Aptum

Chapter Four

"Ciara. Ciara, wake up, sweetheart," a voice hums. I force my heavy eyelids open and my surroundings come into focus. I'm in Josh's office, on a plush couch that I hadn't noticed before. Josh sits in a chair next to my head, smiling softly at me.

"Welcome back, sweetie," he says.

"What the fuck, you psycho?" I exclaim sitting up. My head spins and I inhale sharply. Josh sets a hand on my knee. I glare at him. "Get your hands the hell off me."

"Ciara, don't be like that. I didn't want to take such extreme matters, but I simply had to talk to you," he explains.

"You're crazy. You're actually a psychopath. What the hell is wrong with you? You kidnapped me! You knocked me out and kidnapped me," I shout at him, jumping to my feet.

"I didn't mean to knock you out. Melissa got slightly overzealous," Josh says, standing up. I shake my head.

"You- Ok, bye." I try to teleport out and scream, falling to the ground. I hear crashing sounds but the pain in my head is too intense to care. Curling into a ball, it feels like I got stabbed in the temple with a  screwdriver.  As soon as the pain has dulled enough for me to breathe, I open my eyes. "What was that?" I ask shakily.

"Ciara, I apologize, I should have warned you. There's a teleportation blocker in my office. The pain only lasts a minute the first time, getting worse each time you try to escape," he explains, kneeling next to me and placing a hand under my chin. He tilts my head up to look at him and I stand up quickly, backing away from him.

"You're crazy. You're completely crazy," I whisper, shaking my head.

"No, I'm not. I just needed to talk to you without Noah. He- my son is disturbed. You can't trust him, or whatever he told you about me. I would never hurt you, Ciara. I needed to talk to you about your mother. I wanted to apologize for not being able to save her. She was supposed to be with you when we rescued you. We had to move quicker than we planned. You are an incredibly powerful Aptum, and the Government found you faster than we anticipated. I loved your mother, Ciara. More than almost anything in the world. I tried to save her, I promise," he says softly.

"No. No, you're lying. Noah- Noah told me..." I stop talking, realizing he hadn't actually given me any real reason not to trust Josh. Could Josh be telling me the truth? I glance at my arm, a light bruise the shape of Josh's fingers starting to form from earlier.

"I know what Noah told you. You can't believe him," he insists.

"No, I can't believe you," I argue. "Noah may be blunt and infuriating and a total asshole, but I trust him more than I'd ever trust you." Josh's face darkens.

"You're my daughter, Ciara. Mine. Your mother is lost to us. I'm all you have, girl," he growls. "Your brother doesn't even want you in this family."

"No... No he said he doesn't want me to be in your family," I whisper. I walk backwards, bumping into his desk.

"Too late. As your legal guardian, I am in charge of you," Josh says, walking towards me. I glance at the door quickly, wondering if it's locked. I start walking briskly towards the exit. Josh reaches out and grabs my wrist.

"Don't bother. It's locked," he says. "We aren't finished talking."

"Well, I have nothing to say and no desire to listen to you talk, either. So, for the second time today, let me go. If you're telling me the truth, then prove it. Prove I can trust you," I implore.

"You and I both know that the second you leave this room you'll run right to Noah. You still don't believe me, Ciara. And you're not leaving until you do," he says, his eyes darkening. A shudder runs down my spine. He's actually a psychopath. Noah, Eli, where are you? I wonder.