CHAPTER 46: A MINOR DISTURBANCE

"Ugh." Ether groaned the second she woke up. Silas, who had sat her by the wall, took a quick glance in her direction before returning to his business, "What am I even looking for?"

"Mm, Tch." Ether heaved as her lashes fluttered and she opened her eyes. She looked at her surroundings then shifted her gaze to Silas, wearing a cold frown, "Did I finish it off?"

"Oh, of course you did." Silas replied without even turning to look at her, sweeping his palm across the wall. He paused the second he reached the framed photo hung on the wall.

"I’m glad." She sighed in relief, standing up to her feet with the walls as support. After she’d stood to her feet, Ether looked from left to right, "Are we out of that weird shithole?"

"Language." Silas rolled his eyes as he arched his hand and pressed into the wall with his fingers. His fingers dug deep, too deep for what he guessed was probably a wallpaper.

He pressed in deeper, and his entire hand dug into the wallpaper. Silas eyes widened, then he spun around and darted off, leaving Ether to stare at his back with a weird face.

"I found it!" Silas shouted.

Hearing his voice, Matilda who was in the opposite building leapt out the window and rushed for his location. Just as the glass from the window reached the ground, she arrived.

Silas blinked at her speed, wondering if it was because of the enhancements she got out of her ’dome’ or she had some secret skills as well. He suspected the latter she approached.

’I’ll just ignore it, like everything else, for now.’ Silas thought to himself as he stepped back and allowed her in the room. He ushered across the room to the wall he’d inspected.

Ether watched them perambulate, feeling around for the particular spot close to that framed photo to determine how big this ’depression’ was, not getting why that mattered.

"As I suspected. It’s big enough to shove someone through." Silas nodded his head and stepped back from the wall, he turned to Ether who gave him a strange look, "Okay, pet."

"Do I have to?" Ether imagined having Silas shove her head into the wall, then a dark thought — when the wall suddenly returns to normal — flashed in her mind, "I don’t w—"

"I’ll treat you to good food." Silas said without hesitation, then as a starry eyed Ether jumped in his hands, he shoved her into the wall. Silas chuckled, dusting his hands calmly.

Matilda blinked, her jaw falling to the ground. Silas turned to stare in her direction as he grinned whilst waggling his eyebrows. Seeing this, Matilda shuddered at that thought.

"Nah, I’ll just see myself in." She smiled awkwardly, then turned to the wall. She took deep breaths, then dived into the wall. Her head slammed in the wall, and the world spun.

She spun around dazed, trying to find her balance. She had dived at the wrong angle, a few inches away from the exit, and it resulted in this. Matilda groaned, then walked into it.

"Oh yeah, you could do that." Silas observed her patiently, watching Matilda vanish into the wallpaper. He shrugged, pocketing his hands and following her, "Work smart, not hard."

——

"Weird. They’re not back yet." Ice frowned, staring into the ceiling as she lay in bed. She had asked Luke for the dozenth time, only for him to tell her that he hadn’t returned home.

Silas said that they’d be back by soon, unless they ran into issues. She guessed this must be the result of one of those issues. Ice sat up, grasping the sheets with a frown on her face.

There was a knock on the door, causing her to lift her head and turn in that direction. A cold gleam formed in her eyes as she scowled, "I told you not to bother me, didn’t I Luke?"

Seeing that the person on the other side of the door did not reply, Ice narrowed her eyes then shifted to the edge of the bed. The doors were always unlocked but they won’t know it.

Ice just sat and waited as the door ’burst’ open, and a cloaked figure stumbled into her room. She scoffed, tilting her head to the side. Ice felt something cold pressing in her neck.

"You clone fast." Ice praised, glaring at the cloaked figure out the corner of her eyes. It was a given now that they needed to increase the security, because this location got leaked.

"You are going to come with me, or I’ll slit your throat." The cloaked man threatened in a deep distorted voice, drawing blood as the sharp dagger dug into Ice’s skin, "Your choice."

"Your clone sure talks big." Ice gave the original a condescending stare as she grinned. A second after the grin spread on her face, blood splattered across the air, spilling on her face.

The original also exploded from the inside out, sending bloody icicles into the air, while Ice watched without flinching in the slightest. Ice groaned, dragging her weight off the bed.

Someone roared some irrelevant nonsense the second she stepped out of her room, but a puddle of meat and a splatter of blood was what she met when she turned to listen to them.

"Aw, man. Muscle memory." Ice clicked her tongue. She searched the area, feeling that the place must be reeking with enemies by now. She just prayed Luke and Selena were safe.

Two cloaked men, stationed at the centre of the staircase, turned towards the sound of footsteps. An electrical current travelled across the air, streaking towards the frowning Ice.

Suddenly, a wall of ice formed between Ice and the men, swallowing the electrical surge whole. The wall crawled in their direction, forcing them to stagger and run down the stairs.

The electric current held in the ice exploded violently, but the ice contained the blast. A cruel gleam appeared in Ice’s eyes as she ordered the wall of ice to collapse down the stairs.

The men did not get far before their legs got frozen up, and they were unable to run off from Ice. She clenched her fists, watching as icicles stabbed outwards from the body parts.

Blood and gore rained on the stairs as the icicles exploded, tearing the men apart in an instant. Watching this, Ice only scoffed, then continued walking down the stairs patiently.