A Hero in the Dark: 2nd Edition

Chapter 109: Opportunity Revealing

My phone rings for what seems like the dozenth time but what is more accurately thrice, interrupting me from, well, okay, it's not like I was doing anything, but the mind always works.

"Fuck," I mutter, glancing at the caller ID before tapping the call button. "What."

"You know you have an appointment with Dr. Reed today at 4:30?" dad spits, obviously irritated. I check the time on the table beside me to see it tick from 11:59 to 12:00, which means it's got to be about 3:00 p.m. in Kingston. "Where are you?"

"California," I utter, as if it's obvious.

"At that fucking school?" he asks, and to hear him swear sends a shockwave down my spine. He never swears—well, almost never. "Still?!"

I roll onto my back and turn over, away from my cell. "I wasn't planning on going back," I murmur, knowing subconsciously that he won't like me saying that, but not knowing what else to say.

"And why not?! You agreed to see this doctor on a bi-weekly basis—"

"For what?!" I shout. "So he can take away my Legacies and render me vulnerable? I don't need that! I never asked for it."

"What exactly are you doing over there?" he barks. "Hanging out with those aliens I told you to stay away from? I thought you wouldn't see them anymore."

"I never said that."

"Then? What are you doing?"

I say nothing. I have nothing to tell him. What the hell am I supposed to say? I'm laying in bed because I feel sick to my stomach? Because I'm so tired, I can barely stand? That I'm dizzy all the time and a piece of shit that ruined everything I had? He won't accept that. And I'm sure as hell not telling him I died, like, a month ago! I can't tell him any of that, so I just remain silent; I forgot how much that worked back home.

Dad goes on and on saying how I should've listened to him and stayed put all those years ago, and I agree with him for the most part, but I'm not going to mention it. "I want you home by September, so you can go back to school and graduate when you're supposed to. I won't have you fall behind another year. I'll reschedule your appointment with Dr. Reed for the first. Got it?"

"Fine," I slur, but even as I say it, I don't know if I can make that happen, and as he blabs on about my lifestyle choices and my chances of getting into a good university, there's a knock on the door that jars me to my core. Nine walks in without a word, hands on his hips, looking like he needs something. Of course he does. I roll my eyes and hold up a finger, trying to focus on ending my conversation with dad. "Ok, I get it," I spit, trying my absolute hardest not to swear. "You don't need to tell me all the freakin' time. I need to go."

"I'm just reminding you," he states. "Because I tell you, tell you, tell you, and nothing changes."

"Yeah. Ok. I need to go," I say again. "Talk to you later."

"Ok," he says. "I love you—" I hang up as soon as he gets the last word out. I barely even hear him breathe before I end the call and toss the phone down beside me.

"What do you want?" I ask the brute, though without looking at him. I slide down and turn onto my side, pulling the covers over me as he crosses the room.

"I know you're still in a funk, Em," he starts, "but give me a break. I'm working my ass off unlike you, and let's not forget, I set you up in his suite to begin with and you haven't left it since." I still, fuming, but trying to adapt to a mode of calm. "Sorry, but sometimes it bugs me." There's a part of me that wants to apologize at that, but another part that just doesn't know what to say, so I end up staying quiet. "Anyway," Nine goes on, "Dr. Linda? Turns out, you were right."