The Calm and the Storm [#NaNoWriMo15]

4. Curiosity Killed the Cat

Atticus was astounded, yet slightly disappointed when he arrived at the centre of the tug, right where it wanted him to be. An old factory, abandoned by the looks of it. But it was still in good condition, and it certainly felt like it was still running. There was something in that building that was drawing him in, and he was intrigued to find out what it was. At least he'd be safe from Nathaniel for the time being, and even if he was able to track Atticus here he wouldn't go inside an abandoned metal factory.

Did he mention it was made completely of metal?

As Atticus approached the side of the building, he realised that it was literally all made of metal; there wasn't a bar of timber or plank of wood anywhere to be seen. It was simply dull, silver-looking steel, along the sides and the doors, even. Every bolt and every weld was consistent of metal-on-metal and Atticus knew there was something odd about this place already. But there were no bad feelings in his stomach; it was all moral. It was all calm. But that still didn't give him the answer to a question that had been itching at the corners of his mind for a while now. Why was he here?

At the side of the building he approached, Atticus found a tall yet slim door, held in place with large polished bolts. It didn't look like the construction had been accessed recently; the last time it seemed to be opened would have to have been almost 20 years ago. Interesting. So why was he drawn here, of all places, if it was uninhabited?

You will be safe here.

Atticus was genuinely confused at the words of his subconsciousness. It usually taunted with him, played with him. It never tried to protect him.

"Why don't you just shut up," Atticus grumbled instead of replying with an actual answer, but the voice didn't come back.

Atticus ran his fingers gently along the frame of the old door, glancing over both shoulders to make sure no one was watching him. If anyone saw him breaking into an abandoned building he'd have another reason to visit the cops.

When he was certain no one could see him, Atticus returned his attention to the big slab of metal before him and furrowed his eyebrows, studying the surface's details. He took a step back, and was glad that he did; he found a steel lever to his left, so he did what anyone would do in his position. He gripped the lever and pulled, hearing the door gasp beside him as the room beyond was exposed to the feeling of fresh air for the first time in a long time.

"My, my," Atticus murmured, a small smile playing on his lips as he glanced inside. It wasn't dark. "What have we here?"

With one last glimpse at the street beyond the factory, Atticus stepped inside the building and pulled the thick, heavy door closed behind him. It was quiet, eerily quiet. It was lifeless in there, as if no one had been there since it shut down. There was nothing here but steel. Yet still he felt that gentle buzz at the surface of his skin, tingling as he began to roam his new surroundings. The room he was in was lined with linoleum across the floors and the walls, which was probably the only sign of material he had seen so far that wasn't metal. Beneath it, however, he was sure the steel still remained.

Across the roof of the small and simple room ran long LED light bulbs, brightening up the room marvellously. Then he realised that the lights were still functioning. Maybe it hadn't been shut down for as long as he thought.

There was a wooden bench that sat across the room with a bunch of old papers scattered across the surface. A desk lamp sat amongst them, turned on. Its orangey/yellow tone glared down at the wood below as if it were cursing it for interrupting the pattern of the steel that surrounded it.

There were lockers beside the desk, all but one open and empty. And Atticus got curious, the little OCD that he had in him perking up at the odd locker box. He knelt down, digging his fingers into the top to get a grip on it. In the end, he resorted to the knife in his bag and dug that into one of the gaps before pushing it down, pulling the door to the locker open with it. As he tucked the knife back into the bag, Atticus found a note lying at the bottom of the space and curiosity got the better of him.