Battlefield: Control (Book Two)

Chapter Eighteen - Dale

"Tomorrow is the day," the alien named Jaes said. He waved Dale over to sit next to him.

Dale did so, tired, completely beat. They had just gotten done with some "basic" training, and he felt like he had been hit by a bus. His body ached, his head hurt from using his powers, and he was exhausted from training every night since Thanksgiving.

Four days of cramming.

On top of physical training, he had to work on conditioning his mind in case anyone tried to mess with it.

School would begin again tomorrow, Monday, and he was nervous about seeing Tori.

He'd sent her a message asking her to call him so they could talk soon. Dale would feed her the lie then, and hopefully he could sell it well. There were only a couple of times he'd lied to her outright. Most of which involved romantic surprises. Those hadn't been difficult for him. He'd wanted to keep the secret to make her happy—not the same as lying to protect his own skin in the slightest. At least the motivation was strong enough for him to want to do it right.

"I'm ready. I can see her, and all of them," Dale said confidently.

"Excellent. Now, I think you should call her while I'm here so we can get this part out of the way," Jaes said.

"I asked her to call me when she's ready. Wouldn't that be better?"

"She won't call you. She might not ever be ready."

Dale hadn't thought of that. For the most part, Tori was always withdrawn and stayed away from conflict. Aliens coming and taking over was a huge conflict. She'd probably try to keep pretending nothing ever happened. He was surprised she'd even invited him to meet with them in the first place. Someone most likely put her up to it.

With a sigh, he pulled out his phone, knowing Jaes was right. It'd be better to get the conversation out of the way sooner rather than later, and not do it alone just in case he messed something up. The phone rang three times before she picked up.

"I was just about to call you," she said, sounding tired.

"I didn't wake you or interrupt anything did I?" he asked.

"We just finished watching a movie."

"Cool, so can we talk about...stuff?" He didn't know how to bring it up. Hopefully she would catch the hint by the serious tone in his voice alone.

She was quiet for a moment, so she must have understood. "Yeah, let me go to my room."

He waited patiently for her to move, giving Jaes a thumbs-up letting him know everything was okay.

"All right, what's up?" she asked, still quiet.

"Wednesday, you know, the night before Thanksgiving? I wanted to talk about that," he started, hoping he was doing everything right.

"I figured as much. I'm sorry about what happened, I—"

"Shh," he whispered. "Please let me say what I need to, and then you can have your turn." He took in a deep breath and waited to see if she would reply.

When she didn't, he continued. "I don't understand what's happening, and the whole thing scares me. It's a lot to take in. Those other people, they took me away and ditched me in the schoolyard. I'm so confused. Nobody is telling me anything. Tori, I need you. Because of you, I'm willing to listen, to try. A lot of crazy, scary things are happening to me."

And then he waited, for a lot longer than he wanted, for her to say something again. Did she not believe him? He glanced over at Jaes who was leaning forward intently, also waiting for her response.

"I'll pass the message along. As much as I'd like to help you, I'm not sure I can. There are rules," she said quietly.

"Oh." Dale couldn't help but be stung by her lack of interest in helping him.

Wasn't she willing to do anything in her power to make things better? He would certainly do that for her. Not even aliens scared him enough to keep him from her.

"Honey, I..."

"Hmm?" He made sure the tightening in his chest was present in his tone, so she could know just how hurt he felt.

"It'll be okay. Don't be scared. I'm not going to let anyone hurt you," she whispered.

Her words were bold and they surprised him. As much as he knew he shouldn't, he believed her. He glanced over at Jaes again and nodded.

"I need to get going, but we can talk more later."

"I'm glad to hear you're okay. That you weren't hurt, and made it back home okay. I'll see you tomorrow. By then I might know more. I'm sorry I can't help you. Goodnight."

"Thanks," he said. They said goodbye, and then he hung up the phone.

"Do you think she believed you?" Jaes asked.

Dale nodded. "Yeah, but she still sounded hesitant. Like she doesn't want me to be included."

"Perhaps she doesn't. You love each other, yes? Why would she want you in harm's way?"

"True." He sighed and ran a hand over his face as he tried to think. "I'm not sure I want to be in it either, but I can't protect her if I can't stay close to her. They'll let me in. They have to. And then I can get us both out again."