Chapter 2
It was two o' clock in the morning and Helen Magnus had fallen asleep on the couch in her office for the third time that week, sitting up no less. Her head snapped to attention, now acutely aware of the fact that she was covered in earl grey. She had been so tired that she'd fallen asleep mid sip, thus spilling the cups contents all over her white, button-down shirt as well as the files resting in her lap. Helen groaned as she tugged at the tea soaked top, now sticking uncomfortably to her chest. She looked down at her lap to find the pages in the folder covered with puddles of brown liquid; much of the text now completely unreadable.
"Damn it" she huffed, thoroughly annoyed.
She couldn't help the anger that arose at the thought of her own weakness. To succumb so easily to exhaustion was not like her. Helen was absolutely determined to find some answers about the events at Carentan. This past year she'd been taken by surprise too many times and she knew that she couldn't afford to let it happen again, not when the stakes were so high.
Helen sat facing the now dwindling fire letting its warmth wash over her as she closed her eyes, breathing deeply. Relaxation wasn't exactly her forte, but she supposed these exercises were better than the alternative. She tightened the muscles in her body one by one and then working her way up from the tips of her toes, she let go letting her weary form sink into the sofa cushions beneath her. Still unbelievably tense from the neck up, Helen began to rub circles at her temples as if trying to erase whatever mind barriers were keeping her from the answers she desired. Her hands stilled as she felt a shift in the atmosphere. Something felt different, she just couldn't say what. Helen tried to ignore the chill rising from the base of her spine, but a loud pop from the fireplace startled her out of her reverie.
She promptly stood up to clear away her unfortunate mess, needing to do something with her hands, but the sudden movement sent the blood rushing straight to her head. She swayed, her knees buckling as a tingling sensation overwhelmed her entire body and little black blotches rapidly clouded her vision. Helen quickly clamped on to the arm of the couch to keep herself from falling. She held on tight, steadying herself as she waited for her vision to clear. Once she was again in full control of her body, Helen started straightening up her office. If her manservant were to find it in this state she would likely receive yet another lecture on the importance of rest.
A faint thudding sound started to permeate Helen's hearing as she tidied the room. It was barely even audible, but she could practically feel its waves surrounding her. She shivered again and began to wonder if it was the sound of her own heartbeat racing to her ears. Helen started to hasten her pace, determined to leave behind her office for the night. Obviously the chill from wearing wet clothing and her current state of exhaustion were starting to make her a little loopy. 'You are being ridiculous' she thought. 'You are not afraid to be alone in your own office at night'! There it was, the cold hard reality that stopped her in her tracks, fear had snuck up on Helen Magnus and she had no idea why. With that realization, anger started to work itself into a tight little ball in the pit of her stomach. She clenched her jaw tight and defiantly went about finishing her task.
Just as she was about to put out the fire, Helen was overcome by the sensation of being watched. She stiffened her posture, not daring to move a single muscle as she felt a set of eyes burning holes in her back. The thudding noise came rushing back to her ears once again and this time it sounded closer and it was picking up pace. She held her ground, listening intently even as a single droplet of tea ran a trail down the length of her leg causing her body to shiver. She whipped her head around quickly to find only empty space. Never leaving her position in front of the fireplace, Magnus carefully surveyed the office looking into each shadowy corner searching for the pair of eyes that were surely still studying her. The thudding became softer again, but was still there, a constant that filled out the symphony of humming electricity and soft air against the window glass. Helen reached slowly for the iron poker next to the mantle and gripped it tightly in her hand. Screwing up a nerve, she slowly stalked towards the floor-length drapes adorning her window. She held her breath with each step, extremely conscious of where she placed each stiletto clad foot. Although she was trying desperately not to make any noise, Helen was absolutely certain if someone were behind the curtain they could already hear her pounding heart a mile away. When she reached the window she slowly curled one hand into the delicately embroidered material and yanked it open with one clean jerk. Finding nothing behind either of the drapes, she breathed a deep sigh of relief. Helen started to chuckle at the utter ridiculousness of the situation, her shoulders shaking with each uneven breath. Finally she clapped her free hand over her mouth to prevent her bout of giggles from erupting into full blown hysterics.
"Here's another juicy little anecdote for your psychoanalysis, Will" she huffed, expelling the remaining chuckles from her tired body.
