For A Star To Fall

Chapter 30: Going Mental

Chapter 30

She was lying on the ground. It was hard and cold underneath her body but she could not find the will to move. What had Emyle said? If you know what's good for yourself, you'd stay out of our way. What had she meant? It had sounded dangerous and frightening. Emyle’s eyes had been black as pitch, deep and seemingly bottomless pools of ink. And out of them rose a monstrous thing—not an emotion, more of an attitude or a perspective. It was cold and emotionless and cruel. That was not the scariest thing. Ana could deal with ruthlessness and ferocity. No, the thing that unnerved her the most was Emyle’s face—more of the lack of expression on her face, actually. When normal people felt angry or frustrated or irritated, they would show emotion, wouldn’t they? That was the only way others could understand them. But, with Emyle, the only key to her feelings was through her eyes, and even then it seemed like she could put up a guard anytime she wanted. 

Ana shuddered, feeling the coldness of the floor against her skin, and raised a hand to rub at her bruised throat. Emyle unnerved her. She had seemed okay when they had first met, but now, in comparison, everything she had showed Ana seemed pretended. To be honest, she scared her and Ana did not know what to do about it. She felt that she did not have will or courage to do anything else than to lie on the floor, especially since she had almost blatantly threatened her. Ana had no idea what she would do to her, but it definitely would be painful and frightening. And Emyle had said “our”. So Jordan was helping her do whatever she was doing now. That meant he could be in danger at this very moment. She could only imagine what Emyle had threatened him with to make him comply meekly.

Her brain felt disconnected from her body and only some sensations got through to her, like the coldness and hardness of the floor. Ana knew that she had not the strength to do anything for herself, but Jordan was like her son. He was close to her, and he had always come to her when he was troubled or facing difficulties. And the only person Ana knew that she could always do the same with was Dr. Valin. He was a father figure and a respected man to every single person in the facility, and he would definitely help her. Forcing herself to keep her head and hold onto her logic, Ana pushed herself to her feet. She stood there, swaying slightly on her shaky legs. Then she thought of Jordan in any type of danger and her mouth flattened into a determined line. She would find Dr. Valin and inform him about this, and he would help her and tell her what to do. 

Grabbing onto the doorframe, she pushed herself out of Jordan’s room and into the corridor, making her way towards Dr. Valin’s private labs, where she knew he would be working in at this time of day. Ana stumbled through the corridors, raising a hand to touch her throat now and then as if to remind herself to keep going, to keep her feet moving, step by step, carrying her towards Dr. Valin’s private labs. Then the familiar, steel doors of the lift were in front of her and Ana stepped forward a little more. She pressed a blue button on the wall and spoke into the speaker next to it. “Hi, Dr. Valin. This is Ana and I need to talk to you about something. It’s really urgent.” 

A camera installed above the lift turned slightly and fixed its lenses on her. Ana forced a bright smile onto her face and waved a little. Soon, Dr. Valin’s smooth voice sounded in the speaker. “Of course, Ana, dear.” Then the lift doors slid open soundlessly and Ana walked in. The lift moved downwards and after a few moments, the doors opened again, allowing her to step out and into Dr. Valin’s private labs. The room she entered was furnished in a homely, warm kind of way. A nice brown sofa was pushed against the wall and two chairs sat on either side of it, with a small coffee table in between them. Dr. Valin had told her once that it was more for appearance purposes than something he needed to have in his labs. Anyway, it allowed him to welcome anybody in a friendly and hospitable manner. It was more polite this way, he had said.