Chapter 24: Black Clouds
Summary: Sephrim returns with information about his encounter with Xander.
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Riley stared out the office window at the black sky. Off in the distance pockets in between the clouds lit up with a white light. A few moments later thunder whispered to her rumors of its coming. She tapped her pencil on the wooden desk and re-crossed her legs. A pile of papers sat in front of her, waiting for a signature. Beside them a half empty coke formed a puddle of water around itself. A little business card holder lay upside down with the cards strewn everywhere from when she had previously knocked them over. The clock on the wall beat against her brain.
Tick, tick, tick.
Underneath it her father had written; "Time is precious, don't waist a second of it."
"I'm not wasting time," Riley said aloud. "I'm enjoying God's creation." If only that was half true, she thought.
The first paper came off the stack.
"Blahdy, blahdy, blah. Boring, boring, boring. I'd much rather work with customers than with paper."
"Well then," came a voice. "You can help me."
Riley knew the owner immediately. She pushed her chair to face the door and jumped up to meet the visitor. "Seph.! Aren't you a welcome interruption! You have no idea how much I missed you!"
Like a little child again her arms wrapped around his neck in a hug. Her feet barely touched the ground as he straightened up and held her by the waist. Riley let go and stepped back. She noticed the pained expression on his face. "Are you OK? And what are you doing here? I thought you were taking care of....uh, our little problem."
"I did, but my plan didn't exactly pan out as nicely as I would have liked it to," Sephrim said putting a hand to his side. "Xander's knee got well aquatinted with my jaw and ribs."
"Oh you poor thing," Riley said.
"Ah, I just can't believe I let him get away." He growled.
"But you still delayed him, so it wasn't all a loss."
"What good does a delay do?" Sephrim asked sitting down in the seat across from her desk.
"It gives us more time to prepare."
This time both Sephrim and Riley turned. David walked in and he and Sephrim shook hands. "It's good to see you Dave."
"And it's good to see you not dead," David replied. He leaned up against Riley's desk and crossed his arms.
"I wouldn't have given Xander the pleasure."
"Do you know where he is now?" David asked.
Sephrim rubbed his forehead and thought for a moment. "He and Karma are..." he paused and looked up at David. "They're in New Mexico, a little motel. They'll be here tomorrow."
David sighed and paced for a moment. He tapped his fingers on his lips and shut his eyes to think. The clock on the wall kept the silence out.
Riley and Sephrim watched David closely waiting for what he had to say. One word from him and the world reversed it's direction. All their plans, all their focus, even all their futures depended on this man's mind. Without his input, their plans failed. The agonizing silence dragged on. They knew that at any time they could simply look into his head, see his thoughts; at this point he left it open for them. But they revered him and allowed him privacy.
David turned back toward them on his heel and stood motionless.
Everything froze.
"First, we get Dakota out of Alex's house as soon as possible; the burden's too much for Alex."
"Where do we take him?" Riley asked.
"Why not Darkwood Community?" Sephrim asked. "It's the safest place for him to be right? Your brother could..."
"Sephrim, you know very well why we can't do that, we've discussed this."
"But they..."
"The only way that they can be protected is if they are separate." David interrupted.
Sephrim sighed. "You're right, I know you're right. I just know that we're desperate. I was just trying every angle."
David passed a hand over his head and raised his shoulders. His eyes focused on the sky outside the window. No light could be seen anymore, the black clouds ruled the expanse now.
Riley watched her father. "Dad, you OK?" She asked.
David shook himself, "Just dealing with an enemy." He cleared his throat. "We'll take him to our apartment Riley. He'll be safer there. Sephrim, you keep your eyes on Xander, and if you can, Karma. Inform me of everything you can. And Riley, you finish up here, then...tomorrow we'll go get Dakota. Everybody clear?"
They nodded.
"Good, let's get to it."
