Syphons - There's No Denying Their Existence

Chapter 5: The Fever

"You need to turn your phone over to Ryker in research and development. He and the other techs will can contact the caller, track where the message came from, and give us her location. Before you worry, let us help you," AJ said.

"What am I supposed to do while Ryker is examining my phone? I have to go to her. This isn't a message Carmen would send me. It has to be Dalton. Obviously, he is manipulating her."

"You'll risk becoming his hostage too. How do you know this isn't an attempt to get you alone with him?"

"Just give me back my phone!" I said and snatched it out of his hand. "I'll just take an Uber home and get the cops involved."

"A hostage situation involving deranged entities is outside of the federal and local government's jurisdiction. Trust me, the cops can't help you. They haven't been able to help the other missing individuals, you probably had no idea about, either."

"I don't care about the others. I'm only worried about Carmen."

"True, but do you know where she is being kept? You were sent a vague message with no clues. That's an obvious set-up. You don't even know where to begin looking."

Ugh. He's right.

"We'll think this through together," he said in a non-demeaning way almost soothing. He took my shaky hand and squeezed. His calm energy sapped my anxiety and returned my common sense.

"Where do we begin?"

"We need a plan. We don't know for sure if the Mindstalkers have your friend or not. But I recommend we check her normal hangouts, residential, place of business, and so on, just to make sure this isn't a farce. In the meantime, we'll have Ryker's team do their thing with the messages, and make sure Kaleb is aware of the situation. We'll find the truth and investigate this thoroughly."

"Okay," I said.

"You know where she lives?" he said.

"Yes, but it's a gated community with security. We shouldn't have an issue though, I've been to the property once before when I helped her move the last of her stuff in."

"We'll figure things out when we get there," he said. "It's going to be fine, Solstice."

Fever blanketed my skin like magma. Beads of sweat collected under my brows and coated my neck.

"I-I feel weird again," I admitted as the fever returned.

I held his gaze as something within me started to take over.

"You need to release your pent up energy. The buildup of energy can cause major damage to your central nervous system, and your inner-Mindstalker will take over in order to return you to homeostasis. The first thing it targets is your metabolism. Your inner-Mindstalker triggers the need to gorge and binge. Your chances of becoming corrupted increased," he said.

"I've never felt like this ever," I said.

AJ embraced me. His hand smoothing around my shoulders. I pressed my forehead against his shoulder. I leaned against him for support. My arms wrapped under his arms and my hands brushed against the ripples of muscles that corded his back along his spine. Just below the surface of his skin, around his lower back something snaked across my hand.

He pulled out of our embrace, and clutched my hands in his, holding it as far from his body as possible.

"Sols," he said. "Don't make me give in."

I'm not sure why I just pawed AJ or why he allowed me to. Part of me developed interest in allowing it to happen again. But the one with restraint was AJ. I didn't expect that. If he needed to feed, why hold back from taking what he wanted?