Siphoned Souls

❊ Aylin ❊

I see so many people a day. I point them over to the sitting area where he sits, ready for them. To draw them in and make them wonder.

Only a couple stay where they're supposed to. Only a few make it back home.

I see tens of people a day. Hundreds a week.

But of all of them, I hate it when the kids come in. It's always for an innocent mistake.

It's a slow day when I hear the door push open and glance up to see a little girl who is absolutely drenched. I look down at the clock that sits bright in the corner of the computer. 8:59.

I sigh.

The girl comes up to my desk all timid and tries to get my attention in the softest voice I've heard anyone use all day.

I tamp down any personal feelings I might have about kids being kept in these places, putting on an indifferent act and drawling out, "Name?"

"Velika." she replies after some stumbling.

I file that away for later and continue my questions.

"Number?"

She recites a number confidently and I dutifully click it into the old office-style digital phone that sits in front of me. I press a key and hold up the phone to my ear.

"Missed curfew?"

She looks surprised at first, all wide-eyed and shocked before nodding. Like she thought I read her mind or something like that.

The only reason someone as young as her would be in here at this time of night is if she went over that stupid city curfew. I point her over to the row of chairs where he is sitting, getting ready to spin a story of intrigue and mystery that's just vague enough to leave her wanting more. I might hate the guy, but he's damn good at what he does.

She stands confused before turning around and hurrying right over and sitting next to him. I can see her holding her breath to avoid the smoke and have to suppress a laugh.

"Hello?" I say suddenly in a bright voice.

No answer.

"Yes, is this a parent or guardian of Velika?"

Almost complete silence.

"It is! Great. I'm Aylin, and I'm here with your daughter. She seems to have gone over the curfew by just a few minutes, if you could come pick her up?"

Cold and fizzy static prickling against my ear.

"Okay, that's great." I say the address and put the phone down.

I fix a stern look back on my face and point at the girl with a bony finger. "They're on their way, sit there, and don't leave this room." She looks startled. She has no chance of making any sort of acknowledgement of what I said before I vanish into the back room behind my desk. I flick the light switch on the wall that also brings all the "security" cameras to life in the building. The back wall flicks on to show the camera of the waiting room.

I walk over and sit down at the table delicately, grabbing the remote used to control the cameras and slipping the headphones over my ears, just in time to hear him saying, "The government has a lot of skeletons in its closet, and quite a few of them happen to be hidden in between these four walls."

Then he pulls his little vanishing trick while the girl is still turning to look at him with some kind of emotion clearly written across her face. Surprise? Intrigue? Confusion? I sure as hell didn't know.

She looks at the cigarette smoke he left behind and I know she is gone even before she begins looking around the room. At the hallway in the back of the room and then right at the camera. Hallway. Camera. I set up the lights in the hallway and make sure everything is ready. Hallway. Camera.

She gets up and rushes over to the hallway. I resist the urge to sigh.

I switch the camera around, watching her as she walks through the hallway. I make sure the sounds go off just enough to make her scared but not suspicious. I wish for a moment that she would turn around and go back to the waiting room like, but she keeps trekking forward.

As she approaches the elevator, she looks up at the camera and seems to pause for a second, until I open the elevator doors up for her. She looks apprehensive and I hope the weird elevator that does stuff on its own is enough to make her turn around. She seemed like a cautious enough kid. She goes inside.

I keep my expression carefully neutral, closing the doors and confirming the opening on floor 3 before pressing the third button to the right. The elevator is slow. It takes almost a full minute and a half before it jerks to a stop, and I slide the doors open again. She steps out and the second she does I close the doors, and I try not to think about how I've just trapped another kid.

She looks around, exploring with her eyes before her body, which seems common for her. I see the exact moment she notices the silhouettes and I wait. As expected, she turns right around and runs over to the elevator doors.

I don't open them up. I don't even let my finger hover over the button that would do so.

I let her have hope for a couple of moments before I see the realization dawn. She's in there. Trapped. Those doors aren't opening.

I flick a quick switch up and down to flicker the lights and slide up the brightness so she can see the state of the other occupants of the farm. I just need to get her close enough so they can get her easily. Then I can leave.

Something she sees must startle her (or maybe it was the pounding on the glass and the screaming) because she takes off running. Deeper and deeper into the maze of rooms.

Eventually she's far enough in that I can send the signal to the upper levels who'll take care of her from there and I get up, placing everything meticulously back on the table before flicking off the lights as well as the cameras and leaving back out to my desk where I start to pack up.

I notice briefly that the phone was never placed back on the stand like how it should've been if the call had been properly ended.

I leave it like it is. The girl next shift could deal with it. I certainly didn't care. No point in hanging up a phone that wasn't connected to anything,

He's sitting in the waiting room again, with a stupid little microphone intercom thing held in one hand and a cigarette in the other.

I try ignoring him, just gathering my coat and shaking out the umbrella in preparation of stepping outside.

I'm just at the door, ready to leave when I hear him say, "Why did you listen?" in a mock disappointed voice and I know that they've caught the girl and he's speaking through the dumb little speaker in the ceilings.

He flicks something on the microphone and tucks it into his outfit somewhere, so he only holds the cigarette loosely between two fingers.

I huff out a laugh and shake my head before making my way into the dreary night, shedding any guilt at the door, only allowing myself to think one thing about work as I walk to my apartment.

Bastard doesn't even smoke.