Somebody is dying soon, and he doesn't even know it will ruin his normal lifestyle for the rest of his living days.
Daniel sat at a round table filled with accomplished entrepreneurs and high-profile individuals from the City of Colemond. They were attending a private dinner at the city’s new venue inauguration. One ballroom that held most of the fifty-thousand square feet of space, adding a few thousand more for the hallways and a few office spaces.
He only grew to communicate with other people when he was appointed a few years ago as the 1st Chief of Operations by the mayor. He was basically handling all the dirty work of the city and thought being a historical loner would be difficult for him. Today contrasted his prior doubts, and he didn’t want any other way and was grateful for the opportunity.
The conversation felt swift and focused, as everyone at Daniel’s table seemed hooked on his interactions and his self-interests. The constant back-and-forth reactions led to being the loudest table of all. With a total capacity of fifty tables, the entire ballroom's forty-nine tables of attention turned towards them, wondering what the fuss was about. However, they didn't budge to interrupt.
Continuously, they converse until being called out by the mayor and the venue’s organizer. The mayor headed to the front of the table with his hand on the watch. They don't seem pleased at his mentioning of the time. But oh well. Daniel felt stuffed as he lifted himself out of his seat. He shook all their hands and sent farewells. They returned their bows. Then Daniel left the table, looking for Ava and the other three of the co-workers who came along. The whole ballroom moved into an after-party as a few groups of guests also prepared to leave.
Daniel nudged through the dance floor. He saw Ava standing outside of the ballroom entrance, arms crossed, and eyes staring in one direction as if something were spooking her. He turned to where her eyes focused. There they are, the three co-workers drunk and verbally teasing her. They didn’t notice him as he walked out of the ballroom. I knew they shouldn’t come here. Why on earth would they invite them? He thought, knowing the three were idiotic people who fabricated their way through the professional hierarchy. His hopes of them behaving went out of the window. He knew he shouldn’t have trusted the one who invited them to the event, realizing the optimistic perspective was useless. He went right in front of Ava, blocking her view of the three.
“Let’s go,” Daniel muttered to Ava. Her eyes were still locked in the same direction, despite him blocking her view. He glared back at them, who were physically like string puppets. They could not stand upright. Suddenly, the three’s knees succumbed, and all collapsed to the floor. Using this opportunity, Daniel grabbed Ava’s hand and dashed past them. Not looking back, they didn't dare slow down until they reached the parking lot.
“Slow down,” Ava panted as she and Daniel stepped foot in the wide parking lot.
“You good?” Daniel asked.
“I just…need a breather…did they notice us?”
Daniel viewed back towards the Venue’s entrance. He faintly saw the three tumbled down the entrance’s porch stairs. “We gotta hurry. They peeked out of the door.” Daniel’s feet started to step back while turning away from their sight. He jolted his hand out, hoping she would immediately grab it. His one eye glanced multiple times when, to his horror, one of them noticed the two and one signaled the other. Hurry, hurry!
Ava grabbed his hand, and both sprinted to Daniel’s Suburban. No time to lose; they hopped into the seats. Daniel reversed out, drifting a J-turn and exchanging awkward stares. He pulled the throttle, stepping on the pedal, vrooming the Suburban out of sight, barely dodging the three as the whiff coming from the force of the SUV left them startled. One hard left turn merged with the light traffic, and both took a deep breath. Ava grabbed a bottle of water from the door cabin and twirled the cap open, waterfalling to her mouth while swallowing the smooth cold flow to her sore chest.
“Phew, what a close one. Are you okay?”
“No, not really,” Ava replied, pinching her two fingers. “I was that close to trouble until you came in.”
Daniel grimaced, feeling disgusted at his action way before the event. “Look, I should have revolted the organizer’s invitation list when it was announced. I—"
“It’s ok. Many of us in the department thought the same. Their behavior changed after that incident a month ago, and we thought it was a change, of course…But man, we are all fooled.” Ava lifted her head upright onto the headrest while pushing the button to adjust the seat back on an incline.
Stopping at the red streetlight that would lead back to the highway, Daniel turned to her. “They were teasing you as I walked out, but why were you staring at their soul like that?”
