33.
God of Terror
When he came into the lobby of the Zexaron building that day, Grayson wore
a new black suit and carried a shiny silver briefcase. With a friendly wave, he
welcomed in his new employee.
"I'm so excited to start my first day of work," Naomi said
affectionately.
"That makes me very pleased." Grayson smiled down on her.
"You're about to become a very important asset to our company, you know."
"I'm so very grateful...Mr. Lee," Naomi replied, unsure of
what to call her new boss.
"Please, call me Grayson."
Grayson placed a friendly arm around Naomi's waist, slipping it down
just far enough to tease her into thinking he wanted to touch her behind. He led
her into one of the elevators above the lobby, and soon they were alone with
each other. Grayson pulled a key from his pocket, inserted it into the console,
then pressed the button that would have taken them to the ground floor...if they
had not already been there.
"Where are we going?" Naomi asked, wrapping an arm around one
of his. "A secret place?"
"You shall be working in a special room, Naomi." Grayson smiled
to her and she grinned back with coffee-stained teeth. "A room just for
you."
"Will you be working there with me?" Naomi squeezed his arm.
"Unfortunately, not all the time," Grayson responded. "I
am a very busy man, you know. But I'll be sure to check in on you as often as
possible."
"Okay." Naomi felt the elevator descend below the earth. "What
exactly will I be doing?"
"I'll explain in a moment." Grayson hushed her, and they waited
in silence as the elevator came to a stop. Blue doors slid open, revealing a
darkened passageway.
"Grayson, I don't like this." Naomi moved closer to him.
"I don't like the dark."
"Fear not," Grayson spoke in his most romantic tone, then reached
out into the darkness and pressed a switch.
Floodlights running across the ceiling quickly illuminated the rusty,
pipe-laden hallway. Naomi could hear the whirring of machinery in the background,
but was unable to tell what it was from. As they proceeded, she spotted the
figure of a small girl standing at the other end.
"There you are, Madeleine," Grayson said.
"Hold on a second." Madeleine said, staring down at a hand-held
videogame. "I just have to get past this part and then I can save."
Grayson breathed through his nose, closed his eyes briefly and re-opened
them impatiently. After some time, Madeleine shut off the game and stared up at
Grayson.
"So, you ready?"
"Yes." Grayson nodded sharply and continued forward.
Madeleine rolled her eyes. "You don't have to be so touchy, geez. Who's
the lady?"
"Our new employee. She will help us find a certain boy."
"A boy?" Madeleine ran up to his side, looking up at him.
"Who are you talking about?"
"Vance," Grayson spoke. "The son of Victoria."
Naomi heard the woman's name, and could feel rage rise up inside of her
as she remembered the way her stepson had idolized the woman. On top of that, the
way Grayson said her name made her seem important somehow.
"What's so special about Victoria?" Naomi shouted.
"Nothing," Grayson replied with a sour face. "She was
just trouble. And the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."
Naomi nodded, her fears dispelled. "Yes, she was a bad seed. I
could just tell by the way she affected Edward. It took a lot of work to get
him back to normal, you know. But I did it. He didn't even argue when I said I
was going to start working for the Zexaron company this morning."
"That was very good of you, Naomi," Grayson lauded her. "Very,
very good."
"So we're sending her after Vance?" Madeleine asked. "Where
is he, anyway?"
"Somewhere far away." Grayson paused. "I wonder if
Caskett had something to do with this..."
"Maybe." Madeleine shrugged. "But no use in blowing our
cover over it, right?"
"Right," Grayson said with a smile. "That's why we're
sending out Naomi."
"If you say so," Madeleine said with an uninterested shrug.
"But she can't use psynergy."
"Of course not. That's why she's the perfect woman for the
job."
The underground hall opened up to a wide space where generators that powered
the building mixed in with other strange machinery. Grayson moved to the widest
section of the room, set down his briefcase and opened it. Inside was a sleek
white headset encased in protective foam.
Madeleine stared at the box's contents and gasped. "What?! Why are
you wasting that on her?"
"We’ve done enough tests." Grayson looked into Naomi's eyes.
"It’s time to find out how well these work on Earthlings."
"Earthlings?" Naomi choked out. "What are you talking
about, Grayson?"
"Naomi..." Grayson's eyes lit up. "We have much to speak
of concerning your future. However, now is not the time. I want to introduce you
to this tool and get you practicing before any further business is done."
"This took a lot of time to make, so you'd better not break it,"
Madeleine barked.
