The Fall - Chapter 2 (Patreon)

They took Zoe’s car, she insisted on driving whenever they went out together and this time was no different. Lucas had his driver’s licence and his own car, but like most things they did together, Zoe wanted to dictate every aspect of it. Lucas momentarily thought that he might fight her on it and insist they take his car this time, but it passed quickly when he realised how silly it sounded. He was getting a free trip out of this and not having to spend money on fuel, what was there to argue about. His budget was already pretty slim as it stood; renting the one bedroom apartment was quite staggering for the size of the place.

Zoe had the right idea staying at home with her parents until she could afford a decent sized deposit on her own place. Unlike Lucas however, she had the luxury of her own granny flat disconnected from the rest of the house. It had its own mini kitchen and its own bathroom; completely isolated from her parents it gave her privacy. The simple fact that Lucas was living on his own was the only thing that put him above Zoe in his own eyes. It was a level of maturity that even she hadn’t grasped to put it plainly, she was still living at home even if it was in her own semidetached place.

If Lucas was to look at the situation realistically, she was saving a lot more money than he was and still enjoyed a strong level of independence. He could never admit that though, he threw himself into the unknown to prove that he could manage living by himself. It was only in this regard that he felt a level of superiority over her, something he could hold over her head. It was incredibly petty, but he needed something to grasp on too, it helped him feel mature and focused especially at work. His job was incredibly dull but he was rather good at it, if he kept it up he was confident that in another year he could be a manager in his department.

Sure he wasn’t really putting his college degree to work, but at least it was a paying job. A strong step in the right direction, once he found someone he could look at getting a bigger place and starting a family, becoming a ‘real man.’

“We’re here.” Zoe said, pulling Lucas out of his disjointed stupor.

Lucas looked up, it was definitely a new building, the architecture was significantly modernised. As they pulled up he realised the whole place was covered in mirrored glass, it made it look almost invisible as it reflected the long stretch of highway they had travelled right back at them. The parking lot was huge; it looked almost completely vacant except for a handful of cars parked rather far apart. It made it hard to tell how busy it would actually be inside.

Lucas was expecting to see limousines and other expensive cars line by the front with some kind of red ticket parade, but they looked like normal cars just how his and Zoe’s looked he couldn’t see anything special about them.

They walked towards the entrance, Zoe’s path was fixated but Lucas kept his head on a swivel. As they got closer to the inside his paranoia grew, he looked for signs, posters, anything that might suggest where they were headed. Everything seemed so allusive, just like their slogans it was all so secretive, he was quite amazed that the employees had kept everything locked down and no one seemed to know what this place actually was.

He was rather gobsmacked when they walked up and the doors opened automatically for them, inviting them inside a kind women walked over from a receptionist desk to greet them. Apparently this place wasn’t a complete ghost town after all.

“Welcome, we’ve been expecting you may I have your tickets please.”

The woman was definitely in fitting with the rest of the places aesthetic, at least within the atrium anyway. It was pure white, marble fixtures and ceramic white tiles line the floor. The middle-aged woman wore a white suit with a dovetail coat; the only thing breaking up the mono colour of the interior was the scatted shrubbery that had been potted with some sort of intention and attention to detail. The entire ceiling of the atrium was one massive skylight that reflected off the white tiles, emanating the room in a bright hue, but not overpowering enough that it might blind any of its visitors. If Lucas was to guess it felt like a hospital, but something pulled out of an eerie dystopian future.

Zoe pulled out the tickets from her hand bag and passed them over to the woman who took them with a smile. She studied them for a moment before looking back at her curiously.

“Lexi?”

“That’s my mother’s name.” Zoe replied.

Lucas watched her tense up and was starting to realise that maybe the tickets weren’t meant for her.

They watched the woman walk around and take a seat at her computer, Lucas followed as Zoe walked up to the counter.

“She gave them to me.” Zoe quickly asserted.

The woman looked back at her from the computer screen and smiled.

“That’s fine love, I can switch the names, I gather that isn’t Damien?” She said, gesturing over to Lucas who was standing their awkwardly.

“No that’s my stepbrother, this is Lucas.” Zoe said, looking back at the woman hopefully.

She returned to her computer screen and began typing something that neither Zoe or Lucas could see. Finally a device whirred and two bracelets popped out of what he could only assume was some fancy style 3D printer.

The woman retrieved both bracelets before returning to Zoe and handing her a white bracelet before walking over and offering the yellow one to Lucas, even taking it upon herself to clip it onto his wrist.

She offered him a kindly smile; it had the opposite effect however and left Lucas feeling more uncomfortable then before they had walked inside.

“Sooo.” Zoe started, diverting the attention after she could sense Lucas’s uneasiness. “What is this place?”

At least Zoe actually was telling the truth, Lucas realised, he wouldn’t have put it past her if she knew exactly what this place was and he wasn’t entirely convinced by her truthfulness up until now.

“You didn’t hear our slogan?” The woman asked sarcastically.

“Well yes, but it still doesn’t really explain anything.” Zoe laughed awkwardly.

“Follow me.”

The woman pulled a fancy looking tablet from her desk and cradled it in her arm, she walked with such purpose that Lucas wouldn’t have been surprised if she was really the one who ran this place.

Zoe quickly followed with Lucas trailing a step behind her, it felt silly being that far back but unconsciously he really did feel more comfortable having her lead. A pair of automatic doors opened into a long hallway, they followed it for a moment before the woman stopped them at a connecting point where the hallway veered off into two possible pathways.

“Now then, would you like to leave Lucas in our care or would you prefer he came along with you?”

She looked at Zoe expectantly who turned back to look at Lucas with a rather far off glance before quickly looking back at the woman.

“Ahhh, he can come with us?”

It sounded much more like a question than an answer, but Zoe looked just as taken aback as Lucas was by the unusual request.

“No bother, if he gets to be too much or you want a break just yell out.”

The woman took them both down the corridor, Lucas tried to grab Zoe’s attention and it was clear from his mouth that he was wordlessly saying ‘what the fuck.’

Zoe shrugged; she was equally in the dark as he was about the whole interaction. Now Lucas was definitely on edge, this place was strange and he still had no idea where they were going.

Finally they seemed to reach their destination, they stopped at another set of doors, and this time they didn’t open automatically the woman had to scan an electronic key card she pulled from her lanyard.

“Alright here we are, come inside, don’t be shy.”

Lucas wasn’t sure if that was directed towards both of them, but it was his shoulder she gently perched her hand over before coaxing him through the doors.

Both he and Zoe stood stiff with their mouths hung agape.