Retrospect

Thirty

It was like being smacked with a wave and sent underwater, being spun around and around, not knowing which way was up or down. I put out my hands on either side of me, feeling the close walls as I cautiously fought to find my way down the tunnel, though I wasn't sure if I'd somehow got around because there wasn't any light to see by.

The music that was drifting through the building made my heart leap and though the music was becoming sharper, clearer, I was still blind and unable to tell where I was and which direction I was facing. My breath hitched in my throat as I thought about the possibility of never reaching the end. That I'd be stuck in this dark, cramped place forever.

Attempting to calm myself down, I took a few brave strides forward, and was met with a deep blue light all the way at the end of the hall. I automatically perked up when I saw it and began approaching it slowly, fingertips skimming the walls beside me as I kept my focus on the light.

Just before I could go any farther, I noticed a thin red line crossing in front of my path. Luckily I saw it when I did because if I'd tripped it, there'd be officers all around me at this moment. I stepped over it lightly, hoping Reeves and Murl would notice it too once they caught up.

When I passed through the entryway, I emerged into a massive room that resembled the bottom of the ocean, the high ceilings and shimmery floors creating the illusion that one was underwater. Guests were packed close, every inch of the room covered with people, and their conversations droned over the thumping music. As I pushed through the people, a security guard approached me from up ahead. "Excuse me," he cleared his throat, the minimal light making it difficult to see his face, "I'm going to have to check your bag. For safety precautions."

I froze. There was no way he could take my bag. It had the device and everything else I needed. I glanced to my left, then right. How do I get out of this?

"Excuse me?" the man tried, attempting to get my attention by stepping closer. That was when I backed away, turning to shove through the people crowding me and the man. I heard him call out to me over the music, but I ignored him and pushed the city-goers out of my way.

I earned a few angry glares and rude names as I squeezed by all of the glow-in-the-dark faces. Spinning around and taking it all in, I couldn't tell who was who, everyone looked the same. They wore the same makeup I was wearing, same fancy clothes, and the same fake smile I was trying to give the guests, though they would all want me killed by the end of the party (they just didn't know it yet). I'd also stepped on at least twenty different pairs of shoes in the past five minutes.

After navigating my path through the hordes of cackling laughter while watching out for officers, I found a corner of the huge room so I could collect my thoughts. The music was shaking my skull and my heart still raced from escaping the security guard just now.

"Just find the others," I told myself, though I didn't hear any of the words that I'd spoken. Murl and Reeves shouldn't have been too far behind, I thought, immediately scanning around for the gray-eyed man before I realized I'd never find them, not in this lighting.

I sighed and pushed away from the wall, back into the sea of Sera civilians. I made sure to head in another direction so I wouldn't run into any unwanted company. There was a long hallway that stretched all the way to the other side of the building, the ceilings so high that when I gazed up, the walls vanished into a blanket of shadow.

The hallway was pretty spacious and empty of people, so I could walk at a normal pace see better. To my left, making up the wall, was an enormous tank full of crystal clear water that created beautiful ribbons of light that twirled on the floor and over my feet. The tank extended as far as the hallway went on and as I gazed past the glass, a whale shark came into view, gliding along. I would've stopped and admired it longer if I wasn't on a strict schedule.

As I continued on, I heard loud, obnoxious laughter coming from up ahead. From here, I could tell it was a group of people that were heading my way down the whale shark hallway and when they were a little closer, I stole a glance at the giggling group. They all had the same kind of makeup I was wearing and one of them was taller than the rest, accompanied by the others on both sides of him.

I took a look at this person, noticing how he was the only guy strutting among these rich, Sera girls. He smiled mischievously after one of the others said something that probably wasn't all that funny and I knew exactly who it was.

Miles. I stared at him, wondering if he knew I was here, but he just slipped right by me, the faint smell of cologne drifting into my nose as he didn't even look my way. I couldn't tell if he was ignoring me because he was still mad at me, or if he really just didn't see me.

Where had Ana gone? I looked over my shoulder, watching Miles saunter away with the girls. Rolling my eyes, I faced forward again. If he wanted to fool around, then I could just get everything done myself and leave him here. I needed to find the man in charge. Or, that was what Miles was supposed to do before I decided just now to take his job.

The pack of guests grew dense again as I neared the end of the hallway, so I was left with shrugging by everyone and rubbing shoulders with the Sera individuals. The bass reverberated in my ears in this part of the building and there were a couple of flashing, strobe lights on the ceiling, blinding me temporarily so I couldn't tell how close people were.

My eyes searched the glowing crowd for anybody that seemed important. Anybody that looked or spoke like they were important. Trouble was, the people from this section were all important. The dresses of the women glittered in the winking lights and the colorful suits of the men were new without a tear in them to be seen.

I almost fell over then when an older woman knocked into me. She didn't bother to apologize and unfortunately, she had pushed me into a taller swamp of people. Even with my heels on, I couldn't see over the figures surrounding me. I was shouldering past the people, trying to find a break where there'd hopefully be an empty place so I could take another breather. Already, this was too much for me.

I paused, chest rising and falling as I breathed heavily. I had to control myself if I wanted to get out of this place alive. I absorbed the music and the lights and the flowery scent of perfume as I stood still, in the middle of all of the chaos. I was in my own world, all time stopping around me as I spotted the exact person I was searching for.

He was a couple of people away, but he was wearing a neat, sky blue suit and his hair was slicked back with gel. Bodyguards stood all around him as he moved through the crowd, asking if everyone was having a good time. That had to be him. He had to be the one responsible for those chemicals.

My eyes were locked on the back of his head and I found myself walking towards him, slipping through two people in my path. No thoughts entered my mind, I just knew I had to reach this man and make sure he got what he deserved.

Someone blocked my way before I could take another step. They didn't even move out of the way, they were just standing there and I tilted my head up to get a look at the obstacle. My eyes landed on a man I had never seen before, but he looked at me like I was familiar and I certainly was. He'd definitely recognized me as the one and only Cory Cavey and he was staring at me in a trance. His young, hazel gaze and dark skin glowed orange from his makeup and the purple highlighter blended strikingly well with the tint of blue framing his face.

"Cory..." he said in wonder, though I never actually heard his voice over all of the deafening noise. My heart skipped a beat then and I looked around, hoping no one had somehow heard him say my name. Was he an undercover officer? A worker? I didn't wait to find out.

I was already spinning around, shoving through the crowd and I didn't stop for anything. I wasn't about to get caught when I'd gotten this far. I wasn't even certain the man had been an officer like I'd suspected, but it was best to play it safe and run. I couldn't trust anyone, definitely not in a place like this, teeming with officers and workers and civilians that could recognize me.

Looking back at one point, I saw that the man hadn't been following me at all, the entire time I'd been sprinting from him. If he was an officer he would've been on my tail in a heart beat. If he was a worker or a regular Sera civilian he would've alerted a security guard about me. But he did none of those things. So who exactly was that man?