Ganè shooed Mobi away and waved me inside the elevator. The soft light of the cabin didn’t ease the bitterness on his face. I opened my mouth to speak, until he put a finger to my mouth and shushed me.
Once we reached the dark, empty lobby, he led me to his room down the hall. It happened so fast that I didn’t even bother asking any questions. I just knew I wanted to leave. My heart began to race.
Once we stepped inside, he locked the door.
“Ganè?” I stammered. “What’s going on?”
He turned on the light, revealing a room messier than before. My mind fleeted as I stepped on a metal ruler laying on the carpet. It was so sharp that I mistook it for a knife at first.
“That was you in the mall, wasn't it?” he asked.
I shook my head, feeling too exposed to say anything.
He leaned forward, prying me with dour on his face. “The Crystal Memoria Mall. You and your friends were in there an hour ago.”
“No I wasn't.”
He rolled his eyes at me. “Yes you were. Twice. That’s the only other way to get inside the hotel without teleporting. Just say so so I can move on.”
“Fine, we did. I thought I lost something there, so we were just—”
“I need your help. I gave you the penthouse, so it's only fair.”
“With what?”
“You’re intuitive,” he said. “Put two and two together. You were listening, right?”
“To you and… your dad?”
“Yeah. Minuis. You’re on track.”
“And the Ruby Incarnate? Was that the birthday present you mentioned?”
He sighed, walking over to his desk chair to sit down. “You know those kids in the lobby?”
“What does that have to do with—”
“Just answer the question.”
“Sorry. Yeah, I’ve seen them.”
“They came from the mall, too. It's always little kids. Never adults or even teenagers, until now.”
“Do they have parents?”
“They’re still in there. Somewhere. I usually patrol every night, but I can never find them, except for Halarde’s mom—she’s one of the children. And if I can get the Incarnate, I can give it to the Mind in exchange of them shutting the Mall down.”
“But what about all those people?” I asked. “The siren went off and a bunch of people came out of nowhere. Then they just disappeared. Could one of them be their parents?”
“Them?”
I may have asked the wrong question.
A trembling frown fell on Gane. He cupped his face, sniffling. I was going to say something, until I saw tears streaming down his cheeks.
I understood.
“Maybe they're not all gone,” I suggested.
“Yeah, but they will be if the Mall isn't shut down soon. There's no real food, no real water, no phones…”
YOU ARE READING
Heaven Gilded Zarcroft Hybrid
Fiksi Remaja[CANCELLED AND MOVED] "Were you able to get out of bed this morning?" he asked, staring into the water. His voice was soothing, with the rasp of a fire. "I..." My breathing spiked. "I don't remember. I think so. I'm here now, right?" "But did you ha...
