Chapter Seventy

*Ivan*


“Good day, Justin!” Day shift security greeted me.
No one really used my name. Not on security at least. I looked at him, narrowing my eyes. I blew air forcefully out of my nose and proceeded to put the food on the counter. They inspected everything that came through. The only things allowed through were the things that had been pre-approved by Boss. He was the one that sent a memo to security on who would be bringing what in. For the most part they were glorified door watchers. They were really only there to make sure that random people didn’t come in.
“I mean sir. Good day…sir…” The day shift security guard stammered.
I made him nervous. Good. Everyone here needed to be unsure of me and needed to be scared of me. I had been here the longest with the exception of Boss. Boss was the only one that had been here longer than me and everyone knew who he was. Most everyone knew of me, but not everyone had really met me. No one really talked to me and I usually kept to myself. For some reason security seemed to be friendlier and friendlier to me. I couldn’t tell why. It might be because I’ve had to go in and out so much. Most of the time I would come in and then leave at the end of the day. Unless Boss had an assignment for me. But if there was an assignment it usually didn’t mean we’d come back until way later.
“Careful.” I told the guard and he practically froze in place.
People left me alone. Must be my loveable personality. I laughed to myself, but kept my face stone cold on the outside. The only one that I really talked to was Ariya and Boss. Everyone else typically just got a glare or a 1 word answer. I left the guard where he was and walked inside. As I rounded the corner I could hear the other guards giving him grief.
“Are you crazy?” One said.
“What were you thinking?” Another said.
“I just thought maybe he just didn’t have anyone to talk to.” The original guard said.
“You’ve got a death wish. That dude has survived fighting Navi. You’ll be lucky if he doesn’t kill you.”
I smirked to myself as I walked back to the room.
“Something funny?”
I looked to see who the voice came from. Jess. Oh great. Someone else that wants to bother me today. I glared at her, not answering. Jess was cocky. She thought she was the hottest girl around here but that just made her ugly in my eyes. She had looks, sure, but her personality made it diminish those looks. She’d also always tried getting me to talk to her. She hated Ariya and hated the fact that I would say more than 1 word to Ariya. It made me want to do it more just to mess with her.
“Still don’t want to talk to me, even though your little protege turned out to be a spy?” Jess taunted me.
I flexed the muscles in my jaw, clenching my teeth but still didn’t say anything.
“I’m sorry. Can’t we just be friends?” Jess asked as sweetly as she could muster.
“No.” I told her.
“Because you’ll only be friends with Ariya?” Jess asked.
“No.” I said.
This was going nowhere. She was delaying me and I didn’t know why. I didn’t know what she was after.
“Boss said he was going to torture the little traitor but he hasn’t done anything. Not that any of us know of. You’re the only one that ever goes in there. Can you take me with you one time?” Jess smiled sweetly.
“No.” I said as I went to walk off. I was over this conversation.
“Wait!” Jess said, grabbing my arm.
I swung around and glared at her. No one touched me. No one dared. But this girl for some reason had the nerve to touch me.
“What are you doing, Jess? Do you want him to kill you?” Boss asked, coming out of nowhere.
“I just…” Jess stammered, letting go of my arm.
“She wants to see Ariya.” I told him.
“Why?” Boss asked, narrowing his eyes at her.
He was suspicious of her now. Good. I hated Jess. If Jess was gone suddenly it wouldn’t matter to me. It would just mean 1 less person for me to deal with later.
“Not like that. I want to torture her. I want to punish the little traitor.” Jess said quickly.
“It’s classified. Ariya is none of your business. Justin is in charge of dealing with her. No one is going in there except for him and I. No one. Not until I say. Do you have a problem with that?” Boss said, threateningly.
“N..n..n..n…n…n…no sir.” Jess stammered.
“Good. Now leave. Oh and Jess. If you touch Justin again, I can’t promise you’ll live to tell the tale. He has my full permission to do whatever he wants to someone that angers him. That includes killing them. Oh and do keep in mind, you might have super strength but Justin has fought and won against Navi.” Boss cooed at her.
After Jess turned and ran away, Boss looked at me.
“Any progress?” He asked.
“Nothing yet. I think the memories come when she sleeps. But I think it’s more natural sleep that triggers a memory to come back.” I told him.
“Oh?” Boss looked at me, raising an eyebrow.
“When she was knocked out after the first day she was actually awake, memories didn’t appear. It wasn’t until she fell asleep that she started getting them. She seems to get them more frequently since you took her off the table. They seem to be coming in every night.” I explained.
“Hmm…What makes someone fall asleep more naturally?”
“Eating too much. A lot of exercise, people lose energy, they get sleepy. Temperature even.” I answered.
“Hmm… Bring her extra food next time and see what happens. Let me know if she remembers anything. I have a couple of things to work out and we might be able to test the other two. Who knows, maybe Jess will get to fight Ariya sooner.” Boss contemplated.
“Didn’t Ariya wipe the floor with Jess even before Ariya turned?” I laughed.
“That’s true, isn’t it.” Boss laughed with me, “In that case maybe I’ll stick with my other idea. It’s more fun for me anyway.”
I looked at Boss, curious. I didn’t ask though. If he wanted to tell me he would. I knew when to ask questions when it came to Boss. I think he appreciated it.
“You’ll find out soon, Justin. I want to make sure it works the way I want it to before I show you.” Boss said, seemingly giddy.
That’s how you knew it was really good. When he was excited about something. But at the same time he wanted to keep it a secret. Boss loved big reveals. The bigger the reveal the better. The more dramatic the better. He was a planner though. He always tried to be numerous steps ahead of everyone and everything but even I could tell that sometimes, some things, specifically Drake and the Navi got the better of him.
“Thank you, by the way. For dealing with Jess.” I told him.
Boss waved his hand, “Don’t mention it. She’s annoying. But she’s useful at times. I did mean what I said though. I know back then was a rough time for you. Don’t think I don’t remember you saving us both to get away from Drake.”