Starkissed

Chapter Five

     Kyle led me back down the labyrinth of hallways we had taken to get to the gymnasium. He had reluctantly listened to my request to resume my duties for the day instead of starting out in the gym this morning.

"So, as I was saying... do you have a map of the hallways or something?" I bit my lip a little nervously, wanting to feel a bit more self sufficient while I was stuck here.

Being around Kyle made me feel exposed... and not in a good way. He gave me Ted Bundy vibes with a side of the heebie-jeebies. Good looking with a healthy dose of psycho for good measure.

I shivered just thinking about it.

Kyle looked down at me, amused. "Yeah, it can get pretty chilly in here. I'm sure I can find a map somewhere that can outline your approved routes."

I furrowed my brow. "Approved routes?"

Kyle gave me a disapproving look. "Yeah. This is a top secret facility, you know. You don't get access to most of the building. Just the sleeping quarters, hospital, gymnasium and cafeteria."

I heaved out a sigh. It wasn't that I wanted to see more, but this place was starting to seem more and more like a prison. I couldn't wait to be done the next two days and finally get to be off work and away from this place until my next rotation. I decided not to comment further on my security clearance and focused on getting to know him better.

"So..." I trailed off awkwardly as we walked side by side back towards the opposite end of the building. "What do you like most about working here?"

The question seemed to make Kyle think. "I'm quite literally saving the world." His face was smug as he gauged my reaction.

I scoffed, looking up at him with my eyebrows raised. "And how exactly are you saving the world? The cancer research? Because I hate to break it to you, but you don't seem to be doing as great as you think you are with that."

Kyle's face seemed to darken considerably at my sarcasm. He looked almost... murderous.

My heart skipped a beat as I widened my eyes slightly at how angry he had gotten in a split second. Maybe I shouldn't have made fun of the love of his job after all. We were alone in the hallways, and I was sure no one would hear me if he actually did try to murder me.

"Like I said. You don't have access to most of this building. You have no idea what we're doing in here. And maybe... one day, if you're lucky, you'll finally understand what we're doing is for the good of all humanity." Kyle had a faraway look in his eyes as we rounded the corner to the hospital.

"Well, this sure has been enlightening. Thanks for the tour." I gave him a mock salute and headed through the doors towards Brian, who as I had somehow expected made no progress on unloading the boxes of equipment.

Kyle stood in the doorway for a moment, watching me. I pretended not to notice him, but in reality I had noticed the sinister smile that had crept onto his face and the predatory glint in his eyes.

I took a deep breath and spun around to meet his eyes, but to my surprise he was no longer there. I released the air in my lungs slowly, and turned back towards Brian who had finally acknowledged my presence.

"I see you've done a lot since breakfast." I said drily, trying to hold back my smile at his annoyance. A small part of me was starting to grow to tolerate this prickly man. He was still strange, and undoubtedly cringe-worthy, but for some reason he seemed different than the others here.

"Why would I lay a finger on your materials you just had to have?" Brian rolled his eyes. Before I could make a snide comment about how the equipment was here to help the both of us do our jobs better, he strode forward and thrust a clip board into my hands.