NINE

Word Count: 1545

~Akara

I stare coldly at the door I once never thought twice about.

Months ago, I never insisted on going into Tai's workshop. It wasn't because I wasn't interested in what he was doing, I just wanted him to have a place where he could be alone and do what he was best at. At that time, I never knew he could be hiding something from me in there.

"Ready to go in?" Marek asks.

He stands quietly beside me, having let stand and stare wordlessly at the door for the past couple minutes. Not once has he pushed me, knowing this is a process.

I may be walking into this room and ruining my perception of Tai forever.

"Of course," I mutter, pushing the door open.

Vaia clearly didn't make it here, because everything is perfectly preserved. Some sick part of me wanted it to be trashed, so that if anything was in there that may reveal a dark past of Tai's, or maybe some demented plans, it would be gone.

"What's wrong with your finger?" Marek asks as we wander in.

Looking down, I realise I've been twisting my ring in circles around my finger. Silver flakes cover my finger around the ring, which I shake off quickly.

"Oh, nothing, it's just this ring Tai gave me is starting to erode."

Marek frowns, grabbing my hand so he can examine the ring intently. It was made only a few feet from us, a gift from Tai to prove our love. And the inscription now wearing off encouraged me to trust in him, but now, it's getting harder to do that. The table it was made on is scattered with paper and unfinished projects.

"It's been through a lot recently, it's likely made out of bad material," he murmurs, pulling away. He's biting down a harsher remark, a storm gathering in his eyes. He hates that Tai was the one who made me this, which translates to that he hates that him and I were ever in love to begin with.

"Shall we look around?" I ask quickly, turning my attention to the rest of the room. Nakoa and Zavian come in after us, starting with all the paper scattered about.

The more I look, the quicker I realise the papers don't depict anything out of the ordinary. They are mostly scribblings of ideas and vague blueprints. Eventually, my gaze lifts to the small door at the edge of the room that I once tried to enter, but was encouraged away from it by Evolet.

Marek follows my gaze, his mouth falling into a grim line.

"Go ahead," I encourage.

Marek stalks towards the door, rearing back before kicking at it. At first, it doesn't budge, until the second kick, where the wood finally splinters, giving Marek a chance to weave his hand through the gap and unclick the lock from the other side.

"Stairs," Marek notes, motioning for me to come stand beside him. "I should go first, make sure there isn't any traps down here."

"Okay..." I breathe, peering down the dark stairwell, the end shaded enough that I can't see through it.

Marek tests the first step with the weight of his foot, before progressing slowly downward. Zavian and Nakoa come to stand next to me, looking down warily, both clearly having seen this for the first time right now. Thankfully Marek finds a switch, illuminating the place with enough light that a door at the bottom of the stairs is visible.

"Watch you're step, the wood is rotting in places," Marek warns as I make my way down, hand gliding over the dusty banister.

Once we have all picked our way carefully down the stairs, Marek tries the next door, which mercifully swings open with no hesitation, revealing yet another dark room. Zavian and I exchange wary glances, both knowing that whatever is down there, Tai felt as though he had to hide it from us all...

"Are there any lights?" I ask, rubbing my arms. The space down here is many degrees colder.

Nakoa runs her hands along the wall. "Got it."

Lights fills the space, revealing a room far bigger than I could have possibly imagined being down here. All of us are silent, gaping at the impressive room which is seemingly split into a few different sections. Most of it is made up of workbenches, tools and strange parts littered about, completely unkempt. It's like a dark, frightening look into Tai's eyes.

"Woah...This place is huge," Nakoa marvels, walking across the cold concrete floor toward one of the workbenches. "What is it?"

"I have no idea," I murmur.

On the far end of the room, the structure to something seems to be partially built. It's shaped like a sphere, but obviously didn't get a chance to be finished. Tai often started projects before he could finish them, and this entire room seems to be a graveyard of potential ideas.

Nakoa looks over her shoulder. "Zavian?"

"I'm as lost as you guys," Zavian says with a shrug, trying to absorb all the information he is being fed all at once. I have to remember Zavian is Tai's long time friend. "If I'm not wrong, these are blueprints to Tai's ultimate project."

I come to stand beside him, glancing down at the blueprints. To an untrained eye, these look like nothing, impossible to decipher.

"Ultimate project?" I whisper.

"As you probably know, there's a war going on. The weapon is going to end it," Zavian explains grimly.

I don't know much about the war, being that it is so far away, but my father was almost killed fighting in it. I haven't met a single person who doesn't want it to desperately end. But no one has mentioned a weapon being the way to end it.

"What do you mean weapon?"

"Tai has always been freakishly intelligent when it comes to making things. Doesn't matter what it is, whether it's chemical reactions, whether it's shaping materials or just coming up with ideas," Zavian notes, flattening the blueprint out with his palm. "The weapon is a chemical bomb, that will only kill the opposing side."

My throat goes dry. It seems like forever ago, that Tai took me to a place affected by the war. The trees has been reduced to ash, but Tai seemed so fascinated by it. It was unsettling, how he found it so beautiful.

But does he really think he can end the war like this?

"How is that possible?"

"Kailor's army and Tai's were to be injected with a substance to make them immune on the battlefield. That way when the bomb drops, they won't perish...Only the other side will."

Everyone goes silent, as the reality of Zavian's words settle over us. I wouldn't put it past Kailor to have no issue with eliminating thousands of people in one go, just to save his own, but what about Tai? Would he so easily put peace aside for mass death? It may be easier, but Tai is one of the smartest people I ever met...If anyone could find a better solution, it's him.

I grab Zavian's arm, pulling him to face me. "You knew about this and didn't tell me?"

"With all the rebel things going on, he was debating on whether to use it. I never questioned him, knowing most of Tai's plans are just that...plans. He has wild ideas he never goes through with," Zavian explains, eyes wild. "When you came into his life, I thought he would be done with building it. I don't even think it ever got close to be finished."

"I can't believe it," I exclaim, digging my hands into my hair. Now I really have to go see Tai, demand whether this truly is just another discarded plan, or whether he truly intends to go through with it.

"There's so many notes on this desk," Nakoa says from another part of the room.

"Collect them, we will read them outside of this place," I say, shivering. The sooner I can get out of here, the better. Something about this seems dark and cold...

"Ah, Akara." I look toward Marek, who is crouched down a few steps away from me. "Come look at this."

Stalking over, I see he's staring at a picture frame on the ground, the glass shattered, shards of it scattered across the floor. Tentatively, Marek flicks some large pieces of glass away, pulling the picture from it, turning it for me to see.

It's a picture of Tai and another person. Tai looks young, his dark curls to his shoulder, emerald eyes blazing wildly. Next to him is another, with darker eyes and slightly lighter hair. It's obvious they are related. I remember Tai mentioning his brother, who died tragically. Tarik, I believe.

"Weird. It must have fallen," I murmur distractedly, taking the photo from him.

Marek looks solemn. "I don't think so."

"Let's go outside and read these notes." I gesture back to Nakoa, arms full of paper. "This place has successfully creeped me out."

💙••💙

Remember that you can always find this story 10 chapters ahead on Radish (:

You will find it under King's Possession Season Three!!

~Midika 🐼💜