Brief silence.
“Is something wrong?” Daniel continuously asked.
Suddenly, she broke down. Her tears poured out of her eyelids, wetting her cheeks. She was a silent crier, but this time it was loud as a speaker. Daniel had known her since college, and she rarely outbursts in tears. If she did, it meant something traumatizing. He didn’t want to interrupt, but handed her another bottle of water. Ava took another gulp, easing the lump in her throat. The streetlight turned green before she could utter her word.
Daniel carefully eased off the brake, slowly speeding past the intersection and going straight to a detour that led to Colemond’s main highway. “Go on.”
“I got a glimpse of what’s below their façade…It’s evil and crooked,” Ava said, then silencing herself as if she had nothing else to blurt out.
“I’ll look into their files tomorrow morning. We will sort all this out then along with the team,” Daniel assured. Who the hell hired them?
She nodded lightly while closing her eyes again. Daniel’s Suburban merged into the far left lane, passing under a road sign that led back to Downtown Colemond.
1.2
Ring…
Something sounded irritating when Daniel immediately awakened in the pitch black of his room. The sound stopped after a few seconds.
Ring…ring.
He was slowly drifting, only to return to consciousness. Turning the headlamp on, only to find his smartphone ringing, which jolted him awake. He leaped out from under the blanket, opening his device and finding double missed calls from Ava’s cellular number. Christ! His heartbeat was rapid, and his mind switched over various scenarios of what could happen. She never called at this hour, ever. Hoping nothing serious, he scrolled through the screen of the call history, clicked Ava’s number, and proceeded to call her. Come on. Please answer.
Ring…ring…ring.
Beep!
“Hello? Ava, you there?”
“Who’s this?” A mature female voice speaking through the call with a brief sound of snuffle in between.
“Mother Elaine?!” Daniel said, recognizing the faint voice. “It’s Daniel on the phone. Ava called me twice in the middle of the night, and I was wondering if anything was wrong.”
Another awkward silence. No response or a faint sound.
“Elaine? -”
He could hear her snuffling more, evidently followed by a quick response, “You need to come over quick…”
“Come over? Wait, what is going on?!—”
The call abruptly ended, leaving Daniel in a trance. Unsure of what he just heard through the call, he quickly marched to the bathroom, showering off his body. The tingling sensation on his left shoulder caused him to flex in reactionary to the water flowing over. He slightly massaged it, reaching and rubbing over the rigid area right on the shoulder blade. Around it was where the pain reaction was generated from. He kept his right hand over till he finished and saw blueish water flowing to the drain. He gave one look at his hand, and there was a blend of blue and red liquid stained on his fingers.
Daniel left the shower mindfully concerned as he walked to the bathroom mirror. He tilted his back towards the mirror, seeing blue liquid painted around the stitched scar. What on earth is wrong with my blood? It’s getting bluer than yesterday.
However, he had no time, and within less than two minutes, he was back out with his clothes on, grabbing his device, car keys, and his watch. It’s ten past five. He carefully ran downstairs, heading to his Dodge Challenger parked next to his Suburban. He sped out of the garage. Mentally wrenching as he lived in a large, gated community, risking his safety as he went over the thirty speed limit, going fifty miles all the way. Drifting to the gatepost, he halted, waiting for the gate to open. Can this go quicker?
Drifting out of the neighborhood, he made a sharp right and drove straight down to the interstate. Eyes sparked left and right, risking the chances of getting pulled over with a few miles left until reaching Ava's district. With all luck, he finally made it to the exit. Descending, he stepped on the pedal to get to the far-right lane and detoured into the open neighborhood.
Going in a maze of uneven directions of the streets, he reached the familiar territory and one left turn, seeing bright blue and red glaring light overwhelming in the distance. Reaching closer, he sees officers standing in the middle of the street, behind the yellow straps midair labeling “Crime scene.” Parking alongside the curb, he got out of the Challenger, and the two cops ducked under the tape, confronting him at approach. A crime scene?
“Who are you?”
Daniel pulled out his ID. “Daniel, Chief of Operations.”
