"She sure is pretty."
Billy looked up at a younger security guard who had eyes so dark that they appeared black. Endless pits of darkness stared down at Lily where lust obviously roiled in them. The paleontologist stood up, right in front of the guard. "Yawell, she needs her rest and as her legal guardian," he took a slow breath, "Get out."
The guard turned and looked down at Billy who was about three inches shorter than him-just enough for him to look down when they spoke. The guard glanced down at Lily and then smiled, a mischievous smile that made Billy want to smack it right of his face that desperately needed a good shave. "Have a good day, Brennan." The guard turned and left without much other than a coy little grin.
The nurse filed out after the police officer, leaving him alone with Lily who seemed in her own little sleeping world. He got up, sighing to himself, and stood by the window in the other room as people filed in to clean the mess. The room soon came together all around him; the couch was righted with the cushions placed back into their proper positions, the coffee table was replaced with a less breakable one which was made of wood and had drawers beneath to hide various things. The lamp was replaced by one that dripped easily into the wall. One of the workers who'd helped put the room back together tried to comfort Billy, offering a few misplaced words of sympathy.
"At least next time she goes ape shit, she'll be less likely to break a bunch of expensive stuff."
Billy gave a glance over his shoulder that must've said to shut up and leave because the man, dressed in a drab pale tan jumper, left almost immediately.
A few minutes after the room was put together, a soft squealing sound came from her bedroom. Billy sighed and followed the sound, knocking on the door before stepping in to see her laying on her side with one arm up under her head, the other draped down in front of her. He felt bad for her, seeing the way she stared at him as if she were a doe caught in headlights.
"Why am I here?" she croaked, her voice so pained he couldn't help but look down in shame of himself. It was him, after all, who inevitably brought her to captivity.
He sighed, leaning against the dresser across from the bed. "I brought you here."
Her eyes narrowed, furrowing. He saw the youth in her mannerisms mixed with an animalistic, primal sense of betrayal. His gut burned as she lowly asked him why he did it. "Money… you never got to understand how important legal tender is. In my world, where I need to work for monster corporations to survive, people go to strange lengths to make it."
"So, it's your fault?"
He nodded, "Unfortunately."
"Get out," she murmured, slowly sitting up. "Get out, Billy."
When he didn't move she began to cough, but it wasn't a cough. It was more like a low, raspy wheezing that came in short bursts and were loud-deafening almost. His mind ached as a memory surged into the forefront of his thoughts. He remembered the sound coming from the raptor he and Mrs. Kerby had trapped in the holding cages behind the hatchery. She was calling for help.
"They aren't coming to save you," he said coldly, waning nothing more than to calm her down and explain himself.
She screamed, curling up into a ball and pushing herself as far back in against the corner of the room as possible, kicking the sheets and comforters off of the bed in the process. He finally gave up trying to get her to calm down and left. Just like a child, she'd have to learn that throwing a fit got her absolutely no where. Not here and certainly not in the jungle.
It was now three-forty-five in the afternoon and he wanted to try and get through to Alan, just to check in and let him know what's gone on in the last two days.
When he got back to his room, just down the hall from Lily's, he found that his laptop was not in its case that he'd tucked beneath his pillow. He also discovered that the flash drives which he was absolutely positive were stowed away in the front pocket of his satchel were also missing. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Wilder who, for the time being, was his speed dial number 3.
"Wilder speaking," her voice was oddly delightful. She must have had a few glasses of $90 a bottle wine or some other snobby relaxing elixir.
"Where the fuck is my stuff?" he growled bitterly.
She laughed, the sound reminiscent of pots clanking annoyingly as opposed to the delightful melodic sound of Lily's laughter. "Unfortunately we had to confiscate your electronics."
"For what? I didn't do anything…"
"We have reason to believe you've been conspiring against us. After a short investigation we're sure that you're electronics will be returned unharmed. Don't worry Brennan."
"Don't worry? You illegally confiscated my personal, private property and you tell me to calm down!"