Helen walked back over to the fire place and replaced the iron poker in its rightful position and finished putting the fire to bed, deciding it was long past time she did the same with herself. As darkness enshrouded the room, she headed for the door moving a little more swiftly than usual. She told herself it was just because she was in a hurry to crawl into her warm bed and replenish herself with some much needed sleep. She couldn't believe that she had allowed herself to become so exhausted that her mind had started playing tricks on her like this. As her fingers grasped the door knob she yanked at it with surprising force and practically catapulted herself to the other side of the door. She slammed the door shut and turned her key in the lock, imprisoning the darkness lest it get any fancy ideas like trying to follow her.
Riding in the elevator, Magnus felt a renewed sense of calm start to wash over her. She knew she was just being silly. She had run herself ragged and this little freak out was just her body's way of screaming at her to get some rest. As the elevator grew nearer its destination the thudding noise returned with renewed vigor. Any other night, Helen would have thought to bring her walkie with her and could have called out to Henry to investigate the noise. This, however, was not any other night. When the elevator doors opened the sound grew in intensity yet again.
As she vacated the elevator and stepped out into the dimly lit hallway, Magnus felt a new wave of anger washing over her. She would not be terrorized by a noise, especially since there was probably some painfully ordinary cause behind it. It could be an abnormal on the loose for all she knew, but if that were the case Henry or the Big Guy would surely have contacted her when the incident began. There would also no doubt be quite the commotion going on with her pajama-clad employees sprinting through the halls carrying stunners and yelling obscenities. Helen smiled slightly at the mental image the thought conjured. She would just have to investigate further once she's gotten to her room.
Her steps quickened with each passing second. It seemed the nearer she got to her destination the louder the sound was becoming. Helen was almost certain she knew what the sound was but her brain just refused to define it. Finally, the bedroom door was in her sight. As she rounded the corner to make a dash for the handle, Helen was hit full force by something solid and was knocked to the ground. The wind knocked out of her lungs, it took her a moment to take stock of what had just happened. Her eyes were closed, the thudding noise was gone, and something heavy and soft was lying on top of her.
Before she had time to react, a familiar voice pulled her out of her shock.
"Magnus? Oh God, I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" said the disembodied voice of Will Zimmerman.
Helen felt the weight on top of her body start to rise and slowly opened her eyes to find the face of her young protégé hovering above her, blue eyes full of concern. Her breath was still coming in uneven spurts as she tried to calm her racing heart.
"Yes, Will. I am all right. You gave me quite a start there." She managed between breaths.
Will and Magnus locked eyes while they attempted to collect themselves once again. For a split second, he could have sworn he saw fear in her eyes, but it quickly disappeared and was replaced with the softness of relief. It wasn't until he felt Magnus starting to stir beneath him that he realized he was still basically straddling her, holding the full force of his weight off of her with his arms. Will cleared his throat and quickly extricated himself from the rather precarious position. He tried his best to hide his obvious embarrassment as he offered a hand to help his boss back up to her feet.
"Sorry" Will started. "I didn't think anyone else was still up so I decided to go for a run, work off some of the excess energy that was keeping me up."
As she dusted herself off, Helen took a moment to take in the appearance of her friend who was now sheepishly staring at his feet. He was dressed in an old cotton t-shirt, green basketball shorts, and a pair of white cross-trainers. His face was red and beaded with sweat, as was the rest of him.
" It's quite alright Will. You'll just have to be a little more careful in the future when using the Sanctuary halls for recreational running." Helen said only teasing him a little.
Will smiled and turned his gaze back to his boss. He'd been so rattled by literally running into his boss that he hadn't noticed her disheveled appearance until just now.
"Whoa. Magnus. What happened here?" he said pointing at her stained top and pencil skirt.
"Ah, this?" she asked gesturing to her damp outfit. "Just the hazard of drinking tea long past one's bedtime, I'm afraid."
Will smiled warmly and felt himself relax slightly. He'd spent a full hour in the gym and nothing, so he decided he'd simply run until he passed out from exhaustion because apparently that was the only way he was going to get any relief. Who knew just one embarrassing run in with Helen Magnus was all it would take to knock the stick right out of his you know what? He chuckled softly as his body settled back into its normal rhythm.
"You do know what will happen if the Big Guy finds out?" he teased her.
"I don't see how he could possibly find out seeing as any late-night runner with a story to tell would surely suffer the same fate" she offered innocently with an angelic smile.
"Okay, you win." Will said as he put up his hands in mock surrender. "Check and mate."
Magnus giggled softly at Will's gesture. She couldn't help it, she was so exhausted and so relieved that she wasn't alone in her office feeling paranoid anymore. She looked up to find Will smiling at her. She walked over, gave his hand a little squeeze and bid him goodnight. As Will watched her disappear behind her bedroom door he let out a contented sigh as he felt the last of his anger wash away. 'She laughed', he thought. 'All is right with the world'.