THEM

Chapter 9

Aithne sprinted without looking back, her heart thundering in her chest so brutally she thought it would pop out. She ignored the confused voices quarreling behind her and pounded on the floors, turning even more randomly at each intersection than on the way there. Miraculously, she somehow made it through a door that opened to the exterior and found herself in the courtyard. She rested her arms on her knees and gasped for much needed air. She really needed to exercise more. After a few minutes, she managed to even out her breathing and pull herself together.

"What happened to you? You look like you tried to outrun Usain Bolt." Raphael said, striding towards her. "Or, judging from your physical shape, it could just be a ten-year old kid."

Ok, maybe she hadn't had enough time to completely pull herself together. She glared at Raphael through her eyelashes. She hesitated for a moment, needing to let out what she had just heard, to see someone else's reaction to the situation, to find out whether someone could help her tie the loose ends to this mystery, or even show her where the thread was, because she was utterly lost and wanted to know what the heck was going on. However, something made her hold her tongue as she looked into Raphael's eyes, filled with genuine concern, but also much more knowledge than he let on. He always seemed to know twice as much as he said when she asked him questions, and she doubted whether he would even answer her honestly.

"Where's Isa?"

Raphael put a hand over his heart and sarcastically lamented. "Oh dear Aithne, will I ever be enough to fulfill your needs?"

Meeting Aithne's blank stare, he dropped his hands. "I don't know. I haven't seen her in a bit."

Aithne hurried away and looked for her throughout the whole courtyard, but there was no sign of her. She searched all the main corridors, the dining room, and even their bedroom, but still nothing. She didn't know if it was leftover anxiety from her earlier eavesdropping, but she got increasingly frantic. What if something had happened to her? She picked up the pace and traced her footsteps once more. After about an hour of searching, it was Isa that came to her. As she caught sight of Isa casually strolling towards her, an overwhelming sense of relief washed over her.

"Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you?"

Now that she came closer, Aithne could see that though she was physically very well, she had a tormented look on her face that slid off her face as she plastered her usual laidback grin.

"Just had a visitor."

Sensing that she didn't want to elaborate, Aithne decided not to pry.

"I have something important to tell you. Could we go somewhere... private?"

Isadora immediately perked up with interest.

"Absolutely. Follow me, I know a place."

Aithne followed Isadora through a doorway similar to the one that led to the bar, but on the other side of the courtyard. The corridor afterwards was much shorter and led to an open cavern, like the one where the bar was except this one was completely empty and, by the looks of it, had been for a while. There was a thick layer of dust on the floor that billowed under their footsteps as they walked. The sound of drops dripping down from the dome of the cavern resonated around every few seeking, like a bomb ticking away menacingly.

"Wow. How many hidden passageways are there in these walls?"

"Oh, I don't even know half of them." Isa laughed. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

Aithne took a deep breath, the memories from the strange past few hours resurfacing, blurry and distorted like one of her visions. She delved into the story of what had happened and what she had heard, not sparing any detail. Isadora was silent the whole time; her face remained a frozen mask not betraying any emotion or thought. Aithne finished recounting her tale and fished in her pocket. She held out a badge like the one she had seen the man in white use on the way into the passageway.