"I'll do anything." She crawled forward, her voice dipping into a shaky whisper. "Anything."
He scoffed, a twinge of disgust in his face as he took a step back, turning away from her.
Idalia recoiled, torn between relief and worry.
Had he turned her down because she was a monster or just because?
She watched the tattooed man leave the room.
What now?
Before she could even make a move, the man was back, but this time, behind him was another man who held babbling Arik in his arms.
She rushed up to her feet immediately. "Leo! My child. Mummy's here! Mummy is here!"
Arik turned to her with a smile, and the man who held him made him giggle. Who even was that man?
Most likely mid-twenties, suited, shoulder-length blonde wavy hair, an overly wide smile, and a single silver earring dangling from his left ear. Fair-skinned, many of her kind were too, just like her mother.
A blurry image cleared up in her head, and she knew who he was immediately.
The man who had attacked her!
The tattooed man turned the key in the lock and pulled the cage open. Idalia rushed out and grabbed her child.
"Miss Summers."
Her heart skipped a beat. That dreadful man was speaking again. She had almost forgotten that he was still in the room. He had collected the documents from the tattooed man a while ago and had been studying them in silence.
"Yes?"
She readied herself to shift; she would deal with the consequences later. No matter what would happen, Arik must live, and she was ready to give her life to ensure that.
"You are hired."
"What?!"
No, no, no, no, no, no, NO! What was going on?!
"As the maid, despite your poor qualifications." He spoke, with his back still turned to her as if she were nothing but a waste of his time, his focus still on the documents. "You'll get your employment contract in the morning. Tonight, you rest. Louie?"
He waved a dismissive hand in the air, and the long-haired man smiled at her.
"Please, come with me."
Louie began to lead her away, but Idalia refused to follow.
Something didn't seem right here.
In fact, everything felt wrong.
"Why?"
"I've given you a job, safe accommodation, both of which you desperately need, and you dare to compl—-"
"No. I—-" She stopped when he turned squarely to her, but he didn't speak, so she continued. "I was only shocked, surprised, and well… grateful. Very grateful."
Grateful?! She wasn't grateful! She hated this. Why wouldn't he just let them go?!
"Don't repeat that mistake, Miss Summers."
"What mistake? Being… grateful?"
"Interrupting me."
"I'm sorry. I won't do that again."
"Leave."
When Louie led her out of the room this time, she followed him without question.
What was happening exactly? Did he believe her story and was genuinely trying to help? It would be stupid to think that. This whole thing was shady! The best bet was that he didn't believe her story, but couldn't prove that she was lying, so he was determined to keep her around until he could prove that it was all a lie. Or maybe he knew the truth, and this was all just fun and games to him? But why would he do that—
A blindfold was wrapped around her eyes, music stuffed into her ears, and before she could protest, she was being hoisted up in Louie's arms as she held Arik tightly against her.
"I can walk!" She snapped, but if he had said anything in response, she hadn't heard; all she could hear was this lound, annoying music that had different instruments playing at once, one of which sent such vibrations against her eardrums that she feared they would explode.
She fought him, but he was stronger than he had appeared, and she didn't let her down till he wanted. In a flash, the earbuds, along with the blindfold, were gone, and she was standing right in front of a door.
Idalia frowned. Could this place be any stranger?
"This is your room," Louie said, pushing the door open.
It was the first room in the hallway and was only a couple of steps from the stairs. That cage she had been locked in must be somewhere downstairs. She would figure it out, as she always did with this kind of thing.
She had to get her hands on those documents, and she would be damned if Louie's little trick of messing up her direction would stop her!
Idalia stepped into the room, and Louie, still at the doorway, slipped the key into her hand.
"I'm really sorry I had to do that." He said with a boyish, awkward smile.
"Carrying me?"
"Yeah, that and kidnapping you. I was under strict orders." He laughed; Idalia did not, so he cleared his throat awkwardly. "Let's just start over. I'm Louie. Can I call you Julie?"
"That is my name."
"What? That is your name? I guessed it right?" He declared in a pretentious surprise, his eyes glinting with mischief, as he pushed back his hair. "I have a talent for these things, I've been told."
"You've been lied to." She wasn't about to fall for his "let's be friends" trick; she knew that he was only going to act as that man's spy.
"You have me all wrong here, Julie. I'm not a weird guy or somethin—"
"You kidnapped me and my baby."
"On orders!" He took in a deep breath. "See, I'm just so glad to have another energy around here, and I would love to have you on my team. They already have each other; we can have each other, too."
Boom!
Right there.
Friendship manipulation tactic confirmed.
She really didn't have time for this; she was tired, she needed to check Arik to ensure that he wasn't hurting anywhere, and she needed her privacy to plan her next move. Now she wondered if she should have just played along. But she was angry, so angry about how much power that man had in their conversation. He had her son, and maybe information about her that she did not want anyone besides Grandpa Alfred to know.
It filled her with rage to be that vulnerable and powerless.
When Louie clasped a bracelet around her wrist, she flinched. He moved too quickly. Already activating his Plan B since friendship with her wasn't looking promising?
Pathetic.
Yes, he should tell that to his master. Tell him that he had failed. That she wasn't all that easy to manipulate.
"You need me? You ring me." He pressed something on the bracelet, and the bracelet on his wrist began to beep. "And I'll be there."
"And if you are miles and miles away?"
"It'll beep all the same, and I'll be there."
Idalia stood there, stunned at her short-lived victory. Grandpa Alfred did say that Valmere had a lot of strange equipment, and now they had put a cuff around her hand disguised as a bracelet.
Why was she on a losing streak?!
She fiddled with the bracelet, trying to figure out how to get it off with Arik still in her arms, then she shoved her hand towards him in frustration. "Take it off."
Louie chuckled. "It's not going to come off for years or until one of us dies,"
"What? And you put this on me without my consent?"
"It was supposed to be a gift when we finally become friends, but everything wasn't going according to my plans, and I kind of freaked out."
Idalia slammed the door shut and locked it. She found her bags by the wall and began her quick check-up on Arik.
"I'm sorry. Julie." He knocked. "This is our first fight." He chuckled. "I heard that friendships that start from fights last forever." He cleared his throat. "I'm really sorry. Goodnight and goodnight, Leo, and you are both welcome to Echelon. I'm really so sorry again."
Then he was gone.
Finally.
He was annoying. Everything and everyone annoyed her.
Wait.
Echelon?
This was Echelon?!
She had gotten into the luxurious, highly guarded side of Valmere. The side that was safe from Alpha Kalio and his searchers. A place she had thought impossible for her to gain entry into. Different thoughts ran through her mind, and everything led right back to him.
Who exactly was that man? What power did he hold in Echelon? And what exactly did he want with them?