Chapter 2

May 13, 2020

Danny Keins pulled the laces tight on his sneakers and lunged forward to stretch his calf muscles. He hated having to stretch—he would have preferred to just get going—but it was a necessary evil. He always found things to do before going for a run, things to put away, stuff to watch. Today Danny was in the mood for some punishment

Finally, he stopped putting it off. There was nothing that needed to be done in his apartment that he couldn’t leave until he got back.

Danny gritted his teeth and began to run.

 He had run the course hundreds of times but there were still turns that surprised him. He had to be alert because more than once he'd stumbled when his mind had been elsewhere. 

His route was flat for the first two miles, where he ran alongside the barrier. He found himself glancing over the side and was both thrilled and terrified by the sight. These two miles served as a warm up, leading to a series of inclines, pushing him further and higher. 

He felt the strain on his thighs, and his breathing became deeper and more labored. Danny pushed himself. It felt good to be sweating and to be in the moment. The endorphins washing away any of his feelings of being jaded.

He hit an incline and felt the kick as he began to climb, but he looked down at his sneakers and concentrated on putting one foot in front of another. In getting to the top, he took in deep lungfuls of air, and as he ran he tried to take in his surroundings: the different features, the smooth ridges, and the rough jutting rocks. Today Danny kept close to the walls. He checked his watch. He was a bit ahead of his pace from two days earlier. He reached the final incline, threw himself at it, and instantly felt the drag. "Come on! Come on!" he growled to himself through clenched teeth. He could feel the sweat streaming down his face and his heart pounding in his chest. Only one or two minutes more—he knew that; he'd done it time after time—not far to go. His thighs were screaming, and then he was at the top. Danny carried on running when he reached the plateau but took the time to look up at the sky.

There were tainted lights built into the metal. Now they were shining a blue light across the shiny surface, giving the impression of a clear sunny day. Occasionally a projected cloud floated across to complete the illusion. The only thing spoiling the picture was a few spots of rust that had begun to show. 

The blue sky felt comforting and oppressive at the same time. Danny knew what lay beyond the metal sky. He put his palms in the small of his back, bent backwards and took four deep breaths before beginning the descent back to his apartment, careful to keep his knees flexible to disperse the impact throughout his legs. It was a grind, but Danny felt great and couldn’t help reflecting on where he’d been just a year ago.

#

May 13, 2019

Something dark was on the horizon.

He couldn’t breathe.

There was somewhere he was trying to get to, but he wasn’t going to be able to get there in time. 

There was something coming to get him. 

Noise, interference. Someone calling to him.

“Danny? Are you okay?”

No, I’m not okay, There’s something…

...something was chasing after him.

He stumbled and nearly fell.  

He was never going to get there in time. As the nameless dread thing caught up with him and…

“Oh fuck…” 

The fear was replaced by the relief of waking up. The sheets were damp from his sweat, his lips caked with salt. He reached to his left to get a glass of water.

“Was it the usual?” Jane asked. Danny nodded. 

“That’s the third time this week.”

Danny propped himself up in bed.

“Anything you want to tell me?” she asked. 

He ran his fingers through his hair. 

Fuck yeah, tomorrow’s board meeting, the ongoing conspiracy to elbow me out of my own company...where to start…?

“Is it anything to do with the Board meeting tomorrow?”

Danny say bolt upright as though he’d just been shocked.

“How do you know about that?”

Jane laughed.

“You’ve left reports around the apartment and I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve walked past you frowning at your laptop.”

She ran her fingers across his cheek and he flinched. She took her hand away. 

“You don’t have to go through this alone. I…”

“Do you want a coffee?”

She stared at him.

“Yes, that’s fine.”

Jane lay back down and turned on her side. 

Danny put a dressing gown on and padded to the kitchen. He looked back at the bedroom. 

You don’t have to go through this alone.

Danny glanced back at the bedroom. He imagined going back in, touching her bare shoulder, looking into her eyes and telling her the truth.

I’m scared, I’m utterly terrified. They could take it all away from me and if that happens, what's left of me? What’s the point of me? What am I then? 

An image of his father came to mind with his default expression of anger and disappointmen

He’d managed to talk himself down from the anxiety ledge  with the help of a few Vicadone tablets to knock the edges off, and now he was in fighting mode. 

