Sleeping Beauty

Chapter Six


Pulling up outside of Dunn Fragrances Factory, Yolanda Percy and Aphrodite looked at the building. They watched as the trucks came in by the gate where security did a vast check of every vehicle that entered the factory.

"You're up Aphrodite," Yolanda said.

Closing her eyes, Aphrodite took a deep breath. Filtering out the car horns, talking mortals and trucks, her mind honed in on to the factory. A pink aura lined her body as she felt her mind pull away from the car she was sitting in and entered the building. Wandering down each corridor, she followed the white silver trail that line the floor. Selene was here and she was going to find her.

Going through corridor after corridor, Aphrodite continued following the trail until she came across a door she couldn't phase through. Taking a deep breath, Aphrodite focused her aura and ran toward the door, only to fall down in front of it. Shaking her head, the scent she smelled from before radiated from behind this door.

Rising to her feet, Aphrodite stared at the door. She glanced around at the white floor and lime green walls, along with the silver door.

Aphrodite opened her eyes as her pink aura around her body disappeared.

"She's there behind a silver door, that I couldn't penetrate," Aphrodite said, taking a breath.

"Okay, that confirms it, but it's strange you couldn't get through the door," Percy said.

"Yeah, my guest is it's enforced with something or by someone," Aphrodite said.

"Hmm, what do you think, Yolanda?" Percy asked.

Scratching her head, Yolanda noticed a crow on the gate. She glanced at Percy and Aphrodite and looked back at the window, but the crow was gone.

"Okay, let's go. We need to think of our next move," Yolanda said, starting the car and driving away.

The crow landed on Mr. C's shoulder. Petting the crow, his eyes glowed red as they both stared at the car driving away.

"Interesting," Mr. C said, looking at the crow with his glowing eyes. "Follow them, and if they should make a move, you know what to do."

Screeching, the crow took off, following the car. Tipping his hat, Mr. C stepped back into the shadows.

Meanwhile, at the apartment, Joseph is sitting at his desk with three screens in front of him, along with a keyboard and mouse. While Tracy laid on the couch with a tablet in her hand, along with files spread across the table and her cellphone beside her.

Soon the door opened and in walked Yolanda, Percy, and Aphrodite.

"I'm back. Any updates?" Yolanda asked, shutting the door behind her.

"Nope, nothing so far," Joseph replied.

"Same here," Tracy replied. "Is Selene at the factory?"

"Yes," Aphrodite replied.

"Okay, Joseph, you heard her," Tracy said.

Nodding, Joseph switched the monitors and started typing as Aphrodite pulled up a chair and sat down next to him. Tracy cleared her throat caused him to stiffen. Laughing, Aphrodite smiled while Percy shook his head.

"It must be boring looking at these screens all day." Aphrodite said.

Joseph merely smiled and shook his head.

"No, it's fine, my gift makes it easy," Joseph said pointing to his eyes.

Aphrodite noticed Joseph's eyes turn from sky blue to yellow with a black iris in the center. For a moment there she could of swore they look like the eyes of an eagle. The moment Joseph blinked; his eyes returned to normal.

"Oh, very nice, but what about eye strain?" Aphrodite asked.

"I take long breaks, so no worries," Joseph said.

"His nickname is eagle eye, and it does him justice," Yolanda said, walking into the kitchen.

Percy looked at Tracy, who placed her hand on her tablet. He watched as tabs popped up on her tablet. Tracy's eyes held a reddish blue tent as more and more tabs opened up on her tablet. Pulling her hand away from her tablet, she looked at Percy as her eyes returned to normal.

"While Joseph monitors the factory and offices, I watch the stocks, trades, rumors and any other media news about Dunn Fragrances," Tracy said.

"Okay, but how were you able to do that just now?" Percy asked.

"Technopathy," Tracy said.

"Care to run that by me again?" Percy asked, scratching his head.

"I can mentally sync with technology," Tracy said. "Think of it as telepathy, but with machines instead of minds."

Percy nodded. Tracy smiled as she handed two key cards to Percy.

Looking at them for a moment, Percy stared back at Tracy.

"What are these for?"

" The next step in our plan," Tracy said, followed with a smile.

Meanwhile, at the Dunn Factory, Mr. C walked out from the shadows standing in front of a silver metal door. At first glance, it looked like a simple door, but the moment he touched it, he winced. As he pulled back his hand, he stared at the burned mark on it. After a few moments, a silver glow covered the door. His eyes narrowed as two silver wolves phased through growling at him.

Putting his hands up, Mr. C Took a step back.

"I understand. I won't come any closer. You pups protect your mistress well," Mr. C. said, before disappearing back into the shadows.

On the other side of the door, laying in a crystal chamber with tubes extracting her silver glow and transferring them to jars, was Selene. Her body seemed paler with each jar of essences the machine took from her. Even her breathing would be labored from time to time.

Yet through it all, a single tear slid down Selene's cheek. For even in her current state, there was only one name she kept repeating over and over in her mind.

Chiron