Free Elysium by Jennifer Marie Brissett Page A

easier, his pain any less, or his burdens any lighter.
    A flutter flutter of wings in the trees made him look up. The birds that had gathered in the branches were rustling the leaves. A sudden gust of wind forced them to take flight, filling the blue sky with a parade of flapping black sideways parentheses. In the distance, he saw the spires of the city and above them, a mist falling down. From where he stood, the sky directly overhead hung a calm and beautiful blue.
    Antoine passed through the first set of glass doors into the vestibule and glanced in disgust at the names of the wealthy donors on the plaque on the wall. He snorted and moved through the inner set of doors and into the lobby. Brown plaid cushions on faux wooden chairs and a coffee table with scattered magazines furnished the room. Reprints of museum watercolors adorned the walls. Antoine approached the desk. The young woman sitting there barely acknowledged him, until the beauty of the clean-shaven statuesque man registered. Then a huge taunting smile appeared on her face. He had her full attention.
    “May I help you?” she said.
    “I’m looking for my brother. I was told that he was taken here.”
    “Okay,” she said. “May I have his name?” She turned to her terminal while somehow still keeping her gaze on Antoine.
    “His name is Adrian —”
    The phone interrupted them. Then another call a second later. Then more calls. The receptionist put up a finger as she tried to answer them all, placing most on hold. Antoine struggled to remain calm. He knew why the calls were coming in. Anyone who had looked outside knew. But evidently those in their cozy little jobs in their cozy little offices remained oblivious to what had just happened only a few miles away. His heart thumped hard, and he could feel the blood reaching toward his face. He paced the floor, waiting for the receptionist to get off the phone. This was a waste of time, he thought. A rumbling like thunder rolled outside. The floor shook. Antoine grabbed hold of the receptionist’s desk to catch his balance.
    Antoine’s patience had evaporated. He marched to the locked double doors marked “Staff Only” and slipped through when they opened to let a nurse out.
    Doors and doors and more doors lined the corridors. He heard the receptionist call from behind, “Sir! Sir! You can’t go back there!” Antoine ignored her as well as the heads poking out of the offices that watched him pass. His only concern was Adrian. Had he known that while he was away this would happen — that his little brother would be taken to a place like this — maybe he wouldn’t have gone. Maybe.
    He walked faster as the quickened clicks of heels on the linoleum tile trailed behind him.
    “Sir! Sir! You can’t be back here!”
    He pushed open a door. Behind it was a group of patients gathered in a circle of chairs. They calmly looked up, unperturbed by his presence, only curious. Life had worn them down — the sudden appearance of Antoine was of little concern.
    “Sir! Sir!” he heard from behind.
    He continued walking.
    “Adrian!” he called. “It’s Antoine! Where are you?”
    He looked through another door. When he turned he found that he was surrounded by orderlies and security.
    “Sir, you can’t be back here,” the receptionist said as she reached out to touch Antoine’s arm. She pulled back in the last moment, her eyes wide with fear.
    “I wanna see my brother.”
    “Come this way and we will try and help you,” a man said and waved him towards the lobby.
    Antoine looked around him. The men were big. But Antoine was bigger and meaner and more desperate. Each breath was hard and paced. There were two ways to get out of this. He could return to the reception area or he could punch his way through. He curled his fingers into a fist hidden beneath his jacket sleeve. Then the building started to shake again and the ground trembled violently. Everyone in the hall moved to brace themselves. A snaking