Naomi's eyes widened. "I won’t...I promise."
Grayson brought over the crescent-shaped headset and slipped it over
Naomi’s head. Gently, he attached some
nodes on the end of the device to the back of her neck. Somehow, Grayson turned
the machine on, and Naomi instantly felt vitality surge through her body.
"Psynergy is stored inside it, so whoever wears it doesn't have to
use their own energy," Madeleine said. "I didn’t think an Earthling
would be able to handle it, though..."
"Don't worry about her," Grayson whispered to Naomi. "She's
just a bit jealous. This is a very useful defense mechanism to keep you safe once
we send you off. You'll be practicing the art of psynergy down here until you
leave."
Naomi nodded shakily. "What’s this psynergy thing you keep mentioning?"
Grayson stifled a chuckle. "Psynergy, my dear, is the life-force of
our universe. A gift from God Himself. Go on, play with it."
Naomi stood puzzled, unsure of what to say. Raising a finger to brush a
lock of hair from her face, Naomi saw milky white psynergy spill out from her
hand. She tried grasping it by gripping her hand, and this only made the white
flame burn even brighter. Surprised, she shook her hand away in fright, which
ended up sending a white psynergy blast flying into one of the ceiling's many
air ducts.
"Look at that," Grayson marveled. "Brimming with power, and
she isn’t even trying."
Naomi gasped and threw her hand out again. Another psynergy blast went
shooting into the ground.
"Wow..." she whispered. "I feel so...powerful..."
Grayson nodded with delight. "Brand new technology developed
by Zexaron! Impressive, isn’t it?"
Naomi clenched both of her fists, letting psynergy pour out from the headset.
"Yes, very good, Naomi," Grayson murmured. "Now follow
me."
He ducked beneath intertwined pipes and led her into a cramped alcove.
Behind the bulk of a large generator, Naomi saw a rusty steel door hidden against
the back wall. Grayson pulled the door open and revealed an empty room lined
with thick grey bricks and cement. It was about the size of a two-car garage.
"I created this room precisely for such purposes." Grayson
gestured toward the decrepit chamber as if it were a luxurious bedroom suite.
"Please. Enjoy yourself."
Naomi slowly walked in, hands ablaze. After a deep breath, she stretched
her palms outward. Psynergy blasts shot out of her hands like a machinegun,
chipping the brick wall. Feeling no exhaustion, she pulled her hands back and fired
again, further devastating the foundation.
Naomi smiled giddily as her wrath continued. Her hands moved frantically
like a demented pianist, orchestrating her rage upon the room.
Grayson watched her from the doorway with a content smile as a stray
blast whizzed toward his left ear. Just before it connected with his face,
Grayson flicked his left hand up to block it. Psynergy steamed up from a dark
imprint in his palm as the two blasts dissipated.
"Fascinating," he observed. "The vacuum in this dimension
sucks up psynergy from the living, but it seems to have no effect on psynergy
stored in an inanimate object."
Still in awe, Naomi turned around. "Did...did I hit you?"
"Of course not." Grayson stared deep into her eyes. "You're
doing a great job, and I want you to continue. When you need a break, simply walk
back up to the lobby. Okay?"
Naomi nodded, then opened her mouth again as she remembered something.
"When will I get to see you again, Mr. Lee?"
"Soon," Grayson said, as he shut the door and left Naomi alone
with her toy.
*
"I don't know why you're giving her that," Madeleine
complained as the two Zodiacs stepped out of the elevator on the 11th
floor. "She doesn't know how to use it at all! We should send someone more
reliable."
"We have more important things to attend to," Grayson said.
"Besides...Naomi has a special bond with Vance. Through her, we'll
be able to see what that offspring is truly capable of. I never expected it would
come to this...he seemed so devoid of talent."
"Fine," Madeleine answered curtly. "By the way, the
Sheep arrived earlier today. She said she was going out on a walk, but never
came back..."
The toes of Grayson's boots echoed out an unnerving rhythm as he clacked
down the hallway. "She’ll be back eventually, I’m sure."
"Alright," Madeleine said indifferently. "Hey, whatever happened
with that Frank guy?"
Grayson's lips pulled back to reveal his ivory canines as a genuine smile
appeared on his face. "I'm sure he's resting at home right now."
"You're not going to go after him or anything?" Madeleine asked.
"You seemed pretty pissed. And he destroyed your car, didn't he?"