It was just an hour till the board meeting and Danny just could not get his shit together. He rubbed the corners of his eyes. Jane wasn’t speaking to him and Danny had a horrible feeling that this might be the straw that broke the camel’s back of their relationship, but like many things he pushed it to the back of his mind to deal with later. 

Why can’t I speak to her? What am I afraid of?

#

Danny was rapidly losing the will to live. Three espressos had done nothing to get rid of his general feeling of weariness and only heightened his anxiety. All they'd done was make him tired and jittery.

Now he was standing in front of the Board trying to feel confident. 

Danny had read a report on the Wall Street Journal website earlier. Nothing he hadn’t already known, but it was quite something seeing it smelled out in such harsh terms.  The days of subsidies had long gone, and now it seemed that the government was actively legislating against the renewable energy sector. He’d heard gossip about this for months and the language being used was far from encouraging. Now that it was being reported in mainstream media it was almost certainly true. The human race seemed to be hell-bent on destroying itself and the planet, and it wasn’t doing too much for Danny’s company’s balance sheet. He knew that in the board meeting today that Randall Bateman, the chief financial officer, would use it as a cudgel to hit him over the head with. He knew that Larry had been making a power play behind the scenes to try to oust him. Bastard. 

"Is that the way you see the business going, Daniel?"

Danny was silent, and just at the moment that Randall Bateman was about to speak, Danny smiled.

"If you'd really read the report—and especially cross-referenced the details of upcoming legislations which for some reason are buried in the appendices—you'd know we’re continuing to target emerging markets, especially in China and Asia. Renewables as normal but with an added emphasis on recycled food waste, which is where we’ve had our biggest margins over the last five years." He watched with satisfaction at Randall's growing dismay.

Danny had lived to fight another day. He looked every board member in the eye as they left the room and gave them all a firm handshake. He waited until everyone had left before he walked slowly to the nearest executive toilet and threw up the three espressos into the bowl.

#

The thing that had kept him going throughout the meeting was this lunch with his best friend, Matthew Hampton. They'd met in Caltech but while Danny had carried on to the highly successful renewable energy business, Matthew had gone into filmmaking and was now a much-courted film director. He was currently working on something to do with robots, but Danny’s attention always switched off about a minute after Matthew began to talk about it. Out of the two, Danny didn't know which of them earned more money. He’d never asked because he wouldn't have been able to stand it if it had been Matthew. 

Whenever Danny was half an hour late, Matthew would always manage to be later. Danny looked down the menu for the fourth time. He wanted the burger but would probably go for the chicken salad. He felt on a high after his tussle with the Board and now in the hot California afternoon waiting for his friend he couldn’t believe the gut wrenching anxiety.  Every time the darkness descended on him he tried to remember that it would pass, it almost never worked.  

“Yeah! Sorry I’m late!” Danny put the menu down and got up to give Matthew a hug. Matthew was out of breath and sweating lightly.

“I was just heading out the door when someone from costumes wanted a word, which turned into several. Anyway …”

A waiter went past. “Two beers please … ummm …” he scanned the menu, “two Coors Light.” Danny could have said no to Matthew’s order but didn’t.

The two beers arrived swiftly. 

“I’ve got some news for you,” Matthew said, taking a big chug of the beer.

“Oh yeah?” Danny tried to sound nonchalant, but it had been the first thing on his mind.

Matthew lowered his voice.“I’ve had a call from the committee; they want to meet you.”

“That’s awesome!” They clinked their bottles together in a toast.

“You’re not in yet,” Matthew said.

“Right, so what’s next?”

Matthew sat back in his chair, smiled, and raised his eyebrows.

“Ah come on, don’t be a dick.”

“Okay, ’cause it’s you. You get to actually go to the Sanctuary and meet the committee—an interview. Then they make their decision—you’re in or out. It’s as straightforward as that.”

“What? So the money’s not enough? They want me to jump through hoops?”

“It’s not about money, bro; it’s about exclusivity.”

Exclusivity. There it was, the word that got him hooked.

He’d first heard about the Sanctuary a year ago. The only details he could remember was that he had been at a party and was about to head home when he’d heard a whispered conversation in a low-lit alcove: “Going to the Sanctuary this weekend?” He’d glanced at the speaker in time to see her make a gesture to her companion to shut up. He’d paused momentarily then dismissed it. The Sanctuary was probably just another club that would be the place to be seen at for a few weeks until the next new place opened up. Then, over the next few months, he began to hear more mentions of the Sanctuary.

