Black heeled shoes clacked quietly against the stark, smooth pavement. A click-clack rhythm echoed across the facility's grounds. The artificial trees stood still despite the breeze as they towered over the lone woman, intimidating and silent.
The bag that hung from her shoulder swayed back and forth with momentum. She held it tightly. It wouldn't do to have certain objects spill out.
They really call this 'good cover'? Jazz Fenton thought with a frown. She nervously swept a stray strand of red hair away as she walked along the designated visitor's path.
Jazz was surprised that the facility allowed visitors, especially with what they were doing inside.
They try so hard to appear innocuous. Too bad some minds are sharper than others. Jazz glanced around with turquoise eyes and a small smile.
A breeze shifted behind her, yet she didn't as much as twitch. Because she already knew it was there and not a danger. At least, not to her. One wouldn't be able to see with the pure naked eye, but perhaps with a 'certain' developed sixth sense…they would have seen a large ghost following behind.
"Do you need to be here, Jazz?" A deep voice penetrated the silence.
"Why wouldn't I be?" Jazz retorted.
"I can handle this myself and-" the ghost continued, his red eyes flashed in irritation.
"Then what? Let yourself get discovered?" Jazz cut him off. She conveniently ignored the quiet growl. "Then they'll either try to get rid of him or move him somewhere else!"
The growling continued. It slowly rose in pitch.
"Dan," Jazz said softly. She stopped and turned around. Normally she wouldn't see an invisible ghost with her eyes alone. However, she did have special contacts on them. They enabled her to see through that invisible barrier. "You might think you're invincible…you know you can't do this alone."
Dan's growls quietened, replaced with a silent snarl instead. His red eyes dimmed, fiery white hair calmer. His pale green skin seemed considerably duller.
"I know you're worried about Kai," Jazz continued. "We need to think about this carefully."
"How did-" Dan fisted his hand, the sharpened nails dug into his skin through the fabric.
"You're very antsy," Jazz said, hands on her hips. "And don't think I haven't noticed how his presence makes you calmer."
Fuck. Am I getting too soft? Dan set his jaw and averted his gaze. Yes, he did miss Kai's presence, but he didn't think it was that obvious.
He wasn't the type to be clingy. Dan grunted quietly. His head remained turned away.
Jazz continued walking, and Dan was quick to follow behind her. The 'trees' panned out as the duo approached the facility with a painfully white sign settled in front of it.
G.I.W. Headquarters
At best, the building was not particularly nice to look at. It was too…still Lifeless. At worst, it was a secret facility where unethical experiments were likely being done on ghosts.
Kai was in there. He vanished about a month and a half ago. They had difficulty with leads, and the trail was pretty much cold. Until recently. An anonymous source. They refused to say who they were but knew where to start looking proper. Of course, the culprit had to be the G.I.W.
Jazz readied the bag she had slung over her shoulder as they got closer. She did her best to keep a firm expression. However, the crinkle of her brows suggested otherwise. That and she was clinging on to the bag's straps for dear life.
"This place is trying so hard that I'm a little unnerved by it," Jazz commented. It was too quiet. She didn't see any guards or officials around. Instead, a dead and heavy atmosphere hung over her.
Dan rolled his eyes but remained silent. Admittedly, he didn't like the place either.
"It reminds me of the dollhouse setup I had as a little girl," Jazz said. She wrung her hands with the bag strap.
Dan noticed her speech speeding up and the nervous motions. He sighed quietly. Jazz was going to start her nervous, nonstop rambling. She had the capacity to on and on without taking a breath.
Great.
Dan didn't mind it that much. It was exhausting to listen to at times.
"It was an old dollhouse, one of those vintage ones," she started. "I didn't always like playing with it, though."
Just like you don't want to be here right now, Dan thought snidely.
"It used to sit directly across from my bed, so it was always within view when I was asleep."
They were getting closer now, how big was this place? It seemed to expand infinitely the closer they got.
"Whenever the moonlight shone on it, it had this..." Jazz stopped, unsure of the word. "Uncanny valley effect to it. Like it was alive when it wasn't supposed to be."
No windows or any visible doors. They were using optical illusions, clever camouflage.
"Sometimes I'd swear I saw shadows moving in it." The click-clack of Jazz's shoes echoed loudly. "But every time I looked closer…there would be nothing there."
