At Aiden's base.
There was little to no noise in the hallway. Only Aiden's and Jacob's footsteps could be heard as they walked over the cold black tiles. Unlike it's entrance, most of the floors had a dark color scheme. It helped with keeping the feel in the place an eerie one. Especially in the hallway that the two men were currently walking through. Finally reaching the room they wanted, Jacob nodded towards the man standing guard next to it. Once he opened the sound proof door, the sounds of classical music flooded out into the quiet, yet heavily guarded, corridor.
The room was a stark contrast to the dark hallway. Only purely white tiles covered everything from the floor to the low ceiling. It wasn't decorated or filled any sort of color. The only variation was the metal furniture. Besides the table, filled with different tools and devices situated in the corner, there was a single chair in the center of the space. Chair in which a man was sitting on. Or better said, chained to.
Symphony No. 9. Written by a musical genius, one of the most famous compositions known to man, was being played in the back of the room by a retro vinyl player. And as soon the two men walked in, it's volume was lowered enough for a high pitched voice to be clearly heard.
"Hi my Pretty's!" A girly and cheerful voice made them turn their gaze from the frightened man, over to the petite woman dashing over to them.
Darci made her way toward them with a wide smile spread on her face. Her hair, which reached her mid back, swayed with each one of her steps. It was as velvety as it was straight. She had a small face, childlike wonder in her eyes and an unsophisticated air about her. Creating a noticeable contradiction with the long white lab coat that she was wearing.
"What's with the coat Darci?" Jacob asked her as he paid attention to her odd outfit.
"I wanted to feel professional today. So I went with Doctor." She said as she twirled around to give them a better view of the complete look. Giggling like an innocent school girl as she did. "How do I look?"
"More like a mental patient trying to bust out of a hospital by pretending to be an employee." He replied while he folded her sleeves. They were much longer than her finger tips could reach.
"That sounds like an even better character to play!" Darci replied with an enthusiastic expression.
"I'm on a schedule today Darci." Aiden called for her attention with his words. "How long until you break him?"
As soon as he heard him ask, the man silently watching them began to sweat. He knew what the purpose for the room was. And although the woman before them looked as if she couldn't hurt a single fly, he was well aware of the diabolical things she was capable of. After all, even her name meant 'the stubborn dark one'.
"How soon do you need it?" She asked Aiden in return with a casual tone. The only thing needed to push him past the point of being able to remain silent. .
"Boss please!" He pleaded wholeheartedly. "We were drugged! There was nothing I could do while being unconscious!" His voice was dripping with fear as he assumed that his inability to safe guard Aiden's estate was the reason behind his being there.
"You're too loud." Darci told him with an almost sweet tone. As if she were gently telling a child to use his inside voice. "Don't shout like that again. Okay?"
"I-I'm sorry Miss." He immediately apologized.
"You're really confident aren't you?" Jacob asked him in return to his irrelevant babbling.
"Sir?" The confusion on his face was evident as he looked at Jacob.
"You really thought we wouldn't find out about your ties with the Phoenix Clan?" Jacob wore an incredulous expression on his face. One that only served to unravel whatever conviction of remaining calm the man had left.
The man's eye's widened as much as they possibly could. His nervous breaths began to sound hard, and his chest was visibly rising and falling at an alarming rate. He'd been caught. And his body language confirmed it was anything but a mistake on their part.
"Boss!" He once again rose his voice in a desperate attempt to save himself from the horrors he could imagine happening to him. "I don't know what he's talking abo-"
"If you're going to keep wasting my time, I suggest you do so by telling me what I want to know." Aiden's voice was deep, strict and ice cold. Descriptions that were mirrored perfectly on his face. Face that was so void of emotion, that the man, who's hand had gone numb do to the restrictions, trembled involuntarily once he looked at it. He was done for. That much he was sure of.
But that didn't mean that he wouldn't at least try to salvage the situation.
"I was threatened Boss! Please! You have to belie-" His yelled begging was interrupted when a delicate looking hand slapped him across the face. Ones, twice, and then thrice. His mouth had already begun to taste like copper when one last solid strike to his left cheek made the chair tilt to the side. Making his side slam onto the floor.
"I only ask politely once." Darci's voice was as sugary as it had been since the beginning, but now her eyes held malice in them as she stood over him. The palm of her hand swiftly turning red from having hit him so hard.
"You refused your chance of a quick end by ignoring my warning." Aiden spoke as he turned around to leave. "I'll expect your report by sunrise Darci."
"I'll make sure to have it on it's way in an hour then my Pretty." She replied while she skipped over to Jacob. "Don't forget to take me out to eat soon! I've been growing bored of the food down here."
