CHAPTER 1: TERMINAL TROUBLE

CHAPTER 1:

TERMINAL TROUBLE

A taxi, standard in size, pulled up just outside Los Angeles International Airport. Amongst the many airports in this region of the United States, it was the busiest one in California. This was especially the case early that bustling morning where sunlight had started to dissolve the local region's gloom.

The Sterling brothers had arrived at their destination, greeted by the humming sounds of planes, preparing to take off from the runway. Kevin, the older of the two wore a wide smile, revealing how happy he was that he had not missed the opportunity to go on vacation. It so happens that a few weeks back, the Sterling elder had played an online game that won him a vacation to The Neo Dome, which was a A-list resort center that had just recently opened up to tourists in London. At first, Kevin found it difficult to believe. It's The Neo Dome, how is that even possible? In these times, money had become difficult to come by. Nobody was willing to be of assistance to anybody; therefore, everybody had become cynical. Kevin doubted the veracity of the game, until the day he was called by the company, to come pick up his ticket-for-two.

In the difficult times that he was living in and with more strife to most likely come in the not too far future, Kevin couldn't let the opportunity pass. He was hell bent on ensuring that he and his brother would have the time of their lives.

Now, in front of the airport, the older Sterling, not wasting time, began to set down his bags after opening the boot of the taxi that had brought them down. The younger of the duo, however, got out of the vehicle reluctantly before joining in retrieving their luggage. Matthew, Kevin's younger brother, was a handsome young man, a slightly taller sibling but slimmer and less hunky. After getting organized, they paid the taxi driver, picked up the bags set down and began to approach the spinning door that gave them access to the waiting area.

Kevin remained excited; however, Mathew did not share his brother's enthusiasm. The night before the vacation trip, Matthew had a dream which had left him uneasy. In that dream, it was as if he could feel the grim reaper swinging his scythe in his direction. Although there was little he could remember, the scariest thing he could hold on to was the feeling of becoming nothingness literally. That dream had awakened him cosmically. Its aftermath was a struggle and Matthew found himself panting like he had asthma. Disregarding the effect the dream's invoke had on him, he was more concerned that travelling the next day would be a hassle. He was introspective and attested to the unease that was ushered, against his will, by the dream. He still felt there was something off about the prize Kevin won; there is something off about everything.

It didn't take long for the duo to go through the process of getting their luggage assessed and sent to the plane. After this was done, they headed to the terminal gateway – a section where people who had been approved for flight would wait until their plane was ready for boarding.

Once through the terminal gateway entry doors, they sat down in the waiting area. They were expecting to hear the announcement of their flight as ready to be boarded, however, it turns out both brothers weren't as early as they thought.

"Hey man, wipe off that scowl," Kevin said, sitting beside his brother.

"Can I wear my scowl? It's my new sunshade," Matthew snapped. "You know I don't feel comfortable about this, and I told you--."

"Told me what!" Kevin yelled and interrupted. "That you had a premonition of some kind of disaster. Like, what is that about..."

"You don't get it." Matthew complained.

"Actually, I do." Kevin continued, "I've been there with stuff like that before, where your head gets scrambled with all sorts of thoughts and I just got to say that you're overthinking this trip. We're supposed to be going abroad to have the time of our lives. Everything is after all free and paid for, courtesy of yours truly. If I could split myself in half and take my doppelganger so I could have double the fun, I would. Sadly, I can't. So for me, just focus your mind on all the fun we are going to have."

The scowl that Mathew wore began to dissolve, especially more so after Kevin's excessive rambling.

"Also, you've have been in college all year; we have not had the bro time," says Kevin.

"Well, life is catching up with both of us. I am in college; you are busy with work. It's just the way it is. The incarnate itself catches you like death catches those who give up living," Matthew responded.

"Wow, bro. So poetic. That philosophy sounds way too deep for me to even want to comprehend," Kevin scorned and threw an arm around Matthew. "But, life or no life, on this vacation, we are going to have some fun!" Kevin spoke with his voice increasingly getting louder as he got to the end of his response.

"Stop shouting, jeeez…" Matthew fired at Kevin.

