Chapter 12

A light knock on the door startled Elias who was engrossed in his screen, looking up, he smiled at his father who stood against the door, his graying hair combed back and his tailored business suit looking out of place in Elias's worn office.

"Looks like our scholar is straying away from his books. what is that has you sucked into in that phone?" his father asked as he came in, closed the door, and sat in front of his desk.

"Nothing, just some social media browsing," he told his father not going into details,

His father's eyebrows rose in surprise but he didn't comment. Elias was never fond of social media and his father knew it. But truth is, comments and online chats can bequiet informative. Especially if it's a university gossip spot and you were looking for information on the strange department chief who went MIA for days.

"What brings you by, I thought you were on a business trip." He asked his father

"Can't I simply visit my son, you barely stop by these days and your mother is complaining."

"I'd love to but mom keeps nagging me about the wedding. She doesn't seem to get the Sarah and I aren't together anymore."

"Nah, minor details. Your mother and I canceled our wedding three times before the actual date. You'll patch things out before you know it" his father said dismissively as he smiled fondly at the memories. Elias chuckled at his father's antics. his parent's courtship was famous among their relatives, both his parent had fiery and high tempered personalities, and they were thrown into a matchmaking scam making what would be akin to a fireworks bomb blow up between them. both of them being from a powerful background, their marriage was full of mishaps and adventures. but they ended up falling in love and became partners long before they became lovers.

To Elias who was born with a personality polar opposite to his parents, he often watched the heated confrontations between them with a cool headedness that worried even him. he never felt like he had the passion his parents possessed and often wondered if he was capable of loving someone the way their parents did, but it happened, when he met Sarah. all the passion he'd been lacking burst out of him like a pressed gas can.

"you and mom can't be considered normal, you are the exception of the rule"

"nonsense, your mother and I had a perfectly normal courtship, and you could learn a thing or two from it."

"Really, now." Elias said, "then why don't you enlighten me after you tell me why you are here?"

his father's face turned somber and he said "No, let me start with this first,

The way to know if you're meant to be with someone is only if you remove all the causes and circumstances, all that remains is you and the other party. and then you can clearly see if that person means enough to you to still make your heart beat when nothing is between you two except your relationship. because in the future, all these circumstances will disappear or become variable, and all that will remain will be you and her."

His father remained silent after saying that as if allowing him to digest what he just gave him. And Elias did think about it, and his conclusion remained the same as before, except now he was more sure about what he was doing, and why he was doing it.

"Putting that aside" His father spoke as if somehow he knew that Elias had come to his conclusion, "I came here with a warning."

"What kind of warning?" Elias asked feeling more than concerned about his father's tone.

"I very worrying one, I suppose. I held onto it until I was sure about the news. but this morning the confirmation came, and there's no denying it."

"you're worrying me, dad. what in the world is going on."

"I should be the one asking you that question, Elias, what in the world have you and Sarah gotten yourselves into?"

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"Sarah, Earlier, I swear..." Adam's voice cut short his words failing him "I wasn't locked out by mistake."

"What do you mean," Sarah asked fearing his answer,

"When I headed to the outer room my back was to the door and I was busy checking the temperature and, you know, thinking about stuff," He said seeming bothered that he was unguarded, "Someone pushed me inside and grabbed my ID card then closed the door. they tried tampering with the room's heating system, but it seems like they didn't know that I can control it from the inside... I didn't say anything about it earlier because Maria was there. and you know what? I can't even say for sure that it wasn't her who did it."

Sarah remained silent, not like she needed to say anything, the situation was getting more and more dangerous.

"Someone tried to suffocate me," Adam said in a stunned tone letting out a sigh that sounded like a combination between a laugh and a cry.

Sarah took out her phone and dialed her brother, Austin needed to know, someone was inside the institute and may be trying to exterminate them.

"hi, Sarah I was just about to call you." Austin said by way of greeting not giving her the chance to speak he continued "I checked the camera recordings and it seems like someone did come there last night around 4 AM, but it wasn't Adam, they were wearing a mask so I couldn't tell who it was."

"well, it seems like the someone who entered probably didn't leave the institute since then" She responded not feeling the least bit surprised to hear her brother's announcement. if she was in a better moon she'd do the whole 'I told you so' gig and be the annoying little sister, but she didn't find any humor in her being right.

"what do you mean?"

"Someone tried to kill Adam just now. they pushed him into the room and tried to up the temperature and let him suffocate in there."

"What the...." the string of curses going out of her brother's mouth wasn't worth mentioning, Sarah found herself thinking that maybe having a filthy vocabulary was the downside of working with law enforcement and that in itself made her think that she must be in shock because her brain kept diverting to irrelevant subjects.

"Sarah, are you still with me?!" Her brother's voice all but yelled through the speaker

"Yeah, you were saying?" she said in a monotone tone that worried her.

"I was asking you if Adam's okay. are you okay Sarah? you sound weird"

"Adam's Okay" she responded looking at her friend who was still sprawled on the bench watching the clear sky as if it held the answer to everything

"I think I'm in shock. we probably both are."

"Understandable, for the time being, stick together and in crowded places. I'm going to send some protection your way. you and Adam should come stay over at my place tonight, and you shouldn't drive alone." her brother said with a finality that almost made her cry, for the first time in her life she was grateful for her brother's overprotective bossiness,

"Okay," she said in a small voice that sounded foreign to her own ears.

"Good, Stay safe Sarah, I'll be there as soon as I can."

"I have a meeting with Ray this afternoon, should I cancel it after all?"

"No you should go, I'll instruct the protection detail to take both you and Adam there first. I should be able to join you there and we will talk."

"Alright," she said feeling tired all of a sudden, she sat down "Austin?"

"yeah?"

"Thanks for everything"

"You don't need to thank me, you're my little sister, let me do this much for you."

after saying their goodbyes and hanging up, Sarah remained silent for a while feeling mentally drained. this day keeps dealing her one blow after another. Adam sat back up after a few moments, his face seemed to regain it's color and his eyes their intelligence, a moment ago they were hollow socks in his face. He looked at her with a serious expression and opened his mouth

"Lunch," he said all of a sudden "That's it! We should go have lunch" he exclaimed standing up as if he found the solution to their problem with one wave of inspiration from up above.

Sarah couldn't help it, she stared at her colleague then burst out laughing in hysteric heaves.