Perhaps if this facility weren't so try-hard, it would've looked nothing more than a bizarre white slab in the middle of nowhere. But then again, the GiW were not exactly known for being discreet.
A hand grabbed her shoulder, and Jazz jumped, a low-key shriek emitted from her mouth. Teeth gritted, she looked back, and she frowned. Dan's black and white form towered over her, the cape snug around his neck, his expression hard. He let go over her shoulder and carefully took hold of her head.
He gently turned it towards the building, Jazz blinked. She didn't realize they were so close. Where were the doors?
"I think you can stop now," Dan said as he pulled his hand away, "you sounded like you were narrating a horror story."
Jazz frowned again, lips pinched. She had gone off rambling, as usual. Rather than retort, she instead asked, "How's the bracelet working for you, Dan?"
Dan's eyes went down to the 'bracelet' on his forearm. He lifted his arm and gave it a slight flex.
"All I know is that it fits perfectly on my wrist," he answered.
"Yes, but you haven't heard anything go off?" Jazz gestured her hands.
Now that Dan thought about it, the grounds were far too quiet. He gave Jazz an inquiring glance.
"So, it is working," she said in a tone that read realization. It was typical of her to doubt that their-her parents' inventions would work. Jazz technically did have a reason to believe as such, considering that she had been targeted by them more times than she could count.
"If that bracelet weren't working, we would've been swarmed by now because they detected your ecto-signature," Jazz pointed out.
Dan nodded along dismissively. He didn't have much of a care for Fenton's anti-ghost technology. However, he thought the 'bracelet' fit him quite nicely, and it appeared to be designed to blend in with whoever wore it. Currently, it blended in with the black of his glove.
"So, how do we get in?" Jazz asked with her arms crossed. "I know this is the entrance. I don't see a way to get in."
Dan tilted his head to see if he could spot anything out of the ordinary.
Which…if he craned his head just enough, a mass of distorted lines lined up to form a set of doors. It was far cleverer than standing out like a sore thumb if Dan had anything to say about it.
He leaned in close to Jazz's ear. "I'd say if you look just right, you'll see it."
"What do you mean?" Jazz leaned away as he was far too close in her personal space.
She followed his eyes to…nothing, just a blank space.
"I don't see anything-" Jazz tilted her head, the bag swung from her shoulder idly. She stopped and stared. Her eyes rapidly blinked. "What is that?"
Misshapen and zig-zag lines that looked like an abysmal exterior design choice. Jazz furrowed her brows the longer she stared at them. They looked too out of place. She craned her neck, and the lines moved. They came together to form…a set of doors. Her mouth made an 'o' shape before she rounded on Dan.
"Why didn't you say anything?" Jazz asked in a heated tone.
There was a chuckle and a shrug; Dan had his eyes closed, seemingly ignoring her.
"I did," he said, a hand gestured towards her.
Jazz made a 'hmph' sound, "Oh brother..."
She opted to ignore him for the moment and moved to step closer, as close as she could get, without setting anything off. Other than maybe the security protocols.
Every step Jazz took had her grip the bag straps in a vice-like hold. She was afraid that the next step would be like setting off a landmine. The silence was deafening, and her body gradually grew to feel like jelly. Each step became stiffer than the last. The hypersensitivity didn't help either. As soon as her foot made contact with the ground, her body would lurch in surprise.
Jazz held her breath as well. Her breathing was too loud for her, and she needed to focus. Ghost attacks have made her a little more than paranoid. Then, Jazz heard a small beep. Her head snapped up with incredible force. A slot opened up in the wall, and a security camera emerged.
Its lens was zeroed in on Jazz before it made a 180° turn with a droning hum. A green light beamed from it and scanned the surrounding area. Both Jazz and Dan knew what it was for.
Dan, in particular, tensed up, his hands fisted into tight balls. He watched the camera with sharp eyes, daring it to find him where he stood. Yet it passed right over him. It did not indicate detecting his presence.
What did he expect? Dan folded his arms, mild disappointment formed in his chest.
The security camera withdrew into the darkness where it came from, followed by a set of doors opening. They methodically slid open to an even whiter interior. Both Dan and Jazz blinked in discomfort at sight. It was practically blinding.
