Skye Crying

09 ║ Rayla

~ Dread: Verb ~

Anticipate with great apprehension or fear.

➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳

Clip Nine - Rayla's POV:

As soon as the gates had closed behind us a shiver kisses its way up my spine, a haunting feeling that seems to be warning me against the foreboding gigantic spire in front of me. 

Our car had driven past several other fancy and well-lit buildings, heading towards the silver spiral tower situated in the center of the city, drawing every eye to its gleaming, yet faintly sinister, magnificence. 

We stop abruptly at the foot of the tower, and more men with dark sunglasses and black suits opening the doors for me and my mother. I get out slowly, forcing myself to keep my eyes trained on the spiral tower and not on the man next to me, who is studying me intently. 

I can't see the man's eyes behind his intimidating glasses, but I get the strong impression that he's searching me for anything that goes against everything that CAP has worked so hard to build. Anything that would give him an excuse to reach for his gun and pull the trigger. 

My heartbeat goes wild, and I twist my facial features into an expression of young and fresh innocence. No hints of guilt or nervousness. Nothing that could give me away. Nothing that could get me and my mom killed in a heartbeat. 

After several bated exhalations, the man looks away and I allow myself to let out a quick breath that I hadn't realized I'd been holding. My pulse doesn't slow however, and I send out a silent prayer into the universe asking that it doesn't show. 

I join my mother in front of the car and five men surrounded us in a circle. They began to escort us into the tower and I had barely enough time to glimpse the enormous metal double doors before they closed behind up with a resounding bang that echoed through the gigantic hall that we had entered. 

The sheer size and volume of the hall makes me stop breathing for several moments. It isn't particularly extravagant or special, but its ceiling reaches for the stars, so high up that I can't see where it ends. 

In effect, I feel exceptionally dwarfed in the headquarters of CAP, which I suspect is the exact effect they wanted to achieve. 

A clever tactic to intimidate enemies and impress allies. Problem is, I don't know which one they consider me as. 

A glittering spiral staircase entwines around a huge pillar that goes all the way up to the top floor, and branches off into different levels of offices, and we begin to ascend. I had always thought that I was in decent shape, able to run a mile or two a day, but now I was being proved horribly wrong. Within the first 30 steps I was panting like a dog and my face was heavily flushed with beads of sweat dripping down my temples. 

We climb for what feels like hours, my legs and lungs burning as the floor grows farther and farther away. I'm so focused on simply putting one foot in front of the other that I almost crash into the man in front of me when we stop. 

I look up to see that we've reached the top of the tower (Finally) and halted in front of gorgeous double doors. They were a stark silver, like the rest of the building, and were engraved with impressive floral patterns that twirled around the words:

~Chaos Cannot Be Trusted~

The guard's expressions remain emotionless as they open the doors, revealing yet another spacious room with 12 empty grey chairs placed around a long conference table. The entire wall to the left is made of glass, revealing the city below and the dizzying height that we've climbed to.