Dismantle (CH 1 un - edited)

Chapter 1:


It was a day like every other.

The sun shone down on the people below; acting like a blanket keeping them warm. Peyton ran on the pavement, through the peaceful neighbourhood. It had long blades of grass on either side of it. The trees stood tall as if they went on forever. The birds that were chirping made a peaceful and calming sound.The concrete slapped against her shoe and her hair moved with the wind.

Her phone beeped from her side pocket. She slowed her pace from a run into a walk. Her hand entered her left pocket to get her phone and she opened it. She had one missed call from an unknown number. She called back and they answer almost immediately.
“Hello?” Peyton said as she held the phone closer to her ear.

“Hello, is this Miss Peyton Delaney?” The voice spoke.

“Yes, this is her. What’s wrong?” She asked, curiously.

“You need to come to the office quickly. You know which one. It’s urgent.”

“I’m afraid that you’ve caught me at an awkward time,” she paused. “I can be there in half an hour though."

“Ok, be as quick as you can, Peyton. With what’s happened, we need every bit of time we can get.”

“Don’t worry Dan, I’ll hurry.”

She hung up and stood there bewildered. She put her phone quickly back in her pocket. What could be so important that they had to take her from her morning run?

She ran fast through the trees and the wind hit her skin sharply. She ran rapidly past the houses. She could smell freshly cut grass and it made her cheeks turn a bright shade of pink. Her fists were clenched tight and her knuckles turned white. The wind glided in the air and twisted around her body.

She got to her flat quite quickly and reached for her keys. She opened the door with a shaking hand and rushed to her room. She ran down her stairs and the carpet screamed as she slammed her foot down onto it.

Peyton opened her front door and locked it. She walked towards her badly parked car and got inside. She called Dan back and to her surprise nobody answered. Instead, it went straight to voicemail. A voice started playing:

Hello, this is Dan Barlow. I am very busy at the moment and I am sorry I couldn’t answer, please don’t leave a message unless it’s important. Thank you. Followed by a beep. Peyton didn’t hesitate to speak:

Hi Dan, this is Peyton Delaney. I’m on my way to the office.

She started her car and drove off. She drove along the town cautiously. The offices were just around the corner. She made her way up the road and her eyes scanned the office.

When she found it she drove up and parked her car. She made her way out of the car and gazed at the building in front of her. Its grey exterior and large windows could fool anyone who didn’t know what was actually inside.

Peyton sighed loudly.

She took a step forward and made her way towards the entrance door. Opening it, she walked inside.. The interior design had been thought through thoroughly. It had white walls and beautiful chandeliers that hung from the ceiling. A wooden floor that matched the reception table and the staircase. All Peyton could hear was the clicking of keyboards. It looked pretty normal. She walked to the reception lady and pressed the buzzer. A lady appeared behind the counter. She had a faint expression on her face that seemed soon to be changed.

“Hello Miss Delaney, back here so soon?”

“Call from Dan, he said it was urgent.”

She cleared her throat.

“Would you like for me to call him down?”

“Yes please.” Peyton said,

The lady got up from her chair and made her way to the phone. She dialled the number and someone answered.
“Miss Delaney’s here for you Mr Barlow.”

Peyton couldn’t hear anything else that was being said. His voice was muffled and faint.

The reception lady nodded into the phone and placed it down carefully. She swallowed hard and took a deep breath.
“He’ll be down to get you now Miss. If you would take a seat over there. He won’t be too long.” She said with a reassuring smile gesturing to the chairs near the entrance door.

“Thank you.” Peyton said, making her way to the wooden chairs. Her finger tapped in a rhythmic pattern on the armrest. Waiting. She was nervous to see what was so wrong that she had been called so early. She was scared.

Soon after, the elevator made a dinging sound and the elevator doors opened to reveal a man. He was wearing a grey suit with a black tie. He was very timid but seemed very confident. He had black hair that had been neatly brushed and wore a smile that showed his crooked teeth. He stepped out of the elevator and scanned the room. His eyes quickly fell upon Peyton. He rushed towards her and stood helplessly straightening his tie.

“Peyton, I’m so glad you got here. Something really bad has happened. Something really, really bad.”

Peyton looked at him confused.

“I’ll explain when we get upstairs.” He spoke. He motioned his hand for her to get up and made his way towards the elevator.
“Wait,” Peyton said. “We’re going in the elevator?”

“The elevator is much quicker and as I said we need as much time as we can get.” Dan brought his hand to the button and pressed it.
Peyton tapped her hand on the side of her legs anxiously.

Dan and Peyton stood there silently waiting.

A ding came from the elevator. The metal doors opened and both of them stepped inside. Dan pressed the button on the top and a yellow light casted around it.

“Nervous?” Dan asked.

“A bit.”

“Well, you have nothing to worry about. I’ll be going in with you and out.” He said and smiled softly at her.

“Yeah.”

The elevator stopped and the metal doors parted from each other. Peyton ran her hand through her hair and scanned the ground.
Dan walked out of the elevator and his shoes tapped on the wooden floor making a rhythm as he walked down the hall. The hallway was long and had pictures. There was silence in the hallway. Peyton kept her eyes on the ground until the pattern stopped. She glanced up and saw Dan waiting outside a room, knocking on the door. Peyton hurried and walked to him.

Peyton wondered what could be inside.

“Ok Peyton, I am going to check if they are ready for us.”

Dan’s hand touched the golden handle, pulled it down and entered the room. A white light shone majestically from the room and faint voices could be heard from inside. Peyton could hear many people speaking. All she could see was a shadow that casted from a man whose voice sounded angry.

Dan appeared from behind the door and tapped Peyton calmly.

“Come in, Miss Delaney.” He spoke with a reassuring smile.

Peyton had a lump in her throat and butterflies formed in her stomach.

She wasn’t usually like this when she was called in; but the hold back was getting to her. She smiled back at him and entered the room.

She wanted to know why she was called in. But, all her questions would soon be answered.