“Oh, Chief, sorry, my apologies,” the cop said, handing him back his ID, and gesturing to him along the way. “What brings you here?”
“I received an urgent phone call.” He ducked under the tape, witnessing a convoy of police and paramedics on site.
“You’re clear to head in. Someone will give you the full details.”
Arriving at the front of Ava’s house, Daniel sprinted through the front yard, flying through the opened front entrance. He was met with Mother Elaine, holding a crumpled tissue in her hand. She convened in the living room, leaning near the fireplace and watching silently as the investigators conversed at the dining table. She saw Daniel coming inside, where she succumbed to his arms. He heard the sounds of tears muffled towards his jacket and let her be while he stood. Her ragged husband came out from the kitchen, drinking a bottle of beer.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“Where’s Ava?” Daniel asked in a concerned tone.
Mother Elaine shakes her head, smudging his shirt. “She was-”
Daniel’s mind went blank while Mother Elaine let herself off of him, pointing upstairs. She led him along the way to the front of the staircase, plowed by the marks of footsteps. He quickly marched up the stairs, meeting a couple of photo investigators taking snapshots outside of Ava’s room.
“When you are ready,” one of them said in a fatigued voice, tilting his head toward the room.
Rotating the doorknob, he slowly pushed inward and barged through the gaseous haze, tampering with the entire room. He unlocked the window, lifted it, and forced all the contained air to circulate outside. His vision regained as the haze dissipated, eventually saw Ava with only her head out from the blanket. The foul smell reached his nostrils while standing by her bedside, directed at the source. He attempted to call her name multiple times without avail.
This smells scratchy. Torching my damn nostrils. Daniel looked away and forced himself to contain his running tears and the upcoming hyperventilation, scratching his neck and mouth. Facing her lifeless face, he observed the layer of blankets finding a dark, heavy puddle of stain within under each layer. Oh, my lord! He reacted to her lifeless body before noticing a wide blood trail matching the wooden floor. The trail makes one significant curve when it turns right, passing the front of the bed frame, and going straight to the closed bathroom door. He found a spare napkin on the desk and rubbed it on the surface of the knob, rotating it clockwise. The same haze came rushing out, partially striking Daniel’s eyes. He kicked the door fully, letting the haze out of the bathroom. He braced against the remaining haze and barged in to find a couple of points of interest. All correlated to the shower with the glass tempered with dark-red color.
The color. Could be at most a few hours. Daniel looked through the closet and the bathroom counters, only to find nothing. He then looked into the shower, and all the suspicious items lay scattered on the floor. A freaking belt, white powder, and a mallet. He backed away and jogged out of the room. Two heavily suited individuals came up the stairs with gas masks equipped looking at each other before taking it off, looking confused with thin eyes.
“Chief?” both called.
“Yes?”
“Were you in there just now?” The left, numbered 016 on his chest, asked while pointing back to the room.
“A couple minutes ago, I was given clearance to enter, but I didn’t have any equipment and went in bare-handed.”
Their eyes widened, and eyebrows raised when the latter turned to focus on Daniel. He pulls out a pocket notepad. “Give me your e.t.e.”
Daniel gave thought, cracking his neck. “I was in the room for three minutes. The haze left the room after a few seconds I opened the window.”
“Any symptoms?”
Daniel shook his head, “No. Is this air toxic?”
“We are here to check it out, but it looked clear from here.”
“Then you two better head quickly into the bathroom. That’s the last scent of this suspicious haze left.”
Immediately, they excused themselves, passing Daniel while reminding him they would continue the questionnaire once completed. Silently furious, Daniel went back inside the room. He returned to Ava's body, checking the site of the puddle. Not knowing what to expect, he pulled the heavy blanket away from her, to be confronted with such disgust. What in the actual—?
He dropped the blanket, facing away.
“Anyone checked the body here!” Daniel yelled at the investigators out in the hallway, doing their business.
The investigator’s heavy footsteps tumbled behind him and stood in silence. Daniel actually called the investigator that gave him the clearance, wanting an explanation. “Did you know there was toxic gas in here?”
“Yes,” the investigator said in a whispering tone.
