Wared hesitated as his heart pounded the inside of his chest. He withdrew his hand and looked up and down the hallway. There was no other movement, nor did anything seem out of place. For a moment, he considered heading back downstairs and contacting the Protectorate. Surely they would be interested to learn that the apartment of their newly elevated elder had been burglarized. Or had he? Had Tarun simply forgotten to close the door when he left? Wared couldn't positively remember one way or another.

After a few moments of going back and forth with himself, Wared made a decision. He put his hand on the door and opened the door just enough that he could squeeze in. The living room was visible from the front door. Furniture had been turned over, books and decorations spread over the floor. Paintings that previously had hung on the wall had been ripped apart and throw down on the floor like trash.

Although he couldn't see anyone in the apartment, whomever had made the mess could easily still be in the apartment. Wared looked for something to defend himself with, but nothing seemed suitable. Instead, he continued through the hallway towards the kitchen, one step at a time, his back against the wall. He peeked around the corner into the kitchen, only to find it empty.

As he passed through the kitchen, he picked up one of the kitchen knives. He was tempted to ask Alice if anyone was still in the apartment, but realized just as he opened his mouth that doing so would reveal his own location and jeopardize any element of surprise he might have. Instead, he continued towards the hallway that led to Tarun's bedroom.

The door to the bedroom was closed. That's odd. Tarun never closed the door to the bedroom when he was at home, unless he was in there himself. Since Tarun was at the hospital, he couldn't be in there. Was someone else?

Just as he reached for the handle, the door opened up and he found himself standing face to face with a woman dressed in black. She seemed just as surprised to see him as he was to see her. It was only when she caught sight of the knife in his hand that she acted.

Wared let out a yowl as pain exploded in and around his nose. . Wared rolled on the floor as he saw stars and felt as if his head was about to explode. He knelt on the floor, his hands over his nose. Something warm and sticky covered his fingers and as he opened his eyes, he saw the red blood gushing out of his nose.

Despite the pain, he struggled to his feet, wiping his hands on his pant legs as he stumbled out into the living room.

"Come back here," he croaked as he heard the door slam somewhere in the hallway outside of the apartment. The emergency exit.

Instead, he collapsed on the floor just inside the front door and reached for his nose. The pain radiated through his whole head the moment he touched it. Is it broken?

"Alice, are you there?" he said with a grunt.

"I am at your service. How can I help?"

"Who was that, who was here?"

A brief paused followed before Alice continued. "My apologies, but my records indicate no other presence in this apartment since you and Tarun left for the ceremony."

Wared furrowed his brow and spit out a little bit of blood. "Alice, there was a woman here, in the apartment."

"Are you ok? I can sense an heightened sense of alertness and the presence of blood."

"Alice, answer me. Who was the woman? She just left the apartment."

"I have no record of a woman being present in the apartment today."

Wared banged his hand on the floor in frustration. "Surely you can see the state of the apartment."

Another pause followed. "Affirmative."

Wared shook his head. How could Alice have missed the intruder? Yes, Tarun had set her to only respond to his commands but that didn't mean that her alarm mechanisms were offline, did it?

"Alice, if the apartment was clean and orderly when we left, how could it not be now?"

"I am unable to provide you with a satisfactory answer to that question."

Wared sighed and struggled up onto his feet.

"Do I need to call for medical assistance?" Alice said.

"No, I'm fine, I'm fine." Wared walked back into bedroom. That's where she had been. It was turned upside down, just like the rest of the place. What was she looking for? Did she find it? He sat down on the bed and sighed.

"Alice, Tarun wanted me to come check on you. Why would he want me to do that?"

A longer pause followed. Wared heard a click behind him and turned just in time to see a small panel in the wall slide open just next to the bed.

"Tarun asked me to only open this for you."

Wared looked inside the compartment and saw a small storage device. "He left me this?" he said and held it up to the light. "What is it?"

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"It's a document cache."

"What does he want me to do with it?"

"He did not specify."

"Is this what she was after, I wonder?" he said as he held it between his fingers.

"My apologies, but your mother is calling."

"My mother?" Wared had forgotten about the reason he had been sent to the apartment in the first place. "Put her through."

Moments later, her voice filled the room. "Wared, are you there?"

"I'm here."

"Why? Shouldn't you be at the hospital with Tarun's clothes by now?"

"I'm sorry, mom, but there was someone—"

"Wared, Tarun needs fresh clothes immediately. I see no reason for you to take this much time for such a simple task. It's not too much to ask, I hope. Do I need to come do this myself?"

"Mom, if you'd just listen for a second."

"There's nothing to listen to. If you're there, you're not where you're supposed to be. Grab his clothes and go to the hospital. Immediately."

"Yes, mother," Wared said with a sigh.

"Your mother has disconnected the call."

"I can tell, thank you very much."

Wared gathered a set of clothes as quickly as he could and put everything in a bag.

"Please set the alarm and record any intruders after I leave, ok?"

"Of course, as you command."

Before leaving, Wared washed off his bloody face and put on a pair of Tarun's pants and one of his shirts.. He saw no point in creating a stir at the hospital by arriving with blood all over himself. As he headed out the door, he stopped. The car. It was still stuck on the street.

