The day started out like any other work day for the young woman with ebony hair. Her alarm sounded, blaring music from her favorite radio station until she hit the snooze button. The noise had pulled her from a wondrous dream in which she was a hero with magic powers fighting to save the world from a corrupt government. No doubt the dream had been brought on by her late night gaming and roleplaying. With a groan she rolled over pulling the cover over her head. I’ll get up in ten minutes, just ten more minutes. In ten minutes the radio sounded again, telling the woman it was time to get up. Another groan came from her as she rolled back over swatting wildly with her hand in an attempt to turn the noise maker off. After a few failed attempts the young woman’s hand finally hit its mark this time turning the alarm completely off. There was a smile on her face at the sound of the silence that fell over the room once more.

Another twenty minutes of blissful sleep passed by until Ariel’s dreaming was rudely interrupted again. This time it wasn’t the radio alarm that was urging the woman to get up. Instead it was her lab mix, Jack, who was nudging her and whining telling her it was time to get up. “Stop it Jack, go back to sleep,” the words were half mumbled as she swatted lightly at the dog. This seemed to work as the dog left, but only to return a few minutes later. Once more Jack nudged her, this time putting his cold wet nose in her face, sniffing. Again she swatted him. “Ok, ok. I get it. Get out of my face so I can get up,” her tone was one of annoyance, though she smiled at her canine companion with half open eyes. Now that she was awake the woman went about her normal morning routine. First getting up, changing clothes to take the dog for a walk. Once back home she took a shower before having a little breakfast, assuming she had time for it, and checking her email.

Sitting at her dining room table she opened her laptop while munching on eggy in the basket. Turning the internet on she proceeded to check her work email to make sure there was no last minute changes to the designs she was currently working on. Glancing over the new messages one caught her attention rather quickly. It was in regards to a new client that her company had put her in charge of working on the designs they wanted for logos and advertisements. A quick click and the mail popped up onto the screen. Most of what it said was basic, they had loved the different logo designs she had created and wanted to know if she could make a few changes to the one they were interested the purposed changes were to be listed in the attachment. The request seemed simple enough. Without a second thought she opened the attached file. Instead of the approved design along with a list of possible changes appearing on the computer screen a strange message appeared instead. All it said was 'Leo, be at the warehouse located on Heatherwood Rd promptly at 9:30am'.

What the hell? What is that supposed to mean? Did the client want to meet to discuss things in person instead of just emailing them? How annoying. They could have just said so in the email instead of putting a strange message like that in an attachment. Also why did they call me Leo? Sure I am a Leo, but it doesn't make sense. Looking over at her canine companion she sighed. “Promptly at 9:30…don’t they know I have to be at work by 9? Guess I’ll just have to call the boss and tell him that I have a client meeting across town at 9:30 so I won’t be in until around 12. Boy is he going to love that one after all the time I took off to appear in that music video.”

Looking back at the computer screen Ariel noticed the strange message had disappeared even though she hadn’t closed it. What was even weirder is that the correct attachment had finally opened. It held the design they were considering along with a list of possible changes. “…Ok…maybe no more late night gaming for me so that I can get more than four or five hours of sleep…”The message still bugged her though. Something told her she needed to go to that warehouse. Reluctantly she called her boss explaining to him that she wasn’t coming into work until later in the day. Surprisingly he seemed to be fine with it. Can this day get any stranger?

With things in order she grabbed her things for work and headed to her car. In her burgundy jaguar coupe she took a deep breath. “Here goes nothing.” She entered the address into her GPS and headed to the warehouse. It took her roughly forty-five minutes to reach her destination. She was unsure where to park so she drove around before finally deciding to park in a small lot that seemed to be for the nearby buildings. The time was 9:27. Just enough time to walk to the warehouse and find out what was going on.

At the door the warehouse she stood there staring at it. Was this really such a wise idea? She hadn’t told anyone where she was going to for her ‘meeting’. Too late now, she was already here and it was the appointed time. Holding her head high she entered through the door. The room on the other side was dimly lit. All that was visible was a table with a card placed on it and a chair. Glancing around she tried to see if there was anyone or thing there, but it appeared she was the only one. “Alright, I’m here. Now tell me what it is that you want.” She huffed as she moved closer to the chair. “I don’t have time for silly games. I’m a very busy person. If you don’t appear or say anything in the next three minutes I’m out of here.”