How were they supposed to find their way around if it was just a single colored void? Then, after a few moments of letting their eyes adjust as much as they could, they spotted the silhouette of a man standing at the entrance. He was a Caucasian man with an all-white suit and dark sunglasses. All GiW agents wore the same outfit.
"Want me to take him out or…?" Dan asked Jazz. He readied his body, eager to fight.
"Dan, they may not be able to see or detect you," Jazz said sharply, "but I bet they can hear you if you make too much noise."
The sharpness in her tone made any retort in Dan's mouth die off. His jaw stiffened, and his ears tilted downward in a pout. He slowly walked behind her, silent and invisible. The man - presumably a guard - greeted Jazz once she was closer.
"Visiting, I presume?" He asked with a small but articulated smile. He was faking it. His clothes were spotless and creaseless, like they had never seen a fight in its lifespan. There was no gun holster either, which was odd.
"Um…yes," Jazz said awkwardly.
"It's not very often we get visitors." The guard stood aside with his arm outstretched. "Come through here, please."
The pause he made was a warning. Jazz stepped through with trepidation. She had to keep her head down so the white void of the interior wouldn't disorient her.
The guard led her to what appeared to be the front desk. There was a woman settled behind it, focused, even if idly so, on her computer. She tapped away loudly as the other went around to whisper something in her ear.
As the two agents were busy, Jazz took the time to examine her surroundings. White, white everywhere. She figured it was to confuse any unwanted visitors. Or as a means to…torment the ones being kept inside.
The silhouettes of the furniture were barely visible—invisible obstacles for someone to stumble over. Specific details were nonexistent. They were bound to send people around in circles.
It was entirely and utterly spotless. Jazz did get the need for a sense of cleanliness; this was too much. It stood too still and lifeless, just like outside. She shifted around in discomfort. An uneasy feeling grew in her chest.
Jazz's attention snapped up as soon as the guard returned with a small box. He came to a stop, delicately and professionally holding the box. It seemed so innocuous. Jazz shot him a questioning glance.
"Dark glasses miss," the guard answered, "to protect your eyes."
Jazz nodded in understanding. Her eyes were already sore from just physically being in here for a few minutes. She glanced behind her - she'd better grab a pair for Dan too.
"Thank you," Jazz said. Her hand reached into the box and took two pairs of dark glasses. She made sure not to make any sudden movements, her hand by her side. The guard nodded and left to put the box back wherever he got it from. With him temporarily gone, Jazz put her glasses on and held the second pair behind her.
She didn't have to wait long before she felt them being removed from her hand. Dan's presence loomed behind her.
The guard returned a couple of minutes later. He didn't say anything as he motioned for Jazz to follow him. They walked along the entrance hall. Jazz had an easier time making out her surroundings. The silhouettes were more visible, but not by much.
She didn't have any more time to check it all out when the guard stopped. She stopped behind him. In front of them was a heavy, steel door. Next to it was a small window with a gap at its bottom. Another woman sat behind it, a pin on her white blouse read 'security.'
The guard leaned on the window's ledge to talk to the woman. The conversation was whispered and hurried. Finally, the woman nodded and reached under the window. Her hand emerged with a visitor ID card. She smoothly slid it under the gap, and the guard accepted it. In hand, he turned to Jazz and handed it out to her.
"Visitor ID miss, we don't want you are getting wrangled by the wrong individuals," he said.
Once Jazz took it and had it around her neck without a word, she was directed through the steel door. The guard remained behind.
"Just go through there, miss. Someone will take you to the visitor's lounge," he said with a smile that had a strange glint.
Jazz looked back briefly in suspicion, her lips pinched. They didn't suspect her already…?
Inside the corridor beyond the steel door, she was met by another male GiW agent. He was stiffly silent as he motioned for her to follow. The white, seemingly endless corridor made Jazz feel tiny. Like she was a mouse in a maze.
Dan, who had been silent the whole time, leaned in close. He made sure to speak in a low tone not to alert any others to his presence.
"You know they're not actually going to take you to the 'visitor's lounge,' right?" He whispered to her. He made quotation marks with his fingers.
"Yes." Jazz turned her head just slightly.
The corridor was uncomfortably silent. An overbearing sense of unease came over them. The walls seemed to close the further they went in, creating a claustrophobic environment. Jazz hoped they wouldn't get lost in here, physically and mentally.