Chapter Ten: Dead End


    Corbin sat crouched behind an old boarded-up gas station with his back against the wall. If he were not still in the form of the Protector the cold surrounding  him would have been unbearable during the two-plus hours he had spent waiting there. He had stumbled upon the abandoned building while trekking back in the direction opposite from the way Dr. Harper was taking him. The weathered sign still standing out front near the road had yielded enough information from its faded paint for him to gain some clue to his whereabouts, which he communicated to Lydia the last time she had reached out to him with her gift.


    His sisters were on their way to bring him home, but as he sat with only his thoughts to keep him company until they arrived, his mind wandered back to the same thought: Where was Dr. Harper taking him. Her role in Jarell's scheme wasn't any clearer now than before, but at least he knew for sure where she stood on the matter. He struggled to remember anything during the time she held him under her power but was unable to do so. The frustration of failing to remember, along with the violated feeling of being controlled, made him rock his head back against the wall with a groaning sigh slipping out through his snout.


    A familiar bellowing exhaust note caught Corbin's tall, pointy ears from a short distance away on the desolate road leading to the old gas station. His mind was soothed at the welcome sound of Shade's coupe as it rumbled toward his location. He stood up and peeked around the corner of the building until the brightened beams emanating from the headlights of Shade's car lit up the front of the old store's parking lot. The dark coupe whipped off the road with an intentional rev of the engine as Shade brought it to a stop near the building.


    Corbin stepped out from the back of the building, into the view of the cars headlights where he made himself seen so that his sisters would know they had come to the right place. The passenger side door was immediately flung open as Lydia jumped out and ran toward him, crashing into him with an emotional hug that barely reached his waist. As she hugged his waist tightly, which was like a tree trunk that she couldn't reach fully around, he gingerly pressed one of his large clawed hands over her small back to assure her he felt the same about their reunion.


    Shade got out of the car and grabbed a plastic shopping bag from the back seat which was full of clothes they knew to bring for their brother. She approached Corbin with it and extended it out to him as Lydia finally turned hm loose. He disappeared back behind the building with the bag as Lydia stepped over to Shade's side where she was pulled shoulder-to-shoulder with her sister, who smiled down at her to show her appreciation for Lydia's open displays of affection. Moments later Corbin rounded the corner of the old gas station adjusting his sweater while he greeted his waiting sisters with a brief, grateful smile.


    "How did you do it?" he asked Lydia with an amazed arch to his brow. "How were you able to hear my thoughts?"


    Lydia shook her head with a dumbfounded expression. "I don't know...it just sorta, happened."


    "Where's this Dr. Harper I've been told about?" Shade intervened, her tone demanding vengeance.


    "I don't know. She got away," Corbin revealed, causing a brief grimace of disappointment to flash across Shade's face.


    Corbin's posture suddenly drooped as his mood changed to that of a guilty little boy who was ready to accept his punishment for misbehaving. "I'm...I'm sorry for going alone. I should've waited, but..."


    "Hey," Shade blurted quickly to avert his guilt as she stepped over to him and placed a firm hand on his shoulder. His penitent eyes met her no-nonsense gaze that was meant to assure him of what she was about to say.


    "All that matters is that you're okay. The only person to blame here is Dr. Harper, and she'll answer for this when we find her," Shade vowed.


    Corbin nodded, then gave a boyish half smile to his older sister for her understanding which garnered him a restoring smirk and wink from the dark-eyed beauty. They both turned to Lydia, who was waiting for them with a happy gleam on her young face that was threatening to explode into a giant smile, and the three of them walked back to the car as Corbin and Shade saddled Lydia with their arms across her shoulders.


    During their long trip back to the manor Corbin called Amanda to inform her about everything that had occurred with Dr. Harper. She promptly gave him a disapproving, yet caring lecture about his ill-advised solo investigation. He took the well intended chastisement without argument, knowing full well the magnitude of her love for him only because it matched his for her. After their conversation ended she called Gideon to update him on current events.


    Gideon had just arrived in the neighboring city of Laughton to begin his search for the pioneer in cybernetics, Dr. Vincent Walsh, when he received the call. He listened carefully, absorbing every detail from Amanda's account of Corbin's abduction as he inwardly regretted being absent during such a dire incident; but he was also silently pleased that the Allender children were able to handle the matter themselves with the help of their gifts, which was what he knew their mother intended when she bestowed the gifts of their bloodline upon each of  her beloved children.


