Isabelle

Chapter One Tuesday 27th April, 2010 0:00 Inhindsight, the people involved in the events of the next few daysshould almost be able to hear the click that happens as MondayApril 26th changesto Tuesday April 27th, wherethe events leading up to that point have gone from being in thepast to events that are in a league of their own. Whenmidnight strikes, there is an entire building in the dark with theexception of one solitary light, which burns into the night,rivalling the brightness of the moon. Regular passers-by at this time of night wouldhave noticed that this light never seems to be off. Well, at leastas long as the darkness rules the sky, in any case. The light inquestion comes from the office of a Mr. David Oswald, the CEO ofthe modestly sized Progression Software Company. Which to theoutside was a legitimate company, but it was simply a front to hideDavid’s shall we say.... motive. To rid this world for good of TheBrethren. Creatures who shouldn’t be here, there only goal was tosimply use us as conduits to this world and conquer it. The light issix stories up, and he owns the entire floor in this largebuilding. There are many companies in here, and it is safe to saythat his company is generating more money than any other housedthere, combined. He has not made a single illegal transactionthrough the company, either. Thefloor is not even being used to optimum capacity; there are a lot of empty rooms filled with rubbishthat David will probably never get around to clearing. Thereception area is used, butis never really manned full-time. It’s simply the welcoming area to anyone who cares to visit.There is a main office, and,off that, the office that is currently lighting the darkness isDavid’s. David’semployees consist of five of the brightest programmers in thecountry. There is also talk of David finally getting areceptionist, but it will probably never happen. The phone serviceis permanently on night service, to be picked up by whoever grabstheir phone first. He has given serious consideration to areceptionist, just as a first contact for clients if nothing else,but gets easily distracted from such things. The mainoffice consists of six desks – onefor each employee, and an extraone for David when he wants to have one of his informal chats withthem. There’s a water cooler in the corner, beside the window on the left hand side of theoffice. The view is not very good for morale, but it lets in freshair. There is an identical-looking building facing them across thestreet. Thedesks have a Spartan feel – onlytheir computers are at each station. Nothing else. Two of thepeople who work here have partners. One other had a fiancé whois…not around anymore. But thereare no pictures of them on display. The toiletsare luxurious by office standards. They have more charm than theentire main office. They manage to combine an old elegance with analmost futuristic feel. DavidOswald has never hired acleaner. Of course, he has thoughtabout it. That is another employee he needs to put on his list. Hehas enough money to afford a receptionist and acleaner, but thetoilets still manage to be spotlessly clean whenever the employeescome in the next day. Everyone assumes that David is doing thecleaning, but nobody hasever caught him in the act. Thekitchen area has all the modern conveniences. A cooker and amicrowave sit on a beautiful and expensive-looking worktop, along with a kettle and a cupboard.There is also enough room forsix people to sit comfortably and eat together in thekitchen. David’soffice is beautifully elaborate. He has a large black leatherchair, which would look incredibly tacky were it not for the factthat it goes so well with the large oak table. He has a set ofthree trays on his desk; one each for “In”, “Out”, and, he’s notsure who but he has his suspicions as to who has jokinglywritten, “Shake it allabout.” Onit. Apicture of a man in a Black Suit, his clothes identical in everyway except for the colour to the charcoal grey one that Davidalways wears, stares down the right hand side of the office. To theleft,he has another window, with anequally-dismalview. David issitting at his desk, reading a report on something that is in noway related to his official business. He doesn’t look tired in the slightest, even though he has not set foot out of the officeall day. The only thing that distracts him from his reading is thesudden crash from the main office. His head shootsup,and he is heading to the doorbefore he is even aware of what he is doing. The doorflies open and he is greeted by nothing on the other side. Even inthe darkness, he spots thesource of the noise right away. A plastic bin has tipped over andthere is an old used inkjet cartridge inside, which has fallennoisily against the non-carpeted flooring. He walks over and picksup the fallen item it in the larger bin. He walksback to his office and says, over his shoulder “I suppose you’dbetter come in!” Kevin issurprised when he hears David tell him to come into his office. Hedidn’t expect him tosee him. He curses lightly under his breath – not even a swear word but still quite a big dealas far as he is concerned. The element of surprise he anticipatedhas now been lost. Davidleaves the door open for him, andKevin follows him through into the beautifully-decorated room. David sits down and, without aword, motions for Kevin to sit in the seat across fromhim. In thelight of the office, Kevin and David face each other for the firsttime. They wear identical suits; Kevin’s is just a shade lighter than David’s. These gentlemen obviously know the same tailor.For a few moments nothing is said and it is Kevin who finallybreaks the silence. “I suppose you’rewondering why I stopped by tonight?” “Not at all!” David replies. “I have a good memory for dates.” Kevin nods.Today is an anniversary that affects both of them. David,who had been sitting up straight, slouches forward in his chair andclasps his hands together. “Kevin,you know that the answer is still no, don’t you? I mean you’re notcoming here to me tonight thinking that I would have some suddenchange of heart because of the date?” Kevinflashes a dangerous smile at David. “I don’t know whyyou’re fightingthis. You’ve read thesame books that I have. You know where youbelong.” “Let’s just say I’m not a hundred percent sure of that, yet.” Kevinlooks completely humourless now. “You must know I am getting prettydesperate, now. Peopleare beginning to question my