My knees were light and my feet were heavy. It was a struggle just to stay upright, let alone walk. Luc wrapped her arm around me to keep me moving as we headed toward the elevator. In this monstrous prison tower that some believe is a palace, I had no one to lean on except Luc.
Then she abandoned me.
"Excuse me, Miss. But you will need to return to your office on your own. I suggest you lay down and rest a bit."
"You… are not coming with me?"
"There are some things I need to check on."
"OK…"
"You will be fine, Miss Roen."
I wasn't convinced, and I hated that Luc put on a fake smile to comfort me.
Trust no one, I suppose.
I still felt a little dizzy as Luc walked away, disappearing into shadow as she turned some random corner that leads to God knows where.
I supported myself against the wall with my right hand, and finally reached the elevator by myself. I pressed the up-button and it didn't take long for it to arrive.
'Hang in there… soon I will be back at my room…'
I leaned against the glass wall inside.
Then I saw someone running toward the elevator as the door was closing.
"Wait-, please!"
Despite my sluggish state, I instinctively reacted and pressed the button.
The door slid again and a young woman - probably of my age, give or take a year - squeezed in.
"Thank you."
The girl politely bowed and pressed the close-button.
I already pressed for my floor, and it took me a while to realize that something was off.
"Miss… which floor are you going?"
The top floor was reserved for me alone and I've never seen her around before.
"Miss Roen… I'm scared. But I need to tell you something. "
The girl was shivering in fear, as if she was seeing something that I couldn't. It was so eerie that I had to look around to check if there was anything behind me, but only thing outside the glass wall of this elevator was a dark vertical tunnel that entrapped us.
"Please go ahead."
"I-, I'm in danger already… and I probably get into a big trouble for this, but-"
Then the elevator suddenly stopped with a jolt. Light flickered once and dimmed.
"Did you… press anything?"
"No! Oh God… it's happening…"
The light went off and on again, repeatedly, with no regular rhythm. Every time it flashed, I saw the girl's face contort even more with growing anguish.
I was scared myself, but somehow I felt that I had to comfort this girl. She did really sound like she was in some sort of a danger, and if I could help her -
"There are those who don't believe in you," the young lady spoke with a trembling voice.
My heart started to beat faster.
I was a genuine fraud after all.
"But don't get me wrong. I believe in you, Miss Roen. You are our light and hope!"
"Miss, actually I'm-"
"But there are people. I overheard them. They are different. They are not like us."
"Not like… us?"
"They work with us. They smile. But their hearts are hollow. They don't kneel like we do."
The elevator shook one more time, this time with a loud clang. I was starting to get scared too. Partially freaked out by this strange girl who was breaking down in front of me, with tears running down her cheeks now, but now increasingly more concerned that the wires holding this coffin could break any time and we'd fall to death.
"Please calm down. We must find a way to get out of here."
Although I was sweating fear myself, I felt a sense of duty. We were both stuck in this hopeless situation, but I was the one who comfort her, because she sure as hell wasn't going to comfort me.
"I'm scared, Miss Roen. I'm scared."
"Sh… it's going to be OK."
I tried to reach out to her in darkness, but then light flickered once and I saw her face.
She somehow didn't look like the girl who ran in to catch the elevator earlier. It was the same girl, of course, I was sure of that - how could she not be? - but she now looked a lot older, as if she had aged ten years since the light flashed last time.
"And there are people that are with us… that aren't normal…"
Just as she finished those words, the light came on abruptly.
The elevator started to shoot up, accelerating, and I started to panic as it felt like it was going to shoot through the roof and launch us to the moon.
Then it came to a sudden halt with ear piercing screech.
Both the young woman and I fell to the floor.
There was a cheerful 'ding', and the door slid open as if nothing happened.
I looked up and saw that Luc was standing just outside the door, light shining so brightly from behind her it was almost hard to see her face. But it was Luc. Unmistakable.
The girl saw Luc too, but it was clear from her face that she wasn't feeling the relief that I was granted. Instead, she looked even more frightened than before.
I looked out to the hallway again and noticed that there were Cain and Abe standing next to Luc now.
"Help her."
Luc commanded and Abe walked into the elevator, offering his hand to the helpless girl who didn't seem to want to take it. Abe didn't make much of it though. He gave a very charming and reassuring smile, and I couldn't imagine there would be many girls whose hearts won't melt by that.
The girl reluctantly took Abe's hand, who helped her up and led her out. After she took a few steps away, she briefly turned to look at me. There were tears in her eyes and she looked like she wanted to say something, but no voice was coming out. Abe non-aggressively beckoned her to continue.
Luc finally walked into the elevator, knelt before me and asked.
"Are you alright, Miss Roen?"
"Who… was that girl? Is she going to be OK?"
"Ignorance is bliss. Unfortunately, she wasn't so lucky. "
The door closed and the elevator started to move up again.
Am I…
The lucky one here?