Chapter 2

She had never felt something like this before. Not even Charlotte's anger had come even close to this. This red light was literally blinding and incapacitating her. Only a soft touch and the purple light of worry fought its way through to her and eventually gave her the opportunity to put up a mental barrier, a treat she had been able to learn after she had finally faced her own emotions.

Alex' sight eventually cleared and gave the Asian woman the possibility to see the person responsible.

It was a mid-aged woman, maybe in her late forties or even fifties with shoulder-long blond hair that clearly had seen too much hair-spray. She wore a dress, similar to Diane Jacobs, a former employee and representative of Typhon in Haven Springs. Navy-blue skirt and a same-colored blazer with the emblem of the Typhon Mining Corporation attached to it over a white blouse. In her right hand she was carrying a black case.

All-in-all, she looked like she could be one of Typhon's attorneys, and like Alex, everybody else was ogling her with scepticism.

"Good day, I'm looking for Alexandra Chen," she said with a pompous tone, letting her gaze over every present person until it came to a rest on Alex. But before the strange woman had a chance to address her, Steph stepped between them.

"And you would be…?"

"My name is Leena Clark, Project Manager of Typhon Colorado Limited," she introduced herself, her gaze once more fixing on Alex. "Miss Chen, I'd love to speak with you in private."

Now Ryan took a position beside Steph as well. "We know who you are, Miss Clark," he returned with crossed arms. "Whatever you've to tell her, you can tell her right here."

But Miss Clark was just unimpressed by this gesture, stepping closer until she was standing right in front of them. And though she was one head shorter than Ryan, she held his stern gaze and answered with as much arrogance as possible.

"Mr. Lucan, I don't know how you handle things in this backwater town, but where I come from, a private conversation is held between four eyes. And I think that Miss Chen is old enough to speak for herself, aren't you?"

Though blocking most of the incoming feelings, Alex could again see this bright red aura around this woman.

'How much anger must a person carry to shine so intensely?'

Fearing for her friends, Alex eventually made the decision to grant this woman the private conversation she was longing for.

"Guys," she said, "it's fine." And then faced the blonde as Steph and Ryan stepped aside. "Mrs. Clark, please come upstairs and let us talk."

"By any means, Miss Chen, lead the way."

Before Alex had reached the stairs, she got once more embraced by Steph, who whispered into her ear. "Holla if this bitch goes crazy!"

"Will do!" answered Alex with a wry smile, planting a peck on her girlfriend's lips, before she broke contact and led the other woman upstairs.

As the door fell into the lock and Alex was alone with this woman, she couldn't avoid that a cold shower ran over her spine.

Leena Clark went straight into the apartment, checking everything with her glare, and suddenly, Alex could see a faint green glow around her.

'Green? That's new. But, what does it mean?' she thought, and the answer came right on cue as she let her barrier drop a bit.

'Filthy! Disgusting! How can people live like this? This isn't an apartment, it's a pigsty… and this smell…just disgusting!'

Trying to ignore those unspoken insults, Alex eventually crossed her arms and said "You're Diane's boss, right? You're the one who ordered the second detonation that killed my brother!"

For a short moment, Leena froze, a red aura emerging from her body like a bright burst, before it vanished again and she turned around, having a forced smile on her face.

'How's she able to suppress her feelings so well? I've never experienced such a strong will before.'

"Indeed I've been Miss Jacobs' supervisor, but as you might have heard, she's not working for Typhon anymore. Concerning the tragic incident about your brother's demise, I had no involvement in this."

Of course, Diane got fired as soon as things about the second explosion and the accident eleven years ago got public. And she hadn't been the only one. Several employees, responsible for the dig sites around Haven Springs, had been dismissed and charged, including Mac Louden.

Alex actually felt sorry for Mac. He had tried to stop the blast and became just another victim of Typhon's greed and madness. And now hearing that people like Leena would get away free from this made the young woman just angry.

"Bullshit!" she blurted back. "You were the one who ordered the blast, though you knew that we were there."

"I didn't order anything, Miss Chen," replied the blond woman calmly. "Miss Jacobs ordered the blast to continue."

"But you pressured her to do it."

"I merely told her the consequences if she wouldn't do it. Eventually, it was her decision, since she'd been the Process Manager of this dig site. Besides…"

She then sat down on one of the chairs at a small dining table that was standing at the far wall of the room, after checking that it was clean enough, before continuing.

"...you weren't even allowed to be up there in the first place. So, everything that followed the explosion had been your responsibility."

"We were searchin' for a kid, who got lost in the woods and…"

"Miss Chen, what happened, happened. There's no going back. But I assure you that the persons responsible for this horrible incident will be punished by the full force of the law. Now, please…"

Once more giving the Asian woman an over-polite smile, Leena signed at the seat at the opposite side of the table. A clear sign that Alex should sit down. And though she thought for a while to grab the remaining chair and smash it into the blonde's shit-grinning face, she eventually complied and sat down.

"If the responsible persons will get charged, then why isn't your ass in prison?" Alex asked with a frown and crossed arms. "You clearly were involved in this since you planned the second explosion."

Alex thought that she had finally cornered her. That she would crack and do something stupid. But again, there was no emotion, not even a glimpse of it. Only this annoying over-kindly smirk.

