Frostbite (Mindgames #1)

Chapter Thirty-One - Martyr

I stared at Stormrider as he stood next to the manual light switch. I honestly felt like I had been spooked intentionally, but I kept my mouth shut.

"Why are you up so early?" Stormrider called, his hand still on the switch as he stood still. I felt hesitant to answer so quickly, something felt wrong about how Stormrider asked that question.

I slowly squinted as I examined Stormrider's demeanor, I tried to figure out what was going on with him, considering I had never seen him up this early either.
"I could ask you the same thing," I said to Stormrider, trying to size him up or figure out if he was angry or possibly a threat.

"What're you doing?" Stormrider said, walking over to me slowly. I quickly stood up in response. "I am working on my project, I may be here at the DSO, but I still have classes to attend," I said quickly, trying to make Stormrider feel appeased with my answer, cause I had no idea why he seemed so off.

"What are you doing," Stormrider repeated, in a more harsher tone now. I swallowed my nerves, gaining the confidence to try and defend myself. "I told you exactly what I was doing," I replied gently. I wanted to try and keep zero enemies in the DSO, but this felt strange.
What was Stormrider's problem?

Stormrider scowled at me, before walking past towards the coffee machine I had just been to moments before. I slowly kept my gaze on him as I sat back in front of my laptop, continuing to rapidly type what I hoped would be a proper assignment.

It had only been a few moments before Stormrider approached again asking "What are you doing on the computer?"


"Writing my project," I replied a bit more firmly in hopes of getting him to go away. "Is it an essay?" Stormrider asked back. I looked up at him with an annoyed look, it was very obviously an essay. "Yes, it's an essay, why?"

"You're not going to write anything about the DSO correct?" Stormrider asked me, keeping his coffee in hand as he took a gentle but obnoxiously loud sip from the lip. I glared at him, annoyed by his sudden accusation of naïveté. "I know how to keep things secret while also giving the information the victims of this case deserve. Trust me, the confidentiality of the DSO is important to me and is being considered in this project. I still need to write this project, cause despite the hospitality of the DSO I still need to graduate."

Stormrider quirked an eyebrow, probably in reaction to my sudden polite manner of speaking. I tried to keep calm, I knew if someone was watching us, Stormrider would behave completely differently, this felt out of character for him.

I sighed softly. "I do not know what you expect of me, I am telling the truth, I am writing an essay." I sat back down behind my computer and turned my laptop screen to face Stormrider, so he could see that I was telling the truth.

Stormrider leaned down to look at my computer screen before standing up straight. "Fine, make sure Stephanie wakes up at a decent hour." Stormrider stood up straight and eventually walked away.

I watched as Stormrider walked away towards the hallways, eventually disappearing into the hallway out of my line of vision. I sighed in relief as I looked back at my essay. It had a new meaning to it, it felt incredibly intimidating for me to attempt to write now.
I sat in the chair as I continued to stare at the bright white screen. I rubbed at my face quietly before gently closing my laptop. I soon stood back up once more, my peace interrupted by the strange behaviors of Stormrider.