Sanctify

A virtual attack came in the morning two days after they started their research. Hayden caught it first and reported to the group, “At 0600 hours, Diem released a strain of programing viruses at the White House and Pentagon. No reports have come in from either institution, but everyone is confident that the system will hold fast because it was created by Nox, and not Diem, which also guarantees the protection of Kanon.”

Rayner rolled his eyes, “And that means?”

“If we want to get a trace on Kanon, this is our chance. Diem may have opened the door because she was forced to, but Sanctus couldn’t get through because of their protection. Since we’re not a threat, let’s get in there and see what we can find,” Hayden concluded, standing eagerly.

Michel thought it over. It wasn’t a terrible plan, but it was full of holes, human holes. “They won’t send physical reinforcements,” Michel warned.

Hayden nodded, “I know, but everyone has a digital footprint. In our day and age, no one is invisible.”

Michel nodded, “Fine, Oren and Rayner will head over to D.C. and start taking statements and readings. We’ll route the information back here and work from there.”

Rayner frowned and shook his head, “I received a special assignment for tomorrow. Sorry, I can’t take this trip,” he added, no regret lost in his tone.

Jenna’s eyes lit up, “I’ll go! I’ve never been to D.C.”

Michel shook his head, “No way. We’re short on time and, knowing you, you’ll want to sight see for a bit. I’ll send Hayden,” he tried.

But Hayden raised his hand, “Sorry, boss, but I’ve been called in to take a shift. I’ll be gone two days, at the most.”

Jenna beamed, “Come on, let’s go. It’ll be fun,” she added, pouting a bit.

Michel sighed and gave in. He couldn’t fight her insistency and would make her pay for it later, when they were alone. But when it came time for Oren and Rayner to leave, Michel insisted on seeing them to the main street, chatting a bit as they went. When far enough away from the house, he demanded, “What are they thinking?”

Oren frowned, “What do you mean?”

“This is my case,” Michel growled, “why are they taking my team from me?”

Rayner shook his head, “They couldn’t give it to my uppers, and so I took it. I didn’t think this would happen. Sorry, man,” he added, quite apologetic. Michel wasn’t angry. He was simply displeased. And that displeasure would follow them to D.C. and he knew it.

Alone in the house with Jenna, Hayden waited for the guys to turn the corner before he turned to her and asked, “When are you going to tell him?”

There was a moment where Jenna simply sat very still, mid-motion. Her usual smile relaxed and then Jenna blinked a few times, her body relaxing. After a deep breath, she looked up at Hayden. She looked around, searchingly, before she replied, “I have to prepare for the trip. Come help me.”

She turned and walked to the basement, Hayden following mechanically. She led the way down and to the back, where a stone cabinet was built into the wall. She knew Lady May had installed it on her last visit and made them appear normal, but she knew better. Her skilled fingers felt the cool stonewall for the smallest of all grooves around a button. She pressed it and a tray slid out with a few injections, pins, and other liquids. She picked up the syringe as Hayden taped up her arm. He pushed a needle in and removed two vials of blood. He labeled them and placed them in a bag, dropping them into a manila envelope.

Jenna stabbed her thigh with the shot and waited, taking deep breaths. The nutrients in the formula made her face flush. “If things go my way, I’ll never tell him.”

“Is it because of the way he looks at me?” Hayden asked, right on the dot.

Jenna didn’t answer, but he knew her answer. It was true that Jenna was a Shadow of one of the first Origins of the Silence Campaign, but her physical condition had always been a bit less stable than his. He wasn’t sure why, but he knew not to question it. Instead, he helped her finish her check over and placed all the required contents in the manila envelope before sealing it.

They returned upstairs and she was a lot mellower than the coldness she just exuded. Hayden wondered if she knew how less tiring it would be to just come clean and be one entity, instead of two, but was silent. It wasn’t his place to call her out on anything and she, of all people, had more right to decide what to do in their current situation than he did. But he didn’t like the way Michel treated him like a second-class citizen. That, of all things, would keep Jenna’s secret locked up tight.

But when Michel returned to the house, Jenna was her second-self, as Hayden liked to call it, her first-self being the Shadow that she was. The trip was quickly planned and then Hayden found himself being kicked out of the house. As strange as it was, the house was still the love nest of the two, and being there after the end of the meeting was tough. So he made his excuses, grabbed his things, and left without another word. He’d be back in some hours, anyway, he was sure. But, before he left, he made sure the manila envelope containing Jenna’s items was secure in his bag. There was no telling what would happen if it landed in the wrong hands.

Jenna woke up to find Michel’s side of the bed empty. She looked around and saw that his packed bag was gone. She sat up and hurried into the living room to see the house like a normal house. She searched for the equipment that created the virtual cage but found nothing. In cold sweat and light panic, she closed her eyes and sought in the darkness for something, anything, to pull through and make sense to her.