Jacob gave her a tight hug as he responded. "I'll try to make some time."
Darci watched them go until the guard closed the door. Leaving her and the dazed man on the floor to themselves. Walking over to the vinyl record player, she turned it's volume up as high as it could go. Practically dancing, she then made her way over to the metal table, where she glided her finger tip over a few knives. Her eyes began to shine when she saw the scalpel.
"This goes perfectly with today's outfit." She said in a jolly and satisfied manner. Once she picked it up, she spun on her heels to now look down at the man who had been struggling with his chains and restraints. Yet another unsuccessful attempt of avoiding his destiny. After walking over to him, she crouched down and hugged her knees. Showing him the scalpel, she asked. "Now dear patient. Where should I start the operation?"
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At the City's Center base.
Claire woke up startled. She had fallen sleep with Aiden by her side, but now, he was nowhere to be seen. In fact, she wasn't even in the same room as she was a few hours ago. After focusing, she noticed she was in Colton's room. She had been properly tucked into his bed. Realizing that, she let out a deeply felt sigh.
She wasn't feeling touched that Aiden avoided waking her up, she was alarmed. If he had managed to carry her and even move her into a whole different space without waking her up, then it meant she truly had lost her touch. There was no way in hell something like that would had happened before. She had enormous amounts of work to do. So losing her touch wasn't an option.
Now having come to that daunting realization, she got up immediately. She took a moment in Colton's bathroom to splash water on her face and redo her hair. Satisfied with what she saw, time was done being wasted for her.
Before leaving the sleeping quarters, she checked on the sleeping Lily. Thankfully, the guys weren't there and Anna was sleeping as well. Meaning she could sneak away without having to debate her reasons for doing so with anybody. And as soon as she did, she blocked out any thought that didn't have to do with the things she needed to get done.
And she needed to it before her body finally gave in to the fatigue it had built up during the years.
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At Villan Enterprise.
Heaven must not be real. Because if it were, there was no possible way for so many men to feel so afraid, while being so close to it's supposed location. After all, Villan Enterprise CEO's office was as close to heaven as any other plane or skyscraper could be. And yet all the male secretaries could think of, was escaping as close to hell as they possible could. All in order to get away from the suffocating air that enveloped them.
It had been a while since they had seen their boss in such a foul mood. As soon as they came in to work, they were bombarded with orders, tasks and scolding due to their inability to do everything faster. They were under such stress and pressure, that even their bathroom breaks and lunch time was skipped. Nobody dared to leave the CEO floor unless it was worked related. And even then, they would come back as fast as they could in fear of being fired. Or worse.
Jacob had just stepped out of the elevator, when the scene before him made his eyebrows furrow together. Letting out a sigh, he went over to the head secretary who was nose deep into a stack of documents. Proofreading, highlighting and sectioning like there was no tomorrow.
"How bad?" He asked the man who didn't even bother to look up at him.
"He got in at 4am, skipped lunch, fired the entire team assigned to the Power Grid project, refuses to set any meeting dates, ordered all the investments into Platte Valley to be canceled and had four out of the six stationary guards switched and replaced by his personal security team." Once he finished saying that, he looked up at Jacob for the first time since they began to talk. "I've replaced his cold coffee five times now. He hasn't taken a single sip out of any of them."
"That bad huh?" Jacob rubbed his forehead as he turned around to look at the rest of the staff who had been working nonstop.
"Listen up, you're all granted an hour long break. But unless you want us all to be fired, I seriously suggest you split into groups and take turns to avoid the office being completely empty." As soon as he finished, all the men sighed in relief. Jacob wasn't an official company employee, but he had the same authority as any other major executive that worked there, and perhaps even more. Being Aiden's personal assistant was as high in the hierarchy as anybody could get when it came to power inside Villan Enterprise. For whatever Jacob did or said, was practically the work of Aiden himself.
He turned to look back down at the head secretary, who had already gone back to working. From the giant stacks of folders his desk still had, and the numerous ones on everybody else's as well, Jacob understood that Aiden's accursed mood would be impossible to pacify on his own. He would need some back up. Especially after delivering him the news he had gone there to give. Looking at his tablet, he searched for a specific contact before sending it an email.
Taking a small notepad from the desk, he wrote something down. After he tore the paper off, he handed it over to him an continued to speak in a hushed tone. "Call this number and say who you are. I've already sent the pertinent information, so just coordinate with them and have everything they ask for set up. You'll find some of it to be a bit odd, but do it anyway."
Not a second after Jacob saw him follow his orders, he made his way to Aiden's door. And as soon as he was granted access to it, he prayed that the plan he just came up with would work. Because judging by the chaos he was seeing, there was no way he, or nobody else in the office would make it unscathed.