decision.” “You can leave!” Kevinlaughs at this, but there isno trace of humour in it. “Andwhere would I go? You seem to be the only person who can survive inthe middle.” “You wouldn’t bealone. I could help.” “That’s abackward step David. You should be coming to me, not me to you. Weboth know that.” “Kevin I can’t helpyou. Not right now, anyway” “It’s reaching the stage where I am going to haveto take more desperate measures.” Kevin waits for the answer with baitedbreath. Davidsits straight again. His smile is even more dangerous than the oneKevin has displayed moments before. “Was that a threat?” Kevinstands up. “You can take it whatever way youwant.” “Sit down!” David orders. Before he evenknows what he is doing, Kevin is back on the seat. “Let’s get one thing straight. You do anything thatcompromises me or my employees and not only will I not join you,but I will destroy you…” Kevinlooks angry. “Is that any wayto talk to a friend?” “You ceased to be my friend the moment the thoughtto ‘Take moredesperate measures’ crossed yourmind.” Kevin’s mouthdries up. David is not joking. He has f****d this meeting up. “Now, leave. Idon’t want to seeyou here again. The next time we meet will be on myterms.” Kevinstands up again and walks out of the office. Hedoesn’t look back butleaves as quickly as he can, simply out of the fear that his legsare going to give way underneath him. Tuesday 27th April 2010 0:04 GaryIngall, an employee of David Oswald has just stepped through thedoor of his house, expecting to have to apologise to his girlfriendfor coming in so late, fromwork. He is surprised when he discovers that he has managed to getback to the flat before her. He hadbeen the last person to leave the office, having got into a conversation with David. David has ahabit of keeping people hanging on his every word and making themlose track of time. Maybethat is one of the reasons that Gary stays working for theman,despite all the personalrisk. Gary isa computer programmer. He was not long out of University and hadlanded on his feet with the high paying job at Progression. He found out quicklyjust why the job was paying so well. It hadtaken just under a week. There were three employees then instead ofthe five David had now – Garyand two women called Alice and Belinda. He liked them both from thestart but he sometimes worried about Alice. She could be a littlevolatile. Belinda was very funny, and more his type of girl. He sometimes wondered ifIsabelle had not arrived on the scene, if he would have ever got together with her. Davidtook Gary into his office and had told him that there was actuallya little more to the company than he had initially led him tobelieve in the interview. He told him that there had been a fewcarefully structured questions in the interview, the answers towhich had secured his position in the company. Gary did not have aclue which they had been. “I was kind of hoping that we could push you intothis a little more slowly, butit seems that you’re going tohave a baptism by fire…” “When?” “Tonight.” And so,Gary had been forced to call his girlfriend and tell her that hewas working late thatnight. It was not a lie. It was just the beginning of the life ofdeception that he found himself in. It was also easier to keep thesecret than telling her the truth. He was sure shecouldn’t handle thetruth. He was veryconcerned when he got off the phone and saw how serious Alice andBelinda were. He understood then there was a good chance that thejob paid so well because they were going to do something illegalthat night. There was no way that he could ever have been ready forwhat was actually going to happen Inhindsight he wondered what the carefully-structured questions David talked about that made hima “suitablecandidate” for this lineof work, were. He triedto remember the interview and could not think which answers wouldhave led him to believe this. Thefirst thing he learned about David Oswald was that he was neverwrong, or at least,it was so rare an occurrence that Gary didn’t even notice. They hadgone in David’s car and Garyhad been allowed to sit in the front, even though Belinda called shotgun. He soon saw why Davidhad wanted him in the front. Alice appeared to be doing a weaponscheck in the back. At that point, he could have happily told David that he was no longerinterested in working for the company. How does one simply walkaway from an armed criminal organisation, and stay alive? Garychose to stay where he was, andsee what happened. He was sure that he would regret that more thanactually leaving, and being shotdown like a dog. Ofcourse, by the end of the evening he felt that it might have beenbetter if he was workingfor a criminal organisation. The risks were probablylower. The carstopped in the hills outside the city and Alice stepped out, armedwith a gun that someone with her frame should have had trouble carrying.Surprisingly, she managed somehow. David could see the look onGary’sface. “Don’t worry; Idon’t envision anyreal problems.” That wascomforting. Garymanaged to get out of the car because it was obvious that David andBelinda were not going to get out before him. He looked verynervous, seeing Alicearmed. She could tell. “David, are you sure that he’s the right guy?” Davidgot out of the car and was followed by Belinda. “You said the same thing aboutBelinda!” Therewas an awkward silence.Belinda looked at Alice. “Didyou?” Alice saidnothing and smiled slightly. “b***h!” wasall Belinda said, but they both laughed. “What the Hell’sgoing on?” Garyasked. Belindahanded him a gun but hedidn’t takeit. “Somebody, please tell me what’s going on?” “See, an inquisitive mind. That’s exactly the type of person we’re looking for.” Garyspun around to lookat David. “I have aninquisitive mind, do I? You’d haveto be a f*****g vegetable to not be a little inquisitive aboutwhat’s going onhere!” David seemed alittle taken aback by this. “David doesn’treally like swearing,” Belinda toldGary, as if that managed to explain the wholething. Belindaoffered him the gun again, andhe shook his head. “Gary, I’mafraid that if you don’t takethat gun, youcan’t come with us.I don’t think I madea mistake with you. I’m sureyou want to know what this is all about, and that you will want tobe a part of it when you find out. If you don’t want the gun, you can stay at the car and wewill speak no more about it. You will have to appreciate that ifthis is the case then I will not be able to keep you on mystaff.”