    After mutually agreeing with Amanda that Dr. Harper would become a person of interest as soon as he returned, Gideon asked to be kept informed of any further developments concerning the matter, then he hung up to resume his search. The information found on the laptop about Vincent Walsh, which had directed him to Laughton, also brought him to the fenced-in grounds of the Kenichi Corporation; a state of the art research facility located in a somewhat isolated part of Laughton's commercial district. The hour was already late and the only people stirring at the facility were the night watchman at the gated entrance near the building, and a lowly janitor who'd just been allowed through the gate onto the secured grounds.


    As Gideon approached the small guard shack just outside the gate he noticed with discreet glances several security cameras mounted on poles which seemingly monitored everything within sight. The guard stepped out of the shack with a suspicious look at Gideon's unfamiliar face, eyeing him sharply since his presence was more than a little unusual at such an hour, especially since he approached on foot. Even the janitor paused on the other side of the gate in order to find out the purpose of an irregular visit by a stranger.


    "Can I help you?" the guard asked curiously when Gideon drew near to the gate.


    "Perhaps you can good sir," Gideon said as he stopped at a respectful, nonthreatening distance a few feet away from the guard.


    The janitor privately studied the tall, well dressed man who spoke to his nighttime colleague with a disarming, confident voice.


    "I am looking for an employee of the Kenichi Corporation," Gideon explained. "His name is Walsh, Dr. Vincent Walsh."


    The mention of Dr. Walsh's name brought a surprised look to the guard, but the janitor's level of interest in Gideon was secretly raised at its utterance. 


    The guard stepped nearer to Gideon. "Dr. Vincent Walsh you say?"


    "Yes. You see, I have reason to believe he may be in grave danger."


    "Dr. Walsh died almost two years ago, here, in a terrible accident," the guard explained remorsefully, like someone who regarded Dr. Walsh kindly.


    Gideon was momentarily stunned, being met with a scenario he hadn't considered. "I see," he muttered as he began to ponder the implications of this new information. "I am sorry," he added.


    The guard returned to the warmth of his heated shack and Gideon turned with his thoughts to leave. The janitor watched as Gideon started a slow, contemplating pace back in the direction he had come from. After glancing at the guard shack to make sure he wasn't noticed, the janitor caught up with Gideon, walking along side him from inside the fence. Gideon stopped once he realized he was being shadowed, but was urged by the nervous janitor with a sharp whisper to keep walking.  


    The two of them walked until they reached a far, darkened corner of the grounds away from the reach of the security cameras, as well as the attention of the guard. Gideon walked up to the fence where the janitor inspected him cautiously from top to bottom. 


    "Is there something you wish to tell me?" Gideon asked.


    A hesitant pause on the janitor's part allowed him to consider Gideon with another careful glance before he finally spoke. "Who are you mister?"


    "My name is Gideon, and I have come seeking an audience with Vincent Walsh, though it appears I am two years too late," he explained regretfully.


    "What makes you think Dr. Walsh would be in danger if he were alive?" the janitor attentively inquired.


    Being able to see clearly in the dark allowed Gideon to notice the secretive concern for someone who was presumably deceased hiding amongst the janitor's stubbled features.


    "I have recently discovered that someone of a rather dubious nature had been keeping tabs on Dr. Walsh, so I felt it necessary to at least come and warn him," he disclosed, watching carefully to see how his words affected the janitor's demeanor.


    The janitor chewed on the answer for a moment, trying hard in the dark to read Gideon's stately face, then he said,"So you've come as a friend?"


    "Most definitely. I assure you my intentions are honorable," Gideon responded convincingly.


    The janitor looked carefully around him to make sure no one else was near, then he leaned in close to the fence. Eyeing Gideon strongly, he said in a low voice,"If your intentions really are honorable, find Alex J. Murphy in the city of Willoughby. If they're not, then I suggest you go back where you came from." 


    Gideon nodded his silent thanks to the janitor who received them with a skeptical moan as he turned to head back toward the facility. When the janitor neared the building he turned back to see that Gideon was nowhere in sight, then he took out a cell phone and quickly dialed a familiar number. After a few rings he greeted someone and informed them to be expecting a visitor by the name of Gideon. A brief account of what had just transpired followed, then he gave his blessings for the wellbeing of the person on the phone and hung up.


    A short distance away from the Kenichi Corporation, in a secluded and dark culvert near the entrance that was large enough for him to duck into, Gideon hid himself away. He removed his dress coat and shirt to reveal his bare, pale torso, then folded them neatly and kept them in one hand. A pair of bat-like wings grew out of Gideon's back and folded around him to submit to the culverts cramped quarters. He eased to the edge of the culvert, glanced around to make sure all was clear, then he stepped out and let his wings stretch out beside him. With a slight crouch he looked toward the night sky and shot upward with a powerful thrust that quickly put him out of sight.


    


Comment