The older Sterling laughed. Then all of a sudden, he shot a glance at the window. He could see the plane they were set to board coming out of the hanger. Joy beamed all over his face as he waved Matthew over to come see the aircraft. "So there is our plane?"

Matthew frowned at the inscription written on it. "United 999! Really?"

Oblivious to the problem, Kevin replied, "Yeah. What is wrong with that?"

"How can you not find it odd, that of all the planes to get on, we are getting on the one with 999 on it?" Matthew puffed.

"Seriously Matt, I don't know what's so strange about that. What exactly is the big deal?" Kevin asked innocently.

Matthew added "Well, what do you get when you flip the number 999?"

Figuring out where the conversation was going, Kevin sarcastically replied, "Oh Gee! How did I not see that...it is the number of the beast and the mark itself."

"Well bravo," says Matthew, "You have given us another reason that we shouldn't go."

Kevin placed his hand on his forehead, wiping his face with his palm as a sign of exhaustion, then he replied to Matthew, "Seriously bro, don't ruin this. You have no idea how lucky we are to get a luxury getaway in these tough times. Stop whining and let's just enjoy it."

The voice of an announcer screeched the boarding radio outlet. Then, the announcer spoke, "United 999 is ready for boarding." Immediately after the announcement was made, Kevin began to start directing himself to the check in desk. Matthew, on the other hand, was distracted by his own thoughts. The dream he had, and the number '999' on the plane was beginning to really freak him out.

"Bro," Kevin called out, "Don't just stand there. C'mon let's go before the queue gets really huge."

Matthew snapped in response, "Oh chillax. It's not like we are going to be late or anything."

Then he grabbed his bag and began to wheel it alongside him. Eventually, the brotherly duo arrived at the queue, with Matthew taking the position in front of Kevin.

"I hope we don't spend too much time stuck waiting," says Kevin.

All he could think about was The Neo Dome. He couldn't wait to get there.

"I hope so too. So I can gladly get some shuteye," says Matthew. He was slightly withdrawn from the lack of sleep he had the night prior. On the queue, as Matthew waited, his eyes scanned round his environment. Unexpectedly, hit out of nowhere, he noticed an older teen, a well looked after woman to be, who was staring at him, in an unnerving way. Matthew stared back at her, hoping that she was going to look away; however, she did not flinch. Her gaze was as stern as ever. "What the hell is her problem?" he wondered.

Kevin jerked to liveliness. "What…who?"

"That chick in black, seated over there," Matthew responded, tilting his head to lead Kevin's eyes in the direction of the curious watcher, who was dressed in a designer style black top and short tight bottom jeans.

"Oooh! I see what is going on here," Kevin played.

"What the hell do you mean?" Matthew asked.

Kevin replied with a smirk on his face, "You have been flirting with that beauty. And I don't blame you, she's kind of hot." Kevin looked at the young lady once again, then added, "Fair play bro."

"Not so, you fantasist," Matthew responded to Kevin's claims.

"Don't lie to me man. Just own up," Kevin teased.

Matthew rolled his eyes and replied, "Whatever…"

Kevin laughed. He noticed that the lady standing in front of Matthew was almost done with her assessment from the clerk. "Bro, you're up next. Make sure that you're prepared."

Matthew replied, "Yeah man. Got this..." Eventually, it was his short-awaited turn to be checked-in before boarding the plane. The lady in front of him had just been attended to, and everything appeared to go smoothly. Nothing seemed to be too suspicious, he was prepared and ready to be checked in.

The clerk called out, "Next!"

Finally, my turn, Matthew thought to himself.

He handed his passport over to her, she checked it, handed it back to him and gave him the indication to proceed through the security scanner. Making his way forth, Matthew thought to himself as he wheeled his bag behind him, the way things are processed now is so different from the way it used to be. Must be so annoying for the regulars. Who knows how many policies that must have been changed ever since that national disaster.

Once again, the clerk called out, "Next!"

Kevin approached the woman to a wonder; strangely, he noticed that she shot Matthew a very stern look, before turning to face him instead for serving.

