What Lies In Me

Chapter 18

"Hello! I am Malah! Nice to meet you!" The smile of a charming young woman blocks the door to the laboratory. Her professional demeanor is offset by her short, messy brown hair with blonde highlights and her casual attire, a multi-colored blouse and slacks. I didn't expect this woman to be here. She wasn't here when I came through earlier.

"Um..." The woman doesn't have a threatening stance, but she is very clearly blocking the door with her body, and doesn't seem to want to move. "Could we uh... could you let us through here? Why are you blocking the door?" I ask.

"Didn't Asarualim tell you that I was coming? I am your escort!" She seems pleased for some reason, but makes no move to leave her position.

"I think he mentioned something about that, but never you by name." I glance over at Sadie, who is frowning impatiently. "He was kind of vague. What are you here to do?"

"To hold up our end of the contract, of course!" She gives a mock salute. "Here for your protection and security, Malah, at your service! I will be near you, unseen, from now on, or at least until your contract is terminated."

Great. I have a contractually-obligated protective stalker. "Could you kindly 'escort' us through this door, then?"

"Well," Malah muses. "I'm supposed to be escorting you off of the premises, and then waiting until Asarualim contacts us. Why do you want back into the lab?"

"I'm his friend, and I'm the one who wants to get past this door. I'm going to help him hunt the demons he was hired to hunt, and I need tools." Sadie butts in, spilling her whole idea. It sounds like a pretty awful idea when she says it like that.

"You're serious?" Malah asks, shocked. Sadie nods. "You won't be dissuaded?" Sadie only answer is the determined look on her face. "Well, okay then!" Malah brightens up and opens the door. "I'm not supposed to allow you in without asking, but this sounds fun!"

We walk through the door. I'm a bit taken aback by Malah's devil-may-care attitude. This is her job, right? Isn't she afraid of losing it? She shows no fear or hesitation in disobeying orders. What kind of person is she? Sadie is simply happy to be getting in. I really didn't think that this would work.

The laboratory stretches out before us, above us and below us, bustling with activity and machinery. Gadgets and parts are everywhere, on assembly lines and desks, being tweaked or ignored. I'm still awestruck at the size of this facility.

"Wow..." Sadie murmurs, stepping forwards. "What should I grab?"

"Nothing!" Malah exclaims, stopping her. Sadie immediately begins to look riled up, but before she can say anything, Malah continues. "If you take anything, you'll be stealing! I, on the other hand, have one of the highest positions in this lab! I'll take what we'd need. Besides." she giggles. "You wouldn't know what any of this stuff does anyways." And with that, she dissapears.

Startled, I look around. For a second, I glimpse her at another table, but then she disappears again. Literally gone, as if she just winked out of existence.

"I think she's a demon," I whisper to Sadie. She nods, her eyes scanning the room for Malah. Another minute passes, and we see no sign of her. Sadie walks over to the nearest desk, clearly driven by curiosity. She picks up a device that looks like a throwing disk.

"Take a look at this!" She motions for me to come over. "It's got circuit boards built into it, but no controls or transmitters! And see this?" She points to a small box on the underside of the disk. "I'll bet this is an accelerometer. It would be able to tell if the disk is spinning."