the boy has two lives. the one you see and the one you don't. typical, or perhaps not. no job, he stays in all week and as typical ordinary teens do, partying all day. I hear the loud music and video games. the dialogue of movies seeps through my walls. perfectly normal, except for the fact that he is alone during these parties. the noises of his daily routine is,... forgiveable. but at night, I wonder. the faint smell of marijuana billowing through the connected vent of our apartments. I ignored that as well. but now the scratching, the scratching is unsettling. only because I used to live in that apartment. I know the layout well. at night, all night, I hear the distinct scratching on the wall connecting our apartments. the unsettling part is the pin point spot it resounds from. it seems to me, and though a sane person would say it illogical, that he is sitting on top of the fridge and scratching the wall. weather he is high or not doesn't bother me. but the imagery, him crammed in the large shelf scratching with his bare fingers. as if driven by the drug to escape his self inflicted madness.
Hopefully the end,....
It was a bright day, the sun partially covered by fast wispy clouds. Though it was a nice day to sit back and enjoy a vacation, that was the last thing on Thomas's mind. Thomas had been up late working for weeks on end, trying to figure out the last piece to his latest crazy experiment. He had already passed the point of not being tired too many times that week. The constant nagging in his mind that something was missing seemed to eat away at him. And even with his staff he seemed to feel alone. He decided to take a walk to clear his head. He removed his lab coat and headed to the door. Just as he was about to leave the building the head secretary stopped him.
“Sir!” she caught up to him with a clipboard in hand. “Sir, you have a visitor in your office. He has been waiting for quite a while.”
Thomas regrettably headed towards his office. Other than the lab his office was one place he had been calling home. Not that he had nowhere to live, just he had spent so much time in the building it seemed more like his castle than the one across town. Looking through the glass on his door before entering he saw the young man sitting perfectly still with a cat on his lap. The boy looked like a kid still in high school. Thomas walked in sat in his chair and said with a straight yet weary face.
“Who are you and what is that doing in the building?” hoping slightly to get this over with quickly so he can continue his planed walk.
“I am Saber Hellena, and this is my seeing eye cat if you don't like it then you should have told your secretary to stop me at the door.” Saber said not even moving his head.
Oh great the kids a smart ass, Thomas thought to him self. “Alright Mr. Hellena, what brings you hear when you obviously should be in school?” Thomas said, edging to the fact a kid this young shouldn't be hanging around suspicious looking buildings.
Saber then turned his head and looked at Thomas, with a twisted smile and said “I was hoping to become a lab assistant, in this sinister building, and it seems like this dismal place needs someone like me.”
“Do you mean to insult the building or its occupants!” Thomas said a little amused with the way the young man made it sound almost like a compliment.
“Dose it matter? Its not like it could improve in the least bit,” Saber said with a smirk. “and the decor is besides the point!”
“And what is your point, Mr. Hellena?” Thomas said still a little agitated from his lack of sleep, yet interested in the kids odd answers “Why have you insisted on coming here when there are many normal jobs for your pursuit?”
“ I am not normal, and believe it or not you need someone like me on your staff.” Saber said simply.
“And why is that, I see no reason you could be of any use in this lab? What is it you think you could bring to this table?” Thomas asked as if to say that Saber was less than qualified for any position he had to offer.
Saber got up and leaned on Thomas's desk with one hand, then with a stern look he said “Absolutely nothing or anything, its your choice. I will let you sleep on it, but I suggest you go home and actually sleep this time.” and with that he left. Gone out the door before Thomas could think of a good comeback.
Thomas left the lab and took that walk he'd wanted, yet his mind never cleared. He kept thinking about the young man. It disturbed him that a male would plague his thoughts for he was surly not gay. When he stopped walking he became aware he had walked all the way to his house.
What he hadn't noticed was that Saber had followed him home. He entered his house suddenly tired.
Sabriela knew her power had effected him and followed him home, she was both curious as to how he would handle his plagued thoughts and as to why she felt so at ease in his presence. She felt bad that she had to lie to him, yet strangely it didn't bother her as much. Her disguise was working for once, and this time she was going to make the best of it. She went home to her mansion and got ready for a lab geek job, somehow knowing that he would have no choice left but to hire her. After all she had followed him around before, and knew she may be able to help. She then played with Mow till she fell asleep.
Thomas actually felt tired and slept for almost a day. When he woke, he decided that it may prove to be interesting to employ the quirky young man, and if he got out of hand Thomas thought it may be funny to threaten him with being the next lab subject.
When Thomas arrived at the lab, Saber was already there, and greeted him with “Did you enjoy your nap? I mean, uh, You ready for a change?” then shoving his hands in his pockets.
Thomas thought to him self that he probably intimidated the kid. And said “What makes you think I was actually considering employing you?” and was surprised when the boy said.
“You were smiling, when you walked in. That means a change has already begun, are you ready for it?”
Thomas pauses than says with a grin, “Always!” as if he had just gotten a brilliant idea.
“Splendid,” Saber said, removing the cat from his backpack, This is Mow Yin, she's my working companion and promises not to get into trouble.”
As soon as Saber set the cat on the floor she took a running leap onto Thomas's shoulders. She pured her greeting in his ear as he reached up and scratched her ear. Saber took to his position quickly cleaning the lab, organizing beakers, setting up for each experiment, and seemed to always have what Thomas was about to ask for on hand. This sped the research significantly and Thomas stopped working late so often.
(to be continued)
