usual gentle waves, Darcy's hair fell in uneven locks. She glared at her computer screen, chin in her hand. When she glanced up, a finger smeared the edge of her lipstick, and it looked like blood. Chad had never seen her like this before. He tilted his head to the side.

"Is something wrong, honey?"

"No."

"Are you sure? I can help. Or I can call for someone else, if you'd prefer."

"Yes, there's something wrong!" Darcy spun in her chair to face him. She scoffed. "Of course something is wrong!"

Chad held his wife's gaze for a moment. "Is it everything on the news?"

She didn't reply at first, and the sinking feeling in his stomach told him he was right.

Darcy curled her fingers into fists, glowering as she looked away. "Yes. I thought we were past this. I mean, none of this was supposed to happen. Switching over to running Leviathan Inc. entirely on Arkreon was supposed to go smoothly. We had a plan."

"Charlie Springs wasn't supposed to happen either."

"I'll drink to that. What was she even thinking?"

"I'm not sure she was," Chad murmured in reply. "Perhaps she just got jealous of us. Maybe she thought she could hop onto the back of everything with the whistleblower? I mean, she's gotta know that Arkreon is safe, right? We've got all those reports from the testing phase as proof."

Darcy just put her elbow on her desk and her forehead on her fingers as she sighed.

"We will make them stop, alright? You hear me, honey?" Chad gently tugged on the back of Darcy's chair until she turned around. He pulled her to her feet and placed a hand on her cheek, wiping away the smudge of lipstick. "We're going to make them listen. We know what we did and what we didn't do. They can never take that away from us. The serpent never dies. All we have to do is cut out the rotting parts and rebuild."

Darcy stared out over Chad's shoulder with a neutral expression for a handful of seconds before she met his gaze and her face lifted into a soft smile, one that reminded him of her demeanor on their wedding day.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"Chad, honey," Darcy murmured, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, hands on the back of his neck and curling into the locks of hair at his nape.

"Yes?" Chad gazed down into her eyes, staring into the depths of her irises.

With his hands on her sides, their pose took him back to their first dance at their wedding. The night that seemed to stretch into infinity, just the two of them after they confessed their eternal love for each other. The night of sparkling sequins and luxury fabrics, flashing cameras and bubbling champagne, arrays of flowers and golden lights, delicate finger foods and the intricate cake topped with miniatures of Mr. and Mrs. Chad and Darcy Malcolm, and, of course, his breathtaking wife in her showstopper gown with whom he now got to share his forever.

Darcy leaned in close and pressed a kiss to his lips, nails trailing across his skin in burning lines of fire.

"We need to stay strong," she whispered against his mouth.

Chad kissed her again before replying.

"Of course," he said, running a knuckle down her cheek and gazing into her eyes that drew him in until he could never look away. "Of course. We're going to change the world. A leviathan will never die. What do you need?"

Darcy smiled, lips pulling up into the same curve they had when she stood across from him at the altar. Her hands moved from his hair to his shoulders as she pulled back a fraction of an inch.

"I don't need very much."

"Why only ask for a little when you can ask for a lot and bargain down to more than you need? No one has to know exactly what you need when there's always a way to end up with more. Tell me what you need, darling, and it shall be yours."

"True," Darcy murmured, light from their office turning the chain of rubies around her neck to glistening blood. "You can always get more. But in this case all I need from you is to show the world who Leviathan Inc. is, alright?"

Chad ran a finger across the chain. It was one of the best purchases he had ever made. He held her gaze as he spoke. "I'll make sure they know," he vowed. "The whole world will hear it."

"Very good." Darcy ran a nail across his jaw and moved to press a kiss to the side of his throat, nipping at his pulse point. When she spoke, the cool air sent shivers across Chad's skin and he tightened his grip on her waist. "Very good," she repeated.

Darcy's phone buzzed behind her on her desk, and she pulled away abruptly, turning around and flipping it over to glance at the screen. "I have to go. I'll message you about dinner later."

She grabbed her jacket from the coatrack and left.

Chad blinked and then shook his head as the door slammed shut. He looked first at the emptiness of Darcy's desk, then to where she used to stand in front of him, and then to where she had exited the room.

She was right here. What happened to our moment?

Chad stood still for a minute, and then turned around and walked over to the couches in the middle of the office. He hunched over, forearms on his knees and eyebrows furrowed. He supposed that since he felt so much stress that Darcy must as well. Even during the easy times, running Leviathan Inc. held a great deal of pressure. They were both responsible for the entirety of their company. And now during such tough times, that pressure had increased dramatically.

Stress made people act in unusual ways.

Perhaps Darcy just needed space, but Chad wanted to listen. He wanted to hear. He wanted to fix, just like he wanted to do with Leviathan Inc. as a whole. They had grown so close working together on Leviathan Inc. and building their energy empire. And now he could tell she was slowly pushing him away, right when he felt they should be closer than ever.

But she's my wife, Chad reminded himself. They vowed to spend their forever with each other, through good times and bad. He would be there for her, whatever she needed, and now she had a request for him.

