Killjoy (A Lesbian Story)

32: Max

The ride in the helicopter was quiet for a few minutes. I stayed in silence, staring at Thor next to me. He casually sat there, looking over to Nathan and smiling. Grimes was staring at me, which was awkward when I accidentally made eye contact with him a few times.

"So!" Nathan broke the silence, grinning at me. "Welcome back on board, Max! Good to see you!"

My eyes went to him, looking him up and down. "Happy that I can't say the same."

"Oh come now." Nathan grinned at me, "That's no way to speak to an old chum. I thought we had some good times, you and I."

"I'm the last person you would have good times with." I responded, tilting my head. "And I know your first choice would be Thor."

That made Nathan chuckle softly, "Yeah, I guess you've got a point."

"So what now?" I asked, sitting back in the seat. "You take me to another sad little laboratory? Poke me like a rat?"

Grimes shook his head, "Oh no no. We have a better idea. We're taking you to a better place with better people. Better equipment. To finally get things back on track."

"The master plan, eh?" Nathan smiled at him, "I'm guessing the certain obstacle we discussed was taken care of?"

Quickly, Grimes' eyes went to me before going back to Nathan. He held his eye contact for a moment before answering, "No. Not yet. It can wait for now."

Whispers swirled in my head. My dad's voice bounced around in my head the loudest. There was caution and worry and so much anger. It radiated throughout my body in waves.

Evil man... Wants to kill... Kill her...

"What do you mean?" I asked Nathan. "What obstacle?"

A scoff came from Nathan as he waved a hand, "Nothing. Don't worry about it, dear."

Liar...

Tilting my head, I looked him over. "C'mon, Nathan. I thought we were old chums."

His eyes held mine, an eyebrow cocked. "It's nothing anymore."

Her... Ashley... They want to her to die...

A shiver went down my spine as I caught images. They were foggy and blurry.

The hallway went by quickly and shakily like I was seeing through someone else's eyes. The hospital room I stayed in came into view quickly. A hand hit the doorframe to steady the view. The fingers were thick with hairy knuckles. The skin tone was close to mine. Through the door I could see Grimes, standing by the window. He was pushing someone against the glass and I heard muffled choking noises. A grunt came from me as I lunged forward to Grimes, grabbing his shoulders and pulling him away from the window to throw him down. With fear in his eyes, Grimes looked up at me, holding up his hands. I put a bare foot on his throat.

A yell came from the window to see Ashley pulling herself up from the window. She held her head as blood dripped through her fingers. She held out her hand, stopping me.

I blinked and I was back in the helicopter. Slowly, my eyes went up to Grimes. There was a grin on his face, but it slowly melted away as if he felt what I saw. Anger surged through me as I felt a rumble in my chest.

"Ashley." I said. "Ashley was the obstacle?"

"Now, Max," Grimes put his hands out, "It's all just business okay? And I didn't kill her. She's okay!"

"You tried!" My voice shook in anger as my fists clenched. "You think that killing my girlfriend will make me submit?"

"I know it will!" Grimes snapped, pointing a finger at me, "You are weak because of her! You could unlock potential!"