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CHAPTER TEN Kintsugi
Follow them.
I frantically revise Sarah's sloped handwriting over and over. The plane's patrons begin to gather themselves together. The blonde woman and the man in the hat. Follow them.
My palms start to dot with sweat as I unclip my seatbelt. I don't want to follow anyone. I didn't need to find anyone else. There were already enough people currently lost to me in a place that could very well kill any of us with the slightest revelation of our true intentions to being here. The mindsets sloshed back and forth in my stomach.
And furthermore, the blonde woman and the man in the hat. What was that even supposed to mean? Were they a common distinction in a general crowd? Would I know them when I saw them without names to faces? Was this an "if in doubt" if I were to lose Sarah and Ian entirely in there? A code for something?
I distill my face. My expressions couldn't betray me here. The intern beside me collects himself to stand and I shoot up with as much false, grace professionalism I can muster.
The security guard gives me a funny glance as I step past. The kind of disapproval for someone who took their job far too seriously. I push my shoulders back—as long as it weren't a look of suspicion, I was okay.
The frigid wind gusts it's way through the suit and clings to bone as I step out of the jet. The white of what could only be cloud and snow violently pours back into my eyes. As thought it were part of the appeal to build this place in this corner of the world. Disarmingly cold surroundings to disorient one from their senses.
The tiny second air strip hand landed us in patch of gravel no bigger than a courtyard, completely enclosed by ferns elongated and twisted with age. Everyone who'd stepped off split into their respective directions. I linger for the other intern and feigned good manners, gesturing for him to walk ahead of me. Half a dozen people were awaited us. One of which stood out immediately.