“Then why did you give me the clearance to enter?!” Daniel asked.
“I thought-”
Hmmm. Daniel felt suspicion but switched topics, mentioning the wounds, and glanced back at the body. “This must be from the mallet.”
Silent mumbling turned awkward when he didn't get a response, angrily irritating him. Unsettling body language. What an unbelievable disgrace for an investigator! Daniel's mind ranted with all the red flags flying high and told the investigator to get out and not be in his presence. The investigator’s head went down, moving away without making contact.
The two individuals walked out of the bathroom, carrying the items coming from the shower, carefully placing them in specialized garbage bags that appeared sturdier than they looked.
“You guys haven't seen this fuckery,” Daniel said and showed the two, lifting up the layers of blanket. “Especially with all those materials now in your care. However, I had no understanding of the purpose of the gassy haze minutes prior.”
“I want to know some answers as well. This is not just gas. The suspect set off the carbon monoxide in here mixed with an unknown gas, as it doesn't match with various components you would find in a typical smog hovering in a polluted city.” Detective 016 said, bringing out the device. “Ten thousand ppm! Sir, are you certain of no symptoms?!”
Daniel confidently jolted his head up and down. “I'm certain. I’m very much ok.”
Lub dub.
Arghh.
What's this tightening in my chest? Daniel felt the sharp pain contaminating his upper chest and progressively spread to his biceps. Quickly, he walked out of the room. “Oh, by the way…is there a paramedic available downstairs?”
“Two vacant!” Detective 018 replied.
“Thanks, lads, and mention to the officers in charge that the disarray of the earlier detectives has hampered the progress of this case.”
Daniel concealed his limp as he stepped out of the room and down the stairs. Looking for the blue and red light, he called out to the paramedic. The paramedic yelled back, prompting Daniel to point at himself. Understanding the signal, the paramedic immediately ran to Daniel's left, assisting him to the ambulance. He sat himself down on the steps while the paramedic pulled out the lead strings with the electrode pad on the ends, placed on his right chest. “Any pain?”
Daniel’s shallow breathing almost caught his words off guard. “Right chest,” he muttered. He tried urging more words, but the pain was preventing him from being able to.
“We're gonna check your heart, so hang on!”
Thump!!
Ouch! Daniel grunted and clenched his jaws behind his concealed lips. Immediately, he felt the vibration emitting through his chest, mimicking his heart rate. The paramedic watching the monitor device grew alarmed when the number spiked from sixty to two hundred twenty.
“Sir!?” The paramedic grabbed his shoulders, trying to pull him up onto the stretcher. “Why are you so heavy?” he asked, while Daniel was still holding in his grueling pain and trying to regain focus from his eyes.
The ambulance shook violently while the paramedic continued to struggle, lifting him up. Gravity-like pressure came from Daniel, causing the paramedic to be pulled downward and preventing his arms from fully flexing. The road around the vicinity fractured, triggering multiple car alarms in the street. Nigh panicked screams came from within the house where Mother Elaine frantically came through the door, followed by her husband and detectives from the dining room, attempting to subdue her. The remaining personnel outside stampeded through the front yard, calling out and waving to go back inside.
Daniel’s pain tolerance unknowingly grew, enabling him to speak, and he twirled his head to the paramedic’s miserable face. “Let go! Get out of the way!” Daniel screamed.
“I’m not!”
“I say, you do! Save yourself! Don’t risk yourself further to carelessly die!”
“But-”
Daniel enraged, “Leave me here!” He forced the paramedic’s grip off of him, subconsciously throwing him away from the ambulance to his discovered new strength. Luckily, he landed on the grass and quickly opened the door inside. Angry gusts ram outward, coming from Daniel’s body as the weight increases rapidly, generating a massive dent and symmetrically bending the ambulance downwards.
Screech!
The ceiling dented downward, proceeding to shatter into metal bits of shards, leaving a downpour of scratchy rainfall at Daniel. He tries protecting his face with both of his bare arms under a thin jacket. Grunting underneath, he heard the swift noises of slicing like paper while feeling pressure from his forearms. My legs get back to work. He peeked through the spaces of his arm while mentally forcing his energy downward, desiring to regain his paralyzed legs caused by the earlier painful episode.