Reaching the table golden orbs glanced down to read the card. It simply said ‘Leo sits here.’ Very funny she thought to herself. Without any further words she took a seat in the chair. She was either going to get answers or she was leaving. Looking at her watch she noted that they still had two minutes and forty seconds to give her an answer before she left. Tick, tock the clock was ticking, but for whom?




A loud thud on the desk beside him caused the male to jump as he woke up. When did I fall asleep? Looking over to where the sound had come from he glared at the man standing beside him laughing. “Not funny Benji. How long have I been out?”

Benji stopped laughing and gave a shrug. “Couldn’t tell ya. Really you should get some sleep man. You’ve really been over working yourself lately Kai. You’re no good to us if you kick the bucket before you’ve finished the new hit single you’ve been working on.” He gave the other a grin.

Kai just rolled his eyes at his band mate before his gaze fell back to the stack of sheet music he had been resting his head on. With a frown the man sighed softly. “I know I’ve been over working, but these songs need to be done in less than two weeks so we can start practicing them for the new album. I can’t just take a break. They have to be perfect.” As he spoke he sifted through the pages of completed and nearly completed songs until he came to across a piece of paper that didn’t belong. “Ok, who’s been messing with my sheet music again,” his tone was momentarily harsh and cold.

The other male leaned over to take a look at the envelope that had been in the pile between the last nearly finish song and the one that was only half complete. “Normally I would just go ahead and say that I did it, but after what happened last time I wouldn’t dare to mess with your music again. Maybe it was Yuki or Jaden?” He gave Kai a playful nudge before taking the envelope. “You know Yuki has been a little jealous since we finished shooting that music video. I can understand why though. That girl, Ariel, she has talent. Plus she seems to have caught a few eyes.”

“You’re talking non-sense. Yuki has no reason to be jealous. Besides it’s not like we were ever a thing. That woman needs to realize that I have no interest in her.” The annoyance he felt was evident on his face. He raised an eyebrow when Benji mentioned Ariel and having caught some people’s eyes. It was true the young lady was talented and very attractive to boot. “That she is. If she wanted I’m sure she could pursue a career in either the music industry or as an actress.” The truth was that he was one of the people whom the younger woman had caught there attention. Something about her inspired the one of the uncompleted songs he was currently working on. He wanted to end things before they went any further so he reached to for the letter that was in Benji’s hand.

Before the other has a chance the snatch the letter away he opens it and begins to read it aloud. “Aquarius please be present at the warehouse on Heatherwood Rd at 9:30am sharp.” Benji laughed, “looks like someone might have a secret admirer or possibly a psycho fan. Better be careful Kai.” A teasing grin played on the man’s lips. “Or perhaps that woman took a liking to you during the music video filming and wants to confess her love for you.” His train of thought was interrupted by the angered Kai.

He snatched the letter out of the other’s hand, proceeding to rip it apart. “Enough. It’s probably just some new promo that the ‘wacko’ came up with and didn’t tell anyone about. I wish that guy would give us more notice when he’s going to pull these stunts. Why don’t you go in my place? I need sleep.” In one fluid motion he tossed the shreds of paper into the air, letting them rain down on them like confetti.

The other man shook his head. “No way, this one is all yours. Have fun. Also you better hurry. You only have twenty minutes to get there.” With a wave of his hand and another grin the older male disappeared into the hallway. He was thankful that he wasn’t the one that got the strange letter.

“Gah,” the blue haired man yelled as he shoved the books that Benji had brought in off of the table. “Really I don’t want to go, but if it’s a promo like I suspect then it’ll look bad if I don’t show up. Damn it…” Taking a few breaths he calmed himself before gather up a few things and leaving to go to the meeting spot.

Luckily for him the trip was a short one. He parked his mako blue Aston Martin at the side of the warehouse. What am I doing here? This doesn’t really look like the place to have a promo at. Reluctantly the man walked over and entered the building. “Ok Shawn I’m here. Now tell me what is with the cryptic message and why I’m here,” Kai called out in the seemingly empty room. There was no reply. He rolled his eyes. That man had a thing for theatrics so it was hard to tell especially since there was a lone table and chair near the middle of the room. On the table was a place card.

The young man ran a hand through his hair as he approached the table. The place card read, ‘Aquarius sits here’.How quint. Why in the world is he calling me Aquarius? That is my sign, but really couldn’t Shawn come up with something better? The tiredness of going longer than he really cared to remember without getting much rest was starting to set in again. Kai took a seat in the chair and waited.

__________________