Resignation

The fire sprinklers kicked on a moment later.

Cold, grey water rained down on the Executive Suite, dousing the flames and soaking the plush carpets.

Mara sat on the floor, leaning against the ruined bar. She was wet, shivering, and completely sober.

Elias crawled over to her. He took off his wet suit jacket and draped it over her shoulders.

"You did it," he whispered. "You actually did it."

Mara looked around the room. It was destroyed. The office was a wreck.

Dawn was breaking outside. The storm had passed. Through the broken window, the pale light of morning illuminated the smoke rising from her clothes.

A single bottle of 30-year-old scotch had survived the shelf collapse. It rolled across the floor and stopped at Mara’s feet.

She picked it up. She looked at the amber liquid. It looked like safety. It looked like numbness.

Mara looked at Elias. He was shivering, bruised, but alive.

She uncorked the bottle.

"Ms. Vance?" Elias asked, watching her.

Mara turned the bottle upside down. She poured the expensive scotch onto the soggy carpet, watching it drain away until the bottle was empty.

"Mara," she said.

"What?"

"Call me Mara. Ms. Vance doesn't work here anymore."

She reached into her wet blazer pocket and pulled out a piece of paper—the termination list she was supposed to give Kael. She handed it to Elias.

"What's this?"

"My resignation," Mara said, standing up and offering him a hand. "Come on, Elias. Let's get the hell out of here. I think I'm ready for some coffee."

Elias smiled, taking her hand. "I know just how you take it."

Together, they walked out of the ruins of Vantage Corp, leaving the ghosts and the ghouls behind them, stepping into the clean, cold light of a new day.