From behind, Mathew had also noticed how the clerk looked at him. What's her problem? That miserable cow does not look happy with her life or her job, he mused. Once Matthew stepped past the alignment of the security scanner, the scanner went off immediately, beeping loudly, drawing the attention of the passengers behind.

"What is this?" Matthew barked, stunned.

The clerk turned to the interrupter. "Hold it. Please stay firmly to the side, for a moment, until security personnel arrives." Then, she turned her attention to Kevin and checked his passport. He had been cleared, she dismissed him with a smile. "Thank you. Have a nice flight."

"Cheers, I intend to." Kevin replied.

Having an opposite mindset to his younger sibling, he didn't seem bothered by the sudden mishap because he was aware that airport security had become more tight in the recent years. Minor alerts like even the clothing you are wearing could delay time, Kevin knew what to expect.

Matthew stood aside, as instructed. Oh great, now what, he muttered to himself. All he wanted was to just pass through without any problems. As he stood beside the security scanner, his mind quickly shot back to the dream he had. Maybe this is another opportunity to just go home. Yeah but if I know Kevin, he would never stop talking about it. How we missed out an all…

After being served for crewing, Kevin walked past the security scanner and quietly without a beep. "What's going on?" he asked Matthew.

"I have no idea, figures there'd be complication." Matthew replied. He took a deep breath in and put both hands in his pockets.

"It's probably nothing. I will wait for you at the gateway," Kevin assured.

"Yeah. Sure," Matthew responded.

As he assured, Kevin walked ahead and waited patiently for his brother at the front of the gateway to certify that he was not implicated in any way.

In that moment, Matthew stared back at the clerk with irritancy. She, on the other hand, had her attention focused on the person at her service. He whispered quietly to himself, annoying moron. Immediately as he mused the thought, she looked at him angrily. Matthew was stunned. He had not said anything to her to warrant such a quick show of anger, or maybe he did—in his mind! It did not make sense to him. The reaction she gave was almost like she heard him snarl, as if the negative thought had been projected. Regardless of the slight hiccup, Matthew fired back, in reaction to the snobbish look that overwhelmed her face. The younger Sterling began to feel that maybe he was just imagining things. It could have been just a coincidence…

In almost no time, another person was dismissed by the clerk. Though once again, on getting to the security scanner, the siren went off unexpectedly. This time, it was a blond beauty, a woman of allure. She too was stunned. She wondered why there was an alert.

From what could be seen by watchers at the scene, it looked like it was not her first time at the airport, a person that most likely boarded regularly and always adhered strictly to the rules of travel. As much as she wanted to cause a scene, where everything in her very being wanted to flare up, she, however chose to be calm displaying that she trusted the security services. Seeking a mutual understanding of her confusion, she turned to the clerk and asked,

"What is next?"

Whoever she was, she had a strong presence. Matthew flashed Kevin a quick glance and whispered to him ahead, "Her too?"

Kevin replied under his breath, "This just got awkward."

The clerk had responded, "Sorry. Could you please wait beside the gentleman to the side who too seems to be facing a similar problem. Someone will attend to you shortly."

"Very well." The young lady approached Matthew as instructed. "This should be interesting," she said, taking a stand next to him.

Matthew began to indulge himself in his speculation about the expedition. Flipping heck, why is all this happening now…it is kind of lame.

He hissed and decided to just focus his mind on getting on the plane. A lingering thought of dooming began to scramble his senses as passenger after passenger had passed through.

Shortly afterwards, the female youth still sat by the terminal seating got herself prepared. She was noticed by the clerk as the last passenger to board, being the teenager dressed in black who was staring at Matthew some crowded minutes before he and his brother finally decided to get checked in. She was not a fan of being clustered among too many people; therefore she chose to sit it out until everybody had gone through the process. Now the time was perfect, she suddenly stood up from where she was seated and moved towards the clerk.

From the extreme corner of the terminal interior, where the security personnel was located, one of the officers approached on his way to the gateway entry section of the terminal. He started to speed up once he had seen the teenager ahead, flabbergasted by the curvature on her tight bottom jeans.

