Tell Me a Story

Chapter 33

"What are you doing here?" I asked, hoping there was some kind of reasonable explanation.

"Keeping you out of trouble. Come on."

Meera reached for my arm, guiding me out of the elevator, but Eli stepped in front of me.

"What are you really doing here, Meera?" Eli asked.

"Eli, come on," I protested.

He shook his head and continued to stare at Meera. "The least you can do is be honest with Kate. You owe her that much."

"I'm trying to help. This isn't going to go well for her if she is here when the buyers arrive."

"So you're just here to send us on our way?"

"Kate, yes. You, on the other hand, will have to be dealt with."

"What is the deal with people talking like I'm not here lately?" I stepped past Eli and looked at Meera, my hands clenched into fists. "Meera, tell me you aren't part of all this."

"Part? I'm more than just part." I could feel my eyes burn. This couldn't be true. "Oh, Kate, come on. I'm sure Eli's explained to you the value of what we have here. This is just business."

"Business? Are you serious? Since when did killing people become 'just business'?"

Meera smiled and shook her head. It was the same look she had the first time she saw me drinking wine from a box, the look of someone who knew better. 

Or at least thought they did.

"I'm merely selling a tool, Kate. What people do with it is on their heads. And to answer your rather naïve question, it's always been a business. Pharmaceuticals get approved despite tests that show they could have dangerous long term affects, food gets produced using methods that strip it from all its beneficial nutrients, forests are destroyed, toxins are produced; every day decisions are made based on profit that will, at some point, destroy life. It's what we all do. You're either a producer or consumer. I choose to produce."

"How can you be like this? Is this what David taught you?"

This time she laughed. "Oh, come on, you know me better than that. I come by my decisions on my own, thank you. Plus, you know David isn't the type who can get his hands dirty."

My hands, already balled into fists, were shaking. I squeezed tighter, willing them to stop. "You won't get away with this."

"Don't be so cliché. It's pretty clear I will." Meera looked off to her side and gave a nod. Two armed men came into view, taking their place on either side of her. "Looks like we'll be taking both of them with us."

I looked up at Eli and he gave me a slow nod. How could he be so calm? And why wasn't he saying anything? I hoped it meant he had a plan. He had to have a plan. 

We walked through a long corridor, Meera ahead of us, the two men behind. I looked over at Eli as we walked and caught him glancing at the ceiling a few times. When we reached the end of the hall, Meera nodded to one of the men, who walked over to unlock a door.

Eli softly cleared his throat. Immediately, the lights around us shut down. The inner corridor was dark, with even the emergency lights refusing to light up. A second later, the fire sprinklers turned on. I could hear a grunt and the sound of someone hitting the floor as water poured down my face. A hand grabbed mine tightly and pulled, forcing me to run to keep up. 

I hoped it was Eli's.

I ran down the hall, clinging to the hand guiding me through the black halls, skidding around corners as the floors became one large puddle. As I rounded another corner, my feet gave way and I lost my grip on the hand I'd been holding, sliding across the floor into a wall.

I felt a hand touch my face. Or more accurately, my eye.

"Ow!" I whispered.

"Sorry."

I let out a breath as I heard the familiar accent. Eli's hand moved around to my back, helping me off the floor. "Come on, not much further."

We continued on, only a little slower, Eli's arm slung around my waist this time keeping me upright. I cursed what I thought were practical ballet flats as I continued to slide around the halls. I winced as we came to a sudden stop, my ankle and knee smarting from my collision with the wall. Eli let go of my waist and grabbed my arm, pulling me to the floor.

I wanted to ask what we were doing, but thought better of it. The sound of the sprinklers was loud enough that I worried we wouldn't hear Meera and her men coming if they were close, but I couldn't be sure if a word from me would give away our location.

Meera and her men.

I squeezed my eyes shut tight, willing away the image of her standing there, looking bored as she explained her part in all this. I snapped out of it as the sound of metal touching metal brought  me back. Eli's hand guided me once more, this time into a hole.

It was even darker in the cramped space. Eli handed something to me, whispering. "Here. Turn it on, but point it away from my voice."

Feeling around the object, I found a button and pushed it.

Eli pulled a vent cover back into place behind us, and I kept the flashlight pointed away from him. He turned toward me and grabbed the light.

"Go forward until you can't go anymore, then go just a bit to the right. I'll let you know when you need to stop."

Eli's voice was flat, and the limited light left me unable to read his face. Was he nervous? Scared? In control of the situation? I obeyed, wishing for a word of comfort. Would a 'it'll be okay' hurt?

When we reached the end of the vent or shaft or whatever it was we were in, I could see a small opening leading to the left. Eli spoke up just as I started to turn.

"Back up to your right."

"What?"

"I need to get ahead of you, and you need to be facing the other way."

Again, I obeyed. I let out a laugh as I envisioned beeping sounds as I backed my way further into the vent.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing. My brain doesn't realize this is an inappropriate time to be making jokes."

Eli didn't respond, but instead, backed his way in the opposite direction. "Is the North side clear?"

"What are you talking about? How am I supposed to even know where the North is from here?"

Eli ignored me as he kicked behind him, making a loud clang that echoed around us. Another kick and the dark tunnel surrounding us was flooded with light.  "Ok, Kate. This is the fun part."

I looked past him, trying to figure out where the light was coming from as my eyes adjusted. Eli shimmied backwards and out of the hole in the wall. I crawled forward and looked down to see Eli holding on to some pipes running down the length of the building.

"Come on then, Kate. We don't have much time." I looked at the skinny pipes, wondering how Eli even managed to hold on to them.

"Listen, Spiderman, I can't do that."

"Kate, you have to. There's a small gap between the wall and the pipes. Wedge your fingers in there and swing the rest of your body over."

I stuck my head and shoulders through the opening, looking down. We were only a few stories up. I had never been a fan of heights, but this was the first time I had an opportunity to find out how little of a fan I was. Those two stories may as well have been twenty.

"Kate. You'll be fine. You have to do this."

Reaching for the pipes, I watched my hands shake from a combination of the cold and fear. I turned over onto my back so I could better reach the pipe with both hands. Wedging my fingers behind the pipes, I slowly slid the rest of my body out, shoving the tips of my shoes against a bracket.

"Good. Now, just slowly work your way down."

I swallowed and blinked a few scared tears away as I made my descent.