Genius (CENTURIES series: Book #2)

21

Wrong.

It echoed endlessly inside Mia's head as if she was standing inside a cathedral and he had screamed that simple word at the top of his lungs.

Wrong.

Mia looked at herself through the mirror and then bent down to splash some water in her face. Her eyes were tired and her skin looked pale. She was exhausted.

All this, all of what had been going on with Eli – the lying, the secrecy, the clusterfuck of emotions that went on between them... it was getting to her. That's why she'd told Eli she'd be spending the night at Zoe's tonight. That she needed the distance. The space. She imagined he did, also.

Clicking off the light and stepping into Zoe's living room where Zoe was sitting with her laptop – big surprise – Mia felt her body relax after what felt like an eternity of stress. Perhaps getting involved in all of this with Eli had been too much after all. He had warned her, and Caleb had, too, but she hadn't listened. She wasn't even in deep yet, but she was already mentally exhausted, and on top of everything, she had to act normal and attend school every day. It was just too much.

"Thank you again for letting me stay here tonight," Mia said and sat down on the couch next to Zoe. "I can't tell you how much I needed that."

"Hey, no problem." Zoe briefly looked up from her laptop and offered her a smile. "What are friends for?"

Zoe really was an exceptional friend. Even after learning that Mia and Eli had been 'secretly dating' from Anna, she had just shrugged and said it wasn't really her business. Zoe wasn't too caught up in girl-drama like Anna, so as she had put it to Mia; "Whoever you want to date is your private business. You don't judge me when I hack into people's secret stuff, so why should I judge you for who you choose to sleep with. Besides, Eli seems cool."

That was all. She didn't say more, no more comments or questioning of why she chose him or why he was staying with her. Mia could hardly comprehend how cool Zoe could be with it all, but then again, Zoe was an individual.

"So what are you doing?" Mia asked while wrapping a blanket around her legs.

Zoe sighed frustratedly. "Trying to ignore Ceynius. He keeps messaging me, while I'm trying to work."

That caught Mia's attention and woke her up. Ceynius was Caleb. "You're still talking to him?"

"Yeah, he won't leave me alone. I can't block him out." She growled, trying to close a black box that kept popping up.

"How are you able to stay in contact with him?" She frowned when a thought occurred to her. "You told me he's unable to track down – you even tried with your little bug which he killed, so how are you able to stay in touch with him?"

Zoe bit her lip. "It's kinda complicated."

"Try me."

Zoe sighed, then looked at her. "Alright. He invited me into his space."

"His what?"

"Imagine if you will that cyberspace is like actual space; each star is a hacker with their own universe or galaxy. Some are bigger and better, some are smaller and easier to crush."

"Right," Mia said, nodding when she followed.

"Ceynius, or whatever his name really is, is not a star or a universe," She continued. "He has created something entirely different, something he's calling a black hole. A black cyber hole to be precise."