“Will take some time, huh?” I muttered, reading Johann’s text message again. My eyes drifted to the top of my cellphone’s screen, checking the time. I clicked my tongue in annoyance. It had been nearly ten minutes since I last heard from him. “And telling me, ‘Just wait there’. How long am I supposed to wait?”

Chill out, Erind, I told myself. Let’s not do anything suspicious here.

To be fair, ten minutes wasn’t long when it came to transacting with the government. There were other people at the lobby waiting for whatever who were here before me. Getting my driver’s license took ages, and that didn’t involve any lab work—or maybe it did, and that was why it took so long. Who knows what the DMV people are doing?

My backside started to hurt from sitting on the hard edge of one of the plastic waiting chairs lining the right side of the lobby. The chairs were old, their red coat peeling in places, and every time I shifted, they’d loudly creak. To make it worse, the chairs were a tad too high for me, my feet dangling over the floor if I didn’t sit on the edge.

I look like a fucking kid.

On the bright side, I did miss my body getting sore because of normal things.

It would’ve been more comfortable if I plopped my butt on the sofas on the opposite side of the room; I’d even have a view of the TV to distract me from impulsively thinking of running away. Unfortunately, because Deen was sitting there, people…guys…crowded over there too.

Not just Johann’s technician buddies, most of them went back to work. Young cops and other employees were talking to her, maybe hitting on her—interestingly, there was a fine line between those two when talking to someone as attractive as Deen. Some of them were even asking to take pictures with her as if she was a celebrity.

Did Johann introduce her to the whole building?

I couldn’t help but be amazed at how she handled them. Other girls might be uncomfortable with this level of attention…I guess Deen probably was too, but she didn’t show it. She handled the situation perfectly, never looking bothered the tiniest bit, dealing with the guys like a teacher with excited preschoolers. I was more well-versed in social interactions than the average person, and I could tell Deen was at the top of the game in this specific setting. Not that I would ever find myself in her place so I couldn’t compare.

A couple of minutes later, an older cop, sour-faced and at the same time embarrassed by the behavior of his subordinates, arrived to disperse them. Deen, of course, graciously lied she wasn’t troubled. With her fans gone, she called over at me to sit beside her.

“What was that all about?” I asked. “It’s a fact of life you’re beautiful, but why were they taking pictures of you?”

“Oh, shut it.” She tried to pinch my side. I shoved her hands away and moved to the far end of the sofa. “Whatever. It’s because of my sister.”

“Your sister? Why?”

“Her boyfriend is the executive assistant of the mayor, so she usually attends events and stuff like that with him, and the police know her because they’re guarding those kinds of events. You can’t exactly miss Sis. She’s popular in this city actually; a couple of local magazines have featured her before.”

“So, they recognized you’re her younger sister and wanted to take pictures with you?”

“I guess?”

“Or they just wanted to take pictures with a beautiful girl then post it on social media to flex on other guys?” I snorted in disgust, ever the protective friend. “Guys…honestly. We should’ve thought of a better plan than use you as a distraction.”

“I’m fine with it, no biggie.”

“Hang on, freeze frame, rewind a bit. Your sister’s boyfriend is the executive assistant of the mayor? I thought he’s an architect working for a luxury property developer? I also remember a pilot mentioned before. This guy has many jobs or what?”

“Those are different guys,” Deen said with an embarrassed grin. “The lore of my sister’s love life is vast. The number of her boyfriends is bigger than the set of counting numbers. I’m not sure if I should say anything to her—I wouldn’t dare—but I’m sure she wouldn’t listen to me anyway if I tell her to stick to one guy.”

“Your sister is very scary,” I said.

“Enough of her, and of me. How about you? How are you holding up?”

“I’m fine too, no biggie,” I said, repeating her earlier response. I gave her a hesitant smile, like I was hiding something. Indeed, I was really hiding a problem, but I wasn’t going to tell her the Umbrella might’ve detected something anomalous with me. It was just my instinct to farm sympathy whenever I could. I especially needed her on my side now more than ever.

“Really, you’re fine?” Deen examined my face as I put up my best uncomfortable-but-hiding-it-and-failing expression.

She reminded me we’d go shopping later. There was a sale at this shop and that store, but there was a wider range of selections at another place, this or that mall might be too crowded, yada, yada, yada. She moved on to my size, colors that went along with my pale skin and black hair, fashion trends and why we shouldn’t follow those. She talked on and on, clearly trying to lighten the mood.

Hey, she’s a pretty nice person.

I couldn’t help but be surprised when people were nice without ulterior motives. What did that feel like? What was the thought process behind it? I honestly couldn’t comprehend it.

While chatting with Deen, I checked the time on my phone again. Also no message from Johann.

What now?

The police weren’t acting suspiciously like they were about to arrest me. And why would they? All of my other test results were normal. If the Umbrella did detect something, then Dr. Cornelio would’ve already called me back in for more testing. And if I resisted, that was the time the police would act and restrain me. That sounded logical to me.

Nothing was happening.

Perhaps Johann was able to fix whatever the problem was? He did say ‘everything was under control’.

