When the Smoke Clears

azure

James

When I woke up that morning, the first thing I became aware of was the lingering smell of cinnamon in the air. The scent of Rua's toxin. My tired eyes blinked in the harsh light of day. It was the day of the meeting.

I pulled myself out of bed, reflecting on the events of yesterday. I hadn't done much; I just listed some arguments for the meeting today, cleaned up a little bit, called Felix and Beverly to try and catch up before today's meeting, nothing too crazy.

My fingers traced over my eyes as I entered the bathroom, rubbing the sleep from them. When I looked in the mirror, I saw a guy that strongly resembled a half-dead rat.

"Well," I murmured to my tired reflection, "If I want to make an impression, I'm gonna have to take a shower." I got undressed and placed my towel beside the shower.

After my shower, I combed my hair a little bit, just to seem well-put together. As I brushed my teeth, I walked over to the oak wardrobe to get ready. I only had one suit, a perfectly black suit with one fatal flaw. The bow tie it came with was covered in silver glitter.

Groaning to myself, I got dressed while contemplating whether or not I would actually wear the tie, seeing as though it would make me look like a street performer instead of a down-and-dirty communicator. Then again, I was a communicator, which honestly wasn't that much better.

I put the tie on and took a long look in the mirror.

"Nice." A voice came from behind me. I knew exactly who it was before I whirled around.

"Lucy. What are you doing here?" I tried to keep a certain air of confidence around my words, but I sounded more like a weak kitten.

"I'm receiving my promotion. Sent it in last week," she affirmed gracefully.

I walked past her to grab my keys. "The same time as me? Perhaps there is such a thing as twin telepathy."

She smirked and agreed, "I guess there is."

I turned back to her face, her violently red eyes mocking me. "But we both know that isn't true. Now get out of my apartment."

She faked a pout and strutted out slowly. I closed the door on her as soon as she was gone.

Lucy and I had a falling-out two years ago when our father died. I was technically born first, thus I received our land and inheritance. I decided to spend the money to send her away. I enrolled her in college across Rua, the best school there was. I admit that I may have been in the wrong, letting her go all by herself with no one to protect her.

While she was there, she made some friends that weren't exactly... good. She dropped out of college to work with them. I'm not sure what she does exactly, but I do know that she'll never let me find out.

It seems as though she's left them. She's here with a promotion form and a job she's preparing to do. I'm almost proud. Almost.

After taking ten minutes to breath, I walked out the door and headed to the central building. I didn't live too far away, only 15 minutes. By the time my feet crossed the threshold, I wasn't even out of breath.

At the central building, I would be meeting with my associates. From there, I would be escorted to the only meeting house on earth where either toxin could not reach.