When the World Ends

12; Angel

Coming down the staircase behind Daye, we heard the remnants of what sounded like Shan being carried away. 

     "Was arresting him really that necessary?" I asked softly, stopping at the base of the stairs, just before they curved into the school lobby.

     "Absolutely." Daye said. "It wasn't a fling decision. He's always had it out for me. From taunting and bullying me as a child to mocking me when my mother disappeared. He knew never to get violent enough that I would feel pressured to tell my father because he also knew my father was crazy enough to arrest children and punish them."

I nodded, suddenly more grateful that his father had passed. Although, I should have known as much because he was also crazy enough to take me from my family and trap me here at the school for years on end. 

Now, stepping into the school lobby, I can see that it's mostly empty except for Astrid, who is carefully studying the award cases. She must have been in here when they hauled Shan out, too. 

     "...make sure you take good care of her.." I heard Daye say to the young lady behind the desk. He turned to me and said, "Please, go with Bethany. She is one of our top employees, and she's going go to go over final details on the house you've commissioned as well as take your requests for the apartments."

Moving his hand to the small of my back, he guided me forward, towards the girl. She smiled at me, adjusted the clipboard she was holding at her side and then guided me into a small office that sat behind the desks. One final glance back at Daye, and all I see is his back retreating as he crosses the room to Astrid. She has a befuddled look on her face. I quickly close the door and turn back to Bethany. 

     "So, I've heard that you want to give the liberated serfs somewhere to live! That's so generous of you. I'm sure they'll greatly appreciate someone being so compassionate towards them, especially someone who so closely shared their experience." Her smile widened. As she passed the desk to sit on the other side, she tugged the chair out for me. "Please, sit down so we can begin." As I sat, she continued, "The Elector has cut a generous ten million for the apartments and half that for your house." She paused. "Very cute by the way. I had to look up what style of houses those were but I like them very much!"

I didn't answer. I was stunned! Five MILLION dollar for MY house?! I had never had my own money, but I did learn how to count- this was a school after all- and I knew five million was no small sum. Sometimes it didn't even seem like a real number. Scooting the chair closer to the edge of the desk, I found my voice and asked, "No offense, but...are you sure you read those numbers correctly?"

     "Yes!" She smiled again, turning the monitor so we could both see it. "Most of the internet has removed this ancient style of imagery from it's sources but Elector told me to dig until I found it, so naturally, I did what I was told. And, I found these-"

Image after image of Victorian style houses started popping up. Some of them were so cute! Sliding the mouse towards me, she briefly explained how to use it and then said, "You can click and drag the ones you like to this small window down here," She pointed to it with her finger, "and when you're done, I'll address it and send it to the Elector, and he'll send it off to the nations best carpenters."

     "Send it through the computer?" I asked.

     "Certainly. It's called an 'E-mail', and I'm pretty sure it's short for 'electronic mail'. Like if you were sending it on paper, but digitally!"

I nodded and then turned my attention to the screen. Scrolling through the images, I moved several into the window. Mostly ones who were situated where it still looked like there would be room for a garden. When I was satisfied, I slid the mouse back to her and sat back.