I am the storm

Chapter 26 | The man in the red suit

I awoke on the same roof I fell asleep on, it was in a new morning, the sun gleamed on the roof in rays of golden light that covered my body.

Begrudgingly, I dragged myself up into a standing position. I stretched out each of my limbs in turn starting with my arms, then my legs and finally rolling my neck, until I heard an audible crack.

Relief filled my whole body, as if smothering me in some radiant holy light that rejuvenated my body giving me new life. Slowly but surely I walked steadily to the stairs I had climbed up and began to descend them.

Underfoot the ground felt somehow different, the way I walked was different. I walked with purpose! The purpose to let myself heal.

The walk home was not filled with worry or a low hanging head desperately trying to avoid any eye contact but rather it was normal, mundane, relaxing and more so safe.

I reached my hand and my father burst through the door and grappled his arms around me.

"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN!?" He shouted with a mix of worry and anger boiling in his words.

All I could say in response was "sorry" I apologised in a calm tone.

"Well ah umm you are grounded Alexis!" He finally spoke while pointing his finger at me.

"Okay" I responded plainly as I understood why he gave me the punishment.

"A- and no leaving and no phone and no eh- eh computer or--" I cut his commands off by latching my arms around him out of guilt understanding where this anger was derived from, I had been missing for an entire night leaving my father without so much as a call or a text message.

"I'm sorry" I replied to my father's silence.

"Oh Alexis I'm not mad just I was so worried with all that happened recently and the thing with your mothe--" my father spoke as tears welled in his eyes so I interrupted him.

"We can talk about mom when YOU are ready" I interjected prompting him to wipe his tear and give a meek smile.

"Alright" he replied as he wiped his final tear then continued to speak "umm I made breakfast."

"What did you make?" I questioned him.

"Pancakes" he responded a smile creeping onto his face.

"Hope you made enough for two!" I responded sounding excited.

"You know I did" he replied, then he led me inside the house where we ate pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream. They were heavenly.

After an hour and a half of eating pancakes with my father filled with giggling and general happy amusement. But my happiness was interrupted when I received a message from Shadow. The message said 'Alexis the friend I asked to come and see you is here, so at any time around eleven a.m. could you come to The Bunker (Patricia told me about your pet name for my base) - Shadow'

I felt betrayed and happy because Patricia told Shadow about my pet name for his base but happy because he had taken the joke lightly and used the name in his own context.

"Dad can I go out?" I asked my dad breaking the silence.

"Why?" He asked perplexed.

"Because I want too see a friend" I replied not lying but not telling the whole truth.

"Umm I'm not sure-" my father started to say but I cut him off with a proposition.

"What if I'm back before six?" I proposed as a compromise.

He looked directly at me until "Make it five and we have a deal!"

"Five it is then!" we agreed then we shook hands.

I hugged my father and thanked him for his permission then I ran upstairs to my room and got changed. Eventually I changed into: a pair of charcoal tights under a black skirt, a white shirt with a slight grey design if flowers sewn into it, a pair of black flat shoes and a small shoulder bag that was a simple black and white checkered design.

I began my walk to The Bunker at around ten thirty a.m. leaving me approximately thirty minutes to get there.

When I reached the warehouse which led to The Bunker I found something unusual and out of place. Usually, I would only see Shadow's black van but today alongside the van was a red sports car with a glossy shine a cross it's body and wheels with rims so reflective that they could be a mirror, the inside were made of a professional leather and a black and silver dashboard. The car reminded me of something I would be likely to see in a spy movie or some other action film.

The flashy car lost my interest pretty quickly so I entered The Bunker and thought little about it. Inside the bunker was a man he was about the same height as Shadow but less muscular and looked about in his mid-thirties with a pale light skin tone, he had brown hair atop his head brushed to the side in a comb-over design and a clean shaven face no stubble to be found, his eyes were a dull shade of blue and on his face he had a small mole above the top right side of his lips. The man wore a three piece suit colour in red with a red tie that all resembled a dull rose, a plain white dress shirt and black shiny shoes akin to that of a businessman.

"Hello you must be Alexis" the man spoke in a soft and comforting tone but still deep enough to be recognised as a mans voice, the man held out his hand offering a handshake.

I took his hand and he gripped it with a light touch, he seemed weak, weak enough that I myself would easily be able to overpower him. "Umm hi who are you?" I asked out of confusion yet trying to hide it from this stranger.

"Oh sorry my name is Philip" The man responded giving a warm smile.

Shadow interjected "Alexis this is the friend I told you about, he wants to talk to you about...everything."

"Oh okay" I replied plainly unsure whether to trust Philip.

"Shall we get started?" Philip replied giving a warm smile.

"A- are you a therapist?" I asked Philip in response.

"Umm yes, but I work with the difficult cases usually having something to do with vigilantes!" He said as he motioned toward Shadow standing sternly near us.

"So how does this work?" I asked Philip.

"First we need anyone else who is not part of the session to leave!" He said moving his attention away from me and onto Shadow.

Shadow gave a stern look and eventually walked out of his own base! He left The Bunker in a defeated silence all of his own creation.

"So what would you like to talk about Alexis?" Philip asked giving a look of interest and eyes of observation.

"Nothing" I replied unsure what to say.

"Well Shadow has hinted at a few of the events that have transpired the past few days," Philip spoke in a clear and precise tone.

"Really?" I asked sceptically unsure of how much Philip really knew about me.

"Yes how about I just ask you a few simple questions. Is that alright?" Philip asked inquisitively.

"Okay tell me, how are you feeling today?" Philip asked as he motioned to two chairs and we both sat down in each of them.

"Okay I guess" I responded plainly fidgeting in my seat slightly to try and get comfortable.

"It's just I was wondering how you were doing after not going home last night" Philip replied stunning me and making me question how he knew I hadn't gone home last night? As far as I knew Shadow didn't even know about that.

"U- m- I-" I tried to speak but due to Philips revelation and surprise the words got stuck in my throat unable to be croaked out.

"Speaking of which where did you sleep Alexis?" Philip asked making me want to punch him in his pretty boy face! I could tell that slowly but surely Philip was upping the levels of intensity of his question and all I could do.
Be ready to answer them!