Dark Matter [Completed]

Thirty

Darkness has fallen completely now, and I'm standing on the street outside Luke's hotel. I feel frozen in place. Pretending to be a stranger on the phone is one thing, seeing him face to face, as myself, is another thing entirely. Suddenly, I'm not sure I can do this. I lied to him... I killed his father... There's no way he will trust me now.

Then I remember my brother's face as he died in my arms. I made a promise; I can't break it. I have to try. Maybe Luke will tell me to leave and never come back, maybe he will hate me until his dying breath; that doesn't matter. All that matters is that I save his life. Taking a steadying breath, I step through the doors.

I may have been able to narrow Luke's location down to this hotel, but I still don't know what room he's in. And, for security reasons, I can't just go to the front desk and ask. I'll have to find another way in. For several minutes I loiter about the lobby, observing my surroundings. It takes me only a moment to notice that I need a password to access the hotel's computer system. It takes a moment more to come up with a plan.

A few minutes later, when one of the employees heads towards the bathroom, I follow her. She politely holds the door for me, and I feel a little bad for what I'm about to do. The moment the door closes behind us I reach out and tap the woman on the shoulder like I'm trying to get her attention. Before she can turn around, though, I jab my thumb into the pressure point and she slumps to the ground.

Gently, I ease her limp body into one of the stalls. "Sorry," I murmur as I take over her form. "I just need to be you for a moment." Then, locking the stall with the unconscious employee inside, I step out of the bathroom.

I nod in greeting to one of the other employees as I walk towards the front desk. I know nothing about this woman, save her name; I'll have to make this fast before anyone gets suspicious. I step over to the computer and tap at it for a few moments before sighing in mild frustration.

"Hey," I say, waving down another employee. "Can you give me a hand? My password isn't working for some reason."

The young man walks over to my computer. "Sure," he says, typing in his password. "Here you go."

"Thank you..." I glance at his name tag. "Adam."

Adam smiles. "No problem. Just make sure you tell Lorie your password isn't working so she can reset it."

"I'll do that, thanks."

Once Adam is gone I quickly begin combing through the guest list. I'm confused briefly because the Orions aren't actually registered under their name, but then I recognize one of the names as a pseudonym from snooping around Alastair Orion's office. Room 645... I got him. Then I duck back into the bathroom long enough to change back to my previous disguise before stepping into the elevator.

A few moments later I'm standing outside Luke's hotel room. Again I hesitate, but I manage to push past it. Angling my body to block the security camera's view, I quickly reach through the door and unlock it. Then, silent as a ghost, I crack the door open. Yet again, I've gotten lucky; I can hear the shower running, which means I can get inside without Luke seeing me. And I have a few more minutes to prepare myself.

I take a moment to make sure the room is clear. Once I'm certain there are no assassins lurking in the closet, I sit down at the gleaming, cherrywood desk to wait. I don't have long to wait. I hear the shower shut off and, after several moments of faint banging around, Luke steps out of the bathroom. Wearing only a towel.

He almost drops said towel when he sees me, and I can't say I blame him. I would be fairly shocked if I stepped out of the shower to find some strange woman sitting in my hotel room. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on who you ask, Luke does not drop the towel. He does, however, back up against the wall, a frightened look on his voice. Again, I can't say I blame him. I would be nervous too if my father had just been assassinated.

Ignoring the way my heart has suddenly started to beat faster, I keep a schooled expression of nonchalance on my face. "Hello, Luke."

Luke half-shuffles towards the door, as if trying to decide if he should make a break for it. He must decide against it because he stops and asks, "Who are you?"

"Me?" I slowly stand. "I have had many names."

Luke looks more confused than scared now. "What are you talking about?"

Instead of answering, I lower my head. When I raise it again, he is looking into Stephanie's face. Luke's face blanches and he looks like he's about to collapse. "What do you want?" he breathes.