Pages and Pictures

6 • Isiah

Isiah drummed his fingers on the desk, bored. He had been on edge about this mole for days. He hadn't slept or left his room/office unless to get food, which he then brought back to his office to eat. He had a large corkboard sitting at one end of his oak-paneled, perfectly square office. It had to be a perfect square otherwise it would make Isiah go crazy thanks to his OCD. But the cork board was anything but organized, seeing as it was a mess of photos, articles, and some of Isiah's notes all linked by a web of pins and red thread. Actually, the web had outgrown its small corkboard and had spread to other small corkboards lining the room. Actually, it had spread so much it was slightly difficult to navigate the room. Actually, Isiah was the only one who knew how to get around his office. It was a mess of red thread from wall to ceiling, and Isiah had to constantly free Minion from it. Isiah watched Minion scramble awkwardly across his desk and trip over his one feet, hugging a lamp to regain his balance. Suddenly, Isiah knew how to pass the time as his eyes flicked from Minion's awkward lamp romance and the copy of Edgar Allen Poe.

I should write to Izzy, it'll be good to hear from her with all that's going on. Hm, I could also make a little gift for her and that boyfriend of hers, Miles, wasn't it?

Isiah's fingers flew across the three foot hunk of metal that would eventually be Izzy and Miles' gift, as he screwed in screws and adjusted gears and rerouted wires to create a dog-like mechanical creature that could help Miles and Izzy when they went on a supply raid and protect Izzy from harm. He laughed slightly as he jokingly added a hidden ring compartment, thinking back to when he and Miles had found that perfect diamond ring in the alley, right below a hotel window.

Miles had taken it once they found a small ring box also nearby, so that he could one day propose to Izzy. That is, if they ever officialy admitted their obvious attraction to each other. Isiah smiled at the thought of someone like Miles protecting his little sister, and was glad that she had someone like him. He knew that Miles would do anything for Izzy, and again was glad she had someone who would treat her like he does. Isiah truly hoped that Izzy and Miles would be together as long as she lived because he couldn't think of anyone better to protect his sister. And of course that was all he wanted for Izzy, safety and happiness.

Isiah adjusted a few more wires and cogs before attaching a battery and a solar panel to the dog's back, so that it didn't have to be recharged now to get that letter to Izzy written. But he worried that she wouldn't answer after a hiatus of so long, so he left the paper blank for now. Standing, he weaved through the red webbing to go over to one of his boards, then proceeding to check every one.

"This doesn't make sense, doesn't add up. There has to be a way, just has to be. Wait. I'm forgetting someone..." Isiah muttered, eyes wide. He saw the open sketchbook on his desk and screamed, a roar filled with pure fury and rage. The one person he should've suspected right from he start. Isiah screamed again and swiped at the thread webbing, ripping it down. He tore at the thread until the room was clear of the spiderlike dance of the thread's arrangement, then, still hot as a stove, he looked down at the scattered pictures and memoirs, then reached for the nearest corkboard. He punched it, snapping it in half. He screamed again and speedily, clumsily, undid the clasp of his gun holster. He ripped out his revolver and, hate and humiliation shining in his eyes, he fired the gun off into each one of the corkboards, using so many bullets he lost count, even when he ran out of ammo he furiously threw the gun at the one remaining corkboard, which promptly fell to the ground. He was s furious he could have been steaming. As he stood there, a shaggy mess of a being in the middle of a pile of paper scraps surrounded by barricades of shot corkboards, Robert entered the room and stared at Isiah. There was a pause as Isiah glared at Robert.

"...Should I come back later?" Robert ventured.