Red Alert/Red Notice (The "Super Jerk" Prequel)

16 - Tainted Love

^^Above, chapter title credit: Song by Soft Cell.^^

{Raina}

It's not very often that I get late-night visitors, if at all. So it surprises me when I hear a heavy knocking on my dorm room door. El, fortunately, is out at the time, so I don't have to explain to her what I see when I open it. In the hallway is Geoff, with blood on his face, glass shards on his clothes, and a glazed look in his eyes. Behind him stands Matt, looking like it's taking everything he's got to keep him upright. I can see something terrible's happened, just by the befuddled, stricken look on both their faces.

"Geoff...?" I get out before he stumbles forward, swaying dangerously, and pulls me into a clumsy embrace. That puts me off-balance, and we land in a heap on the floor. I catch Matt flashing a grin, but I only roll my eyes at him and turn my attention back to Geoff.

"Thank God, Raina," Geoff says, his voice slurred. "Thank God...that was horrible..."

"What happened?" I untangle myself from his grasp to look at him. He has a rapidly darkening bruise on his cheekbone, and streaks of blood on the rest of his face. He looks like he's been in a fight.

"Ridley." Geoff rolls on his back to meet my eyes. "He was..."

"We should get you cleaned up first," I say when he trails off, glancing up at Matt. "You wouldn't mind terribly, would you?"

Matt enters the room, hoisting Geoff partway up and dumping him on my bed. Then he ducks out for a second, coming back with a few wet paper towels. I thank him and then slide on the bed next to Geoff, carefully wiping away the blood. I don't even notice Matt leaving until I hear the door close.

"You gave me a scare back there, Geoff." I notice the blood's not coming out of him anywhere, which is good. "Looking like that, and everything."

"Ridley's fault," he says, blinking slowly. "He hit me...ouch."

"Sorry." I pull away.

"'S okay." His voice is much quieter now, and he seems to relax every time I touch him. "Hurts there. That's all."

"Want to tell me what happened?" I ask after I've finished.

Haltingly, he recounts it. Ridley had apparently set up a lab in a condemned house out in the woods. He took Geoff out there to show him some new chemical he'd developed, and he was using a young girl for his first subject. Apparently it can take away a super's powers, if you can prove they're supers first. When he gets to that part, he shakes his head, but I think I know what he wants to say. Whoever has access to this weapon doesn't care about that. It took a scuffle and some punches to get the girl out and escape, but that at least explains the bruise.

"Never seen him that way, Raina," he says, his brow furrowing as he rubs his eyes. "So...calm. Like...he does this all the time."

"He probably does," I answer with a shudder, because just thinking about the way he was around me sends a chill up my spine. Aggressively flirtatious at first, but when that failed, he went for more backstabbing measures. Like drawing my boyfriend away from me. But I already know I won't let that happen. The harder he tries to pull Geoff away, the harder I'll hold on.

"I don't want anything to happen to you," he says, suddenly turning to me and cupping my cheek. The sedative seems to be wearing off now, because he's sitting up a little straighter and his eyes are clearer.

"It won't, Geoff, really—"

"I know Ridley well enough now." His other hand comes up to catch my other cheek. "I know enough about him to see he's got malicious intent. Especially when it comes to..."