Hive {A Collection Of Some Sorts}

Daughter Death

"Oh God Marc, I'm so sorry." I sputtered out when saw my employers face. "There was an accident on 94, 2 people were hurt, and the traffic was just so bad that–"

"Shut it, Lánya." His sharp voice cut me off. "We need to talk."

I shut it.

"I've let you off so many times because of how well-regarded your father is in this business, but it has been brought to my attention that you have been breaking our laws right under my nose for quite a while now."

He held up a file stamped: [KUOLEMA, LÁNYA]

My stomach dropped. Everything bad that I had ever done was in that manila folder. HAL Corps prided itself on putting the past in the past and never opening employee's files.

However, it seemed that today I was the outlier.

"After your being late, I decided to look at your file to see why you were so troublesome," He emptied the contents onto my desk, several papers being blown onto the floor. "–and I could not believe what I found."

"No." I could barely squeeze out."

"Abandoning your assignment to Sabrina Lawson, 13. Cause of death was supposed to be suicide on June 11, 2016. I talked her out of it and payed for her psychology bills."

He laid down a paper with a smiling girl on it. A bright red [TERMINATED] was stamped across her face.

"Chai Hyginos, 70. Cause of death was supposed to be an aggressive form of intestinal cancer on October 25, 2011. He miraculously recovered on his supposed deathbed."

Another [TERMINATED] slashed across a lively Chinese man's face.

Paper after paper, name after name, person after person. I had saved them from a certain death. This continued for almost 20 minutes before Marc slammed his hands down on the desk.

"Your incompetency and soft-hearted mess has caused people to notice you, Lánya. People are whispering about survivors who should not have lived through horrible accidents. The fruit of your actions is becoming widely publicized."

My hands were trembling. "Sir, I never meant for it to-"

"You never meant it and yet you still did!" He raised his voice. "Tell me...what happened to the 2 people in the car accident on the way here?"

Silence. I opened my mouth to speak, but it was dry.

"What. Happened."

"Th-they survived."

"You've been awfully busy, haven't you? One female, 36. Impaled with a shard of glass straight through her skull. The other? Male, 39. Broken neck during impact. Morgan and Bryan Gibbs were supposed to die today. You interfered with their deaths thing morning. Don't think I didn't know that."

"Please, they didn't deserve to die." I plead. "They were going to make technological advances to save people, to help. I couldn't let that potential go to waste!"

"Death doesn't discriminate, Lánya. They were supposed to die."

"Well it's too late now, I've saved them, and they're alive."

"Are they?" My mind flashed back to the red [TERMINATED]'s that stained the faces of the people I'd saved. My heart thudded in my chest.

"No. You wouldn't."

"But I would, Lánya. Death is business and humanity is the client. These clients missed their appointment, you made sure of that."

"No! You can't-" my mouth was clamped shut from behind.

"I'm just cleaning up your most recent mess. Nothing less, nothing more. I'm going to teach you a lesson so you won't ever do this again."

A security guard pinned my arms behind my back as I was transported into the White Room.

The walls were covered in blinding light, signifying that an execution was about to take place. Two figures, the Gibbs, were standing in the middle of the room, stuck in a trance. I had seen this scene once before, with someone else in their place.

"Morgan and Bryan Gibbs, date of death Thursday, January 12th, 2017. Car accident." Marc spoke aloud. The light flicked once, twice, then enveloped us into a scene that I had seen only an hour before.

We were on highway 94, following a red sedan cruising along the road. I could see the couple laughing and conversing with each other, unaware that their deaths would come in just a few moments. Suddenly, a loud screech pierced my ears. A large truck was fishtailing towards them, horn blaring.

Then, a crash.

I couldn't hear my screaming. Blood was pounding through my head, drowning everything out. I could see it in slow motion, the flimsy metal of the Gibb's sedan being crushed as easily as a tin can. I struggled against my invisible bonds, but I was rendered motionless.

I wasn't there to save them this time.

The scene lurched forward to the paramedics arriving. Retrieving their embracing bodies from the wreckage. They were slick with blood, Bryan's neck bent at an unnatural angle.

I was brought out of the flashback as quick as I was put in. Stumbling to the ground, I dared not look up. I knew what horrors were awaiting me there. The innocent couple, covered in their own blood, with a shard embedded in the woman's skull and his neck snapped clear through. I had seen their state only moments before.

My hands were shaking. "Why?" I choked out. My face was caked in sweat and I licked my salty and dry lips.

"You've been a very naughty girl, haven't you, Lánya?" My employer bent down so he could look into my face. I bent my head in grief. "You will be given twenty minutes to pack your belongings. I will send a driver to escort you to your home, where you will stay until your trial."

Without further ado. I was brought back to my cubicle, which was covered with scattered documents. After the two guards had left, I bent down and grabbed one, seeing my name.

Name: Lánya Ann Kuolema
Age: 103 years
Visual Age: 18-21
Date of birth: October 20, 1914
Parents–

I stopped reading. I didn't want to be reminded of my parentage. Dropping the paper back onto the floor, I gathered the rest up messily and crammed it back into the folder. Since I wasn't an employee anymore, HAL corps didn't need my file.

I didn't have much left to pack up. Aside from the file, I had a sleek black laptop, my coat, and a bag of gummy worms I had stashed under the desk.

Walking out of the cubicle, I felt a nagging at the back of my mind, as though there was something I forgot. I glanced down to see the file I had thrown to the ground was lying there, a white square contrasting the dark colored carpet. Slowly, I crouched down to pick it up. It seemed so innocent, harmless even. Unbeknownst to the average witness, this paper held secrets about myself that could tip the scales of the world itself.

I slipped it into my coat pocket.