All Darcy asked was that Chad share who Leviathan Inc. was with Waverwell. She didn't ask for much. He could tell everyone about their company. He knew it, inside and out. He could make sure the world knew that they had done nothing, that the whistleblower, whoever they were, was wrong, that they still remained as dedicated to their customers as they had been on day one, that Charlie Springs was wrong when she named the disease Arkreyitis.

Chad placed his hands on his chin and stared off to the side. "Why did she say that? Much less on live television when however many thousands watched? She has no proof. I've seen the reports. Arkreon is safe."

He sighed and shook his head. He had no idea. He wanted to have a guess, some direction he could move forward in, but he did not know what could have driven Charlie Springs to do such a thing.

His thoughts spun in circles, repeating over and over like a faulty tape.

No, we are done with this, Chad thought with a grumble. I can't get anything done if I can't even think straight.

And as Chad forced himself to think of anything but Charlie Springs, his thoughts drifted to Felix Fisk, a member of tech support at the Corville headquarters. As far as Chad knew, Felix still remained missing, and he guessed it was unfortunately still true since he had seen no breaking news update segments dominating Waverwell News or Did You Hear?!

"But did I do the right thing?" he whispered to himself. "Did I do the right thing by sending Felix home? I just wanted him to have some time for himself after what he saw that night. It must have been terrible."

He answered his own question: "I don't know."

He didn't know. He didn't know if not sending Felix —if forcing him to stay at work and use up sick days— would have changed anything.

Why would the Trinity go after Felix? Chad couldn't understand it. Doing so put a bigger target on their back. More crimes meant more opportunity for error.

Chad shook his head. He needed to clear his mind and get his thoughts straight. He couldn't fix everything if he couldn't get his brain firing right, so perhaps a short walk and some fresh air would fix things.

He left his office, shutting and locking the door behind him. Chad held himself together as he forced himself to walk in a controlled manner to the elevator. He jabbed the button and leaned against the handrail once the doors closed. In some small mercy, no one else got on and he rode alone to the gardens atop the Corville headquarters of Leviathan Inc.

Some small mercy he got but Felix never did.

He likely never would have known Felix Fisk's name if this whole mess never happened. He would have been fine with that.

Chad could appreciate work without knowing who did it. If Leviathan Inc. ran smoothly, he appreciated the work his employees did, no matter how seemingly small. Everything added up, piece by piece.

But Chad knew Felix Fisk's name and for the wrong reasons.

Chad sat down on one of the couches in the center of the rooftop garden. He hunched over, elbows on his knees and head in his hands, and stared at the wide bowl filled with succulents that spilled out over the sides in splashes of color. Fairy lights hanging overhead gave the rooftop garden a magical air that just felt sickening, rather than calming like it usually felt.

Felix wasn't supposed to be there that night, but he was, and now he was paying for it.

Chad's breath trembled in his throat.

"Why is this happening?" he whispered. "I just wanted to try to help Felix. I thought I did the right thing."

Chad closed his eyes.

He didn't know if he did the right thing, but he had wanted Felix to have some time for himself without worry of having to keep up with work. With ensuring Felix would get his paychecks like usual, Chad had thought the time off might offer a break for Felix to take all the time he needed. Chad didn't know everything, but he knew enough to know that Felix must have witnessed something terrible, something bad enough to need potentially a very long time off.

Chad couldn't imagine the toll it must have been taking on Felix, and now Freya, too.

How could this have started spreading? I thought I was cutting out the rotten parts of the serpent.

I thought I was doing the right thing by fixing the serpent.

Everything started when Chad and Darcy made the decision to switch to Arkreon for powering their company. Arkreon ruined it all.

Arkreon ruined everything.

But no, that wasn't right. It wasn't the truth. And Chad knew that.

He couldn't blame an inanimate object, however nice and useful. An inanimate object could never ruin anything, not directly, not through conscious and intentional actions. An inanimate object would only ever be a puppet, something to be used and something to be manipulated.

Change was always difficult. But that's what plans were for. Through extensive and meticulous planning, virtually everything could be accounted for. Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, and so on. Always be prepared.

Switching to Arkreon was never going to be easy. The energy source was new, still relatively unknown when compared to an alternative like coal. People didn't like what they didn't know, especially with something so unfamiliar. But without change and venturing into the unfamiliar, nothing ever happened and no one ever made any progress.

Arkreon was the way of the future, and people just needed to see that.

And as neurons in Chad's brain fired and connected and fit pieces together he hadn't realized matched up, he knew. He knew what he had to do, and he knew his plan.

Perhaps the revolving doors in the lobby of the Corville headquarters of Leviathan Inc. would slow further. Perhaps the doors would stop. Perhaps the mines in Spider Ridge would slow, too. Perhaps they, too, would stop. Perhaps more employees would leave. Perhaps more customers would turn their backs.

But Chad had to stay focused. A serpent would never give up. A leviathan would never roll over and submit. He could never give in.

Darcy, his wife, needed him. Felix, a tech support worker who got caught up in something he was never supposed to, needed him. Leviathan Inc., the company he had poured so much of his life into, needed him. He couldn't let down his family.