Imperium: Volume 1

"So......this is the closet." Raeve said sarcastically.

"Everything you need for your unit can be found here." He said.

It felt like I was at shopping mall. Of course the ones I've ever been to were abandoned. Everything was categorised and labelled on each end of the aisles, as to make it easier to find what you were looking for. They had everything you could think of. Stuff for you kitchenette, shower, bed, office supplies, and shelves and shelves of clothes, that came in a majority of sizes.

"Where did you get all this stuff? H..How?" Just an array of questions popped up into my head.

"Ahahah. People are free to come and go June. Even you. We just ask that you take every precaution, when you do. Alot of us, still travel outside for........stuff.....but when ever we find something that can be used by others, we bring it back here and stock up." He said as he walked over a small wagon and placed a bin in it.

"Shall we?" He said with a smile.

I smiled as I took the wagon and made my way down each aisle. I found a couple dishes and utensils, aswell as an assortment of clothing. I didn't need alot, as I was accustomed to the bare minimum for essentially my whole life.

I made my way down the final aisle, which held some small knick knacks. I threw in a small tea kettle, in the hopes that I could find some lavender tea. I was hoping they had some hidden somewhere.

"How you making out?" Raeve asked me.

"Ummm......I think I have everything I need." I informed him.

He looked in the bin to see what I picked out.

"Is that all you need?" Going through and picking up the tea kettle.

"You don't have tea here do you?" I asked.

"What kind were you looking for?"

"Lavender?" I asked.

"K, one sec." He tossed the kettle to me and I caught it.

I tossed it back in the bin and looked to where he stood, but was gone. I looked around to see where he went.

"Raeve?" I called out.

I walked passed every aisle, but couldn't find him. "Raeve!" I yelled even louder.

"Yes?" He said as he appeared right behind me, making me jump in surprise.

"Sorry had to nip to the kitchen to see if they had it. And lucky for you, they did." He held up the tea and threw it in the bin.

"Anything else you can think of?" He asked.

"N......no, I think I'm good." I grabbed the bin and started making my way out first.

"Wait a second. Didn't I see the kitchen at the other end......" As I turned around asking Raeve my question, he was no longer behind me.

"Ugh, where did he go?" I said again looking around for him.

"Behind you." He whispered in my ear.

"Whoa!" He startled me to the point I turned around and fell over the wagon, spilling all the contents on the floor.

"Oh shit! Are you ok?" He asked. With an amused look on his face.

"Your.......Your a TELEPORTER!!!" I yelled.

He made his way over and picked me off the floor. "You ok?" He asked again.

"No!" I said still surprised. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"The same reason you didn't tell me. I had to figure you out first." Is what he said.

"So.....so wait.." I couldn't wrap my head around it. "Instead of running and plunging into rivers an....and shit, why didn't you just teleport us here?" I asked inquisitively.

"My ability only allows me to teleport unfortunately. Or else I would have." He tried to reassure.

"Oh.." So what he's telling me is he risked his life to make sure I made it back here. Going back to what I heard Jay say to him, it made total sense now, when he said it should have been only half a days trip. Hu. I grinned putting the pieces together.

"What you smiling about?" He asked.

"Oh....nothing." I picked up the contents that fell on the floor and made my way out with the bin with Raeve following behind me.

We walked back to my unit, and sorted through it all. He helped me put everything away and made sure, everything had its own spot.

"Not to shabby." He said looking around the room.

"It's gonna take while to get used to, but this is more then I could have ever dreamed of. I told him. I just looked at him and felt......I walked over to him and pulled him in for a hug.

"Thank you Raeve." It took him a minute to respond back, but eventually he returned the gesture.

"Your welcome." He then pushed me back, and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Besides, I wasn't going to pass up a bad ass chick!" He said with a chuckle.

I smiled too.

"Right, so I'll let you get settled and I'll come grab you tomorrow. There's one rule here, and that's if you stay here you get put to work." He said.

"Ok. Thank you." I replied.

And just like that he disappeared within the blink of an eye. I looked around, still trying to make sense of what I saw. I was definitely not going to get used to that.

I grabbed the bedding from the counter and went ahead making the bed. My door was still open, and I could hear the loud hussle and bussle of people down below on the hanger floor. I was so used to being alone and walking in silence, that the volume was intimidating.

~ Knock Knock ~

I looked to the door and saw a young man and woman.

"Hello neighbour." He said.

"Hello."

I walked up to them, and held out my hand to greet them. They were holding hands, so it was obvious they were a couple.

"I'm Cam, and this is Sarah." He pointed to her.

I shook his hand then hers. "Nice to meet you, I'm June."

"Short for Juniper." Sarah said.

"Y...yes." I looked at her oddly.

"Ahahah." Cam laughed. "She's a telepath, so sometimes it's hard to shut it off." He looked at her, with the up most admiration.

"Sorry" She said. "If you prefer June, I'll stick to that. It's......just a unique name is all."

"No that's okay, ahah." I tried not to shy away. Everyone here was so friendly, so it was hard to keep my wall down, when it called for it.

"Juniper is fine, It's just no ones called me that in awhile." I told her.

"Oh, well then perhaps that will be our little secret." She said with a smile.

"Anyway! We just wanted to make ourselves known. We are just next door, and know how overwhelming the first few nights are. Everything happens real fast around here, so if you need anything just let us know. Cam offered.

"Thank you." I said.

I wondered how many Imperiums there were.

"Oh there's quite a few of us." Said Sarah. "Alot of us took refuge here at first, but now we are all working for the cause."

Oh right......a telepath.

Cam looked at Sarah and nudged her with a smile.

"We'll get going." He said.

"It was nice to meet you." I said as they walked back to their unit.

"Nice to meet you too Juniper!" Yelled Sarah. "Whoops I mean June." She playfully covered her mouth as they made there way back into their unit.

I smiled. As I stood there, I made my way out and looked out the edge of the walkway taking in the view. I noticed across the other side a unit door open, and I could see Bowdie. I watched as Raeve quickly appeared out of thin air, scaring her in the process. I couldn't hear her but, from the way she went over to him punching him repeatedly in the arm, it was a sight to see.

I could feel the long awaited fatigue setting in, so I made my way in, shutting the door behind me.