The Shrink Program

Chapter 135

Despite it sounding like it had come from some sort of deranged demon, the screeching voice was still unmistakably Dr Floid's.

Alex jumped violently, eyes widening as he realised exactly how this would look to his mother, and I couldn't criticise him for his reaction, seeing as I was two beats away from some form of cardiac arrest myself.

I wasn't exactly the psychopath's favourite person after all...

But as we looked up, it became obvious that the doctor hadn't, in fact, caught us doing... whatever this was supposed to be. In fact, from her continued shouts, it seemed that she was still in the centre of the room where we had left her.

Nope, there was no sign of the Evil Doctor.

The universe wouldn't have done that to me.... not when there was someone else in the room possibly more inclined to kill me on sight right now.

Freezing in horror, Alex and I found ourselves confronted with a very silent and very composed Vain Maziric

And that is when I realised I wasn't going to survive this.

I had just jumped from a height relatively close to a hundred feet for me and run headlong through a crowd of giant people capable of crushing me under their feet.

And as soon as he got his hands on me, Vain was going to kill me for pulling an insane stunt like that in front of him and daring to survive it.

As Alex and I held still, like lambs caught sitting on a wolf's dinner plate, Vain watched us with cold disinterest, his expression so calm anyone would think he was standing in a field of serene daisies.

If it wasn't for the crimson gaze that clearly said he wanted to rip me out of Alex's grasp so that he could bluetack me to a ceiling fan and watch me spin until I promised never to risk my life in such a stupid way again, I wouldn't have realised he was on the very edge of insanity.

....it's times like these that I sort of wish I didn't know him quite so well...being able to read the particular details of his murderous glares sort of freaks me out...

"Great. I was just thinking what I really needed right now to make this the most humiliating moment of my life was an audience." Alex muttered sarcastically, recovering his composure while I was still trying to perfect my dumb fish impersonation.

"It's fortunate that you chose to have your display in public then, now isn't it." Vain agreed, his voice flatly detached. Neutral.

Scary. As. Hell.

Alex shifted as if debating whether to try reasoning with Vain or to just make a run for it. In the end, he stood his ground, sighing in defeat.

".... you know, I never did like you very much Maziric," Alex muttered sourly.

Stoic, Vain gave a simple nod."I believe I may have noticed."

"I mean, you always glare at me like I'm sort of criminal..." Alex continued to rant, approaching Vain as the pale boy grimaced slightly.

"You are a criminal Floid."

"...It's damn creepy, that's what it is. Seeing right through us from the very beginning. Alan thought it was just freaking hilarious, but the last thing I needed was some damn kid judging me and watching me like a hawk."

He came to a stop, right in front of Vain, glaring coldly down his nose as the boy was forced to glare up at him.

"Especially when said kid is nothing more than a single-minded, insecure brat with a jealously streak a mile wide. Plus..." Alex smirked, raising his hand to hover just above Vain's white hair. "I don't think he's grown an inch since the day I met him. In every sense."

Harsh...

Vain eye twitched, the only outward sign that a nerve had been plucked.

"But." With the sharp word, Alex's hand closed the gap, landing in a firm pat on Vain's head. "I have to admit you didn't give up. For two years, you never wavered in your determination, no matter what you were forced to do."

I bit my lip guiltily at the words, feeling like an oblivious idiot.

For someone whose supposed to be good at noticing things, I sure have missed a lot.... or blocked it out... I don't even know which possibility is worse...

Under Alex's ruffling hand, Vain stood stiff, glaring silently at the floor. The fact that he tolerated the touch at all was surprising, the slight blush on his cheeks, making him look ridiculously young.

Alex leant forward, bringing himself to Vain's eye level to grimace more effectively.

"I've recently had it pointed out to me that if you had only wanted to protect Maddison, it would have been easier to just remove her from the situation altogether. You could have had your sidekick Apollo challenge her, expelling her from the school and directing the underground's attention away from her. Taking her away from the people she cared about and making her unable to help them in their cause."

My stomach dropped lower with each word, eyes widening when Vain's lips twitched with embarrassment.

Alex smirked ruefully."Here I was, sure that all the suffering you put her through was you selfishly trying to get your own way. To prove to her that you were right all along." He gently removed his hand from Vain's head.

"Makes me feel stupid when you turn out to be nothing more than a lovesick idiot. Enabling an even bigger idiot. "

And just like that, I was shoved into Vain's startled hands.

With a surprised yelp, I scrambled to adjust in the awkward hold, ignoring the way the giant fingers seemed to tremble.

By the time I was sitting upright in Vain's palm, Alex had his back to us and had begun walking off.

"Turns out that I have better things to be doing with my time than playing cat and mouse. Seeing as I have important stuff I need to attend to, I'll just hand her over to you and walk away without a second thought as to what new development currently has my mother in a tizzy." He explained nonchalantly over his shoulder. "And if a certain mouse happens to be secretly wearing something she shouldn't, I'm sure I didn't notice."

Is he seriously picking on my outfit now.... oh...Jump boots.... surviving a fall from Apollo's shoulder... whoops.

"You know, you have a really high handed and manipulative way of showing love, Vain Maziric." Even as the insult left his lips, Alex smirked in something like happiness, before turning to hide the expression.

"If you're not careful, you'll end up just like a certain idiot I know." Even as he continues to walk away, we could still hear him muttering to himself. "....Always telling me I should feel honoured to be one of his chess pieces, seeing as he only uses the most competent and trustworthy of people. No wonder the creep can't make any friends."

For a long moment, I sat gaping after the redhead, hand outstretched as if I could somehow stop him.

Sure it may have looked like a cool 'I'm going to let you go and turn a blind eye to anything you might be doing to defeat the underground'' exit.

But in reality, Alex had just smoothly escaped, handing me over as a sacrificial lamb.

Come back here and save me you coward!