Bang!
He collapsed hard on his back to the concrete. Oh, I'm finished. The ambulance tore in half with the roof free falling directly above him including a screeching ringing from the metal. He covered his eyes, bracing for the impact. Clinging pieces of metal ringed his ears while expecting to go out at any moment now. Following the immediate shattered glass and the crumbled concrete, it all went quiet.
Is this it? Am I done?
He blinked under the darkness, masked by his forearms. Slowly, he moved it away from his face, revealing the clear night sky with the full moon hovering in a beautiful, illuminating circle of light. He lifted his arms up and simultaneously eyed the cuts and scratches prominently on his forearms. His clothes appeared safe from scratches and damage for most of it. Wait. I’m alive? Surely that can’t be possible.
He leaned his head back and observed the pile of powdered rubble lying on the surface of the concrete. He was awestruck and surrounded by a deep crater, led to more questions. In the middle of the wonder, he heard voices from above, also recognizing Mother Elaine’s. Arms are still good. He self-checked for any lack of movement over his body. The paralysis is gone. To his relief, the pain in his chest was reduced to a minimal soreness. While the external part of his body was soaked with bruises and scrapes.
Daniel jerked forward, and concrete debris and glass shards dropped from his shoulders. With his soaked knees, he raised up on both of his feet, sluggishly treading over the uneven floor till arriving at the wall of the crater. That is a tall wall.
He studied the height up to the surface and looked back at the rest of the crater. I am causing all of this? He slowly perceived while in denial.
I need to get out of here. Daniel faced the wall and took one deep breath before reaching his hand to the first edge he saw.
“Is that a crater?”
“What in the world?”
Voices from above while footsteps approached closer to the crater as he climbed, reaching near to the surface. Upon reaching the surface, he was confronted by those who hadn't noticed him yet, as they were too focused on the center of the crater. Their feet blocked his way out. Therefore, left himself hanging, he raised his right arm and clenched his fist. That was when he mindlessly bangs one of their feet, not caring who.
“Ow! My damn foot!” the voice yelled in a cry.
“Holy crap, look!”
“Daniel?!”
Finally, with enough space, he then climbed out of the crater and crawled further until the sole of his shoes touched the concrete again. “Phew, I’m free,” he happily muttered while standing straight once again after the silent fear of not being able to sense his legs earlier. Everyone took a step back with each movement he made. The one whose foot he hammered was sitting flat on the grass with his shoe and sock off, revealing the swollen red behemoth. Daniel walked to the side of him, noticing his name tag. Another paramedic. What an unfortunate job shift.
He looked at his foot, and everyone stood silently. “Well, what the hell you guys are standing for? Help your fellow, will ya?!” Daniel exclaimed.
He didn’t want to be here any longer, but that moment from the ambulance led to him staying longer.
“AHH!” the paramedic yelled.
It’s bleeding. Daniel observed the swollen foot spurting blood from the edge of his big toenail. He met with the same paramedic who tried getting Daniel to the ambulance earlier, now attending to his fellow. Daniel stood himself away and strolled back to the house. Heading inside, Mother Elaine drank a heavy load of water while not taking her fixated eyes away. “Daniel!” She exclaimed oddly, not showing her depression but the usual motherly look. Maybe she was too disturbed in such a short time that she was coping.
Daniel went to the couch with Mother Eliane beside him. He wasn't able to comprehend what quickly changed her tone amid the recent tragedy. Before sitting down, something was pinching him as if there were physically two fingers grabbing the side of his torso. He quickly took off his jacket, finding his shirt to be soaked. What the heck. Daniel’s heart raced, unsure what it was. He then took off his shirt too, revealing a massive open gap to his right side. Mother Elaine freaked out, as she could see a bit of his lungs behind the ribcage. The wound was like a drooling mouth, leaking and spitting out blue blood. Her outburst caught the attention of everyone. When they came to the living room, they shared the same reaction.
“Holy shit! Why is it blue? Get the medic!”
Oh, lord. Daniel thought before putting his left hand and a bit of his forearm over it.