Vanya's Journals, Entry 60: A Temporary HomeThe journal continues, Vanya's small, elven font filling every page, one after the next. It seemed she was wanting to fill the journal as completely as she could, but even now, you can tell you're reaching the end... the back cover isn't very many pages away. Katie's father was seething. He turned, motioning for Katie and me to follow. "Vanya... Let me show you what you've done."
Following Kenzon, we walked towards his apartment, ducking under the black-and-yellow tape with him. Several security guards, standing at attention, guns in hand, kept their eyes trained on us cautiously as we moved. Two more scanned our faces with their PEAs as we passed, tapping rapidly on their screens as they wrote something down.
However, Kenzon ignored everyone and walked straight to his room, his step heavy and deliberate, and finally pushed open what was left of the damaged door. It looked like someone had kicked it in, but the apartment beyond it was even worse. Every door was standing wide open, many of them split, smashed, or falling off their hinges. All the furniture was overturned, the cushions strewn seemingly at random about the room. It was busy, with Parasol Security guards moving about, some scanning the floors and walls with a purplish light emanating from their PEAs, others scanning with flashing grids of red lasers... with so many people there, I began to feel very much on edge.
"How did I do this?" I asked quietly, aghast at the display of wanton destruction. "I wasn't even here..."
"He followed you here, Vanya," Kenzon said, spinning to look at me, glaring at me with his eyes. "All your recent excursions attracted his attention. I don't suppose you ever thought to check whether someone was following you?"
"No..." I said slowly, processing the information. "Couldn't it have been you, though? Maybe they followed
you."
"You've noticed that I've been using teleports to travel to and from work, haven't you?" He watched me with his eyes, and when I nodded, he went on, "This is why. I didn't expect you to go anywhere that the killer would expect to find you, but you did: My place of work. He already recognized you from the mall incident, and today, he saw his chance – all of Parasol Security was preoccupied with the keeping the Founder's Day celebrations from getting out of hand."
It seemed impossible. "What? How would you even know this?"
A guard straightened beside us, glancing at my eyes as he rapidly tapped his PEA, scanning my face with it. "We caught it on camera, Ms. Carena. An unidentified figure wearing a black trench coat and fedora followed you home from Scheck Kenzon's Weapons Training, taking a second shuttlecar and keeping his distance. We have proof that it was you he was following from the shuttlecar logs." Turning his PEA towards me briefly, he showed downwards-angled video footage of a man boarding a shuttlecar, dressed all in black. "No cameras managed to catch a glimpse of his face due to his wide-brimmed hat, unfortunately." He paused for a moment and then started to walk away, leaning closer to Kenzon as he did and saying quietly, "Be careful of what you say, Mr. Kenzon, we still haven't finished checking the area, and the apartment may be bugged."
My eyes drifted to the floor as I shook my head in shock. I could remember the man from the day I'd seen Reudh at Kenzon's workplace, but his head had been downcast... I hadn't seen his face. "How did he even know I'd be there?"
"He didn't have to," Kenzon said quietly. "
I was there, so if he was looking for Katie, it would make sense for him to watch for me to leave. That's why I teleported to and from work, despite the extra cost."
"Vanya couldn't have known," Katie spoke up defensively from beside me. "It's not her fault."
"Maybe she couldn't have known," Kenzon admitted in a tight voice, as he walked towards Katie's bedroom door, "but it's still her fault. I've packed bags for both of you already. You'll be staying elsewhere until the killer is caught, and Vanya..." Here he paused, picking up two heavy duffel bags and handing them to us before he leveled a piercing gaze at me. "You will
not continue your random excursions. You are to
stay put until Katie's life is no longer at risk. Understand?"
I nodded quietly, swallowing back my inclination to protest. It didn't seem fair that simply walking around Parasol had endangered my friend, but I wasn't going to knowingly put her at risk again. I took my bag from Mr Kenzon and whispered, "I understand," unwilling to meet his gaze. Turning, Katie and I walked, downcast, towards the shattered doorway of Katie's home.
Outside the doorway, a Parasol Security guard opened a temporary portal and motioned for us to step in. Katie understood my misgivings and looked at me sympathetically as we walked towards it. "I'm sorry," she mouthed with a sympathetic frown, and I nodded silently. It wasn't her fault, really. I didn't know who was trying to take her life, but I'd vowed I'd protect her, a couple months before. I wasn't going to let anyone hurt her, even if that meant I lost my newfound freedom in the process. Freedom is important... but if it means you lose everyone and everything you care about, can you really say it's worth it?
And with that, we stepped through the shimmering, wavering oval, feeling the sensation of twisting, unfolding, transforming...
~~~
Kenzon had been unwilling to tell us exactly where we were headed, but as soon as we'd exited the miniportal, it was obvious: we'd materialized outside the apartment belonging to Jade, his receptionist. She met us at the door, her reddish-brown hair tied up in a ponytail behind her head. Her face had a prim, tight look to it, with rounded cheeks and a tiny chin, and there was the faintest possibility of freckles beneath her cold, gray eyes. She wasn't wearing glasses this time, nor makeup, and she seemed closer to 30 rather than the 25 I'd guessed originally.
