The Empire

ChapterThree.

Author's Note:

Good Day! So it seems like I'm posting the chapter really quick, but really it's because I've held on to these for a while now. Yet I predict that I'd be posting the next chapters within a couple days to a week in between. This chapter is a bit of a filler. Sorry, it's hard to avoid not writing these up. But thanks for your time! I hope you leave me some love afterwards! Don't forget to vote! :)

- kriwiyum

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Before I could even knock, the hardwood door had swung open before me, revealing River in a Hawaiian-themed polo and khaki shorts. "Going on vacation?" I asked, yawning through my drowsiness. The deed was done about four hours ago. I had to wait a couple of hours before the first bus to Albany came around, then two more hours for the trip itself. I sure needed a cup of coffee, but River continued to stand in my way.

"Oh yes. Yes, we are. Lena, was it really necessary for you to plant a bomb in that old rat hole? I could have set up an infiltration base, use it for storage, or set up a kitchen to bake my delicious peanut-butter chocolate cupcakes," he gestured, gazing longingly at the distance. I cracked a smile. It's hard to take him seriously at times, especially since it's in his very being to be sarcastic and comical about almost anything, even at moments that would deem it inappropriate.

"What's wrong with your kitchen at home?"

"Homemade grenade-alternative prototypes," he shrugged as if the activity was as normal as doing the dishes. "It just needs a little more work. The sack of rice works well though; they wouldn't know what hit them." River chortled, probably an inside joke but he didn't share it.

He finally walks past me, nudging me toward the door. "Go on and pack, Lena. Our flight leaves in an hour." My mind raced back to River's affirmation concerning the trip.

"Do I really have to come?" I turned to say, but only to find that my bizarre mentor was nowhere in my line of sight. "Okay then," I sigh.

The Brooklyn Base was the first site River had brought me to after my being purchased. It was a three-story townhome expanded two houses over; at least that's how it was renovated on the inside. On the outside it looked like three separate addresses. People have come and gone through those doors, none of which I have met personally for the duration of my stay, which I find odd, noting that I have walked across every floor, and examined every room many times over my first two years. Other than River, who comes and goes on occasion, I lived alone in this refurbished mansion.

That is until today.

Loud music was blaring from the sitting a room a few strides away from my position by the front door. I recognize the classic "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor, though not the type of classic that would fit in with the Victorian setting of the mansion. I make my way over towards the source, when my face meets the side of a brown cardboard box.

"Oomph!" I exclaim as I land on my butt, my head spinning from sleep deprivation. I look up to find two dark eyes looking down at me. He wore a curious expression, putting the cardboard box aside to lend me a hand. I stare him down, contemplating whether to trust to guy or not.

"Take it. I don't bite," and so I did. "Well... Not all the time," he winks. I raise an eyebrow. Cheeky.

The tall man in the dirty white shirt walked back into the sitting room to switch the stereo off. Just 30 hours ago, this elegant and sophisticated parlor was completely spotless. Now an entirely different scene was set before me. Dozens of ancient box computers and CPUs of all shapes and sizes were piled up and stored on every corner of the lofty room. Wires, chips, and motherboards were strewn upon the mahogany coffee table, atop cabinets and even on the priceless side tables. It was a right out mess.

"Um. Who are you?" I finally ask the man leaning over another cardboard box beside the vintage couch. He glances at me as if he has forgotten that I was even there in the first place. "And what are you doing here?"

"Name's Flo," he stated before picking up the box he leaning over just a moment ago. He turns back to me, "Electronic Manipulator Extraordinaire, not at your service," he added.

"You made that up? Very witty," I said sarcastically. "So... how do you know River? Do you live here now?" I continue to interrogate.

"Oh, I see he doesn't mention me," he said as he walked out of the room. I follow him into the hall where he makes his way to the stairs. "Let's just say that I am one of his biologically-relative off springs. And, yes. I have been here for a couple of months."

Okay. Seriously, who talks like that? "So you're his son? I can't say he ever mentioned that to me," memory by memory of every conversation we had, passed my mind. River never mentioned much about his personal life, not even if he had a wife.

"Well, I guess we don't really know who he trusts," he shrugged and carried on to the basement. I didn't seek him out further.

River was a private guy. He took care of his identity and personal life like one would with his dental health. All I know about him is his name, some extent of his expansive network of connections, ten of who knows how many properties he owns around the world, his hobby of baking and gardening, and some zealous plot to cleanse the land of the Empire. I'm still not sure why he chose me, but I did have a thirst for revenge. And, not to mention, a mean-ass punch for a girl.

I climb the creaky staircase to the third floor, where I resided in a spacious attic room. All the furniture was wooden, even the dresser where I kept the clothes River provided for me. My only personal belongings were in an old shoe box hidden under a wooden tile near the lamp post. There were a couple of Hershey's kisses left untouched, my fake passports and IDs, and a picture of Ava taken a week before her disappearance. That was eighteen months ago.

"I wonder where we're going this time..." I grab a duffel bag, and judging from River's get-up, packed some tropical wear. I took one last glance at the mirror before leaving the room. Dark circles were permanently etched around my grey eyes. I didn't even bother to cover them up.