In the darkness of the kitchen, Jenna felt a pair of eyes on her and she turned to see Lady May seated as she had been the first day at the house. Without a word, Lady May snapped her left hand. Jenna stood and collected herself before walking over. “Where is he?” Jenna demanded, her body suddenly very still.

Lady May replied, “He thought it better to keep you here, but we didn’t expect the double-cross to happen so soon.”

Jenna frowned and asked, “What happened?”

Lady May sighed and replied, “Rayner works for Sanctus.”

Jenna fully considered those words and then reflected on the meaning. Like small puzzle pieces clicking into place, Jenna’s eyes widened and she concluded, “They took Michel.”

In a beautiful bedroom with rich curtains of heavy velvet, Rayner knocked twice before opening the door. On the bed, Michel had his hands and legs tied. His eyes were wide and searching but he had, at least, stopped shouting. Rayner walked over and stated, “If you promise not to run, I can untie you.”

Michel looked Rayner over and then looked away. He’d thought Rayner wanted to protect Jenna when he suggested leaving in the night. When Oren didn’t show up with him, Michel felt a bit strange, but believed Rayner when he had explained that Oren was waiting at the airport. Things fell out of place when they took a sudden turn towards Beverly Hills instead of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). That was when there was a sharp blow to his head.

When Michel woke, he was tied up and on a bed in a very beautiful bedroom. There were a million thoughts rushing through his mind, one of them was even that he had dreamt it all, but the moment he found himself bound and unable to move, he knew things were very different from what he had thought they were. His closest thoughts were of Jenna. Where was she? Was she safe? Did she figure out he had gone? And, most of all, what the heck was going on?!

From behind Rayner, another man entered and his smooth tone felt strangely familiar to Michel. “Let him up and feed him something. We can discuss his stay tomorrow,” the man spoke with clear words.

Michel frowned and sat up, watching Rayner’s once clear eyes cloud over with uncertainty as he did as he was told. A maid entered with a tray of food and she left without a word to Michel, who looked around him before he asked, “Excuse me, but where am I?”

The man smiled and gave a mocking bow, “You are at the Towers in Marina Del Rey. It’s a bit past four in the morning. You should get some sleep so we can discuss everything in the morning.” The man turned and walked to the door, “If you try to leave, you will be shot down. My shooters are the best and always looking for sport. Just so you know,” he added with some mirth in his tone.

Rayner swallowed and nodded to Michel before heading out of the room. Michel was baffled to see his friend so wounded and scared of another man. It didn’t make any sense to him, but as he munched on a piece of toast, he realized just how completely cut off he was to the rest of the world. And, not only that, but to be in the Towers meant to be where no one would come looking for him.

Michel shook his head and laid back on the bed. He’d thought to be sneaky and careful, but in return, he had been abducted mid-mission. His only consolation prize was that Jenna wasn’t there to see him so embarrassed.

Jenna sat at the dining room table with Oren and Hayden in the room but not seated with her. Hayden had been away when she suddenly called in so much distress, he had to respond. She looked like she hadn’t slept all night and rubbed her temples, asking once more, “One more time, what happened?”

Oren swallowed and repeated, “Rayner called and told me the departure time had changed so I was to wait by the airport. But they never showed up, and when I got here, you were alone.” With a heavy sigh, he finished with, “So, Rayner took Michel and now, we’re in limbo.”

Jenna nodded and sighed. She’d tried contacting Michel but his mobile phone was off. She had no doubt he turned it off so that she couldn’t reach him. But with him missing and Rayner as the culprit, her frustration and anxiety rose. When Oren and Hayden found her, she was restudying her notes, the only thing not taken by the thinker tablets that were, suddenly, missing from their possession.

Hayden swallowed, “If Rayner was, indeed, under the employment of Sanctus, then he knew everything and acted in the best interest of his boss, snatching him when I was gone.”

“Why would Sanctus want Michel?” Oren asked out of the blue, quite miffed.

Hayden hesitated and replied, “Michel is the leader of our team and one of the smartest recruits. Also,” he dropped the bomb, “Michel was working on a way in to the Haven and had made some headway. I’m sure Rayner reported this to Sanctus, who decided to grab him before Michel reported anything.”

Jenna shook her head, “Why didn’t he tell me anything?” she asked, sincerely vexed.

Oren looked her over and then asked, “So, what do we do now? A member of our team has abducted our leader and we’re out of communication with everyone else. What are our options?”

Hayden shrugged, “Wait and see what happens or get up and do something about it, I guess.”

Jenna stood, a gleam in her eye, “Get up and do sounds like a plan to me.”