The clerk had assumed that she had checked-in everybody, only for this young lady to approach her last. "This question is odd," the clerk said, "But why did you decide to deliberately be the last person? If you had joined the queue, you would probably be on the plane by now."

The female youth replied, "Sorry, I just dislike waiting in queues. I may as well just arrive once everyone else is done."

"Is that so?" the check-in clerk replied sarcastically. What a strange girl? She mused before accepting the answer. "Well, everything is in order, have a nice vacation."

"Will do." The teen departed.

She walked towards the security scanner to complete the final process of being checked-in.

As she walked through the scanner, the siren went off again. She had no idea what caused the alert, so in her confusion, she turned to the side and immediately asked, "Err…Did I do something wrong?"

The clerk replied, "Just step aside and wait with the others."

Matthew watched the whole event unfold from where he stood with the blond. Oh! It's the weird girl that has staring problems. He composed himself and looked away as she approached.

The lady who had been standing beside the younger Sterling, introduced herself to the arrival. "Hi. My name is Keiysha."

"Hello. I'm Morven." the female youth replied.

"I hope you are not bothered by this development. It is really no big deal. Security is much tighter nowadays, and you can be stopped for minimal reasons," Keiysha explained.

Matthew, who had quietly ignored the conversation finally spoke up. "Oh I don't know; something just doesn't feel right."

Keiysha replied, "You're worrying too much. Unless you've got something to hide?"

"Nope. Not me," Matthew responded to her claims.

"Well," Keiysha continued, "Then it's fine."

Matthew stood there wishing that he had not gotten himself in the position he had found himself in; wishing that he had not agreed to go on vacation.

Whilst stuck in his own head, Keiysha moved on to illustrate the qualms faced in airports in the now more hectic postmodern world, "This is happening more frequently in airports. It's just a procedure we have to follow."

"Perhaps it's all a glitch," Morven commented.

Keiysha agreed, "You're probably right. I mean, just imagine this. Three people who from the looks of it who don't know each other, it would make sense."

At the front of the gateway, where Kevin stood, he took a look at Matthew beside the two women he had found himself engaged with. It made the older Sterling chuckle. I wish I had a camera. If I snapped Matthew with these two beauties and showed it to the guys when we get back home, we'd be praised…like hell! Immediately, he had to regain his composure to see the intensity of the matter. What am I thinking? This is a serious issue.

Keiysha, the blond woman who had confidently dominated the current converse breaks through with refreshing news for everybody. "Look the security officer has arrived, and he is talking to the clerk," she paused. "We'll be on the plane before you know it," she added.

Listening to the relatable comment, Matthew turned to spot the officer mentioned that arrived before the clerk. From what he could deduce, he was there to most likely investigate what went wrong with the scanners.

"Any problem?" the officer initiated communication.

"None actually. But, those two are listed as M.E's, so you're going to have to stop and search them for anything strange. Just to keep appearances. Also do the same with the agent beside them."

"Hang on a minute. M.E's, I thought they all were…" the officer whispered.

He had done so while the clerk was still speaking.

"Yes but those are two High Levels right there" the clerk replied silently.

"Two high-level M.E's in one flight; it's a pity. As for the rest of the passengers…those useless eaters have exceeded their time and use." The officer left the clerk and headed towards Mathew and the two he was waiting with.

There was something strange about the interaction between the travel staff. Matthew was sure he overheard the term useless eaters; however, it did not make any sense to him.

Strangely enough, what he would hear next would support his judgement.

"They were whispering something, but I couldn't make it out," Morven muttered.

Keiysha added, "If only I could turn around then I'd know what they were saying, but that would be too suspicious."

Matthew felt uncomfortable about Keiysha's comment. She seemed way too content for her own good. He also wondered if she was able to lip read as that was the only way he thought that could be done. The thought was brushed off. Matthew's conclusion being that lip reading was a serious skill that had to be developed. He wondered who she was, this woman of mystery who could say something so brash and decide to act normal.

