The Planetarium

PART TWELVE

SHE KNEW.

When I saw the pixelated figure moving on the security footage, a deadly calm settled over me.

Hannah Blake was the cleverest person I knew. The golden girl of neurosciences, the calm calculated one who could suss problems without batting an eyelid. When I saw her examining the door, I knew she must have suspected.

Was the badge the final piece of evidence that proved it? Phil had gone around saying it was ripped from her denim jacket. What had I given away? Had she rung up to confirm the oncology appointments I'd never attended? Who was I kidding, it didn't matter how she did it. Breathing wildly, I threw my laptop across the room with sudden adrenaline. The screen cracked, the shiny broken surface glaring, a product of my panic.

For the worst hour of my life, I watched Hannah carry out her investigation. She kept looking over her shoulder, and out of the thick-glazed windows. She took a little plastic bag and doctor gloves from the rear pocket of her jeans.

Fuck me. Forensics. An arcane interest that she considered a pastime, an obscure interest. One that I'd never even paid any interest. But you didn't have to be an expert to deduce what she was hunting for.

Excuses ran through my head. A hundred useless alibis, wild fantasies, crazy theories. But Hannah wouldn't buy my tricks.

And I was so very tired.

So, I abandoned my routine.

Walked druggedly out of the door of the apartment. Didn't stop to say goodbye to Art, farewell to Ezra. My feet knew where they were taking me. I had walked the path millions of times before, whether it was under a blanket of stars or a cheeky visit between the skipping of lectures.

I waited it out in the planetarium.

The sun went down. I only knew because of the app on my phone, because the theater was cloaked in heavy blackness. The image of stars glimmered on the ceiling. I leaned back, enjoying the basic human necessity I had taken for granted. Freedom. Now, I was an animal about to be handed over to the slaughter.

I could read Hannah, as she could read me. During the trainwreck that had been our relationship, she had a strong need to prove herself. Her intellect was the one thing she highly valued. No, she couldn't help herself. She'd have to come and confront me herself, to justify her suspicions once and for all.

I've been outshone by girls like her my entire life.

The building's dome shape curved above like a protective bubble. The architecture was beautiful, the screen was flat and the music soothed my nerves. There was never a more perfect place than here.

Hues of blue and purple faded above. The lighting dimmed. I knew it was just the generator winding down, but it served as bad omen.

The back door creaked on its hinges.

I knew every sound emitted in this theater. I could identify the start-up of the computer-generated show in my sleep. I practically worshiped the animations. The music voice that explained the constellations was my dearest friend.

"It's been nearly twenty-four hours," I said lazily. "What took you so long?"

Hannah stepped slowly out of the shadows.

"How did you know?" she asked, in an almost girlish way.

The musician Orpheus had traveled up from the tunnel of the Underworld, pulling his lover up with him. But mine was now dragging me down with her.