From Darkness Comes - Book 2 in The Dissonance Series

Business As Usual

Whatever "business" Cassius has, it's something serious enough to keep him away for an extended period of time. Each morning I awake anxious that he has returned and by the afternoon I sigh a breath of relief that I have another day without him.

But Cassius isn't the only one who has ben MIA. Wyler has been noticeably missing all week. I swing by his house daily but he never answers. Coven says he's been hanging out with him, that they've been running laps together around the perimeter of the bubble to pass the time and stay sane. When I finally go to see Vega, she's cryptic about Wyler's whereabouts, only saying that he's been spending time with her. When I push, she replies by saying, "don't you think you should just leave him alone," which is when I realize that maybe she's right. There's no point in searching for someone who doesn't want to be found.

In the meantime, I try to stay busy. Our access to the lab has been pulled thanks to Wyler and I's stunt in which we tried to hold our research for ransom. In the mornings, I walk several miles across the expanse of the bubble, examining plant species and taking samples. I tell myself I'm doing it for the research but I know that on some level, I'm hoping that I'll bump into Wyler and Coven while they're running. I try to conduct my own research in my home but without the right technology and scientific tools, there's not a whole lot that I can do. I take samples of the living trees, the ones that move on their own, trying to figure more about the strange plants.

I'm perfectly happy with the solitude of my research, but Jovie and Kelly show up on my doorstep daily, forcing me to come hang out with them, whether I want to or not. I have to admit that I feel lighter when they're around. I'm able to get out of my head and feel like a regular human, er, I mean Mod, for a little while.

Jovie is sweet and unassuming. She seems to idolize me, and I feel the need to constantly downplay my specialness with depreciating humor whenever she gets going on one of her tangents about how I'm the chosen one. I'm grateful for her friendship but in a lot of ways, she feels like a younger sister to me, or at least it feels like what a little sister would be like. But everytime I feel myself getting close and letting my guard down, Aveline's words ring loudly in my ears: Your friends may be your foes and your foes may be your only chance for survival.

Kelly and I fall into a level of comfort that I haven't felt in a long time. His poking fun at me never ceases, but he's gentler now and he's always trying to get closer, both emotionally and physically. At first it was just his hand lightly brushing up against mine when we were next to one another, or a flirty smile when only I'm looking. But within a week, it moves to Kelly holding my hand and trying to find excuses to get me alone. I don't mind it. In fact, I enjoy it, but I can't stop thinking about Wyler and I find myself quickly yanking my hand from Kelly's when someone enters the room and I know deep down that the reason I withdraw is because I'm worried it's Wyler that will come walking in. It bothers me that I'm so worried about him seeing me grow close to Kelly. So I decide that a better way for us to be physical around one another is to practice the moves that Coven taught me. I could use practice on someone else. I have Kelly pinned to the floor with one of my favorite maneuvers that Coven showed me, when he winces, clutching his side.

"What is it?" I ask, reaching out for him but he flinches. I look at him with pleading eyes and he takes a deep breath before lifting his shirt and showing me the source of his pain.

The side of his stomach is streaked with burn marks from when he helped Wyler and I escape by distracting the guards, making noises and banging his cup against the bars even after they told him to stop, even after I saw the glow of their torture sticks light up as they made their way to Kelly, prepared to shut him up.

I reach out slowly, and lay my fingers gently on his wounds.

"Why aren't they healing?" I ask. "These still look fresh."

"My ultra healing Mod powers don't seem to work as well on this planet."

Nothing seems to work as well on this planet, I think to myself.

He lays his hand over mine, holding it to his side.

"It might actually scar. It would be my first," he lets out a little laugh. He brushes my hair back away from my neck. "But not your first," he says, touching the scar where my uncle had cut into my skin to turn off my tracking device after my parents escaped with me: a reminder of how complicated my life has been, how it's never been my own. People might view me as a perfect super Mod, but I often feel like damaged goods.

"I've always been a little self conscious about it," I admit.

"Don't be. Scars are what make you unique and they're a reminder that you can survive tough things. Your scars are my favorite part."

I don't think he's referring to my physical scars anymore, and it's nice to know that someone loves all of me, the good and the bad. That's what your parents are for, but mine are long gone now.

He looks as if he's about to lean in, when I jump to my feet.

"I should probably get going."

"Right," he says sadly.

I give him a small smile and head towards the door.

"Why can't we just be together, be happy, like we used to be?" he shouts after me, stopping me in my tracks.

When I turn, the look in his eyes kills me, but not nearly as much as what I'm about to say, because I know it now to be the truth. "We can be happy, but we can't be happily ever after. We don't live in that world."

He looks like he's about to say something but then he stops himself. His eyes drop to the ground in defeat.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" I say softly.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow," he repeats, but his eyes never lift from their spot on the floor.

I nod in understanding and shut the door quietly behind me.

***

When I get back to my dwelling I immediately head straight to my experiments, not just because I need a distraction after my most recent encounter with Kelly, but because something in our conversation about scars and how nothing is the same on this planet, has given me an idea. Unfortunately, my focus is broken by the roommate living in my walls.

"I have a message for you," Rona states in her cheery sing-song voice.

"From who?" I inquire, barely glancing up from my work.

"From Mr. Tarquin."

I immediately stop what I'm doing.

"Shall I read it to you."

"Summarize," I command, unable to listen to the sliminess of his exact words.

"He will be returning tomorrow and he has asked that you pack your bags and meet him at the Environettix headquarters at 9 AM sharp."

My stomach drops and I feel like I can't breathe. I bend over trying to catch my breath.

"Shall I reply to the message," Rona inquires.

"No," I state firmly.

I grab my sweatshirt and head towards the door. If this is my last night of freedom, there's someone I need to see.