What's Said in Silence

Vessel-XXVII

I have given you everything and I can take it all back.

Her threat echoed in my mind for the thousandth time. She had come into my dreams again but hadn't done much besides warn me. Sera being tangled in my arms last night might have been my saving grace on that front.

After what had been the best release of frustrations, we had fallen asleep on the kitchen floor. Sera had fallen asleep first. With the intensity of her eyes shielded away from the world, all of her other features came to the forefront. I had spent a good hour studying her features, committing them to memory before finally letting my eyes shut. 

It wasn't the first time I had fallen asleep with the mask on, but it was never the most comfortable thing in the world. I hadn't wanted to wake her in an attempt to carry her to a bed, nor would I disgrace her by leaving her alone on the floor, regardless of how much my joints dug into the cold tile. I found a way to be as comfortable as I could, though my shoulder still ached like hell. 

Everything had happened in a whirlwind of intensity, though I didn't regret what we had done and I hoped she didn't either. That had been a pivotal point for us, one that I found myself hopeful it would turn out to be for the better. Although, if she knew what I was up to this sunny afternoon, she'd lose a little bit of her new found trust in me, if not all of it. 

The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. I pushed myself off of the back wall and stepped out. The office buzzed with a certain urgency. Everyone seemed to be playing on the same team, yet animosity lined the walls of every glass panned office room. I found the receptionist's desk and walked up to it. 

"Excuse me, is Jessie Perkins in, today?" I asked the older woman behind the desk. She typed away at her keyboard for a few seconds more before looking up at me, her eyes widening as she gripped the tiny gold cross hanging around her neck. Dammit. 

"Apologies for my appearance, I've got an early Halloween party to attend after this." Not my greatest excuse, but one that she would buy into better than I'm in a band. "Is Mr. Perkins in?" I asked again in the most gentle tone I could conjure. 

She pointed down the hall, still clutching her cross. I gave her a quick 'thanks' then followed her instruction and made my way down the hall, reading every name plate as I passed them. Almost at the very end is where I found the one with his name on it. Without knocking, I opened the door and walked in. 

"Christ, Vessel," A splash of coffee from the mug in his hand landed on his crisp white button up. "You should warn someone before you come barging in like that." He set the mug down and reached into one of his desk drawers, retrieving a monogrammed towel. Ever the prepared.  

"I should do a lot of things." I said, taking a seat in one of the leather chairs across from his desk. "However, I'd much rather talk about what you should do, or rather what you should've told me about Sera." Suspicion fell over his face and he stopped scrubbing at his shirt. 

"I'm not sure what you're referring to-" He started.

"Bullshit." I cut through, quiet fury laced into my voice. He visibly swallowed. I didn't like to be the intimidating kind of guy, but I could play the part when I needed to. "What's her story? Why the sudden need to come to the UK?" 

"It's really not something I can freely talk about." He averted his gaze from me, assuming I wouldn't push harder. He assumed incorrectly.

"I came home last night to find my housekeeper hiding in the dark with a butcher knife, ready to tear me to shreds." She had almost succeeded, too. His head snapped back up with widened eyes and the color drained from his face. At least now I've got his attention. Apply the right amount of pressure on someone and they're bound to crack.

The ticking of the clock on the wall grew ridiculously loud as the seconds passed. I could see the heavy debate in his eyes of whether or not he wanted to let the information leak from his mouth. He ran a hand through his perfectly gelled hair before letting out a frustrated sigh. Defeat. 

"All I can say is that she got wrapped up in the wrong crowd back in the states. The lead guy did some pretty fucked up stuff, but got caught. Sera played a major role in his arrest and conviction. This was three years ago and he just recently got released on good behavior, not that he deserved it." A snarl curled his upper lip. "So, she packed up and moved in case he decided to come looking for her." He leaned back in his chair, the expensive leather groaning beneath him, though I barely heard it over the sound of my blood beginning to race in my ears.

"Has he come looking for her?" I asked.

"There's been taunting text messages sent by him, but so far nothing that I've seen has indicated he's in the area. I've also got surveillance at all airports in the U.S. He's on the 'no-fly' list, so if he even tried to leave the country, I'd be the first one notified. So far, it's been crickets." 

"That doesn't necessarily mean anything." I argued. It would take nothing to get a private jet and leave the country that way. With one abandoned hangar and enough money, someone would get that piece of shite out of that country undetected. 

"I think it's all psychological warfare with him, he wants to put her through as much mental torture as he can. It worked well for him before." He muttered the last part quieter, but I heard it anyway.

"Who is he? I want a name." I demanded standing up from the chair. My blood was raging now and I was starting to see red. I had figured there was more to her silence than what I was being led to believe, but I hadn't guessed that she'd been traumatized into it.

"That's not my business to tell. I'm sorry, Vessel." He said, and he looked truly apologetic. Perhaps it was because he could see the fury radiating off of me, or maybe he understood that my viewpoint of her had shifted exponentially. 

"The security you have isn't enough. Double it. Triple it if you have to." I demanded, making my way towards the door, suddenly very anxious to get back home.

"I'll make sure nothing happens to her." He reassured me just as I turned out of his office. He'd better. If anyone so much as plucked a hair from her scalp, I'd take great pleasure in ripping them apart. Slowly.

Whatever enemies she's made, they now contend with me.