LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 14: Babysitter
As the sun's golden rays made their final dance of life across the pink and orange evening sky, the day was coming to an end. All the individuals that lived or worked in the Blade facility or anywhere on the Blade estate were finishing up any tasks they had for the day, or cleaning up their work spaces. Many of the people that had been scheduled to work over at the orphanage were trickling back in through the front of the building, many making their way up to the cafeteria to get a nice hot meal before heading off to their rooms.
The next shift of people, those doing evening tasks like security, cooking dinner, supervising kids and so on, were one by one heading out the front gate. The shift changing within the Blade facility was also taking place around this time.
Vorden was sitting at the table in his apartment. Looking at the time on his watch he hurriedly stuffed the several piles of papers that he had set around the table back into the black folder and went to his room to change. Discarding his comfortable clothes that he had been wearing into the hamper and getting into the dark blue jumpsuit and boots that most people wore when working in the facility. He double checked his hair and face in the mirror quickly and then he went off to meet Raten.
Raten was doing very much of the same at that moment. He had changed and cleaned up what he had been working on, after a quick check of himself in the mirror, he paused. A certain red haired beauty flashed across his mind. He leaned his head down and took a couple of sniffs. Trying to gauge how he smelled, wondering if he should put on calogne or just let the pharamones from his natural musk work their magic.
Raten had a plan. He figured he would use this otherwise boring time to his advantage. His task was to walk the perimeter of the facility grounds, and just be available in case of any kind of attack or wandering beast. Other than that he was to keep an eye out for any nefarious characters. Basically what one would expect from a night guard on patrol. Painfully boring stuff.
So Raten intended to bump in to Cassie. He had no clue where he room was, or what job she held. He had no idea what her schedule might have been. He really knew nothing about her except that she was a fire ability users descended from the Sunshield family, she had a cousin named Wyatt that was an underachiever, and she had a roundhouse kick that could knock a body bag straight off it's hinges. It gave him goosebumps all over just thinking about it.
The bit about Wyatt was purely speculation... But Raten felt that he fit the type.
Raten had devised a plot to simply do his task but along the way, he would keep his eyes and ears open for any clues about where she might be. He nodded to his reflection, with his mind made up. This had quickly become a bit of a habit. He would never admit to such openly, but being the only one inside his head was extremely lonely and occasionally talking to his reflection gave him a sense of comfort. It reminded him of the good old days when he and Vorden would bicker in the dark room of Sil's mind.
When Raten arrived at the Tower, situated just next to the main gate he wasn't really sure what he should expect. Much of his master plan to locate Cassie was hanging on who his partner for this evening would be. If they were some goody goody it might throw a wrench in his whole scheme. He waved his wristwatch over a small access lock on the wall next to the portal and after a simple beep the tiny light on the lock of the door switched from red to green. As the door opened and Raten stepped inside the tower, he took a moment and looked around.
He hadn't been inside the tower yet. In fact much of the property Raten hadn't yet had the opportunity to explore. From the outside, the watchtower was impressive. It was several stories high, and made of the best material available, Logan had made sure of it when he first showed them the plans some years ago. He had said that this tower would be essentially indestructible. It was black and smooth, very shiny in the sunlight. It wasn't very wide as it wasn't necessary. There were several floors inside. The main floor had a desk right next to a window that allowed for a clear view of the front gate. There was also a small monitor showing the camera view from the front. One could typically see the license plate of a car as it waited for the gates to open.
Behind the desk was a walled in area half the diameter of the room with another secure door. It took up about 1/4 of the bottom floor, When Raten unlocked the door directly behind the front desk and entered the small room he saw another desk and a screen taking up a whole wall. The screen displayed live feed, divided into various camera views from all over the property.
He took a look quickly at all the camera views, and walked back out of the office. Adjacent to the office was the start of the large spiral staircase that lead to the upper floors. Raten had never been inside, but based on the plans he had seen from before it was built, the next floor was an armory of sorts, and the next had a small training room for various uses of the guards away from the eyes of others. Then, the top floor was the watch tower which had panoramic views to allow for someone to be a lookout if needed.
Lastly, one could go down the stairs to the lower level. There was only one floor in the basement area of the tower unlike with the main building. This floor was able to extend beyond the basic tower shape and therefore had a bit more space to it. Enough to allow for an interrogation room, a couple of basic holding cells, a locker room with showers, and a small kitchenette.
Raten looked down at his wristwatch to check the time. He was going to be upset if the other guard was late for duty. Getting irritated at how close they were cutting it. Just then the door opened and in came Vorden, with a smile across his face.
"What the heck are you doing here?" Raten asked in a frustrated tone. Before Vorden could even open his mouth to speak Raten blew up. "You know what? You are a giant jerk. I mean I would expect this from others but not you. I never thought you could be like this Vorden. What was that whole act then earlier? Doing you and Shiro a favor, yeah right. Just admit that neither of you trust me! It's not my fault I have never gotten to be the one in control. You know? How am I supposed to learn how to deal with people if you are always the one in the seat!" Raten hadn't even taken a breath yet, he was so upset.
However, it went beyond his usual rage fueled anger. It was far more emotional this time. Raten actually seemed hurt. "Woah, Raten, wait a minute, you've got it all wrong man" before Vorden could say another word Raten put up his hand.
"Just save it. I don't need more excuses. I don't need a baby sitter. I am capable of doing this simple task. I am not useless. I ought to beat your ass right here and now for treating me like an idiot" he turned away from Vorden, trying to calm himself down.
"Look Raten, I don't know what you're talking about, Shiro asked me to come as kind of a back up, in case you get distracted, I'm not your partner..." Vorden smirked as he said the last part.
Raten turned back around to face him, confusion all over his face. "Wait what? What are you talking about? Why would I be..." At that exact moment Raten's attention was drawn to the door as somebody had just unlocked it. The sun about set, the sky outside was starting to darken pretty fast. From the darker outside, a very beautiful, very small, young woman with the brightest red hair stepped inside. Her vibrant locks weren't their usual wild looking style, instead she wore two tightly split French braids that were pinned up in the back.
She walked in looking down and as her eyes came abruptly upon two pairs of boots, her face darted upwards. She wasn't expecting to run into two, very familiar, identical men, both staring at her. Raten's expression had turned to one of utter shock before she even looked up. Vorden's smile grew wider as he turned to look at Raten. Looking back at him, instantly his face had grown red from embarrassment. He went to say something but didn't know the words to say and his shoulders dropped as he suddenly felt very horrible for the way he had just treated Vorden.
The awkward silence had started to become noticeable, and so to cut the tension Vorden spoke. "So, like I was saying, I will just be here in the office, watching the feeds for a bit tonight, while you two do the rounds". Vorden walked towards the office door. He stopped briefly as he passed by Raten, where he put a hand on Raten's shoulder, squeezing lightly. "Stay safe you two" . He said nodding to Raten. Without looking back he added "Nice seeing you again Cassidy". With the last bit he had already unlocked the office door and stepped in, disappearing behind the locked door.