Haze froze, his face a reflection of the fear that rippled through him as he saw his mother, angry and standing next to Calyx. He had no idea what to say or how to explain himself.
Suddenly, he saw his mother's face soften, and the anger that had clouded it seemed to dissipate. Truthfully, she was too emotionally exhausted to get angry over such a small matter.
"Just come over here," Miss Irene, Haze's mother, said as she turned to Rogan, who stood beside Haze.
Irene's makeup was smeared, and her lightly purple hair was tied into a loose, messy bun. Yet, she still managed to look good enough to catch Rogan's eyes staring at her.
"I'm sorry, I'm sure he was a bother," she said with a weak voice, worn from all the crying she had been doing.
"Not at all, he was good company," Rogan replied quickly, realizing he had been staring for too long.
They both laughed awkwardly, diffusing the tension that had built up.
"Well, I need to go meet a girl named Claire. Apparently, she needs to ask Calyx some questions before we leave," Irene said.
"Oh yeah, I was just about to head there. You can come with me," Rogan offered, gesturing in the direction they were to go.
"Thanks, that would help. I wasn't sure where to go," Irene replied with a smile as she walked over to Rogan, following his lead as the two young boys walked closely with them.
They navigated through the large headquarters, passing door after lab, with personnel moving around purposefully.
After about a minute of walking, they finally reached a room. They could hear voices, seemingly engaged in an argument, coming from inside before Rogan pushed open the door to what appeared to be a small conference room.
Claire stood alongside another man, his face mostly hidden by a loose scarf, both of them the source of the raised voices that they had heard from outside. Their dispute seemed to pause upon their entrance.
"Let the hunter squads do their thing, and you do yours. It's that simple," the man said with his final words to Claire before turning around to exit the room. He gave only a slight nod to Rogan and the rest as he passed them on his way out.
"Seems you haven't quite gotten through to him yet," Rogan remarked as he gestured for Irene and the kids to sit down on one of the chairs.
"Well, I didn't expect it to be easy," Claire said, her frustration seeping through her tone a bit. She grabbed an apple from the middle of the long conference table, taking a bite as she sat down on one of the chairs and reclined back. She was so deep in thought that she almost forgot the people Rogan had walked in with.
"So, are you Claire?" Irene asked, breaking the momentary silence that filled the room.
"Oh..." Claire let out from her mouth, still filled with the bite of apple she had taken as she sat up.
"Yes... yes, I'm sorry," Claire said, blinking slowly and subtly shaking her head to regain her concentration.
"Calyx, how are you feeling now?" Claire asked, turning to him.
"I feel fine," Calyx responded simply.
"And I take it you must be his aunt. I was the one who called you," Claire clarified.
"Yes, you're right," Irene responded, recognizing her voice.
"I'm deeply sorry for your loss," Claire offered her condolences, noticing Irene's face that hinted at the fact she had cried.
"It's OK. Right now, I think we just need to go home and rest," Irene said gently, with a smile.
"Yes, of course, we'll allow you all to go in a moment," Claire responded, turning her attention to Calyx.
"Do you remember anything from the chamber explosion? I mean, before you lost consciousness?" Claire asked.
"Wait, what chamber explosion?" Irene asked, puzzled at the words.
"It was a small mishap with our test chamber, but no one was harmed, especially not Calyx, so don't worry," Claire said, trying to ease the look of stress that crept onto Irene's face.
"I don't remember much, just the constant buzzing and lights. They hurt my eyes and ears," Calyx murmured, his head aching slightly as he tried to recall the memory.
"So, you can't recall anything after that?" Rogan asked, also trying to find answers to what he thought he had seen.
"No, but before that..." Calyx began before pausing.
"Before that?" Claire asked, intrigued.
"There was something; it gave a challenge, and the evil accepted the challenge," Calyx said as the pain from his headache began to grow, almost becoming unbearable.
"What gave a challenge? What accepted?" Rogan asked, confusion etched on his face.
"I...I," Calyx repeated as blood began to drip from his nose, and he held his head in pain.
"Calyx!" Irene exclaimed with a worried expression on her face as she grabbed him.
Claire also stood up, walking to Calyx, also worried as she saw the blood from his nose.
"What's wrong?" Claire asked as Calyx's eyes fluttered, and he shook his head as if trying to shake off the drowsiness he felt.
"I'm fine, I just need to rest a bit," Calyx replied, looking at all their worried expressions, including Haze and Rogan.
"You all should get going then; we can ask these questions another day," Rogan said, earning a nod of approval from Claire as she assisted Calyx up from his seat.
"We'll be off then," Irene said as they all stood up to exit the room, leaving only Claire and Rogan standing there, their faces displaying their puzzled expressions.
"A challenge, an evil? What is he talking about?" Rogan mumbled.
"Could it be..." Claire trailed off, lost in thought.