Mr. Vasquez

Chapter 4

Mr. Vasquez

        Waking up is a strange part of life. One moment you can be in some strange world and then wake up to your own. Ashley didn't have this opportunity though. When she woke up she was in a strange room, in a strange building, somewhere in the woods. She didn't come here, she woke up here after a car accident. She is suppose to have dinner with her father tonight but she doesn't think her father is even here. This doesn't even seem to be her life or her world.

        The lights slowly came into focus as she woke. Unfortunately she was still in the same room as before. She hoped it was all a dream, the car wreck, this weird building, all of it. But it seems to not be a dream at all. She is now awake, and it's time to get ready for dinner with her father, Mr. Vasquez.

        She sat up and crawled out of bed. The Trulife clock said it was 4:50, ten minutes before her dinner date. So she put her pants back on and sat on the edge of the bed waiting for someone to come direct her to dinner.

        “Why would these guys lie about my father being here,” Ashley wondered. She was trying to convince herself that everything was normal. But it wasn't. If Trulife had clocks, why didn't they have one at home. Promotional items are made all the time, just like this clock. But, if her dad did make some Trulife clocks, they should have had one at there home back in the city, right?

        The doorway started to glow blue. Slowly an image was appearing on the other side of the door. It was a man. “Miss Ashley, it's time to meet up with Mr. Vasquez,” the man said.

        She stared at the door, it was so strange the way the door allowed her to see through to other side. Standing there was a man with blond hair and he was dressed very sharply. She stared at him for a bit wondering what was going on. Wondering if she will meet up with her father. Wondering what he will tell her of this place.

        “Miss Ashley? Are you there?”

        “Yeah, yeah, yeah, give me two seconds. I'll be right there.” Ashley got off the bed and walked over to the door. “How do I open this door,” she thought. She didn't realize that she didn't have to open the door, It opened on it's own when she got close enough. This man was different then the one she met earlier. Still a handsom man but he wore a different suit and his hair was a bit longer then the other man's.

        They walked down the hall heading to a set of doors on the outside wall of the building. These doors led to the strangest device Ashley had ever seen.

        “How do these things work, are they safe?” she questioned the man.

        “Of coarse they're safe,”the man chuckled. “And on the other question, I don't really know much about liquid metal, but it's amazing stuff. They really can make anything out of it.”

        “Anything? Like cars? Won't they melt?” She said as they stepped on the platform together.

        “Good thing too. Imagine if they couldn't. You'll need places to park em all.”

        “Wait what?” Ashley was shocked by his response. It didn't make sense. Cars don't melt, and there is no such thing as liquid metal. Could this be a science lab of some sort. Maybe they are testing the liquid metal. They're trying to perfect it before releasing it to the market. The white boxes may be just another experiment for them. “I have never heard of liquid metal before I came here.”

        “Ha,” was this man's only response. That was the last thing said until the platform came to a stop. The platform took a different path then she had took before. This time the lift didn't just trace the outside of the building, it went inside, and started going up. It came to a stop at a point no other doors where visible. The lights in the walls illuminated a white doorway. This doorway opened on it's own to allow the passengers to exit.

        The room they entered into was elegant with gold and white coloring everywhere. A giant fire place sat in the distance beyond two fluffy chairs. The man that led her here stepped back on the platform and the doors closed. Ashley was standing all alone in a giant room. There was no way her father could afford all of this, it's not possible, he worked for a non-profit organization.

        She walked around looking at the trinkets laid about. She found her self fascinated by the pictures on the fireplace mantel. Many men where pictured, some had titles with her last name, Vasquez. She couldn't recognize anyone in the pictures though. She wasn't to interested in her extended family so it's no surprise that she didn't know any of these men pictured.

        “Miss Vasquez please take your seat.” a familiar voice mentioned.

        “Where's my father?” was Ashley's only reply. She stood there defiant over the man's request.

        “Your father couldn't make it tonight, but I would love to bring you up to speed over your situation. So please Miss Vasquez, take your seat,” the man said as he pointed towards her seat. It was the same man from earlier, the one that freed her from the white box.

        Ashley headed for her chair, “I knew you all lied about my father being here, where is he? Did he die in the wreck.”

        “Oh, no, no, not in the wreck. Just take your seat and I'll explain everything to you.” This calm man grabbed a piece of bread and started buttering it.

        Ashley didn't even notice all of the food that was on the table until he did this. There was some ham, fruit, strawberries and many more items on display.

        “Go ahead and help yourself, you've haven't eaten since the morning if I'm right, you're probibally starving.”

        He was right, Ashley was starving. She grabbed her plate and piled on some food. This man and her had a short discussion over the purple loaf that she refused to try.

        “Excuse me sir, but what is your name?” Ashley asked randomly.

        “Well, Ashley I am your relative but we'll get to the more compilicated parts later. May I ask you when did things start to seem weird for you. Why'd you run from the guards?”

        “Run from the guards! They put me in a box!” Ashley snapped back at the man. It was pretty obvious she didn't like her experience in the box.

        “It's just common procedure here, after you fell through the platform we had to do it. It's not normal you know, falling through the platforms.”

        Ashley felt the need to word her words more correctly. She was mad at her situation, she wanted to talk to her dad. But this man is the only one willing to talk to her so she needs to be careful. “I was told playing with the doors might make the platforms not catch you.”

        “That's just a folk lore we tell our kids, it's not true. It dates back to the day when the damn machines had feelings, that was a different story though.”

        “They had feelings?”

        “Of coarse, back during the war, those must've been chaotic times.”

        Ashley couldn't figure out what war this man was talking about. She felt really confused, this man seemed so confidant in his stories. He acted like stuffing a little girl in a box for a few hours was no big deal. He felt the platforms that grew under your feet were normal. Japan has crazy stuff like this she thought, but these are Americans, we don't have stuff like this.

        “Sir what is todays date,” she asked after a long silence. She stared at him and his expression changed to fit the more serious tone of this conversation.

        “Would you be done eating Miss Ashley,” was his only reply followed by his cloth wiping his lips.

        “Yes.” She stared at him knowing he didn't want to tell her easily.

        “Then please will you meet me over by the fireplace.” He stood up and whispered something to a waiter who was cleaning up dishes. The waiter nodded and ran off. Ashley stood there staring at the pictures on the mantel when the gentleman she ate dinner with sat down in the chair next to her.

        “You know you where asleep for a while right?” he asked of her.

        “Yeah I caught on to that one.”

        “You where asleep a very long time Ashley, but you actually woke up a while ago. For some reason Ashley, in class the other day you forgot living here. You forgot your life”

        “I live here? This isn't my home!” Ashley was getting scared and angry from what the man had to say.

        “Come have a seat Ashley.” After she did he continued, “last time you woke up you where scared also. But it'll be Ok.”

        “Is Jerimiah Vasquez here or not,” She said in a very stern voice.

        “Yes, in a sense. You are actually speaking to him right now. I was named after your father and the great things he had done for the Trulife government.