Argent Eye II

22

"How you feeling?" Ronan asked, as I walked home.

"Better." I said. "She barely looked at me today."

"Oh." Ronan said, and paused.

"Any news about Doctor Geralds?" I asked, changing the subject.

"No." Ronan said. "I've asked several other Dreamwalkers if they've heard of him, and none even recognised the name."

"We need to go back there." I said, the thought having constantly played on my mind since I'd escaped. "Who knows how many Argents he has captive."

"Yes, but you're not to go back." Ronan said. "Myself and some others are trying to formulate a plan."

"How long is that gonna take?" I asked.

"We're going as fast as we can." Ronan said. "There's no point charging down there and then getting stuck."

"Did you speak to Rob and Lydia?"

"Yes." Ronan nodded. "They don't remember a lot. Only that there's no communicating with the outside world down there, and that the doctor is trying to figure out how to extract an Argent's power."

"That's all they know?" I asked. "Didn't the doctor tell them anything?"

Ronan shrugged. "Apparently not. I think they were drugged the majority of the time, or locked up."

I sighed. "You should let me back in." I said. "I escaped him once- I can do it again."

"Not necessarily." He said. "You caught the Doctor off guard. He didn't know about your extra powers, but now he does. He will be prepared for you next time. So no, I am not letting you back in."

I mean, he had a point. "I just don't like the thought of them being down there. I was barely in there a day and it was awful."

"I know." Ronan said. "But we have to be patient with this, or we'll end up making everything worse."

I bit my bottom lip. "Okay." I said. "Just, keep me updated? I want to help."

"I know, and I will." Ronan said. "Promise me you won't do anything without seeing me first?"

"Yeah, fine." I said. "Same for you."

He nodded, and then vanished.

__________

When I got home, I bumped into Jake- of course, he was waiting for me to tell him about where the bruises round my wrist came from, and so I did. I'd lost count of the number of times I'd told people about my life events recently.

"Not gonna lie, I always hated that bitch." Jake muttered.

I laughed, despite the circumstances. "Why?"

Jake shrugged. "I dunno. There was always something off about her."

"How many times have you actually spoken to her?" I asked.

Jake looked at me. "Like, twice." He said quietly.

I laughed again. I didn't like Kate at the moment, but I started to think about why she'd done it a little more, now that my head was beginning to clear itself of the anger. I was sure she'd had no reason of her own to turn against me, so perhaps someone had given her one. I knew that Doctor Geralds had been targeting students of the university. Perhaps he'd simply targeted her at random, and it just so happened that her friend was an Argent. Or, he knew that I was an Argent, had seen me hanging out with Kate, and then targeted her. But what had he told her? Lies, perhaps? Or maybe she'd come to her own conclusions about me.