He’d be in a club—in the real VIP area—and would overhear conversations where the Sanctuary was mentioned. He’d see glances exchanged between the elite. It was definitely the new thing that you had to be in the know to actually know about.

Danny had once heard a story about a billionaire who’d arranged to have a painting by Munch stolen to add to his private collection. The theft had gone off without a hitch. It made news globally. The police mounted a major manhunt for the painting, but everyone had gone to ground. It had been so planned and there was enough money sloshing about to buy everyone’s silence. The billionaire eventually gave it back anonymously. What was the point of having it if you couldn’t show it to anyone or brag about it? Eventually, over the next six months, Danny was able to piece together the story of the Sanctuary. The final piece came when the name of the legendary billionaire madman Joseph Jennings was mentioned in the same breath as the Sanctuary.

It hadn’t taken him long to realize that out of his immediate circle of friends Matthew was the most likely to have connections—and it wasn’t just connections that Matthew had. That was two months ago, an eternity to a man not used to waiting for something he wanted. Danny had  sat, ground his teeth, and waited. He tried not to think about it. However, during his intense moments—fucking someone or looking at property—Danny was actually thinking about the Sanctuary.

“I suppose you’re already a member?” Danny asked Matthew when he’d brought up the subject at a private party.

Matthew laughed. Danny wanted to punch him in the face.“Of course.”

He thought about those people in the Sanctuary, in their exclusive club with him on the outside. The bullied, unpopular eight-year-old from Kansas screamed and wanted in. 

“When is it?” he asked Matthew.

“Tuesday.”

“Shit.”

“Is that a problem?”

“No, not a problem “

#

In fact, it was a big fucking problem. Yet after a frantic few days of rescheduling, Danny, found himself standing in a parking lot the size of a baseball field by a rundown mall.

“Jesus! How do people live like this?” he said, looking at the mall and thrusting his hands into his pockets.

He waited for ten minutes before an anonymous black sedan pulled up. The back door opened and Danny got in. He was the only person in the back. The windows were tinted so he couldn’t see out. Danny was uncomfortable in his own company and, although the journey lasted only half an hour, it felt like an age. Finally, the car stopped and the door opened. In front of him were two thick-set, broad shoulders, squeezed into smart black suits.

“Please come with us, Mr. Keins.”

Danny was only too happy to get out of the car. He looked around at the mountain top in front of him and realized that he didn’t have a clue where he was. One of the suits gestured for him to go with them.

For a moment, they just stood in front of a giant rock.

“What now? Are we gonna …” There was a grinding noise and the two sides of the rock parted to reveal a steel door. The door slid open and the two suits ushered him in.

Danny found himself in an antechamber where there was another steel door with a number pad to one side. 

This is some James Bond type shit. Okay that’s quite cool. 

One of the suits tapped in a six-digit number in and the door opened to reveal three men in even more expensive suits. An African–American man in steel-rimmed glasses took a step forward, shook Danny’s hand, and gave him a wide smile.

“Mr. Keins, glad to meet you. Welcome to the Sanctuary.” Danny followed the three men as they walked around the rim of the cavern. This was obviously meant to impress Danny, and it worked. He couldn’t begin to guess how deep it was, but if you fell down there you weren’t going to be doing the electric boogaloo anytime soon. He thought he could glimpse water—maybe a pool at the bottom? Was that an edge of a farm? The details did nothing to distract him from his nerves.

As he followed them, he saw the apartments built into the rock and the walkways and steps, but it was hard to take in the size or the geography of the place. Danny was taken into a plush, modern, air-conditioned meeting room. Had he not known better, he would have assumed he’d walked into one of the many meeting rooms he often found himself in at his office. The only difference was that this room had a slightly sweeter fragrance in the air, one he couldn’t quite place—jasmine perhaps? Danny had anticipated the sorts of questions he may be asked, but was immediately wrong-footed when it seemed to be more than a mere sales pitch. He’d almost begun to relax when the first question came out of nowhere.

“We understand that your father died young?” Danny floundered, which was what they wanted. They’d done their research on him. From that question on, he was in battle mode.

“I…how…”

“Weren’t you on the brink of bankruptcy ten years ago?” 

“That’s none of your business! What’s that got to do with anything?” On and one they continued with their jabs. 

Danny left the room feeling bloodied and bruised. His forehead creased into a furrow and he felt the muscles in his neck begin to tighten up. He’d been in the room for just thirty minutes but it had felt a lot longer.