𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐒

007. but why do i always feel like somebody's watching me?

"GO WAKE UP," Naoki said tiredly, throwing herself into a plastic chair next to the sick bed. Her sword, sticky at the hilt with Theo's blood, clattered to the ground. She felt grimy, ugly and angry. "Get to class. Act normal. If anyone asks, not that they will, but if they do, Theo's skipping class to go see a Taylor Swift concert, okay?" 

"Um--" Dexter began. 

"Or make something better up, I don't care! Just go!" Naoki snapped. 

Dexter flinched. "Yeah, okay." 

He turned and slunk out the door, shoulders tensed. Paris put his arm around his shoulder, following him out, with a lingering stare at Naoki.  

Xandra frowned. "That was bitchy, even for you." 

They were in the med bay of the Keeper's fort. Naoki had shoved Illias out of the way, slamming the butt of her sword into Theo's head to knock him out. It didn't work (thick skulled, she thought), and Theo kept after her. But instead of Puppet-Theo trying to kill her, a rage-blinded Illias tackled her instead. 

After Xandra had plugged a bottle of Damia smoke up Theo's nose, she'd smashed one in Illias's face, right before he strangled Naoki to death. The whole thing ended in chaos, and Paris had hotwired an abandoned car outside to bring them all back. Kiernan rushed Theo and Illias to the med bay, and the rest of them followed him anxiously. Naoki had cleaned her leg up on her own, but it was still raw and gushing blood. 

It was too bright in here, too surgically clean. Naoki felt disgusting and grimy in comparison, staring at the rising and falling chests of Theo and Illias. 

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'll apologise to him later. I just... I don't have time to dance around anybody's feelings." 

"Even your own?" 

Naoki stared at her. "You sound like my therapist." 

Xandra shrugged. "Just figure your shit out, and then get back on track. I don't know what's up with you and Mr. Perfectly Fine over there, but something isn't right. And like you said, if we can't work as a team, then we're all going to be screwed." 

Naoki nodded. "You're right. Thanks." 

"Sure," Xandra clapped her shoulder. "I'll see you at school?" 

"Yeah, maybe," Naoki smiled slightly. "Good work today." 

"Yeah, you too." 

The door shut behind her. 

Naoki sighed, rubbing her forehead. Xandra was right, on every level. She needed to figure this shit out with Illias, but even more importantly, she needed to get the team together. She should know them all, inside and out. Their weaknesses, their failsafes. If she had understood Theo's power-insecure impulses, she would've prevented this. They were struggling, floundering, and she was just sitting by and wallowing in her own feelings. 

"Why is it so hard?" she asked quietly, voice cracking. 

Next to her, Illias stirred, turning to his side. "I don't know," he admitted softly. 

"Hi." 

"Hi," his eyes wouldn't tear away from the bruises on her neck. 

"Are you mad at me?" she asked. 

"A little. Are you mad at me?" 

"Maybe. I don't know." 

"What did I do wrong?" she leaned on his bed. "What was it?" 

He touched her face. "You didn't do anything." 

"Don't lie," she shook him off. "It takes two to tango. We both did something wrong. So what did I do?"