Balloon City
Chapter 5
Meggie's pen flew across the page, her calculations pouring out naturally. She tried to focus on her work, but her attention kept drifting – drifting toward the closed door of the machine room. The professor had been holed up in there since Meggie had arrived, and she had seen nothing of him since. Even the quiet was unnerving.
The opening of the machine room door, cracked like a gunshot throughout the room, and Meggie dropped her pen, her heart lurching at the sudden noise. Professor Des Roches came out, hurriedly, a coat slung over one arm, and an expression of annoyed haste in his countenance.
“ Meggie, I'm going out. I'll be back in an hour. Keep on with your work. I'd like those problems to be done when I'm back.” With that he left, the door to the lab slamming shut behind him. Something shiny fell out of his pocket as he left, apparently unnoticed.
Meggie sat, frozen, wondering if he would come back in if she stood up.
Nothing.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Meggie stood slowly, allowing her chair to scrape back against the floor, and walked quickly over to the machine room door. Time to look for Minato's ring. She tried to turn the doorknob.
Locked.
Meggie gave a huff of annoyance. Of course the professor would lock the door before leaving. Her mind shifted back to the shiny object that had slipped from the Des Roches' pocket as he'd left. Without wasting a second, she bolted over to the spot, and snatched up the object. Her suspicions were accurate. It was a key. Excitement raced through her, and she ran back to the door, her fingers shaking as she tried to fit the key into the lock.
It fit.
There was a delightful
click and Meggie tried the handle again. This time it opened. Her heart raced as she opened it just a crack, and peeked inside, starting to feel a little doubtful and scared. Then she threw it open, letting the door fly back, and bump against the wall.
The room was rather eerily empty. And the light was off. Meggie felt carefully around the wall by the door, looking for a light switch.
Victory!
The lights turned on with a flicker, bathing Meggie in fluorescent light. Meggie entered quickly, and at once began her search. There were several metal cabinets along the sides of the room, and a door which led into a store room, and then another door, which Meggie had no idea what it led to. After several unsuccessful scourings of the metal cabinets, which were thankfully left unlocked, Meggie turned to the unknown door.
Also locked.
Darn it! Meggie thought, her spirits falling. She knew that the key to the machine room couldn't possibly be the same for the other room. She ran to the store room, in the hopes there would be some excellent pick-locking tool in there. Memory brought to mind a pick-locking YouTube she'd once watched. The reason for watching said video was long forgotten, but the memory of it was fresh. Meggie went at once to the section of the store room marked “tools”, and began looking carefully at the saws there. Triumph at last! Meggie was ecstatic as she pulled out the old (admittedly rather rusty) hacksaw blade, and hurried back to the door.
Controlling her breathing and keeping her hands from shaking and slipping during the delicate process was the hard part, but Meggie had no issue picking the lock.
In minutes she had opened the door, and was standing in room, that looked like some sort of office. There was a desk with a PC on it, and a file cabinet. Posters for Jennifer Lopez concerts were tacked on the walls, as well as random notes, with deadlines and dates on them. The file cabinet was not locked, and Meggie opened the drawers of it quickly, sifting through the folders of random bills, and flight info. Something caught her eye.
One folder, labeled Earlson, Megan R. And right after it, another folder, labeled Earlson, Minato J. Meggie froze in shock. Minato
Earlson?
Meggie's gripped the files and pulled them out, her breathing feeling rushed and choppy. Sweat was breaking out on her brow, and her stomach was clenched so tightly, that she felt she would be sick at any moment.
She opened her own file first, curiosity about what Professor Des Roches had on her, getting the better of her. Everything she could have possibly imagined about herself was there. Health information, social security number, school records – everything. Her parents names were there too – Clarissa A. Johnson, and Jack O. Earlson.
“ So
that's why mother always called him Joe!” Meggie whispered aloud.
The next line startled her.
Siblings: Minato J. Earlson
Minato was her brother. Meggie felt cold. Minato didn't look anything like her! How was he her
brother? Did Clarissa even know?
Meggie quickly opened Minato's file, and looked. Father: Jack O. Earlson Mother: Hotaru K. Kurosawa
Meggie thought. So they were half-siblings. Had her father had an affair with this other woman? She and Minato were only a month apart in birth according to the files. Did
Minato even know? Meggie closed the files quickly, and placed them back where she'd found them, closing the file cabinet. The professor would be back in half an hour, and she still hadn't found Minato's ring.
Now that she thought about it, her brother's ring. She went to the desk and dug, through the drawers, hoping and praying that it would be there.
Nothing.
With a sinking heart, Meggie realized that the professor must have it at his own home. She sighed, and left the room, carefully locking it behind her. She deposited the hacksaw blade in the stare room, and then locked the machine room door, placing the key, back in the same spot on the floor.
She couldn't focus on her calculations at all. Her mind was swirling.