"Miss Chen, whatever you think you've read or heard, it doesn't matter anymore. There's no evidence of my involvement whatsoever. I made my statement and am free of all charges, as well as you and your friends. Yes, you did some severe damage to the company. Typhon crashed on the stock-market and our CEO retired. So, I recommend that you fetch that juicy bone and run, unless you want to play the dirty game, and believe me, this won't end well for you."

Once more, Alex was faced with the bitter truth of a ruthless world. Typhon would get away with the murder of her brother and there wasn't anything she could do. Not without bringing herself and the people she cared about in grave danger. Oh how much she would love to yell at this devilish woman. To smack her in the face and choke her to death. To make them all suffer.

But what really freaked her out was, when she gazed back at Leena Clark and saw how a golden aura was shimmering around her.

'She enjoys my emotional pain! That she made me shut up. And I can't do anything about it. Fuck!'

"I think we all started on the wrong foot," Leena then spoke, opening her black case and bringing forth a bunch of papers, lying them on the table right in front of Alex. "So, how about we start again?"

"What's that?" scoffed Alex, not even touching the documents. "Another Affidavit?"

With a short chuckle, the older woman answered "Since you already neglected the first one, it wouldn't make any sense to try this again. No, that is a full employment contract."

Frowning in unbelief, Alex now took the clipped papers and started to read.

'A full employment contract, what the fuck?! Holy shit, is this for real?!'

Witnessing how the young woman was staring at the contract, Leena added "We'd take you under full contract as Typhon's new PR-Manager for the town of Haven Springs, including insurance, a regular and - I might add - generous salary and of course the chance for a very promising career. Or do you prefer to work as a bartender for the rest of your life?"

"But why me? I'm not a geologist, like Diane."

"You have your way with people, Miss Chen. They like you and we need someone who would shed a better light on the company. We always can get somebody else for the geology part, but handling the public..."

She should be impressed, and if offered a few months ago, she would've signed it without any hesitation. But this was Typhon, the devil. And a contract with the devil always meant to sell your soul.

"And what in fuck's name makes you think that I'd want to work for and help you?" Alex asked sceptically, tossing the contract back on the table like a hot potato.

But again, Leena stayed unimpressed by the Asian woman's aggressive gestures, stood up and gazed out of the window letting her sight wander over the mountains.

"Under those mountains lay resources worth billions of Dollars and with them safe jobs for decades. Let's face it, Miss Chen, you don't want to get rid of Typhon, unless…" She then looked back at her, pure malicious joy burning in her eyes. "...you want to turn Haven Springs into a ghost town."

"Haven can survive without Typhon!" answered Alex defiantly, but only got greeted with a scoff.

"Seventy percent of Haven Springs' population are under contract with Typhon Mining. Seventy percent, Miss Chen! What do you think happens, if seventy percent of the population moves away, because there are no jobs anymore? The economy will hit the bottom. Stores will have to close. This town would rot like a corpse in the sun, and all that for what? Some personal vendetta? You're smarter than this." Calmly, the blond woman closed her case again and prepared to leave. "You don't have to decide right now. My card's attached to the contract. So, call me when you have made a decision. Good day, Miss Chen."

With fast steps Leena walked to the apartment's door, leaving Alex alone with a lot to ponder about.

On her leave, she almost collided with Steph, who had been waiting right in front of the closed entrance and was now giving the blond woman an angry glare. Immediately two red auras merged as they kept staring at each other.

"Miss Gingrich," Leena then said, "eavesdropping on other people's private conversation is considered very rude and in this case even a federal crime!"

"I didn't eavesdrop," Steph retorted. "Just waited that you'd make the wrong move and I'd be able to kick your ass, bitch!"

The red aura rose, causing Alex to gasp as it hit her with full force. Realizing this, Steph eventually stepped aside and let the blond woman go. And to Alex' relief, the aura vanished with her, giving her some chance to calm down. Additionally, Steph was immediately at her side, helping with soothing brushes over her back.

"Damn, this cunt needs some serious poundin' to get that stick outta her ass!" mentioned the brunette, hoping to ease the tense atmosphere, but right the opposite was the effect. Alex was still heavily breathing and trying to regain her composure.

"She's dangerous, Steph. I never felt so much anger in one person. She literally despises Haven and every person who lives here."

"Then, what did she want anyway, besides behaving like a cunt?"

Finally able to get up again, Alex just handed her girlfriend the contract and let her read it, while she gazed out of the window and tried to use the beautiful landscape to calm down, sadly with only mediocre effect.

"Holy shit, is this for real?!" exclaimed Steph, watching with unbelief at her girlfriend. "Honestly, this shit is shady as fuck."

"No shit," scoffed Alex in return.

"Seriously, this is some heavy shit! Typhon's planning somethin' fucked if they offer you such a deal. You, who literally fucked 'em hard."

For a moment, Steph stayed silent, eyeing the contract a bit more, pondering what they should do about it.

"She was able to hide her feelings from me all the time," said Alex out of a sudden, drawing Steph's full attention to her.

"What?! How?"

"I dunno," replied the Asian girl, turning towards her girlfriend. "But I had the feeling that I was only able to read her feelings when she was overwhelmed by 'em or…"

"Or...?"

"Or when she wanted me to feel 'em."

"Fuck!" was everything that came into Steph's mind and escaped her lips as she failed to come up with any idea why this all was happening. Everything that remained were even more questions and incalculable unknowns.

"We need to show this to the others, 'cause something tells me that this is just the tip of the iceberg," she eventually said, holding up the contract, whereas Alex concurred with a stern nod.