"We had a warrant."
Billy laughed, throwing his head back and laughing so guttural and spiteful that Wilder groaned quietly in agitation. "Signed by who?"
"A judge."
He snorted, "Really? Where the hell did you find a judge that was willing to sign a warrant to confiscate my private property without due cause?"
"We had due cause. Your electronics were entered as evidence into an investigation against Alan Grant."
"Are you fucking kidding me?"
"Goodbye Brennan."
"Don't you dare hang up on me, Wilder."
The other line clicked and he almost threw his cell phone in anger. Instead, he tossed it onto the dresser in his room and laid on the bed. At least they hadn't taken his books. His hands wrapped around a large 3 book combination all in one binding called the Vampire Chronicles which included three of Anne Rice's most prevalent vampire novels: Interview with a Vampire, the Vampire Lestat, and Queen of the Damned. He certainly didn't look like the type to read a vampire novel. Billy mainly read the novels because he was highly fond of Rice's writing style.
He laid there and read, letting the gurgling of his digesting stomach sooth him into a rhythm until he could get in two pages a minute. Within three hours he had finished the second book, ready to move onto the third before deciding to take a walk. Ordinarily, he'd be at the gym by 9 PM, though at the compound in San Diego, things weren't going exactly his way.
The halls were quiet, save for a janitor with a floor waxing machine that hummed down a distant hallway. He turned from left to right once outside of his room, smelling the Pinesol used to cleans the floors, the tangy and tart lemon scent tickled his nose. Turning to the left he ventured towards the administrative side of the compound, hoping to find someone that he can ask about the occupants of the compound.
The hallways were a drab Heather grey below a chair line designated by a lifted white molding, the walls an off-white eggshell above the chair line. Track lights lined the ceiling, pointed stylishly down at the wall casting soft cones to the floor. He walked softly, his shoes thudding with each step and sticking noisily-if he wanted to hide his approach, now was certainly not the time. He turned down an empty hall that had a service window and a few signs about twenty feet down the corridor, ending with a door that had an exit sign above it. Though it wasn't a legitimate exit, it served its purpose in allowing people to believe that in the case of emergency there was in fact a way out.
Down at the service window he peered in to see a young woman with a short deep chestnut colored bob, pale grey eyes and thin rose-colored lips staring back out the window. She jumped a bit when he appeared, a high pitched gasp escaping her.
"Golly, I didn't see you there…" she leaned forward, straining to see a tag that still sat on the dresser in his room.
"Oh, uh, Brennan, William Brennan," he cleared his throat, leaning forward. He cut her off before she could politely greet him. "I'm here because I just wanted to know the status of the occupants in the compound. How many people are staying here? Amenities? Is my room being monitored? What staff is here?"
The woman sat back and smiled, delighted that she was able to answer all the questions he asked. "Well Mr. Brennan, we've got a staff of twelve who stay overnight at the facility-myself included. The night crew consists of two janitors, three security guards, two live-in paramedics, two receptionists and three scientists that rotate daily with three other scientists located in the labs which are strictly for authorized personnel only. Then there's you, Mr. Brennan and Lily Rhodes. James Owen is located at a commercial hotel off of Harbor Drive." She took a breath and then went on, her small child-like hands fidgeting with various pens on the desk before her, "We have a gym complete with an indoor heated pool, public showers, cafeteria that never closes-though at night only the vending machines are available-and WiFi. Unfortunately, every square inch of this compound is monitored with cameras which are sneaky so don't bother trying to look for them and…" she thought for a moment, twirling a red Bic around her index middle and thumb, "That about answers all your questions I reckon."
Billy nodded his head, looking within the receptionist's area to see if he could find any bits of info not revealed to him. She stood and moved into his plain of vision, "Is there anything else I could help you with, sir?"
He shook his head, tapping his fingers on the counter before thanking her and heading back down the hall to his room. The following three days were the most boring that Billy had experienced since he finished two years at a junior college before moving on to university.