Chapter 06: Curiosity Killed the Cat

“‘Local Searchers Pulled Off Case’.” Riley read over Natalie’s shoulder as he took a seat beside her. “What are you looking at that for?”

“I don’t see how that’s any of your business,” she exited out of the web search and turned off the screen shooting an annoyed look in his direction. “What do you want?” She asked with equal frustration as she watched his eyes rake across her body.

He ignored her irritation and slid his chair closer until he could smell her Chanel perfume. “Last night was crazy huh? I mean I don’t normally drink that much but decided to let loose, first day back and all. Anyway I was actually hoping to talk to you at Jess’ but things kinda got a little out of hand before I could. Plus I didn’t see you again after 11.”

“Yeah I bugged out early. I was having a bad night which is quickly spilling over into today.”

“Sorry to hear that Talie anything you want to talk about?”

Natalie scrunched her nose in Riley’s direction. Curiously she pondered what her ex-boyfriend wanted and why he was suddenly so very concerned about her well being.  He didn’t seem to care at all about her feelings when she found him fucking her ex-best friend in the women’s bathroom of Club Liquid. “Why? Is Alexandria too busy for you now?” She grabbed her belongings and made a motion for the door but Riley quickly hopped in front of her preventing her from exiting.

“Look, I apologized for that, what more do you want me to say?”

“That you’re a disgusting slimeball who doesn’t deserve to breathe. You’re scum Riley! Did you really think a bouquet of roses and box of Godiva chocolates would make up for what you did? You slept with my best friend! On my birthday of all things! Is it so hard to believe why I want nothing to do with you?” She pushed around him and he again blocked her path.

“Alright yeah I know what I did was wrong Talie but I had been trying to break it off with you and just didn’t know how. And now that you’re gone it’s like…I know what I had with you and I just want you back. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make it up to you!”

“Fine, you can start now,” he smiled at her and straightened up preparing to jump through hoops to have the girl of his dreams in his arms again but was quickly met with words he did not anticipate. “Drop dead!” Finally freeing herself, Natalie rushed from the lab and headed towards the Quad not looking back as she ran.

Blake sat in the shadows of the Academy’s pear trees scribbling aimlessly in his journal. He hadn’t bothered looking up knowing that the good little students were all tucked safely in their classrooms being bored to tears by their pompous professors. It wasn’t until the alluring fragrance that he seemed all too familiar with nestled itself within his nostrils. He lifted his head with a smile and followed the trail with his eyes finally pinning the object of his search against the back wall.

Natalie dropped beside the lake just outside of the Academy’s property lines. Drawing her legs into her chest she gripped at a blade of grass liberating it from its roots and mindlessly rolled it between her fingers. If she had any strength left it would have all been aimed at Riley’s average sized family jewels; she’d have liked that very much. The nerve of that pretentious asshole to think he could sleep with her best friend then say a few kind words and get her back. “I should have kicked him.” She sighed to herself and tossed the grass away.

“If you had then you wouldn’t have needed me.”

“Who’s there?” She jumped from her spot and turned in the direction of the sound. Her eyes narrowed at the tree just near the fence and she waited on the owner of the voice to reveal himself. Blake stepped from the shade of the branches barely unmasking his face but still hidden well enough not to frighten her. “Who are you?” 

Natalie took one step forward but he quickly matched it moving backwards. She stopped in her tracks and brought her hands to her sides. “Well if you won’t answer that can I at least see the face of my hero?”

In that moment Blake wanted to kick himself. He hadn’t fully thought about what he was doing speaking to her but the sadness on her face beckoned him forward like a moth to a flame. He felt compelled to reach out to her. Shaking his head no, he turned to head back in the direction he came and Natalie once again found her nerve and started after him. “GET AWAY!” he yelled without thinking and watched as she tripped over her own two feet falling backwards into the grass. “I…I…didn’t mean…” Without another word Blake rushed through the trees heading towards a sewer grate just beyond the gated wall.

Natalie sat confused, shocked and afraid. She had no idea what had just happened but knew the feelings she’d sensed the other night were a warning. Something was off with that man and she felt even luckier having gotten out of that alley still breathing. She puffed out a frustrated sigh and pulled herself to her feet. No, she thought. That wasn’t him. If he was some scary passerby then why would he save her? Why yell in such a way to frighten her off after seeking her out?

“The scars,” she dropped her head in silent contemplation. She assumed his anger emanated from a place of pain on his part. Perhaps it was a defense mechanism; a way to fend off the horrified stares of the townsfolk. She started forward, treading through the path he’d made as he hurried away from her and found herself staring at a dead-end and a sewer tunnel. “No way.”

She wasn’t sure if he’d vanished down that hole or hopped the fence but she knew there was no way she was going down that thing. Turning to leave, the sounds of an old antique stereo starting up pulled her eyes back to the hole in the ground causing her to shudder. He had gone down into the pits of the sewer! Is that where he lives? She wondered as she knelt beside it trying to figure out a way to get it to open.

Reaching out she placed her fingers into the tiny openings of the manhole and with all of her strength tugged on it until it was far enough away for her to squeeze her body inside. Natalie climbed down the ladder just a little and replaced the drainage covering before hurrying down the last few rungs.

Darkness enshrouded her as well as the stench of decay and sulfur. She pinched her nose and pulled out her cell phone to light her steps as she moved slowly and cautiously towards the flickering orange glow of a lamp just ahead. “Hello?” she asked as she neared a three-way routing into the tunnel system. All at once the music stopped and she found herself alone in silence. “Shit!”

Continuing forward, she chose the right side and followed it into an open well. A small family of rats squeaked at her for trespassing and she kindly left their domain as quickly as she could. Backing into the wall, she felt her hand slip into something slimy and grimaced as the substance coated her fingers making them sticky. What am I doing down here?

Natalie thought about turning around but by now she was so backwards in all of these throughways she had no idea where she’d started. The music began playing again and she jumped at the sound and rushed forward hoping to get there before it ended again. “Hey I’m…” she tripped over a tightly pulled wire and splashed into the pool of dirty water and God knows what else.

As she got to her feet again, she listened to the stirring of a mechanism just above her head and watched as a Rube Goldberg device came alive. Her eyes were completely locked on the tiny rolling ball of the intricate machine she hadn’t fully grasped what happened next. A loud bang echoed beside her like a gun going off in closed quarters and a bright flash of light followed that blinded her.

Natalie stumbled backwards falling into a metal grate she hadn’t seen before, knocking her head against the cement block as she landed. The machine grinded to a halt above her and the last thing she saw was the mask of the man that had saved her the previous night before her eyes drifted closed and she passed out beneath the streets of the city.

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