"I'm Jade Medell," she greeted us in a friendly manner, albeit a somewhat awkward one, her hands clasped in front of her. "I'm a friend of your father, Katie, and he wanted to let you live here for a week or two."
"Don't you work with him?" I asked. I recognized her immediately from my visits to Kenzon's workplace, although I wasn't sure Katie wouldn't have seen her before. "You're the receptionist where he works."
I looked over at Katie on my right in time to catch an amused glance from her. "Probably more than just a friend," she guessed quietly, saying it just loud enough for Jade to hear.
Jade blushed visibly in embarrassment, appearing very, very flustered. "We're
just friends," she insisted, "and yes, I do work for him. Anyway, come on, I'll show you where you'll be sleeping."
Katie had clearly hit upon a particularly soft spot, and it didn't seem like Jade felt like discussing it any further. As we followed her into the apartment, I switched my duffel bag over to my left hand so I could lean a little closer to Katie, and whispered, "Kenzon has to be
at least ten years older than she is..."
Frowning, Katie gave an acquiescent shrug. "Closer to fifteen," she whispered back. "Humans age differently than dwarves."
"Do you really think they're together?"
"That's my dad for you," she sighed, rolling her eyes at her father's taste in women. Suddenly, she gave a broad, innocent smile in Jade's direction as the object of our conversation looked suspiciously over her shoulder towards us, and that was enough to draw the subject to a close.
Jade's apartment was situated nearer to the center of her building, and as a result, there wasn't a window anywhere to see out of. It was also smaller and furnished far less richly than Kenzon's, but at the same time, it felt homier: it lacked the same sense of sterility, with wicker chairs, soft, cushy sofas of a milk-chocolate colored fabric, cream-colored walls, wooden bookcases and shelving lining the walls here and there. It felt cozy, in a way. You could tell it had been lived in, much unlike Kenzon's, who always had everything put away: A small stack of paper magazines were sitting on the coffee table in the middle of the Jade's living room, accentuated by a tall, plastic cup. A remote control for a televiewer was stuck between two couch cushions, and a used bowl and spoon sat on an end table in the corner of the room. It didn't have the same artificial feeling that so much of Parasol had, but it wasn't overly dirty like Eltsha's place, either. In a word, it was homely.
Our hostess showed us to her little guest room room, which was at the end of a short hallway and furnished with two beds. "I'm sorry I don't have rooms for each of you," she apologized, "I'm lucky I have the spare room. Renting an apartment isn't cheap, and I can't afford to buy one outright."
We thanked her, assured her it was all right, and sat down across from each other on the mattresses of our iron-framed beds, looking through our bags to see what Kenzon had packed. Katie was removing everything from hers, laying it out almost at random on her bed's dark pink sheets, while I was prying through my bag carefully and trying to look under everything. I didn't like the thought of taking anything out of my bag... I suppose it comes from having been a skulker for so long.
"He didn't pack my PEA," she said suddenly in consternation. "How am I supposed to talk to Trebor without my PEA? How will he even know I'm okay??"
I shook my head. "I don't know," I said quietly, lifting out my suit of armor and wondering why Kenzon had decided to pack it, along with my daggers and Almory's sword. I supposed that maybe he'd just packed everything he was absolutely sure was mine... I didn't get as many clothes as Katie, but at least I still had my journal.
"This is going to be horribly boring," Katie groaned, her eyebrows drawn together in worriment. "We can't leave here now, and we don't even have anything to do."
"Why would he leave your PEA behind?" I asked her curiously. "Is it possible he forgot it? Or maybe he's worried that the killer will be tracking it or something?"
She shook her head, rummaging through the outer pockets of her bag and pulling out a toothbrush and a comb. She looked at them disappointedly as she replied, "No, you can't track PEA's like that. Phones, maybe, but mine broke, remember?"
I nodded. I remembered it very well; it had happened on the day we'd been attacked at the Mall. "Maybe he thought that the killer could track us with it anyway... I guess I could sneak out and get it," I mused, almost to myself. If there really wasn't any danger inherent in it, and the person was after Katie, not me... it shouldn't pose any problem. However, Katie didn't seem to hear me, and we didn't speak of it any further. It didn't seem the wisest of ideas to begin with.
Jade cooked dinner herself that night. It was some incredibly spicy kind of Parasol dish that was basically stuffed peppers, and she made green tea as a beverage. I absolutely loved the tea – it was my first time trying any – but the peppers were different. Being from Everoc, I wasn't used to them... I was hardly able to eat food that was so spicy. I sat at the little square table in Jade's cramped dining room, sniffling from a runny nose as I tried to blink back tears, my eyes watering.
Katie, sitting across from me, giggled at my antics. "It's not
that spicy, but I'll get you some water anyway," she laughed, getting up from her seat and trying to figure out where Jade kept the glasses.
"It's not funny!" I said, laughing nervously myself as I warily attempted another bite. "They don't have spicy food where I come from."
