Blood Obsidian

Issue 48

Hope falls silently in the dark ... - Part 6

Caitlyn had transported herself to an alleyway only a block or so from the towering Ald-Tech headquarters. There were few places anywhere near that building where she could appear out of nowhere and stay hidden long enough for the suit to return to wherever it was that it hid inside her body when she wasn't using it. Now, in regular clothing, though still with the suit Kyle had given her beneath everything, she ran the remainder of the way.

Another reason for her to eschew transporting closer to the building may have had something to do with the rather ... aggressive entrance she had made earlier, searching for Alden. If Blood Obsidian had appeared after that, she didn't doubt that an entire army of security goons would have appeared from nowhere just to become her punching bags. Reluctantly. She wouldn't have enjoyed ruining their days.

Reaching the steps leading up to the square in front of the tall, glass fronted building, she felt almost giddy at the chance to make certain that Aunt Mary had escaped unscathed from the dome facility. Rayna would have looked after her, Caitlyn felt certain. That thought, however, also drove a needle of guilt through her. Feeling giddy that Aunt Mary was safe while Alaina was still missing felt a little obscene, but she couldn't help the way she felt. She'd feel equally giddy were it the other way around.

She needn't have worried about security goons, however. As she approached the revolving doors of the building, she couldn't see any sign of them. Not a one. No-one sat at the desk, watching the monitors. No-one patrolling. Not one, single soul and, although it was late at night, she would have expected someone to be there. Cautious, she pushed the revolving door, surprised that it wasn't locked, passing through into the reception area.

The urge to allow the suit to wrap itself around her almost overwhelmed her, but it was too open here. Too many cameras meaning a lot of footage that would simply sit on Ald-Tech servers until Kyle could wipe it. She didn't need the suit. Sure, things felt off, wrong, but nothing had happened. As far as she knew, the security dude had gone to the bathroom and had forgotten to lock the building down, because, yeah, Raymond Alden employed forgetful people.

Like, those big shoes sticking out from behind the reception desk. Probably just fallen asleep on the job and totally not dead or anything. A quick, tip-toed look over the desk told her everything. Totally dead and totally not sleeping. Fiend had beaten her here. Fresh from the attempt to frame Raymond Alden, the super-villain had come here to finish the job themselves.

"Oh, Caitlyn? Caitlyn, darling? You are so terribly late and I shall have to send you to bed without supper." Aunt Mary's voice, though monotone, robotic. As though she read from a cue card, or something. "I can't stay mad at you, you rascal. Come on up and we'll have our dinner together."

Timed to perfection, one of the many elevators pinged, the doors opening, inviting Caitlyn to enter. She could ignore the elevator, put on the suit and swing up through the vast atrium to the higher floors, but she'd still have to find a way up through the business oriented floors above. Still, she took her time to examine the elevator before setting foot inside.

It wasn't booby-trapped, but there was a big, cut-out picture of a hand pointing toward the penthouse button. Fiend wouldn't want to kill Caitlyn by a bomb on an elevator. This was all far too personal for that. They wanted this to end face-to-face. Caitlyn pushed the button, ready to oblige if it kept Aunt Mary safe.

-+-

Somewhere downtown ...

Traffic caused more heart attacks than anything else in this city, at least that was what Chief Watson chose to believe. Even at this late hour, the tailbacks covered a huge chunk of the city centre, exhaust fumes penetrating the squad car, even though he had every window closed. The sounds of horns coming from all sides drowned out the sound of the sirens he'd had blaring from the moment he had raced out of the precinct garage.