"Is Tarun's car still in the garage?"

"It is. Should I prepare it for you?"

"Please. I'm leaving right away."

He took the elevator down to the parking garage and found the car running in its usual spot. When he exited the garage, he found the crowd had grown to the point where it was difficult for him to get through. It took him ten minutes just to get to the next block As he left the crowd in the rearview mirror, he sighed with relief and relaxed as he sped towards the hospital.

He found a similar scene when he pulled into the hospital parking lot and was stopped by a police officer.

"I'm sorry sir, but there is no parking here. The parking lot is closed."

"My brother is in there."

"Doesn't matter. Turn around, get out of here."

"Tarun is my brother."

The officer squinted and leaned closer. "Tarun, the exalted?"

Wared shrugged. "If that's what you call him, yes. To me, he's just Tarun."

"I need to verify," the officer said and held up a handheld scanner to Wared's hand. They waited in silence for a few moments until a green light lit up on top of the device. The officer waived him through with an admonition to park behind the building out of sight of the crowd.

Wared took the bag of clothes with him and repeated the identification process with a security guard at the hospital entrance. He then took the elevator up to the top floor of the hospital. It wasn't difficult to spot the room Tarun was being held in. Two guards were positioned outside the room and a couple of others were positioned at either end of the hallway.

"You've got ten minutes," one of the guards by the door said as he opened the door to let Wared pass through.

The room was cool, the curtains closed. Tarun rested in a bed against the back wall, hooked up to a variety of equipment on both sides of the bed. When the door clicked shut, he opened his eyes and scanned the room with a concerned look. It wasn't until Wared stepped closer that Tarun saw him and lit up. He pushed himself up in the bed and waved Wared closer.

"Wared," he said and nodded. "It's good to see a familiar face. Grab a chair."

Wared put the clothes at the foot of the bed and sat down. "Uncle. Mother asked me to bring you a fresh set of clothes."

Tarun smiled. "Give her my gratitude when you see her, ok?"

"Of course."

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Wared wasn't sure what to say, or whether he should even say anything. Tarun was his uncle but now he was also something else.

"Listen, Wared, it's still me. I haven't changed. I'm still me."

Wared felt a sense of relief. "Thanks. It's crazy out there. A huge crowd by your apartment and outside the hospital. It's like you're they're new idol."

"It's crazy, I know. I'm not even sure what happened."

"Then there was the intruder in your apartment. I'm not sure what—"

"An intruder?" Tarun grabbed Wared's arm and leaned closer. "What intruder?"

"Your apartment was all messed up. Furniture everywhere. It was a mess. I ran into a woman—"

"A woman?" Tarun sat straight up. "What did she look like?"

Wared did his best to describe her.

Tarun sighed and rubbed his face.

"Did you talk to Alice?"

"Yes, I did," Wared said and took the memory card out of his pocket. "She gave me this."

Tarun gasped and his face turned white. He grabbed the memory card and turned it in his fingers. "You shouldn't have brought it here."

"Why not? What's on it?"

Tarun held up the card between them. "Wared, there's something about the Departure Ceremony that's not right."

"I don't understand."

"I'm not quite sure I do either. But, I'm here. I'm alive. I'm here."

"Yes, that's great, isn't it?"

"Yes, but I shouldn't be. This," he said and shook the memory card in the air, "This told me as much. I should be dead."

It was Wared's turn to sit up straight. "Dead? What do you mean? The ceremony is just the beginning of a longer journey. ?"

Just then, they heard the sound of steps in the hallway outside of the room and muted voices. Tarun's eyes widened. He grabbed Wared's hand and put the memory card in his hand.

"Listen, Wared, you've got to get this out of here. Just by having this, your life is in danger. Now go."

Wared stood up, confused. "Why would my life be in danger?"

The door opened before Tarun could answer. Henrin walked through the door with two others. He paused when he saw Wared, surprise evident on his face.

"I'm just dropping off some clothes," Wared said and pointed towards the folded clothes on the bed. "Mother's idea."

Henrin gave Wared a stiff smile. "You'll have to excuse us, we have official business with your uncle."

"Of course," Wared said with a bow, then looked at Tarun who sat motionless in the bed. "I'll see you later, uncle."

Tarun nodded and gave Wared a stiff smile.

Wared exited the room and walked casually towards the elevator. Behind him, the room to Tarun's room closed and he heard the distinct sound of the lock being engaged. He resisted the temptation to look over his shoulder and instead waited for the elevator to arrive. It was only as he stepped into it that he dared look back towards Tarun's room. A sense of dread filled him as he saw the two men who had arrived with Henrin walked swiftly towards the elevator, their eyes on him as he pressed the button for the bottom floor. The door closed long be for the men reached the elevator.

The ride down to the bottom floor seemed to take an eternity. Were the men after him? Maybe they were just out for a walk? They couldn't possibly know he had the memory card. Or could they? He took his clenched fist out of his pocked and slowly unfolded his fingers. In the middle of his sweaty palm was the memory card. He felt an increasing unease as he looked at it. What was it that made it so dangerous? Tarun's silence had left him no choice. He had to find out for himself.

~~~