Beside me, Jade seemed curious. "They don't? I've never heard of a place without spicy food... Why don't they have spicy food there? Where are you from?"
Her question stopped me for a moment, and I gratefully accepted a glass of water from Katie as she sat down, using it to buy time as I tried to think of an appropriate answer. I knew it was illegal for someone from Everoc to be at Parasol, and I wasn't sure how much she knew. "I've lived a lot of places," I eventually said guardedly. "Maybe it's just elves that don't eat spicy food," I suggested. It wasn't a lie, really, though I couldn't help but wonder why dwarves on Everoc didn't eat spicy food at all.
"You're an elf?" Jade asked quizzically, leaning sideways in her chair and peering at my ears. "So you are..." she muttered when she'd seen, with just enough of a hint of disdain to make my cheeks redden slightly. "Huh. I'd thought you were dwarven."
"I get that a lot," I whispered, taking another bite out of my food and silently cursing my elven heritage. You always have to be on your toes when you're in the minority... there will always be someone that will hate you just beccause of what you are.
She glanced down at my arm. "What's that bracelet, is that some kind of strange jewelry for your species?" She was pointing at my portal bracelet, which I always wore with me to remind me of my old home, and her voice sounded almost derisive.
Katie seemed to sense my discomfort. "It's not her fault she's an elf," she said defensively. "I'm part elf, part dwarf, and part human."
Jade's head turned quickly towards her. "That's not possible," she said bluntly, putting another bite into her mouth. "People can't mate between species."
But my friend merely put down her fork, turned her head to the side and pulled back her hair, showing the dull point of her ear; an ear that was clearly neither elven, nor human, nor dwarven. Our hostess seemed to do a double take, leaning forwards just a little as she peered at Katie's ear in disbelief. "It's not possible..." she said, shaking her head slowly in confusion. "I was with a dwarf once, I
know they can't get humans pregnant... or elves..."
With a mischievous smirk, Katie settled back into her chair. "I'm different," she said simply. "And who do you think my mother would've had to be? You already know my father."
It was somewhat surprising how quickly Katie could pick Jade to pieces: the woman had stopped mid-chew and was sitting frozen, staring at Katie tensely as she tried to figure it out. "It's not possible," she said again quietly, but the conviction had left her voice, and she turned her head towards her plate as she continued eating in silence, clearly not liking the image of Kenzon with another woman, and especially not an elf.
The rest of supper was uneventful, and we helped Jade put everything up afterwards, carrying the dishes to the cleaner and then putting them into their respective cabinets.
Later, I'd asked Katie, "How did what you said make Jade fall silent so quickly?"
She'd only smiled. "It's not the first time I've had to deal with dad's girlfriends. They never like thinking of him having sex with someone else, and especially not someone who's half elf, and half dwarf, like my mom." It was clear she didn't want to continue the conversation, though. Her mother was still an unreachable topic, and I let it drop.
~~~
That night, we lay in bed. Katie was in hers, and I was in mine just across the room, so similar to the first night we'd spent together, back on Everoc. My mind wasn't so much on 48D's trench, though, instead focusing more of the preceding events of Katie's birthday. I thought about what had happened earlier that day... how someone had tried to break into Kenzon's apartment under the cover of Founder's Day, hoping to kill Katie, and how we hadn't found Trebor at his apartment. Somehow, my sleepy mind managed to put the two together. Lydena had even expressed that it was very unusual for Trebor to be missing, especially on Founder's Day, and the idea popped into my mind: What if the killer wasn't after Katie at all?
What if he was after me? It made sense... I got attacked in the mall and was injured far worse than Katie, and then, later, the killer had followed me home, perhaps trying to get a clear shot at me. If he was after me, and not Katie, it would still make sense for him to show up on Founder's day... And if the killer wasn't just a killer, but was actually
Trebor... it provided a perfect reason for him to try to get rid of me. He would never try to harm Katie, but I knew for a fact that he loathed me for what had happened to his sister, Almory.
"It dooesn't make sense," I remember thinking.
"Why would he not have attacked me any of the times he'd spent the afternoons there with Katie? There had been so many opportunities for it... is it possible he simply didn't want Katie to find out he'd killed me? Does want to kill me, but love her enough to want to keep her as well?" My musing got me nowhere, though, until I remembered that Katie had told him she would be busy on that day anyway. She'd fibbed and told him she wouldn't be at home.
Suddenly,
everything made sense.
I was the target, and Trebor was trying to kill
me... which meant, of course, that if I went and got Katie's PEA, it would be my downfall: Katie trusted Trebor implicitly, and would tell him where Kenzon was keeping us without a moment's hesitation... and then Trebor would come and kill me. All he would have to do is decide to follow Jade home, and then he'd just have to wait. Eventually, he would get his opportunity, even if he had to sneak into the apartment at night and kill me in my sleep, with Katie sleeping unaware beside me.
It was hard for me to fall asleep that night, with so much on my mind. The only thing I couldn't decide was what I was going to do about it all.
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