Lacuna

Chapter 17 - Alert

         "Right, Cole, do you want to go to the Vendadt later today? I'll come with." Lev asks as he puts another spoonful of food into his mouth.

"Sure but— What about your wounds?" I asked, glancing over to his stomach.

"Huh?" Lev stares down onto his stomach as he notices my eyes. "Oh, this? I forgot I even had it!"

"Really? You don't have to force—" "I'm sure I'm fine. I hate to admit it but, Flavio did a good job patching me up." Lev interrupts, wearing an odd smile on his face.

"Well, then... If you feel any pain or discomfort, don't be afraid to tell." I advised as I put another spoon of food into my mouth.

Lev nodded in response and continued to eat.

A few minutes pass and I stare onto my empty plate. I glance over to Lev who has two other plates of food left.

"I thought you were just going to eat some salad?" I spoke as I leaned onto the table and looking over to the juicy steak on one of the plates.

"I'm hungry, alright?" Lev spoke with his mouth full of food. "I'll eat only the salad some other day."

"Yeah, yeah, let's see about that." I let out a playful sigh and silence filled the room.

"Say, what if we go to the Vendadt and it turns out I am Luc Valentin, then what happens next?" I uttered, wandering off into my thoughts.

"Hm?" Lev looks up from his plate. "Haven't thought that far actually."

"They think I'm dead, right? So, technically my credentials say that I've passed." I rambled. "How do you think they will react?"

Lev pauses for a moment and puts down his eating utensils.

"I know someone who works there. You might know him, actually." Lev stands up from his seat. "Let's see if he can help us."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait! Are we going right now?" I hastily stood up as Lev already walked halfway across the room.

"Better now before they find your existing file." Lev stopped in his footsteps.

"You're right," I responded and followed behind.

As we get inside the car, I quickly glanced over to the rearview mirror only to see a pair of bright yellow eyes stare back at me and I quickly looked away.

"To the Vendadt, Rhys." "Right away, Young Master." The driver responded as he drove off.

The car ride went as usual, it was silent and Lev would stare off into the distance like he normally would until we finally arrived at the Vendadt.

As I got off the car, the same tall building loomed over us, and yet, it feels much eerier because of the clouded skies.

Lev's men, including Rhys, stood outside by the car as Lev and I enter the building.

Lev approaches the front desk and asked for an unfamiliar name.

"Mr. Zhou, someone has summoned you by the front desk." The female employee spoke to the phone.

"Mr. Zhou will be here shortly." The employee informed as she hung up the phone.

A few moments pass and soon, a brawny-looking man with the features of a panda approached us.

"Mister Zhou!" Lev greeted him.

"It's been a while, Prince Lev." The man shook Lev's outstretched hand.

"I'll get straight to the point to save you time." Lev withdraws his hand and inserts them into his overcoat pocket. "We need to fake some files."

"That'll be quite tricky but I think I can handle—" The man pauses as he spots me standing behind Lev. "I-Is that...?"

"Okay, good, you recognize him. The fake files are for him." Lev explained.

"Because he was presumed dead in his credentials, is that it?" Mr. Zhou whips his head towards Lev.

"Correct, you're still sharp as ever, Sir!" Lev compliments. "As expected."

"You're only bluffing." Mr. Zhou chuckles. "So that's why I thought I saw him with Lucius the other day."

"You saw us?" I asked.

"Yes, I think our eyes met briefly by the hallway." Mr. Zhou smiles. "Now, I saw that you left the office empty-handed, meaning that the supervisor is already onto finding your file. So, we better act fast."

Mr. Zhou gestures to us to follow him as we enter the elevator.

We shortly arrived at our destined floor and we immediately walk over to Mr. Zhou's desk.

"You must fill in this form with your fake personal information." Mr. Zhou orders as he hands out the same form from the main office.

I nod as I took a pen from Mr. Zhou's desk to fill in the form.

Moments pass and I finally hand over the form back to Mr. Zhou.

"Alright. So, Cole Celestin? And your date of birth is—" Mr. Zhou freezes for a brief moment as he scanned the whole form with his eyes. "—Right."

Mr. Zhou subtly slaps himself before putting down the form on his desk.

"I'll try sneaking this inside. As for the retina scan, don't worry. I'll give you a copy of the artificial eye I'll use for the scan. Think of it like it's a key." He informed as he leaned onto his desk behind him. "I'll take care of it from here. You two can go home for the day."

"Thank you so much, Mr. Zhou! Here's a token of our appreciation." Lev offers, throwing a small bag onto Mr. Zhou's desk. As it lands, multiple sounds of metal clinking resonate. Coins?

"You don't have to, really." Mr. Zhou kindly refuses as he tries to hand over the same bag back to Lev.

"I insist. Keep it, you can count it after we're gone." Lev insisted as he dragged me towards the elevator.

Mr. Zhou stayed on his desk, staring onto the suspicious bag in confusion while Lev and I enter the elevator.

Soon, we exit the building and went back in the car together with Lev's men.

"Baile en ceau." Lev ordered.

Rhys only nodded before driving away.