๑『CorRUPted』๑

【Chapter Seven: Paranoia】

【Chapter Seven: Paranoia】

I tried not to burst out mad at the woman then, but instead pulled the T-shirt off my wrists and brandished them toward the woman, my stoic mask still on. “I don’t think a publicity stunt would call for me to harm myself so much, or to drag myself to Andalusite City. If I could have, I’d have avoided ever coming here if it meant having to be in your presence, no offense.” I quirked one eyebrow up, to which the woman laughed. 

“How amusing you are. Definitely your mother’s daughter. Did you know Ferera Levone used to make the most dastardly of pranks? They were just… amazing… One time, she pretended to go off with a man from that one place… what was it called, Bellaire?” Bellicose, I corrected silently, wanting so badly to slap that woman and also to throw at her the question of how the hell did she know my mom? “Anyway, she actually disappeared for a whole month. It had Tarren going mad-” Tarren? The Tarren? That guy was supposed to be The Conclave’s equivalent to Bellicose’s Bernard! “- but of course, she came back, sunny as always, as if nothing ever happened… So why did she leave and never come back a month later, I wonder?”

I narrowed my eyes at her, and she grinned before leaning back in a chair that had not been there earlier, raising her brows at me. I sighed, recomposing myself. “Was there a point to this?”

“No, not at all. I just needed to see how Ferera’s little girl turned out. Not that bad, really.” She tilted her head to the side, smiling still as she looked at me with eyes that admired and burned me all at once. Was that even supposed to be possible? “There’s a car outside waiting for you. It’ll take you to the border where another car belonging to Bellicose is to pick you up. Now, don’t go walking out of this room thinking we’ll never meet again, because Darcy, I assure you with the utmost sincerity that we will. Meet. Again.” 

She dismissed me after that, not even bothering to give me a name. The metal elevator doors opened and the same Reaper stood there. He smiled, and then frowned when he saw the uncovered burn marks with crusted blood on my wrists. I noticed then of all times the small first aid box sitting next to his feet, and he threw me a shy smile, bending down to pick it up.

As he went down, I imagined myself taking him down with a simple kick to the head that would slam it into the elevator wall and knock him out. When he stood up and held out the first aid box, I saw myself pulling him by the wrist and then slamming his head to the wall just before taking him down with a pressure point or just breaking his neck. These Reaper’s… just how were they trained? Frowning myself, I took the small box from him, not knowing what to do. 

“Well, there’s bandages in there. If you want to bandage yourself. Though, I could help you…?”

Awkwardly, I held my hand out to him, handing back the first aid box and allowing him to work on it with the little tape of fabric, some disinfectant and a cotton swab. In that moment, I’d gone back to being my old self. The old me. The Ruined Cities really had had it’s effect on me, and it seemed not even the cool, clean air of Andalusite City was working. I needed to be home. In the glass house of mine. “Thank you…” I whispered once he was done, looking at the expertly done bandages over the burns. If I’d done it myself, the bandages would probably be loose and hanging. 

“You welcome, kid. You know, it’s kind of weird that you are some great pro. You look like you should be at home with a family member or-” something in my eyes must’ve changed because one look at me had him shutting up and looking away from me, scratching at his head. By now, the Reaper had taken off his hood and showed off as nice head of red hair, and the more I looked at him, the more I saw an honest doctor working with children and smiling about like the civilian he should still be. Yet he’d had it all taken from him…