Should I trust him? It seemed like I didn’t have any other choice than to rely on him…or, you know, just hightail it out of here.

Relying on others. I hated it. I didn’t have control of the situation, and the one in charge of fixing the problem might have interests not aligned with my own. And if others failed, most of the time I didn’t have any recourse to fix their mistakes that affected me.

I texted Johann, asking him what was up. A couple of minutes later and there was still no reply. I tried calling him and I couldn’t connect to his phone. Shit.

Either he didn't have reception inside the labs, or something went horribly wrong.

“It’s still not done?” I said, looking around with concern, interrupting Deen’s lecture on makeups. “What’s taking them so long?”

“I’m sure they’re just busy,” she said. “We got the time to wait.”

I nodded. Dr. Cornelio did say they were swamped. Maybe I was just overthinking this; I did do that a lot. However, nothing to be lost by being prudent. “I’m going to ask,” I said. I stood up and approached the counter to inquire. Pretty normal stuff, I’d say. We had been waiting for a while.

Still nothing, drawled the bored lady at the counter, and she wasn’t sure how long it would take. She didn’t even check anything, not sparing a glance at me, just continuing to stare fixatedly on her screen. Typical American bureaucratic process.

“Can I just come back for them?” I said.

“Bring your claim stub and ID,” she said. “We’ll keep your files for five days only, afterwards we’ll shred it and you have to pay a fee.”

There’s this fucking option the entire time? I should’ve gotten my ass out of here already when I realized our plan hit a bump and no one would’ve been suspicious of me. Johann could just tell me later if it was safe, maybe bring me the certificates himself, or warn me if I should pack my things and flee. Shit, I don’t have any stuff now.

“We’ll do that,” I said. “Thank you, miss.”

“Erind, are you sure?” said Deen. “There’s no problem wait—"

“I…I just want to get out of this place. We’re going shopping, right? That’ll take my mind off of things.” Go shopping so that I’d have clothes if I was forced to go into hiding, sounds like a great plan. A better use of my time than sitting on my ass here, watching the news and listening to Deen’s treatise on blending makeup colors.

“Sure, if that’s what you want.”

“Thanks, Deen. We’ll return tomo—”

“Ms. Hartwell!” a voice called, followed by pounding on glass, then ringing. It was Saffron behind the counter window, pinging the reception bell to get our attention. She exited to the lobby and caught up with us. “Ms. Hartwell, Dr. Cornelio is calling for you, something about your certificates.”

“Why? Is there anything wrong?” I said, keeping my face neutral. Did they realize I was an Adumbrae? Were they setting up a trap for me?

“I don’t think so,” she replied. I picked up nothing from her expression or way of speaking. “Follow me to his office.”

Go with her or run? My brain went into overdrive processing my options. “Can Deen go with me inside?”

I scanned my surroundings as we followed Saffron, walking down the familiar corridor bounded by glass walls on either side. It was reassuring I could see into the rooms.

Any ambush here, guys? No one wanted to arrest me? Everyone was acting normally, going about their daily working lives. I was overthinking this for sure.

In any case, I had Deen and her trusty Guardian Angel with me. The fucking prescient pet wouldn’t let me get arrested. If ever we got caught, Deen would be in a worse position than me. She hadn’t taken any Suppressor; it’d be easy to check she wasn’t human. A hundred percent certain the Guardian Angel would be on my side.

Nothing to worry about. I may not want to rely on others, but I was strangely okay with putting my fate in the hands of an entity I couldn’t even see...and who didn't even have hands.

“Ms. Hartwell,” Dr. Cornelio said. He was sitting behind his table like the first time we met, inhaling the fumes of his hot coffee. “And your classmate is here too.”

Johann stood beside his boss, clutching a bunch of papers, strangely ashen-faced. He stared at me with deranged eyes, almost trying to transmit his thoughts to me through sigh. Then he looked at the papers beside the doctor.

I raised my brow at him. What the shit is happening?

“Please have a seat, the two of you.”

“Hello, sir.” I sat right across him, bending subtly forward to try and get a glimpse of the papers Johann was focused on. “Good to be back,” I jokingly said. “Is there any problem?” Whoops. Should I have said that? Did it sound like I was expecting for something to be wrong or was that normal?

“Nothing of the sort,” he said. Johann behind him visibly deflated in relief. “Although there was something interesting in your results.” Johann went into a little seizure behind his boss, trying to stop himself from grabbing the papers. Deen looked at me with a little alarm, picking up something wasn’t right.

“What kind of interesting thing, sir?” If he did anything suspicious, I was out of here. Both of his hands were holding a paper, probably the one with anomalous readings. At least, he couldn’t push an alarm button under his table, or was that only in movies?

“Interesting….” he said, not listening to me.

Did I need to distract him? “Sir, how’s your wife—” I shut up as Johann made frantic signs not to continue with it. Another tract then. “Oh, um, sir, what was the interesting thing you mentioned?”

“How are you feeling these days, Ms. Hartwell?”

“Same…same as usual, I guess.” Shit, he might know something. What was that interesting thing?!

“I see…” He adjusted his glasses, looking at my paper.

