4338.206 · July 25, 2018 AD
The Trap That Wouldn't Hold
The first run was careful. The second run is desperate. Jamie's grip on Luke's hand says everything his fever-cracked voice can't: don't leave me. But the asterisked items won't fetch themselves, and Glenda needs what only the shared supply room holds. Luke steps back through the Portal—into a corridor that's already closing around him. Someone made a phone call. Someone is waiting. And someone else is whispering about foxes behind the bathroom door.
Luke returns to Clivilius with bags full of supplies—and finds Jamie worse than before. The grip on his hand is weak but desperate, the plea in those fever-bright eyes unmistakable. Glenda needs the rest of the list. The asterisked items. The things that weren't in her examination room.
Back through the Portal. Back into the practice. But this time, the corridor feels different. Michelle's voice carries from reception, too casual, too controlled: I'll keep him distracted.
Someone is coming. Someone was called before Luke even arrived.
And behind the bathroom door, voices he doesn't recognise speak of compromise and foxes—other Guardians, other Portal Keys, other players in a game Luke is only beginning to understand.
The supply room becomes a race. Keys fumble in locks. Police boots echo on tile. The door holds just long enough for Luke to grab what he needs and open a Portal against a refrigeration unit, vanishing seconds before they break through.
He returns to Clivilius with everything Glenda asked for. She administers the morphine. Jamie finally sleeps. And her parting words follow Luke out of the tent: Go confidently.
