The Light at the End of the Tunnel

I'm never tired. Not with you. (14)

Aru checked her phone.

He's late.

She suddenly had some irrational fear he was in trouble, which she knew was stupid, since he could even survive cyanogen cyanide, like she did.

She stood in the lobby, outside the room, tapping her foot anxiously.

But he eventually showed up.

The hotel lights seemed to get brighter, as if they were worried too. She stopped tapping.

"You're late."

"Hello to you too," Aiden said, cheerful. "I'm alive. You're alive. Isn't that delightful?"

"Are you okay?"

"No," Aiden said, the smile fading. "I was in a coma for like two weeks, what do you expect?"

"Three."

"What?"

"Three. You were in a coma for three weeks. Don't tell me you didn't know."

"Oh, so you keep track! Nice to know you care."

Aru closed her eyes in frustration and exhaustion. She exhaled. "I see you're completely fine."

"I am. So. You knew that abandoned hospital."

Aru felt her mind stop. She let her eyes flicker up to his, almost surprised with how serious his face looked. His eyes searched hers, as if it would give away anything.

Aru knew it wouldn't, so why did she look away?

"Well. Let's go inside, shall we?"

————

"So we entered The Sleeper's ex base," Aiden concluded. He blew the steam from the hot cup of tea.

"We did," Aru said. "If we follow the same logic with the Latin words, Solis means-"

"Light. I know."

"Right," Aru nodded, taking a sip of her coffee.

"And you said, three years ago, it was abandoned, yeah?"

Aru hummed.

"Anything happen three years ago?"

Aru hated how easily he knew how to ask the right questions to make her mind stop. How to make her hesitate. How to see through her, how to read her.

If her wall could work for everyone, why could he see it invisible?

Aiden knew he hit the jackpot. Aru could see it in the way his eyes looked at her expectantly.

Why are his eyes so...soft?

Instead, she took another sip of her coffee.

"You want to say no, don't you?" Aiden asked. "You don't want to tell me. That's okay. I've only known you for two months, anyway, so it makes sense. But you know you can trust me, right?"

That's the problem.

"Sometimes," Aru inhaled, taking her coffee mug and walking to the kitchen. "I wonder if you're one of the few I can trust. And oftentimes, I wonder if you're the only one I can trust."

Aru looked over her shoulder and she knew he knew she was looking, even if his back was turned.

"You may want to keep sitting down for this one."

————

"That's all. And I swear, that's all I know."

Aiden looked at her. "That's...a lot. You know?"

Aru hummed, standing up. "Any questions?"

"If you lost your memories, this means you don't know how he looks, right?"

Aru nodded.

"But, according to my theory, you know how Solis looks."

"According to your theory, yes."

"Do you think if we find out who Solis is first, we'll be able to find out who he is?"

"That's what I was thinking too."

"Then what's the plan, Shah? And don't tell me we're playing bait. I'm not allowing that."

"Why not? It worked last time."

"Just. No. Not after we both have been poisoned."

"Fine. Plan B."

"Do you have a plan B?"

Aru's hands curled into fists. She said through clenched teeth, "I'm working on it!"

"Anyhow, I think we should take a break today. We're tired from all the poison inhaling you know."

"Just say you're tired."

"Aren't you?"

"No."

"Me neither," He replied coolly.

Aru looked at his face then. His face was a skeleton of what it was before. The starriness of his eyes vanished. The same eyes looked dull as he stared ahead.

"Go rest."

"No."

"Go get some sleep, you sicko."

"No, I just got back from weeks of sleep."

"That's a coma! That doesn't count."

"You're not tired?"

"No! And look at your face. You look like a skeleton."

Aiden's face scrunched up. "No I don't."

"Yes you do. Go sleep."

He looked down at her with such intensity she almost stepped back. With that thought process, she realized how close they were at that moment.

"Are you worried?" He asked.

Aru swallowed. "It's normal to be worried, isn't it?"

He looked at her once more, said nothing, and left the room.