Something I Don't Know

31: fool me twice, that's...really unfair

It's the third time I've been knocked unconscious in the last two months, but I'm still not expecting it. I'm not sure it's the kind of thing you can expect.

All I know is I wake up what must be hours later with a terrible headache, the room around me dark and cold. Also, as I find out when I try to move the slightest inch, I'm bound to a chair.

Normal, non-holy rope this time, it looks like. Nothing stings, anyway.

Second time I've been tied to a chair in the last two months. Still not expecting it.

It takes my vision a few moments to adjust, both because it's so dark in here and because of the whole getting-hit-in-the-back-of-the-head thing. Once it does, though, I almost think I...I recognize the room we're in. Same massive mahogany desk, same red and gold Oriental rug, same glass chandelier dangling above my head.

It's Anik's office.

The first time he kidnapped me, I woke up here. Can't say he cares much for variety.

At about the same time it's dawned on me that I've done all this before, I tune in to the noises around me. Well, one noise in particular: breathing. Soft, shallow, hurried. And I'm not sure how, but I know it's my mom's.

"Mom?" I say into the dark. "Mom, is that you?"

"Grey?" There's movement, behind me. How close is she? How far, really? "Oh, Grey, honey, I'm sorry. I should have listened to you, maybe this wasn't such a good idea—"

"Don't worry about it, Mom," I say, my shoulders relaxing a little. She's alive, and she's here, and yeah, we've sorta-kinda been kidnapped by the psycho mayor (some of us for the second time), but it's a massive relief that we're still together. "I got out of here once. I'll get us out of here again."

A long pause. "You don't think he knows, do you?"

"Knows what?"

"Knows that you know. Knows that I told you—"

A light splices the inky black of Anik's mayoral office. Considering I'm facing the back of the room, I see his shadow first, standing on the threshold of the open door: tall, lanky, still in a freshly ironed suit.

His footsteps echo off the walls as he ambles about the room, painstakingly slow, and finally reclines back against his desk. Anik regards me with a scowl now, eyes distant and cold. I think it's the first time I've ever seen him without that stupid politician's smile, but I can't exactly say I like this look much better.

"About Krish?" Anik finishes. Behind him, an automated curtain pulls back along the wall, revealing a large, floor-to-ceiling window. Through it, I can see Atlanta, black and gray in the moonlight. So it really has been hours. "Yes, I am well aware. I am also aware that you thought a conveniently-released exposé would stand in the way of all the good things I'm doing for this city."

Shit. "What—what exposé?"

He tilts his head. "Don't play dumb, young Meesang. You know better."

"Yeah, and you know better than to tie me up," I say, struggling against my binds. I would love to bust out of these things Superman style, but, as Mom observed, I'm apparently too scrawny for that. "We've been over this before. Was this really necessary?"

Anik stares at me.

Then: "Ryan, untie him."

I'm not exactly sure when he got here, but nevertheless, the blond guy that punched me in the face the first time I was ever brought here (and yes, I am still holding a grudge against him for that) steps forward and loosens the ropes. Once they're slack enough, I smack his arm away from me. "My mom, too," I order.