Corruption

Step 3: Meet

   Pear walked in, mesmerized by the elegant decor. A beautiful fountain tailed behind a tune. The waters danced along as the soft music played. Gohan, however, was unimpressed by the music and rolled his eyes.

   "You have such a mature palate for music." Gohan said bluntly.

   "And yours, brother, a naive one." She replied in the same tone.

   The pair walked past the fountain towards a magnificent staircase. Pear peered upwards, awed by the grandness of the stairs that seemed to stretch endlessly into the heavens. Pear set one foot onto the marble and was filled with nostalgia. Her brother, however, was becoming impatient with her sight-seeing and tugged her shoulder, nodding his head towards an elevator. She gave him a menacing stare. Gohan stared back.

   They entered the elevator in silence. Proceeding upon  the top floor, Pear finally broke the silence.

   "What's wrong?" 

   "Nothing."

   "You're lying." she exclaimed as tears filled her eyes.

   "Fine, you want to know what's wrong? I'm scared okay? Scared that one day, someone Mom has wronged will show up at our doorstep! Then, they will slaughter us! And even if we do survive, they will hunt us as if we are animals!" he yelled, the bass of his voice shaking the walls of the elevator. Tears rolled down his face as he collapsed to his knees, trying to hide it.

   Pear was rendered mute and stood there watching him. She knelt near him, her face drained of color. Their was a brief palpable feeling in the small and enclosed room. However, that moment was cut to an abrupt stop as a shrill 'ding' rang. Soon after, the door to the elevator slid to one side and reveal a small hallway with a door in the middle of it. Pear aided him in getting to his feet. Foot after foot, they slowly made their way to the door. To their left and right were two windows that allowed them to see a beautiful ocean. Pear inserted a card into the card slot and pushed onto the door. It slowly opened as they entered.

   "Hello!" a familiar voice called out from the staircase at the far end of the room. Gohan and Pear both looked up, startled. 

   "What are you doing here?" Pear asked with disgust. Gohan stared in disbelief, then began rapidly shaking his head, muttering to himself.