My Number One (001/Henry Creel/Vecna x Reader)

On Edge

RECAP (due to my delay in delivering this new chapter):

"Everyone has the ability to feel attraction..." he said, placing his palm on the side of my face, "they just have to find the right person who attracts."

"Do...you attract?" I asked, my eyebrows raised.

"I think so," he murmured. "You said you feel that feeling, didn't you?"

"Yes," I whispered.

Then, footsteps sounded in the hallway outside. We both fell silent, aware of the guards moving from room to room, ensuring every test subject was locked away and in bed.

Before we had enough time to move, one pair of shoes stopped outside my door, and with the twist of a lock, it began to slide open.

CONTINUATION:

As the door was opening, Mr Ballard moved swiftly away from me.

"Mr Ballard," the guard said when the door was fully opened.

"Mr Loft," said Mr Ballard.

"Care to tell me what's going on?"

"Yes," Mr Ballard said calmly. "Earlier on, Twelve informed me of a problem with the sink in her bathroom, so I came to check on it before I went to bed myself."

Mr Loft stared for a moment, thinking.

I was on edge. Was he buying it? And why was Mr Ballard lying, anyway? Why was he in here?

"But what could possibly be done about a sink at this hour, Mr Ballard?" asked Mr Loft.

Silence rang in the room and in my ears. I willed Mr Ballard to think of a suitable response, but why? Why was I on his side? Was it because I thought that if he was in trouble, then I would be too? Or perhaps I liked him. I wasn't sure what liked really meant, but I hadn't liked a person other than Eleven in a very long time.

"If you must ask, Mr Loft, I wanted to ensure it was at least working, and to provide Twelve here with some sort of alternative if not."

"Very well." Mr Loft's face was expressionless. "And is it working?"

"It is," said Mr Ballard in a low voice.

"Come along now, then. And you, Twelve, into bed."

Mr Ballard followed Mr Loft out of the room, and I crept into bed.

I was still shaken up. What on Earth had just happened? Mr Ballard had turned up in my room, convinced me the laboratory was giving me no self-expression, which I thought odd because he chose to work there himself, taught me a new word—'attraction', did some strange thing to my lips with his, and then pretended he was with me because I had inquired about my bathroom sink!

The scene played over in my head time after time as I tried to fall asleep, then soon enough, the memory morphed into a dream, and away I was.

*

The following morning, breakfast was brought to my room—bread and milk—and then I was taken to the Rainbow Room to socialise.

I noticed Eleven in our usual spot, and all the things I wanted to say to her came rushing to me. But...I remembered. I remembered Mr Ballard saying to me that if I can prove my trust to him by not telling anyone what had happened last night, then he would tell me something important.

Then, a thought came into my head. What if he had nothing important to say, and was using that as an excuse to make me keep secrets? Oh well, though. Keeping his secret didn't bother me all that much, but it did make me feel a little guilty, like I was doing something bad behind Papa's back.

Nothing bad happened, though...did it? Mr Ballard didn't hurt me, I didn't hurt him, and we weren't planning to hurt anyone else...but why, then, did he hide it from Mr Loft?

*

The remainder of the day rolled around slowly, as it usually did, but slower this time, as there had been no sign of Mr Ballard.

I found it strange that I hoped for him to appear. Did it usually make me feel giddy when he stood over us in the Rainbow Room, observing our mindless activities? Because the thought of that throughout the day made me feel crazy. I longed for it. But it didn't happen.

On my way back to my bedroom, just as I thought I had no fresh moments of Mr Ballard to think over in my mind and send me to sleep that night, I heard a sound. It was coming from a door in the hallway which I had never bothered to look inside before. I had always assumed it was some sort of storage cupboard. The sound was muffled, though, and movement of a body knocking things over seemed to me like struggling. I crept closer. Perhaps someone was stuck.

On my tiptoes, I peered through the little window, and inside was a sight I had never expected to see.

The room was bigger and brighter than I had imagined...light enough to see Mr Ballard on the floor, struggling, a cloth tied around his mouth, a blur of electric shocking sticks beating him, and three guards stood around him using them.

***

Thank you so much for reading! Sorry for the delay in chapters, there will be a lot more very soon, so I hope you guys still want to see them!