Encroaching Chaos (2)

Stepping out of Lucky's car, who owned a top of the line BMW for some reason, Bazel looked at the 'house' that was his destination for his sudden escort mission.

'This...this is excessive' thought both Lucky and Bazel in amazement as they looked upon the home in front of them.

The entire house was gated off for starts, with several CCTV cameras in both obvious and hidden locations.

The windows looked to be made of a special thick glass, maybe even bullet proof, and the front door was metallic instead of the normal wooden ones.

The entrance was a large gate with its own guardhouse attached, where Bazel could see several men watching his every move.

Lucky whistled at the sight while saying,

"This is the definition of 'overprotective father'. This level of security matches what the cartel leaders back in the day would have...well there would be a few more guards and an elaborate underground escape plan but this is supposed to be a normal civilians home after all."

Walking up to the gate to press the buzzer, Bazel announced who he was and was promptly let in.

"Captain Schwarz probably made many enemies due to his position, enemies that would gladly take vengeance on an innocent girl if it meant they could hurt Schwarz in any way."

Standing in front of the door and knocking, he waited for a few moments before hearing several locks be undone one after the other. The series of clicking and pieces of moving metal produced a kind of song almost, one of paranoia and fear of the homeowner.

"Although I think this may be somewhat excessive..." admitted Bazel as the sounds continued to play.

The door opened and he was greeted by a young girl who had jumped back the moment the door opened, with one of her hands defensively at her side and a stern expression on her face.

'She is what, 15 or 16, yet she is armed and ready to fire if need be. The hell happened to Schwarz's family?'

Bazel only felt positive feelings towards the threatening nature of the girl in front of him, for anyone who even vaguely reminded him of Lily seemed to have an automatic soft spot in his heart.

"You are the youngest, Amber, correct? I am Bazel Vasa, the one who is to escort your older sister."

The girls cautious expression eased up, but her amber eyes looked at Lucky who was behind Bazel and her caution was renewed once again.

"Vater(father) said that there was only one person..."

Finally understanding the problem, Bazel smiled while slowly approaching the girl whilst showing his empty hands.

"He is my bodyguard, Captain Schwarz probably forgot to mention him as he is usually quiet. A good thing to for when he does talk all it does is make you want to slug him."

"Oi," started Lucky with an annoyed expression, "what do you mean by that, eh? I am universally loved by all, the one and the only Lucky. A babe even gave me a token of her eternal affection for me." He patted his second weapon that he had yet to draw in front of Bazel with a proud look and continued,

"I don't see you swaggering around with anything like this, hmm? I see, I see, don't worry Salvador, I will teach you the ways of entering the heart of a woman."

Bazel stopped in his tracks, his eye twitching as he regretted saying anything in the first place, before turning around and trying to punch Lucky in the face.

Of course such an attack would never hit, and it was never meant to, but when a slight snort of laughter rang out from Amber both men knew their little skit had accomplished its goal.

Turning back around and seeing the relaxed expression on her face, Bazel walked up to her and held out his hand.

"Bazel Vasa, nice to meet you."

Amber took his hand and smiled slightly,

"Amber Voigt, sorry for my reaction. I sometimes overreact when things don't go the way I expect."

Bazel assured her that there was no problem and asked her to lead the way, whilst thinking,

'Hypervigilance, extreme mistrust...her breathing and tense muscles earlier revealed the high stress and anxiety she was under, as well as the poorly hidden dark circles under her eyes...PTSD? It seems that the protection outside was not preventative but instead perhaps reactive.'

Bazel and Lucky followed the girl through the halls of the home, which were neat and orderly with nothing out of place. It was even slightly tasteful, with several pieces of custom made furnishings and a faint smell of burning wood tickling their noses.

While they were walking, Lucky nudged Bazel in the shoulder and pointed at a few things in the walls that had gone unnoticed.

Looking at the metal grates that were well hidden in between paintings or shelves, Bazel thought,

'These look just like the fire walls that the most modern of schools have in them, when a fire breaks out they close so that it is contained in one area and the damage is minimized.

'Here though, they must play a different role. Perhaps a method of buying time in the case of a home invader? There are so many of them though.

'Instead of a house, I would call this a fortress...'

Regardless of the amount of astonishment and surprise the two men had, Amber continued to lead them all the way to the center of the house where a large room was constructed.

Amber knocked on the door, waited a few moments, then opened the door and poked her head in.

"Sis, Vater's coworkers are here to take you for your appointment."

Whatever the response was, Bazel could not hear it, but Amber opened the door wide open for the two and beckoned them in.

Entering the room, Bazel tried his best not to stare but his heightened senses had already combed through the entire room.

It was dull to say the least, not what one would expect the room of a girl to be. The color tones were gray, black, or brown and there was not a single variation in color. Everything was neat and orderly, for it would be difficult for there to be otherwise as the room was almost completely empty.

There was a single desk with a lamp on it, a bed in the center of the room, and two chairs to the side of the bed. Next to the desk was a bookcase, but there were only several textbooks and sheets of paper on it with nothing that would hint at personal tastes or even enjoyment.

The only bit of color and life in this banal room was the woman who was struggling to seat herself on the wheelchair that was next to her bed.

She was wearing a pink hoodie with a black imprint of a cat on the center, finally hinting at some kind of interest, and pants that looked like the bottom half of a tracksuit.

Seeing her struggle Bazel's brotherly instincts kicked in and he automatically stepped forward, and helped the woman into her wheelchair.

She was not even fazed by the fact that a complete stranger had just entered her room and helped her, instead she turned towards Bazel and weakly smiled.

"Thank you, you must be Special Adviser Vasa. I am the eldest, Isolde Voigt."

The girl had a faint charm to her, despite her thin figure and sickly look, one that would make weaker men have a desire to protect her and shield her from all her troubles.

Looking into her gray eyes, Bazel felt like he was being sucked in, but he quickly collected himself and said,

"That is correct, I am here to escort you to to your appointment. The city has not been that safe recently so your father asked me to take his place for today, since he is busy with the recent increase in crime."

Isolde met Bazel's gaze for only a moment, before breaking it and looking at her lap.

"I will be in your care then," said Isolde with a weak and tired voice.

Bazel flashed his best attempt at a reassuring smile and took his place behind the frail woman and gently began pushing her along towards the door.

As he passed Amber, she looked at him carefully and said,

"You look pretty weak, but at least the scary looking guy seems reliable. Take care of her."

Amber quickly leaned over and kissed her sister on the cheek, then watched her leave with a somber look on her face.

'I feel like I am leading someone to their funeral instead of to a hospital check up, What a weird household. Not to mention that the family seems to be missing someone, although they could always be adopted.'