Chapter 89About Old Objectives

The site was surrounded by a large fence, but it was low enough to jump over. I wobbled a little as I landed, still not as strong as I used to be. At least I didn't fall. Time to explore.

Walking through the building site was like walking around the skeleton of an ancient beast. Nothing more but a framework where the skin and muscles grab on to. Here and there I noticed boxes of wires just standing around, sometimes next to a whole bundle of cables coming from the ceiling like nerves. With the plain concrete, wires, metal and wood visible the whole building felt very organic and alive.

Such a contrast to the cold look when it was finished.

I had no idea where to go, so I aimlessly wandered around the building, enjoying it in fact. It felt good to be a sort of burglar without hurting anyone. A lot of the thrill, none of the damage. LIke a shadow in the night, moving around this building.

"Welcome Amy."

I had almost forgotten why I came here. The voice was dark and coarse, but young in a way. I looked around and two building lights suddenly switched on. Bright Halogen lights filled my eyes with whiteness. It took me a second to adjust and I noticed a man... a guy standing between those lights.

"I'm sorry." His rough voice. "I cannot show myself to you, and this is the only way your sharp eyes won't see me. Please respect that."

My hand had moved up to shield my eyes. I let it down again. "Alright, fair enough."

He nodded, only visible by his silhouette. "Let's start. I'm Janus, Sorry for meeting like this but there is little choice." He chuckled. "Oh, and tell Kai I apologize for 'hacking' his computers for things like this. I'm sure he'll get over it."

Despite myself I had to giggle. "I understand and I will."

Hand movement, he was on the lean side. "Alright. You understood that I made sure your parents were safe?"

"Yes, my mother told me."

A nod. "Yes, and now she is in the police station. Something I can do very little about. I also apologize for not having done anything about that but she is safe there. They don't have any proper charges and will release her soon enough. The questions is why they targeted her in the first place."

A thought entered my mind. "The circle?"

A pause. "Possibly. They did seem to know about Valerie and stranger still, they had some of that drug from the orphanage."

If only he told everything he knew. Perhaps he could help me piece this all together. What was the real connection between the circle, the orphanage and the brotherhood? And how much did they know of us? That last one was the truly worrying one.

He scraped his throat. "But I have something different to ask of you." He threw a card toward me.

I moved to pick it up and looked. It was a picture of an old house that looked very familiar and on the back was the address. I knew that street. And yes, I knew that house. I hadn't been there in over a year. I thought my parents had sold the house after she passed away. It was just a classic not too big mansion with a decent front-yard. Such memories of that front yard. But... Why there?

"I know this house, it used to be my grandmother's" I frowned in thought.

"Yes, I wish for you to investigate there. Here, you'll need these."

The clink of keys as he threw a small key-ring with two keys toward me. No wait, three Keys. Two large ones and a tiny one. I caught it casually, it was thrown rather well as I only needed to reach out a little.

"Front door keys?"

"Among other things yes. Before I leave, is there anything you want to ask?" What was it about his voice that made it sound vaguely familiar.

"Why. Why all this?" The simplest question, the hardest to answer.

"Why... Well, you could say I'm interested in why things have gone so weird lately. The only trouble in this town was caused by Kryss. Of course the other things happened but we didn't know about them. Your presence seems to draw things toward you and the ones around you. My rule is not to interfere, but it was time."

"Then who are you?"

"Janus, that is all you need to know. Perhaps we will meet again, goodbye Amy." He touched something on his side and the halogen lights suddenly overloaded and burst. The bright flash made it impossible for me to see where he went. I couldn't even hear him walk away or running. Who was this Janus?

Through the concrete skeleton I made my way back to the street and sighed. I didn't want anymore surprises, but I did want to know what was going on. So, I set off to my grandmother's house.

Hoping to find answers...