A Revolution In Shadow And Blood

The Supernatural Police come for Me

I trudge into the cafeteria the next morning, bleary-eyed and exhausted. It wasn't easy to sleep the first time Ben left, but now that he's suddenly back, but not anywhere near me, brings back immense emotional pain. Not to mention the physical pain from the bruises. And pain plus sleep doesn't work out. The pain only surges when I see Ben sitting at my normal table. Still, I'm no coward. I stride as confidently as I can to the table, and sit down between Jessica and Conner.

"Good morning," I say, a smile as hard as cement plastered onto my face. As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I swear I hear Ben mumble under his breath, "So formal."

Before I lose my cool and turn on him, Guanyin responds, ignoring the tension, "Good morning, Freya. How are your injuries healing?"

I pretend to ignore Ben, who is staring at me, "Good enough. Black and blue from the beating, but nothing's broken." I hesitate, then arch my back so I can reach into my pocket, and pull out the little black vial. Unfortunately, I wince as I focus back on the table. "Mostly thanks to this."

Reaching out to Ben, I open my palm, trying to give it to him. Glaring at my obvious pain, he glances at the bottle then says, "Clearly you need that more than I do."

My teeth clench, and even with almost everyone in Enterprise here, I'm ready to give him a piece of my mind. Instead, I shove it back into my pocket, "Cool. Free stuff." I know that pissed him off. This stuff is worth a small fortune. Probably had to sell one of his kidneys to get it.

"Don't pretend like you're not in pain, either. Where does it hurt?" Ben's demanding more than asking, and before I can even tell him to back off, his hands are reaching for me.

I avoid his hands by scooting away. Conner doesn't look happy that Ben is reaching across him. "Dude, just leave her alone."

"Who do you think you are? I can do what I want to," Ben shoots back, his anger suddenly turning toward Conner. In response, the tips of Connor's ears turn red, and Luke has subtly wrapped his arms around Guanyin to keep my pissed off friend from tackling my ex boyfriend. However, Jessica is as cool as ever, just watching us with the corner of her lips turned up. I'm fuming, so I turn to look him in the eyes while I rip his head off, but what I see there makes me jerk rather violently back. He's jealous, and a softness came into his eyes while I wasn't looking, and he's never been able to hide his emotions from me. Eyes are windows to the soul, after all. He missed me; and he's enjoying our banter.

I stumble out of my chair, and as I walk away I say, "Just leave me alone."

I find my way back outside, and dive under the cover of some trees, sliding down a trunk, and sitting on cold dirt. This is not ok. We can't go back to friendly-ish banter over a meal after what happened. I close my eyes, leaning my head back against the bark. I sit in the quiet for a long time, though I should be enjoying the peacefulness, all I can think about is him. Well, us.

"This is her?"

"Yup. Freya Young."

Wait a second-

"Freya Young, we'd like to speak to you for a moment."

I open my eyes, and find two Enhanced Officers, one with glasses, and the other with stunning blue eyes, along with the Vice Principal, standing in front of me. Because I'm sitting down, they seem to loom over me. It takes me a second to realize what he said. A statement, not a question, "What for?"

My mask is up. Even though I'm nervous about this situation, I can't show it, otherwise I'm doomed. Something I learned after getting in trouble a few times with my parents. If I act like I know that I did something wrong, they'll know that I know that I did something wrong, and they'll get me.