Several seconds passed. I kept glancing at Deen, checking for a cue if her Guardian Angel instructed her to flee. The silence going on for too long; I decided to speak up. “I mean, sir, not the same after what I’ve gone through…or didn’t go through, I was lucky enough not to be…there. But physically, I feel fine. Hopefully, after this test, I can go back to living normally.”

“Living normally…yes.” He nodded. “That would be good.”

“Excuse me, Dr. Cornelio, sir?” Deen said.

“Hmm?”

“Your coffee might be getting cold.”

What the fuck, Deen? Then I realized it must be her Guardian Angel. But such a random thing to say. My body tensed, ready to run away at a moment’s notice. Come on, Guardian Angel, what do we do here?

Dr. Cornelio was mildly surprised with her too, but after a couple of seconds, he did pick up his coffee. “You’re right. I do dislike cold coffee.” He raised the cup to take a sip from it and…the cup accidentally slipped from his hand. He yelped in surprise and stood up. I looked at Deen, but she didn’t run away, instead leaning forward to check what happened.

“Oh my god, are you okay, sir?” Deen said, her hand covering her mouth. “I…I’m so sorry.”

“What for?” Dr. Cornelio wiped the front of his clothes with his hands. “It wasn’t your fault. A slight mishap, is all. If anyone has to apologize, it is me for spilling the coffee on Ms. Hartwell’s paper.”

Nice! Was this the work of the Guardian Angel? But it was farfetched to imagine there was a possible future Dr. Cornelio spilled his coffee. Oh….wait a fucking minute! Did I need to get tested again?

“No worries, Ms. Hartwell,” said Dr. Cornelio as if in answer to my thoughts. “That was just an extra piece of paper. The rest of your certificates are here. I’ll sign them now before I spill coffee on them as well.”

Deen, Johann, and I stared at each other while listening to the minute scratching of Dr. Cornelio’s pen on the papers. All of us weren’t sure of what had just happened. Deen shrugged at me, and I shrugged back. We’re home free I guess?

“Here are your papers,” Dr. Cornelio said. I cautiously accepted the documents. He pointed his pen at me. “Be careful you don’t spill coffee on those like I did. Of course, you could have those reprinted for a fee, but I doubt you want to come to a police station again.”

What did he mean by that? “Yes…I mean no, sir,” I said. “Or, yes?”

“The interesting thing in answering negative questions, Ms. Hartwell, is that the leading ‘yes’ or ‘no’ doesn’t matter. It’s the qualifying phrase afterwards. ‘No, I don’t want to go to a police station’, and ‘Yes, I don’t want to go to the police station’ are the same in response to my question, although there might be a preference to the first phrasing.”

“No, sir. I don’t want to go to a police station again,” I clarified. “It’s just scary even if I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“Understandable. I also don’t want to be inside a police station if I can help it. But then I remember I have a job here.” The corners of his lips turned up the slightest bit, his shoulders quivered as he chuckled at his own joke—or maybe he was having a seizure. I honestly couldn’t tell if he was laughing or dying. Johann couldn’t either based from the bewilderment painted on his face.

“Thank you, sir,” I said, laughing along with him. “I’ll stay clear of police stations and hot coffee.”

“Hurray!” Deen said, repeatedly thumping her palms on the ceiling of the car. “Wohooo!”

“What are you doing?” I asked, keeping my head down and pressing myself against the car door so she wouldn’t accidentally hit me with her arms inside this small space. I wasn’t sure how well she could control her strength.

“Celebrating? Shouldn’t you be happy nothing happened?” She honked the car’s horn a few times. “Celebrate with me.”

“Yeah…nothing happened.”

“Right? I’m not sure why you were anxious earlier. You’re human, remember? You have nothing to be afraid of. And you also took the Suppressor.”

“I’m…I mean you never know when a plan suddenly goes wrong…just because.”

“This time, the plan did work without a hitch,” she said, oblivious to the whole Umbrella thing. I was certain from Johann’s demeanor at Dr. Cornelio’s office that something did go wrong. Deen hummed a cheery tune as she backed the car out of the parking space. “Nobody got hurt…except for Dr. Cornelio.”

“Poor Dr. Cornelio,” I chimed in with a kindly tone. That fucker deserved it for coming to work and annoying me. “The coffee must’ve been scalding hot with all the steam it was giving off.”

“But he barely reacted to it. It splashed all over the paper and his lap.”

“Hmm, it might’ve been not that hot then.” Too bad.

“I wonder why my Guardian Angel told me to point out the coffee mug. And why point at it, not kick the table to spill it?”

I shrugged. I filed this tidbit in my mental cabinet.

“How does Dr. Cornelio spilling his coffee factor in the whole thing?” she continued. “Something about the paper maybe?”

“Maybe…dunno,” I said. I checked my phone to show I wasn’t interested in the topic, only listening with half an ear. Whatever that paper was, the Guardian Angel wanted it destroyed. Johann would tell me if there was something more to this that would explain the bizarre instruction of the Guardian Angel. For now, we should change topic or Deen might realize there was something anomalous about me I was trying to hide. “Deen! Look, fifty-percent off at Bellarose Boutique. Let’s go shopping there!”