Flowers of Darkness by Tatiana Rosnay (free ebook reader for iphone TXT) 📗

All the doors of the residence were opening up, and her neighbors emerged, disheveled and anxious. She followed the others down, while the cat twisted and turned, mewing frantically. The stairs seemed shadowy and endless. Suddenly, she heard Adelka’s voice, felt her comforting palm against her elbow. She felt relief, even though she knew they still had more flights to go, that it wasn’t over. In the huge hall, only the orange night-lights flickered. The alarm still howled and the voice went on giving orders.

“LEAVE THE RESIDENCE RIGHT AWAY. GET OUT. DANGER.”

Head down, stumbling, Clarissa followed Adelka, clutching the squirming cat against her. The ground felt cold and damp to her bare feet. Outside, streetlamps shed a bright yellow light onto the small crowd. The residence loomed above them, clad in darkness. No flames, no smoke. The sirens were still howling. No one from the C.A.S.A. team was to be seen.

“Is there a fire, or what?” Adelka asked Clarissa. She noticed the cat and tickled him under his chin. “That’s a very frightened kitty there, isn’t it, now?” Chablis calmed down, but Clarissa could still feel his heart pumping under the soft fur.

“It’s three in the morning!” mumbled a man in his thirties, standing next to them in a T-shirt and boxer shorts. “For fuck’s sake, what’s going on?”

He noticed Clarissa and Adelka looking at him and grinned apologetically. He held out his hand, introduced himself as Jim Perrier. Third floor.

“I’m wondering what C.A.S.A. has got up its sleeve,” he said in a low voice.

“So there’s no fire, you think?” asked Adelka, plucking a purring Chablis from Clarissa’s arms. She obviously had a way with cats.

“I’m pretty sure there’s no fire,” said Jim.

“Unless it’s a drill and they forgot to tell us,” said Clarissa.

“That’s what they’ll probably come up with,” said Jim.

“Maybe they wanted us all to get together and this was a clever way to do it,” whispered Clarissa.

Jim looked at her and winked.

“You could very well be right,” he whispered back.

Beyond the camaraderie of his wink, she felt perhaps she had found an ally, a person who had also become suspicious of what truly lay behind C.A.S.A. She wasn’t the only one.

Clarissa looked around at her neighbors. She was familiar with just a few faces. She realized she didn’t know most of the people who lived in her building. In the yellow lighting, it was hard to make them out. She noticed a young woman wrapped up in a bathrobe, with a long braid down her back. She seemed vaguely familiar. She wished she had her glasses to be able to make her out better.

“I wonder how long they’ll keep us here,” said Adelka. She was wearing a fuchsia shawl. She noticed Clarissa’s feet were bare. “Oh, aren’t you cold?”

“In the rush, I couldn’t find my slippers,” Clarissa said.

Adelka took off her own flip-flops and handed them to Clarissa, all the while expertly balancing the cat.

“Please put mine on. Please.”

“That’s very kind of you. You’re making me feel like a very old lady, you know.”

“Nonsense. You’re probably my mum’s age, and there’s nothing old about my mum or you.”

She was very sweet. Clarissa felt like hugging her. The cat seemed ecstatic in her arms.

“I’m a cat person,” Adelka said, smiling.

“My daughter is, too. I’m not!”

“You’re still learning! It takes a while for a cat to like you and get to know you.”

“Chablis isn’t happy here,” said Clarissa. She nearly added “Like me.”

“Why not?” asked Jim Perrier.

Clarissa shrugged.

“He’s nervous, jumpy. It’s like he sees things I can’t. I did hear a strange clicking noise the other day. So did my granddaughter. Not sure what it was. The cat hates it.”

“Ah, the clicking noise,” said Jim grimly.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Adelka. “I’ve never heard it.”

“You will now,” said Jim. “You’ll see.”

“What can it be?” asked Clarissa. “We could ask Dr. Dewinter.”

“Dr. Dewinter and her team are too busy spying on us to answer that sort of question.”

Clarissa stared at Jim. He seemed perfectly serious.

She lowered her voice.

“Why are they spying on us, do you think? What is C.A.S.A.?”

He stared back at her.

“That’s exactly what I’ve been trying to work out since I moved in.”

Jim moved closer to them. He smelled of cologne.

He said, “We could go on discussing C.A.S.A., but not here, and not now. And never within the residence. They listen to everything. They tape it all.”

“But why?” asked Adelka. “What for?”

Jim put a finger in front of his mouth.

“We need to be quiet,” he said. “Later.”

The minutes slipped by. Some people were sitting on the low wall that circled the forecourt in front of the residence. The air felt cool. The alarm had stopped at last, and silence had taken over. Clarissa noticed some of the neighbors were becoming edgy, letting their disapproval show. Others seemed to be asleep, even while they stood. The cat drowsed in Adelka’s arms.

Dr. Dewinter’s imposing silhouette appeared in front of the residence’s vast entrance. She was wearing a black jacket and black trousers. A sleepy-faced Ben and Clémence Dutilleul stood by her side. The three of them flaunted smiles—fake tight ones that were supposed to be heartening but failed. Clarissa wondered if they slept on-site, but she’d never seen them in the hall, let alone in the neighborhood.

Dr. Dewinter had quite a set of lungs. Her voice was easily heard.

“First of all, may I say, dear artists, how deeply sorry we are. I wish to reassure you, there is no fire. We had indeed planned a fire drill, but certainly not at three in the morning!”

A couple of laughs rang out.

“Now what?” muttered Jim Perrier.

“There was a mistake in the programming. Please do accept our most humble apologies.”

Jim Perrier shot a glance toward Clarissa.

Ben looked shamefaced. So he was the culprit.

“However, before we let you get back home to your beds, we need to check you are all here.”

“As if anyone could have slept through that racket!” Adelka chuckled.

“Why call the roll?” murmured Clarissa. “Why do they need