What They Don't See

Chapter 10 - ding-dong

Logan froze, startled by the turn of conversation. He stood, blinking at Kate, waiting for her to burst out laughing at her own joke.

But she never did. In fact, that was not something he had ever seen her do.

Kate sighed.

"Logan, are you afraid of me?" she asked, looking him right in the eye.

'No, I'm not. Not for any special reason really. In fact, every piece of evidence tells me that I should be terrified, I'm just not, and I can't really explain it," He replied slowly, thinking about every word as he spoke them. It was the most honest he had ever been.

"Well, you're instincts are right. You should be afraid of me. If not me, then at least my world," she replied, turning back to the computer in front of her.

"Why?" Logan asked.

"Because my world is a dark and dangerous place. It's where souls go to die and innocence is lost," she murmured softly as if reciting a quote, and unceremoniously unplugged the virus carrier from the computer before stepping away from the desk. She seemed to be deep in her own thoughts, staring intently at a corner of the brown carpet on the floor. The silence in the room was deafening as she turned and walked to the door of the office.

"It's a good thing I don't care very much about my soul then," Logan murmured as she stepped out of the door.

~

That night, Kate lay awake in her bed, haunted by Logan's last words. The conversation replayed over and over in her mind as she sat twisting and turning.

It's a good thing I don't care very much about my soul then.

The words echoed in her mind once more, and Kate contemplated what he meant by that as she stared up at the patterns of her ceiling. What had he meant? Was it even possible that someone could not value their own soul? How?

Kate had been raised to believe that a person's soul was the core of their being, and to her, that was the part that must be protected above all else.

Ugh! This shouldn't bother me this much! This is not my responsibility. Why should I care about whether he values his soul or not? Why can't I let this go? But deep down Kate knew the answers to these questions.

The day ahead of her was a long one, and Kate knew she should be well rested to face it, but her mind was on overdrive and sleep simply would not come. Glancing at the digital clock on her nightstand, Kate realized it was 3:30 am. With a groan of frustration, she got up out of bed and walked over to her living room. The hardwood underneath her soles creaked, the sound amplified by the silence of the night. All the curtains had been closed firmly to avoid any of the paparazzi that had been around lately from peeping inside.

Kate picked up her wireless headphones from their spot on the shelf behind the dining table, and placed them on her head, blasting some upbeat music to drown out her mind. Once this was done, she stepped over to her carpet, moved her furniture out of her way, and took a resting martial arts stance in the middle of her carpet.

For over an hour, Kate went through different martial art drills. Her mind solely focused on the task and the beat of her heart and the song playing. She let her instincts guide her movements as she moved around her living room. For over an hour, she leaped, ducked, dived, and even twirled around the little space. When she finally decided to stop, her body was too exhausted to let her mind wander. Collapsing onto her bed, Kate shut her eyes and was out like a light.

~

Several hours later, as the sun was already high in the sky, Kate texted Logan, asking him to come over. Less than 20 minutes later, Logan's town car dropped him at the curb outside her apartment building. The building stood across the road from a small forest park with twisting and winding paths. Once she spotted the car, Kate stepped outside and met Logan at the steps that led up to the building and ushered him the other way.