Crows of a Feather

20. I fly out a window

"Okay, so what now?" Charon asked nervously as Tusk's elevator left our floor.

"Ewart said two floors down," I remembered. "Charon, will you be able to lead us from there?"

"I don't know. This place is insane, I can't smell anything over all the magic," Charon said.

"We know the east side is mostly in the Tribune's use, so that's just half the floor. We'll find it," Amelia said. She pressed the down button and we waited. It was excruciating. My hands were clammy and I could feel cold sweat run down my back.

When the elevator dinged and the doors opened, we were greeted by a tired-looking office worker. She was confused, but made way for us. "We're interns," I told her helpfully. She didn't answer. She shot one last suspicious glance at us on the 29th floor where she exited.

Finally, we arrived on the 28th and stormed out only to see that the entire floor had magically gone under renovation during our stay in Ewart's office. Every hallway looked identical, white tarp over walls and doors and a papery covering on the floor that crinkled under our shoes.

Although I had caught a glimpse of busy workers on the previous floor, this one was completely deserted. I couldn't even hear the clickity-clack of keyboards or indistinct meetings being held. It was us, and the hum of air conditioning.

"Please tell me you can hear or smell something," I said to Charon. He shook his head slowly.

"I don't understand," Amelia said, frowning.

"I guess they don't want us to find them," I said grimly.

I took the lead following the long white hallways. We opened doors, listened intently, looked for anything that looked out of place, to no avail. There was no sign of life, not even a janitor or a construction worker. It was like we had fallen into some alternate dimension. I was getting desperate. I was supposed to be finding my uncle, but instead I was lost in an all white abandoned construction zone.

After what felt like hours of searching, we ended up back at the elevators which were covered by see-through plastic sheets.

"Why don't we sit down for a moment?" Amelia suggested calmly.

"What? Why?" I asked.

Amelia nodded at my feet. I looked down. It appeared that I had left a trail of pitch black footsteps during our walk. When I looked closer, I realised the marks were smoking. My magic was leaking through in the form of burning hot shoes, it seemed.

"Why would he tell us the floor?" Charon mused as we sat down, leaning against some office door.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Why did Ewart call us in the first place? He could've just left us there for a few hours but instead he taunted us and told us where he would be," he explained.

"He wanted to lure us out," Amelia realised, wide-eyed.

"Shit." I got to my feet and started ripping the plastic off of an elevator's doors. Every time I took one layer off, another one magically appeared. Amelia and Charon came to help me, but it was no use.

"Stand back," Amelia commanded. Charon and I took a few steps back. Amelia placed a hand on the plastic — no, not on it, but so close her palm almost touched it. She said: Topniej!

The plastic melted. First just in that one spot, leaving a hole in the shape of Amelia's hand, and then spreading until it was gone everywhere except the very edges, where it dripped lazily until it hardened. The remains that had fallen on the floor smelled horrible and sizzled like TV static.