THEM

Chapter 18

Aithne tossed her last shirt into her suitcase. She didn't have many clothes to pack, because she hadn't even been planning on staying at the facility this long. There didn't seem to be any clothing shops around the facility and she didn't have the opportunity to go on many outings anyway, so she had settled on frequent laundries. And frequent re-wearing. She had a system now. Jeans and bras could be worn two weeks, shirts could be worn one week, socks two days and underwear, well, it was better kept a secret. She applied a generous amount of deodorant – that was the glue keeping her system from crumbling into smelly ruins – and walked out of her room. Mrs. Bauer had come to alert her that the 'new peacemakers' or whatever they were called were whisking her away at the end of the day, so she still had the afternoon to cherish her relative independence and safety. As she stepped out into the courtyard, a hand aggressively grabbed her arm.

"Tell me it isn't true." V demanded, his eyes smoldering.

Aithne balked at his threatening posture. She hesitated on whether she should pretend she didn't understand, but she decided she wouldn't let herself be intimidated. She had to stand by her decision. Be confident in it. If that feigned confidence slipped for a second, she knew she'd let herself be convinced to change her mind in a heartbeat.

She jutted her chin out and met those raging eyes. "It is."

"You can't go." He bit out.

She forced herself to ignore the part of her screaming in agreement. "I... I have to."

"No you don't." He ground out. "Raphael and I stuck our necks out so you wouldn't have to. Did that count for nothing?"

"It did!" Aithne exclaimed. She offered up the same hollow explanation as she had to Raphael and Isadora, already knowing it wouldn't work on him. "It's just, I think they can really help me–"

"Bullshit." V spat. His eyes were shooting fire, but there was another emotion swirling around in them. Confusion. "You know as well as I do that no one over there is going to help you." His harsh tone softened ever so slightly, turning almost pleading. "Why did you decide you want to go?"

His hand was still on her arm, holding hard enough to remind her of its presence, but not enough to hurt. Aithne opened her mouth to speak and almost let the truth slip out. But she swallowed it back down just in time. She wanted to tell him, so that he could tell her it was a stupid idea, that she didn't have to act like a tragic hero, that he would come up with another way out of this. She knew he would tell her what she was hoping for, feed into her already formed argument for not going. But a stronger part of her also knew that this was the best course of action.

She had to turn her eyes away to deliver the blatant lie with enough venom for him to stop trying. "Like I already told you, I think they can help me figure my memories out. And I think I can help them with knowledge on how to manage memories. I know this may be hard for you to believe, but not everyone has the same individualistic and narrow train of thought as you do."

V dropped her arm and took a step back, something flashing through his eyes. It was the first time Aithne had talked to him so harshly. Even when he had been rude and jarring, Aithne had never returned the viciousness. The meanest comment she had made was about his parents not visiting and, not knowing the truth of the comment at the moment, she had meant it as a joke. All emotion drained from his face and it set in a disturbingly neutral mask. Even his scowl was gone. A humorless smile appeared on his face, but did nothing to break the unnerving blankness of his features. Aithne hadn't thought the first time she would see him smile would be like this.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you're running back to them. You know what they say: once an evil experimenter, always an evil experimenter."

Aithne heard something break deep in her chest cavity. She heard something fall and shatter on the ground between them. Something still new and fragile, gone before it had even been able to properly exist. She stared at the floor, as if she could see the thousands of broken shards, too tiny to ever be able to put back together. There was so much she could've said, so she settled on the one thing that could englobe everything and said nothing. She turned on her heels and rushed to her room. She would spend her last hours of safety rolled up in a ball on her bed, crying.