Spiderweb - 127 Headroom

Her reaction seemed to be one that Vixen was able to predict. He wanted to know so badly, about her past, about what she was scared of, and why she was in the building in the first place. Whoever she was, he didn’t like the fact that he wasn’t allowed to know.

He could take a guess. Whoever she was, she came from a pretty good background seeing as she was in the room that she was in and not the jail cells two floors below this one. He could guess that she went through something traumatizing, that she was scared of something that was going to haunt her for the rest of her time.

He could guess that something happened between her and Vixen. That Vixen meant something to her, someone who could help her through whatever was going on. That they had some unfinished story with each other, that they had a reason to see each other but Vixen was pushing away.

He could guess that she was angry, trying to do something about herself and her thoughts, he knew that there was something holding her down. He could guess all that, but he didn’t want to just guess. He wanted to know. He wanted to be told. To be giving the information rather than have to pick at the crumbs of released information to form conclusions that could be right or wrong.

He wanted to know how to help her and know why she behaved the way she did, wanted to know how to help her, and know how to treat others like that.

There were so many things that he wanted to know, that he wanted to do, that he wanted to be but he couldn’t. It hurt, especially when he knew that he would be able to take it if someone just decided to rely on him. He didn’t know what was under those bandages but he didn’t care. His feelings wouldn’t change how he sees her, why couldn’t they believe that?

As he walked down the hallway, he sees Vixen leaning against the wall and a cart in front of him.

He didn’t know if the cart was for him but he had to try and find out if it was. He approached him slowly and stood before him.

Vixen slowly looked up at Antonin, locking eyes with him for a brief moment, and nodded towards the cart. It was for him.

Quickly, Antonin grabbed onto the handle of the cart and was about to walk away from Vixen when he stopped, his mind wanted to ask a question.

“You’re not going to ask how it went?” Antonin’s head cocked to the side.

Vixen looked up at Antonin and then away. “I don’t need to ask, I can tell by your face.”

Antonin thought about it for a moment before nodding. It was understandable.

“Do I look triumphant and such?” Antonin asked, a fake smile appearing on his face.

“You look defeated, as you should have,” Vixen closed his eyes and looked away from Antonin.

‘As I should have?’ Antonin thought to himself, a weak chuckle leaving his mouth, “Looks like you predicted that too. What are you a fortune-teller? Haha.”

Vixen’s face didn’t twist into any smile and his lips remained pursed together. As it was, he was getting sick of the conversation. Irritated by Antonin’s words. “Fortune Tellers need to be incited with money and read the futures of people. I simply read the facts. According to them, you should not be happy with the results even if it ended well.”

Antonin looked at the cart, unable to look anywhere else, and nodded. “You’re right, I’m far from happy. I’m frustrated, mad, sad, annoyed, and utterly confused. There has not been one incident yet that I feel good about this happening.���

“Good. Continue to feel those ways, only then can you get the chance to find out what’s on everyone’s mind,” Vixen nodded, his eyes opening and looking down the other side of the hallway. His jaw clenched. “But if you dare, for a second think that you can force your ideas down her throat for your own satisfaction and results, then we’d have an issue with that. You’ll be relieved of your duties to serve Regan ahead of time.”

Antonin’s grip on the cart’s handles tighten and he lets out a loud sigh. “Yes sir,” he replied, “I’ll be leaving now. She needs to be served lunch afterall. What will you be doing? I’m sure all your chances to serve other people are ruined, what will you be doing for the rest of the time left of lunchtime.”

“Reported to the headroom,” Vixen replied, leaning away from the wall and stretching a bit.

Antonin flinched, his eyes skirting to Vixen immediately. “The headroom?” he asked again.

“Hmm,” Vixen nodded, “it seems they have something to say to me. There was a lot of things that happened today afterall, someone’s gonna have to take responsibility.”

There’s a glimmer of fear that passes Antonin’s eyes as he thought of his first time in the headroom. There was a cold silence in the office style room and lining the walls were screens that showed the footage from the camera’s posted in hallways and many other places.

From the moment he had stepped in, a video was already playing on the screen and his face was clearly shown in the footage. It was a terrifying moment. The silence, the chill, and the woman sitting behind a desk at the front of the room. She had looked up from her computer and stared at Antonin, their eyes locking.

At that moment, his heart fell to the floor. They were so cold, her gaze piercing through his life a knife. He had nowhere to run from her gaze. The feeling was absolutely terrifying. She looked at him, her eyes scanning him up and down before locking eyes with him again and smiling. By the time his fight or flight instincts had kicked in for a flight, the doors behind him shut and the lock turned, locking him in the room.

Her mouth opened and she welcomed him into the room yet nothing in her voice made it welcoming. It felt like she was pinning him down with her gaze, slowly following him as he walked to the seat in front of her desk and giving another empty smile. She was an invasive woman, her every presence made to intimidate and force her victims into submission.

He never wanted to be in that room again, at least not alone.

“Be careful,” Antonin muttered, giving Vixen a word of advice. Vixen didn’t need it. Especially not when the person he was visiting is his own mother. It seemed like Antonin wasn’t well aware of that fact.

“Thanks, I’ll think about it,” Vixen chuckled. He turned to look at Antonin’s back. “If we’re done here I’ll get started on my ascend to hell.”

Antonin gave a grim nod before beginning to walk down the hallway. “Talk to you later I guess?”

“Hm, sure,” Vixen nodded. It was a lie, a good-natured one. He didn’t plan to meet him again and it was to save him, Regan, and himself.

He didn’t want to be associated with them anymore. They were the reasons why he was being dragged up to hell now and he would be the reason they would be dragged down to hell. They began down different sides of the hallway in silence, both having a lot on their minds at that moment.

Vixen was nervous if he had to be honest. It wasn’t that he was scared of his mother, he was scared of the work version of his mother. She was ruthless, not a care in the world whether the one she spoke to was her son or some random employee out of the 2,000 plus total that were dispersed over 7 buildings in the asylum as a whole. Her eyes were cold and her speech short but precise. She never wasted time and went straight to the point.

The only way to match someone like that is to be just as cold as they are, to treat them just the way they treat you, and to carry the same cold eyes. Nonetheless, she never took it easy on Vixen. There was a clear line between family and work. She never mixed up the two. If she was seated in her big chair, she was the head of the asylum and when she was outside the walls of that room, she was a mother. It was a rule that Vixen had been forced to understand. It would be his rule soon too.

Vixen walked down the hall to the nearest elevator and pressed the 5th floor, standing in the elevator in silence. He could feel the presence of a camera peering down at him and he scoffed. The place was so stifling, rid of all emotions, and filled with people that committed a sin. How dare it be called a family business?