I stood in Sir Larmore’s office, my body weak from fatigue and anxiety. There was a dull pain in my temples that would not seem to leave. In front of me stood the director of the DOPD, along with Dr. Bourne and Dr. Pradhan. Each had an aura of uneasiness surrounding them. Sir Larmore’s face was twisted into an expression of barely concealed fury.

“They stole a client from right under our noses,” he growled; his fingers pinched around the bridge of his nose.

“Sir, I’ve called the Chief of Police,” Dr. Pradhan murmured, closing her eyes, “they are currently scouting the city for the van.”

I felt the room start to spin around me. It reminded me of the ballerina standing on the building, spinning her pirouettes. My stomach started to twist into knots. If anything had been within it, it would have been on the floor by now.

“Margaretta, take a seat, you look like you’re about to faint, my dear.”

Dr Bourne approached me and pulled a chair over. I murmured a small ‘thanks’ and collapsed into it. The nausea within me subsided a bit.

“I’m sorry Ms. Winters, I cannot excuse you until the police arrive.” Sir Larmore sighed, rubbing his forehead.

“Someone has been kidnapping the clients?” I asked, my voice dry.

“We’ve had no concrete proof until your encounter today.” Sir Larmore muttered.

My mind was racing.

“Why?”

“We have several theories.” Dr. Pradhan mused. “There is a lot we do not know about clients, but from what we know-”

“What we know is classified information.” Sir Larmore grunted, glaring at the Head of Research. “You of all people should know this.”

Dr. Pradhan went quiet and glanced down at the floor.

The rest of the day went past in a blur. I went from one officer to another, giving statements as best I could. In my mind, all I could see was River’s relieved face as they entered the van. The teenager transformed into Chloe; her eyes shut as she slept in my arms.

They were my clients, and I had lost them. What was happening to them? Were they being tortured? Murdered, or worse?

Once the investigation wrapped up, Dr. Bourne approached me, his expression soft with father-like concern.

“Margaretta, take the rest of the week off.” He said to me in a gentle tone.

“Dr. Bourne, I-”

“You’re exhausted. You looked like you were about to collapse before. When was the last time you had a proper night’s rest?”

I didn’t know how to respond. He gave me a serious look. “Don’t let yourself get burned out. That is when accidents start happening. I…I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

He was going to say something else, but quickly changed his sentence at the last second. Not wanting to argue, I just gave a small nod. Perhaps a bit of rest would do good for me, even if it was the last thing I wanted to do.

Without much thought put into my commute home, I was soon back in my apartment. I found myself staring out of one of the large apartment windows of my DOPD appointed home. I was on a middle floor, but I still had a decent view of the heart of Ardour. If I looked long enough, I could even see the thin dark blue line of the ocean behind all of it.

I found myself wondering if my clients had been taken off Ardour. Could they have been smuggled onto a cargo ship carrying ore or seafood? Perhaps that was why none of them had been found yet.

My phone lit up. Hoping it was Suzuka, I glanced down. Mateo was calling me. After an initial moment of hesitation, I answered my phone.

“Maggie, Dad told me. Well, I overheard a conversation he was having on his phone. I’m sorry.”

I could feel tears sting my eyes.

“I just keep wondering where Chloe and River are. I can’t stop thinking about it. Do you think someone is hurting them?”

There was hesitation in Mateo’s voice. He was trying to find the right words to say to me. All I wanted was to hear the reassurance of a protector, even if it was all just false hope.

“I don’t know. I don’t know.”

That was not the answer I had wanted to hear. Clutching the phone tightly in my hand, I pressed my free palm against the cool glass of the window. Outside, rain was beginning to patter.

“It’s my fault they got taken. I wasn’t careful enough. I should have known that van wasn’t the right one.”

“Maggie, there wasn’t anything you could have done to stop this.”

“I could have done something!” I replied, my voice rising almost to a shout.

“Maggie, deep breaths.”

I stopped and took Mateo’s advice, sinking to my knees as I took in slow gasps of air. I rubbed my cheeks with my now cold hand, trying to wipe away the tears.

“It hurts so much.” I whispered into the receiver.

I heard the protector let out a defeated sigh.

“When I was seven, I was living in a crappy little flat in North Ardour with my parents. They were in the kitchen together and I was watching TV. I heard a noise. It sounded like a helicopter and growling. Before I could even move my eyes from the screen, the entire apartment collapsed. When I woke up, everything was white. They were gone, but I already knew.”

Mateo spoke in a pensive manner, concealing an emotion so strong I could barely recognise the protector’s voice.

“Maggie, I spent years convinced it was my fault they died. All I could think about was ‘what ifs’. What if I had told them what I had heard? What if I had told them the announcement on TV about the evacuation notice for our area?”

“You were only seven.” I whimpered. “There was nothing you could have done.”

“Exactly. You can’t let blame eat you alive. It’ll destroy you from the inside out.”

“Thanks Mateo, I needed to hear that.”

Before my colleague could respond, a loud beep went off from my phone’s earpiece.

“Shoot, I have to go. Another client has popped up. Get some rest, Maggie, I’ll talk to you later.”

“Okay, stay safe.”

I ended the call and gazed out the window. I watched people move about the city streets like tiny insects in a garden. Colourful umbrellas began to blossom like blooming flowers as the rain grew heavier.

“Which one of you is next?” I asked my empty home.

Despite the fact the sun was only just starting to set, I went about my bedtime routine. I was brushing my teeth in a daze when I got a call. It was Dr. Bourne and he sounded out of breath.

“Forgive me, I know this is your time off, but we need you at the launch bay now. It’s your team. There’s been a fatality-”

My phone dropped from my hand and clattered into the sink. Water splashed around the bowl as the phone came to a stop. I stared at the screen and heard my supervisor’s voice echo from far away.