No Pain: Book 1

Chapter 13: Najee

              I sit in the corner of the café, John is in the back, Star must be there with him. I smile to myself as I think of how much trouble she's been putting him through. He's too gentle, Star is so rough, like the sea. It depends on the day which side of her you get. There was money left on the table when I got here and an empty tea cup, it smells like the kind Star drinks. Whoever was there must have just left.

"Anything else for you sir?" The perky waitress asks.

"No, thank you. I'm just waiting for someone." I offer a smile, she smiles even brighter and bobs her head.

"Alrighty, sir, let me know if you change your mind." She bounces away. I try to imagine Star like that. Maybe if she had a different abnormality she could have been. Maybe if we never took her she could have been. But there were hundreds of maybes when it comes to Star, I don't really care about the maybe's. None of the maybe puts Star back at the compound, none of them bring her back to the team and none of them put her in the seat across from me.

It's quiet here, as long as you don't have the wrong abnormality. Like Star does. It was stupid of John to bring her here I can't help but feel a little angry It was stupid of her to come here I'm even angrier at Star, she knows better.

"Thank you." John's voice carriers through the room. I throw some money on the table and head over to him. Star isn't with him, I smile at him "good, you didn't bring her." I wrap my arms around him "but you shouldn't be helping her find me, either." I pull away but then I see his face.

"Najee?" John just caught up to who is hugging him. "Star wouldn't listen to me."

"Yeah." I scoff "she's like that." I pat him in the back and lead him toward the door. "Where's Star, I'll talk to her, she'll listen to me."

"I don't think she listens to you any better." John laughs because no one can really guess what Star is going to be like until they've spent time with her.

"Where is she?" I ask as we step out onto the busy street.

"What?" John glances back as if expecting to find someone. "She was sitting in the back booth."

"You actually brought her here?" I feel the others inside me begin to crawl to the surface, I push them down because Star needs me to be me right now. "John..." I take a second to breathe "John, tell me you didn't lose her." I grab his arm. The others want to hurt him but I rein them in. "Tell me Star is safe." I beg him but I know the look, he's torn between telling me what I want to hear and what he can't deny has happened.

"Najee, I-I'm..." he doesn't want to finish because if he finishes it means he's really messed up. It means Star is in trouble and it's his fault.

"Where was she?" I let myself fall back a little and share my body with Noah, he's the calm one, he'll keep me from going over the edge.

"The back booth." John sounds desperate as he stares at the empty booth, two cups sitting on the table.

"Alright, we'll start from the booth." Noah leads us inside, he sits the way Star would have. Back to the wall, body angled to look between the café and the window. She'd watch the reflections.

"If she saw someone she'd try the window first." Noah starts toward the bathroom the windows are all barred. I tell Noah. She wouldn't have known that It's our fault. We never trained her to escape this place, not without us. Star is smart Thierry is struggling for control, he's the last one that needs to be in control. She made it out Thierry doesn't feel as sure as he wants to.