Frustration was starting to build up in Kevin. Having to wait so long was an inconvenience and spoiled the vibe he had got in tuned into. However, what frustrated him more, was that he couldn't figure out what was breaking down. He hated being put in the dark about anything. Therefore, just watching the situation unfold without knowing what was going on was distressing. Finally, the officer is here. That took so long, Kevin thought. His discerning expression was captured by the blond a space in his front.

The officer moved towards the trio past the security scanners, heading to the pre-gateway where the future passengers had left an alert. "All of you, please raise your arms slightly and spread your legs out just a little bit."

"What is this about sir?" Matthew asked.

Keiysha interjected, "He is going to frisk us."

"Seriously!" Matthew puffed.

"Yes seriously," the officer retorted. "And I am starting with you, boy."

Matthew was irritated. He thought to himself, I hate being called boy. What a goon!

The officer began to search him. Matthew felt like the crude man was trying to annoy him on purpose, as he further added, "Booooooooooy. Well, you seem fine. Nothing suspicious on you, boy."

Matthew frowned, how embarrassing! He could have called me anything else!

The officer turned his sights to the ladies. "As for you two, know that there is no chivalry in our security department."

Keiysha responded, "Let's just get it over with." She winced and was flushed by how the officer stared at her curvaceous body.

"Hehe, with pleasure," the officer laughed.

Without thinking twice, he began to frisk Keiysha. His hands ended up groping her breasts tenderly before moving on to fondling her buttocks. All this was done after a sensational massaging of her thighs and sides. While he showed that he was searching her entire body, it was obvious that he was purposely trying to force sexual sensation. And it was clear that Keiysha was doing her best to resist her sexual flusters, she nearly moaned out loud when he rubbed her waist.

What was witnessed shocked the Sterling brothers. It was unethical for a male officer to frisk a female, but more so in the manner displayed.

Despite it being white, the dress worn by the blond victim was revealing, especially by her legs and chest. Matthew could have argued, but he felt that it was best not to. As for Kevin, he was more desensitized to such behavior and turned his head repetitively sideways in disapproval.

"What a pervert?" Keiysha rhetorically uttered, disgusted at how long the examination was taking. Her voice came out strong, and she gave off a demeanor that she was not intimidated by the abusive assessor's occupation.

The officer responded, "Listen, lady, no one gets away with differential treatment."

In a world that often found itself tipped upside down, Matthew felt he had to step in at this point, he had held back for too long. It was time to balance the scales.

"I am all for equality between the genders and all. But still, you could be a little considerate," Matthew seethed.

The officer replied, "Just following the procedures, kid. It's policy."

Morven, the last to fail the security scan had gone pale in the face. Fear of what was going to befall her by the hand of this officer had drained the blood from her cheeks.

The officer moved to Morven and searched her too. "Do not worry, this shouldn't take long."

Kevin was angry that the officer was going to get away with such disrespectful actions, but there was nothing he could do. He could only hope that the women, and now specifically, Morven currently, wouldn't be too traumatized after enduring such embarrassment. With his mind focused on the femme fetale, he failed to notice how aggravated his brother had become, incautious of the actions that could arise. Despite Kevin's lack of awareness, Matthew kept his cool.

After the search, the officer gave his approval, "Okay, you guys are good to go. You need to understand that this was all for security purposes."

Keiysha pretended to pay little attention to what he was saying. "Can we board now?" she changed the subject.

The officer replied, "Yes. You sure can. Have a nice vacation."

"Security purposes my ass," Matthew murmured, ushering a rude comment before the officer had left.

"Sorry, what did you say, boy?" the officer inquired.

"I said…your method of process was fast," Matthew lied. As Matthew headed off towards the plane, in his mind, he called the officer an inconsiderate fool.

The officer turned around and laughed. "Ha-ha! I am the fool when you're the one about to get your what for, you failed degenerate."

Matthew paused. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. Everything about the pre-boarding experience had set him aback. At first, the clerk who looked at him when he called her a large mammal; then the officer, who hammered 'boy,' in a weirdly repetitive manner; and even more so the comment by the officer almost intentionally obvious, made out loud.

Matthew was shocked upon his set off to departure. He mused to himself, did he just hear my thoughts?

The officer laughed away, not looking back.