The Macabre ➸ Psycho C.R.

《25》

-Darcie-

"This way." Chandler said, gripping a hold of my hand like an excitable child would to their parent.

It was my first official meeting at the RHQ, and I was feeling odd. Maybe because I wasn't sure whether or not my acting skills were up to scratch or not, with regards to Nathan's death.

We walked through a long corridor until we reached an elevator. Everything was very high tech- like all of the government-run labs you'd see in superhero movies.

Chandler let go of my hand and pressed his palm against a blue panel beside the elevator door, which lit up and scanned up and down his hand, until a robotic voice spoke 'access granted'.

I laughed at the cliché use of technology, receiving a grin from Chandler. Putting his hand on my lower back, he gently pushed me into the elevator, before pressing a button and letting the doors close.

We decended quickly, and the doors opened onto an extremely lavish setting.
The black ripped at the knee jeans and long sleeved turtleneck I had on made me feel hideously underdressed for the scenery I was now stood in, however seeing Chandler dressed in similar jeans to me, a gray shirt and leather jacket thrown on top made me slightly more comfortable.

I closely followed Chandler down a set of several corridors, my close-to-death converse lightly tapping against the marble flooring, whilst my eyes glanced over all of the extravagant paintings and occasional small sculptures which lined each hallway.

I slowed down as voices from other people could be heard on the distance, stopping to look at one particular painting. It was a photo realistic landscape of the northern lights. Something I've always wanted to see in person. I had to squint at it in order to actually see the brush strokes.

"Spectacular, isn't it?" A somewhat familiar voice said, making me jump. I turned around, and saw Saffron who was also dressed in mostly black, however unlike mine, her makeup was impeccable. Her hair was tied up in a long ponytail, and her black heeled boots meant that she towered over my short frame.

"It's good to see you well, for once, Darcie." She said with a kind smile which made me feel comfortable.

"Thank you." I replied, as Chandler came back towards us.

"Relax," she said as though she could sense that I was feeling sort of tense due to the unfamiliar surroundings. "Has Chandler told you how we run things at these meetings?"

I shook my head. Saffron stared at Chandler, then back at me. "I've had other things on my mind." He said, looking at me.

"Well, it's pretty simple. We're out here until we've got everyone, then we go and sit and go over everything that's going- slash, has gone on in the past month. Nothing to worry about." She smiled kindly again.

"Uh, thank you, Saffron." I replied, trying to sound polite. "I'm-" before I could carry on speaking, I felt my phone buzz violently in my back pocket. Recognizing that it was a phone call, I quickly pulled it out. "Sorry...um excuse me for a moment." I said, wandering away from Saffron and Chandler.

I saw that the caller ID read Steven's contact, and I realised that he was coming back from overseeing the apartment on Colorado today.

I quickly answered, giving myself no time to come up with an excuse as to why I wasn't at home.

"Steven, hi, I-"

"Where the hell are you?" He cut me off with an angry tone.

"I...we've-'

"We? Who's we?" I gulped, turning to Chandler who was busy speaking to Saffron. He turned to me quickly, smiled and turned back to Saffron.

"I fucking knew it." I looked at the floor. "You're with that piece of...the same motherfucker who tried to kill you?" I closed my eyes. Steven rarely swears... only when he's really really angry. And his tone of voice confirmed it.