Finding A Way Home

Finding Out

The door swung open automatically and Phoenix cautiously stepped inside. The walls, ceiling, and floors were all very shiny and new-looking, with colors that matched perfectly with each other. The floor was tiled also, but unlike the hallway, all of the tiles were white. The ceiling was also white, and smooth as the surface of a perfect skipping stone. The walls were a shade of light gray, but paint was painted very unevenly and messily, as if someone had hired a very tall three year old to do it. The interior was very plain and neat, with not so much as a speck of dust on the floor. At the chair of the desk, there sat an imposing man who was neither frowning at her nor smiling at her. He was a large man who had very short black hair that was the same color as his very stiff suit.

"Hello," the man said in an imposing and gruff voice. "I am General Diowin. Have a seat." His voice made Phoenix want to back away, but instead she sat down in the rolling chair that he was pointing to. Then he cleared his throat and spoke again, "I apologize for all of this. To enunciate, your kidnapping, being locked up, encountering that girl, breaking your arm, among other things. But we could not take our chances, because we did not know if you were with her or working for her." Phoenix would have laughed if she had not been so nervous. Her, working with "Emma"? 

 Now that she knew more about the mysterious girl, she would never do that or help Emma in her life. Phoenix realized when she looked more closely at General Diowin that he was actually nervous. She realized that he had a lot to be nervous about. He had kidnapped an innocent girl and had gotten her hurt, not to mention the trouble he might be in if her parents were wealthy or important, but he did not know that. She smiled at him, and he seemed surprised by this, as if normally people would never smile at him.

In the following ten minutes, General Diowin gave Phoenix a hole-filled explanation for the kidnapping. According to him, "Emma Cooper" was Nova Joanne, and she was a wanted criminal. They had found a lead to where she was and acted accordingly, and that Phoenix had been a suspect for being with the criminal when they found her. Whenever Phoenix tried to ask any questions, like where she was, or what were Nova Joanne's crimes, or what organisation he was a part of, General Diowin said that the answer was "classified information" and it "was not to be shared with anyone, and that includes you, even if you were involved". He seemed to be very sorry for the inconvenience and pain that this had cost her, but he also hinted that this was not to be talked about with anyone else.

"So in other words, I have to keep quiet about all this," questioned Phoenix. "It's one of those things that 'never happened'."

"Basically," General Diowin replied. "We don't want this to get out to the public or it might cause a scandal. Don't worry, you will be paid for your time and your college professors have been told you were out sick. Once again, I am sorry for this whole ordeal.

"Oh, yeah. I almost forgot," He added on. "There is a... plane... waiting to take you back to Boston. The guards that are waiting outside will escort you there." The general pressed a small button that blended into the desk and the door that Phoenix came in through swung open automatically. He grabbed a tissue from a small tissue box that was laying on his desk and dabbed his forehead, relieved that Phoenix would finally be going. She had barely said anything while he explained what was going on, and she was glad that she did not have to, although her ride home was questionable. Phoenix allowed herself to a tiny smile knowing that she was finally going home.