"That he did, that he did. But you must learn the virtue of patience,
dear Madeleine. Imagine Arazia right now, sitting in his kitchen with his family.
What does he have to do? He can't come to work. He also can't go outside, because
someone might see him. He's no doubt learned from Edward that I have survived
our little scuffle. So he's sitting there, and you know what he's doing? He's
waiting. He's waiting for me to come get him. He doesn't know when, if, or how
I will come to pay him back, and it's created a demon of terror within his tortured
soul. I will come to him eventually, and he'll realize that all his days and
minutes of paranoia are over, and that he has no choice but to end his
rebellion and serve his new god."
Madeleine stared up at him, paralyzed. Grayson was staring off into
space with a serene look on his face. Then, he turned his eyes back to her,
sending a chill up her spine.
"Life's too short, Madeleine. We must enjoy every second of
it."
*
Edward left Zexaron at five, rather early compared to his previous days
at work this week. He got on well with his new co-workers, and had spent the past
few days just doing what he was supposed to, with no more strange or unusual events
interrupting his routine.
That was exactly what troubled him as he parked his car in the driveway
of his house and stepped inside. He hadn't seen Grayson in the past few days,
nor had he heard from Frank at all. After Naomi gave him the startling news that
Grayson was getting closer and closer to finding his son, the Vice-President
had cut off all contact with him. All the chaos that had gone on the night when
Frank disappeared had been put on a hold.
He moved further into his house, now furnished with all of Naomi’s furniture
and decorations. She'd bought new things to fill the space, and it all felt
alien and unfamiliar.
The anxiety was driving Edward crazy, and he could wait no longer. He dialed
Frank's number and moved the phone to his ear. One ring...two rings...three...four...
"Hello?"
"Frank? Are you alright, Frank?" Edward immediately asked.
"I’m fine, Ed," Frank responded. "I'm surprised to hear
you call, though. I mean, last time we talked, I thought it'd be impossible for
us to talk like this anymore, what with Grayson keeping such a tight leash on
you."
"He hasn't called me for some time now," Edward replied.
"But he gave Naomi a job as a secretary at the building. Has he contacted
you?"
"No," Frank replied. "But I'm going to have to do something
soon."
"Something?" Edward asked nervously.
"I have to get to the bottom of this," Frank said. "I can't
back out now, Ed. I'm in too deep. But I can't do it alone."
Edward was silent on the other line.
"There's no way I'll be able to step foot in the Zexaron headquarters
again without it being a death sentence," Frank said. "Even just moving
around town is a danger, but there's nothing I can do about that. I'm going to
do some outside research on things, Ed. I'm going to dig up files on Grayson, McCarthy,
Sasuke, the entire Zexaron Corporation."
"Why are you doing this?" Edward asked. "You could flee
if you wanted, you know. Grayson's left you an opening."
"Ed, listen to me," Frank said slowly. "Grayson is not
human. He fell off a cliff. My car fell on top of him. Yet there he was the next
day, at your house, as if nothing happened. He's evil. Something purely evil."
"Frank..." Edward cut in. "I know Grayson's bad,
but..not human? Hold on a second here."
But Frank went. "Grayson's got pride, though. Lots of it. He won't
come and slice my neck in my sleep. He's waiting for me to retaliate. He enjoys
toying with people, Edward, you should know that by now. But I'm not going to stand
for it any longer."
"Frank," Edward pleaded. "You're going to get yourself
killed. Think of your wife and daughter."
"Think of your wife!" Frank shot back. "Didn't
you ever think it was strange how she disappeared so suddenly?"
Silence again.
"Yes," Frank went on. "I think Grayson killed your wife,
Ed. How could I not? He and McCarthy jumped in right after she disappeared.
They probably offed Sasuke, too, just for the hell of it. And now they're exploiting
the company she worked so hard to create."
"It can't be." Edward's voice wavered as he rubbed his
forehead. "Frank, do you realize what you're saying?"
Frank's voice grew cold. "I don't care if you don't want to come
to terms with this, Ed. It's not gonna stop me. All I'm asking you to do is keep
your eyes open. Listen. Look around. If you see something odd, check it out.
You don't have to do anything extreme. Just do it as a favor to me. You're the
only person I can count on anymore."
As Frank finished talking, Edward heard a ghostly, condescending voice snake
its way into his head. Who do you care for more, Edward? Frank...or your son?
"I'll do what I can," Edward said, then hung up the phone.
Next: The Deossifier
