She turned away from the stairs. "So, where is the prison located so I can avoid it?"
By Argon, she needed to get her hands on that document! If it was still there. She would have to check it first, though, and to do that, she had to know where it was.
"It isn't somewhere you can accidentally go." Louie began to lead her down the stairs. "So you don't have to worry about it. And it is not a prison," he rolled his eyes. "It is just somewhere."
So, he wouldn't show her the place. She had expected that response but still, she felt quite disappointed.
Idalia looked around, with Arik now asleep in her arms, she could focus even more.
The structure of the house was pretty simple. It was certainly not one she could easily get lost in, also it was good that she had a good memory. Additionally, she had stayed hyper aware during the tour as Louie showed her different things.
She couldn't dare to be too distracted, not after what he had done in the dining room.
"Please don't tell him," she said when they got to her floor.
"About our friendship? This is nothing scandalous, Julie. He had a rule against it for focus purpose but I am sure he wouldn't mind. This doesn't affect him at all and I won't run off telling him."
"I was talking about what happened in the kitchen." She turned to face him.
Vulnerability. He must be made to feel that she trusted him.
"Oh." He swept his fingers through his hair, his gaze focused on her.
Observing.
"What kind of maid can't get into the kitchen? It was just—I—-"
"Oh." He relaxed. "I get it. I understand, and you don't have to talk about it if you're not ready." He squeezed her shoulders gently.
"I'm afraid he is going to fire me. I don't know what I'll do—-"
"He won't. Hey, look at me. Mr. LY doesn't even care about eating at home. He would hardly notice. You and I are mostly going to be doing the eating around here, and I'll just do the cooking for the both of us."
She placed her hand on his that was on her shoulder, and smiled. "Thank you so much, Louie."
He smiled back. "Anytime."
Well, that seemed to have worked.
—-
—-
The day went by so quickly.
There wasn't much cleaning to be done, or even any at all, everywhere was so neat.
Mr. Lythoryn definitely didn't need a maid.
Louie hardly left her alone enough for her to do any digging. He was everywhere. Arik certainly had the most fun watching those beautiful and colourful cartoons on the big TV screen in the sitting room.
The mansion didn't have so many of the appliances that Grandpa Alfred had said many houses in Outer Metro had. There was no robotic voice speaking back to her and obeying her commands to do things, which was strange. The houses in Echelon were certainly owned by richer people than those in the luxurious side of Outer Metro so why was it this way?
It wasn't something Idalia hated though. In fact, she liked it this way. It wasn't so overwhelming. Also, there were certainly a lot of electrical appliances to help with cleaning, and well, living an easier life.
There were no cameras around too. Louie had said that when she had asked him if he was scared about Mr. Lythoryn finding out he was using his food stuff to cook different dishes and post them in the invisible space that connected them all.
The internet.
He had explained it in a strange way. It sounded stronger than a pack link. But it needed different things to attain communication. Like the phone or any other device.
It sounded odd.
"Goodness, Cider must be worse than I thought if you don't have some of these things there."
"I lived on the very poor side. The slums of it."
Silence stretched between them for a while, and she wondered if he had caught her in her lie.
"Sorry you experienced that."
Relief coursed through her veins.
"There are no cameras here though, so I have no reason to worry. And the raven is never around when I do this, he is never around until Mr. LY is. Honestly, that bird gives me the creeps."
"You don't like the raven too?" She asked, genuinely surprised.
"I don't. Coin scares me!" He laughed, and she did too.
Something about the way he had said that made her believe him without question, and this might just be the only thing they genuinely connected on.
"Ravens scare me too!" She said through her laughter.
"Oh my goodness! This is insane!"
It was a carefree moment that her worry wouldn't let her enjoy. It was at night, and even though everything had happened so fast, that still didn't change the fact that she was still on the run, there was a betrayer in the Sanctuary, and she must find a way to survive here with Arik, using all the information she could.
The "9:00pm" signal moved along the screen of a digital clock in her room. Idalia had seen that about 10 minutes ago, when she had laid Arik on the bed. Now, she was by her door and Louie was saying his goodnight.
That meant only one thing.
Mr. Lythoryn would be back soon.
It was already terrible enough that Louie had been glued to her by the hip all day and she hadn't been able to find out anything.
By Argon, her time was ticking!
"Do you know anything about those creatures that tried to eat my son and I, something that might help us avoid them in future? Anything about why Mr. Lythoryn really brought us here?"
Louie smoothed his hands over his suit jacket as he gave her one of his bright smiles. "You are here as a witness; there is no lie in that. And as for the creatures," He folded his hands across his chest, "You'll never see them again as long as you are here. I'll have you know that here in Echelon, no strange creatures make it in, and if, by a slim chance, they do, they don't survive for long or get to make it out alive." He squeezed her shoulders gently, that gentle smile still on his face, "you have absolutely nothing to worry about."
Idalia forced a smile to her lips, her heart racing at his words.
She was a strange creature here. Her son was a strange creature here!
She knew it was this way, but having someone say it to her? It was terrifying.
But as if the world just couldn't get enough of her misery, that voice moved through the air from downstairs and went straight through her ears.
"Hello, Coin."
That raven.
That meant one thing.
A muffled chuckle sipped into the air, and she heard his voice.
Deep.
Commanding the air.
"Hello, Coin."
Idalia closed the door quickly after saying a hurried goodbye to Louie. She locked it and went straight to bed.
For some reason, she didn't want to see Mr. Lythoryn tonight. Maybe because of how much she had learnt about him, maybe because of how confused she was about him.
She needed time to process what she had learnt. Besides, one of her plans was to avoid him.
She waited with dread, feeling that he would come, feeling that he wouldn't…. hoping he wouldn't.
About twenty minutes went by without anything happening.
And just when she was about to breathe a sigh of, there was a knock.
It would be stupid to pretend to be asleep, so Idalia turned the key in the lock and pulled the door open. The first thing she laid her eyes on, though, made her stop dead in her tracks, and the whole world went silent, only for the stiffness to be broken by his cold voice.
"Good evening, Miss Summers. Might I have your thoughts on these pictures?"
Grandpa Alfred.