The Undoing Of Heroes | ✓

fourteen

a/n: now I don't normally do these, but the goal for this chapter is 60 votes and 15 comments. i might update before that, but i'd love it if we reached it!

fourteen

HE STALKED TOWARDS ME, eyes narrowed to slits and mouth a grim line. 

"I've wanted to kill you for a very long time." He said, stopping just a breath of air away from me. My bandaged chest ached as I pressed myself further into the glass panes, "But I've refrained. You know why? Patience."

I'd long since closed my eyes. Without my mask, I was a coward. Without Nightspark, I was just ... Rae. 

Since my eyelids were shut, I didn't see him advancing until his finger ran down my cheek, tracing my jaw. 

"I won't, though." He stepped away, his finger dropping. I could breathe again, "For this is a matter of me and your mother. I'm not good, but I'm not heartless, either."

He smiled tentatively, shaking his head. 

"You wouldn't understand."

I didn't, and so I chose not to answer. 

I wanted to scream at his face, tell him that he's a fucking psychopath. I didn't. It would be like the pot calling the kettle black. 

Ha, I thought, shaking my head. 

Callum had his back turned against me, and my eyes flew wildly about the room, looking for weapons.  I spotted a stapler sitting on the broad desk just across the room, and my eyes zeroed in on it. 

Bingo. 

"So, Callum - " I began, stepping away from the glass, sighing quietly in relief, "- what's this grand plan of yours?"

When he didn't answer at first, I stopped moving along the wall and stayed still. Callum's back went rigid, then relaxed again, and I wondered briefly if it would be a good idea to ask him if he had muscle seizures. 

"Do you honestly think I'd tell you?" He asked, turning to face me. His eyes darted from my previous position to where I was now, and then they narrowed.  

I let a smile tugg at my lips, then wrung a piece of wayward hair around my finger.

"Since you were kind enough to lend me your sweats -" I pulled the elastic waistband before letting it audibly snap back around my stomach, "- I'd bet so."

"Would you really?" He asked, tilting his head to the side. He stepped closer, and I wanted to melt into the wall. Why did I feel so ... afraid?  My expression turned sour as the thought surfaced, and I pushed it down into the deepest crevasses of my mind immediately. 

"You look afraid." Callum remarked, stuffing his hands in his pockets. A shark-like smile adorned his lips, "Never thought I'd live to see the day."

My fists clenched, and temper surged through me. A weak spark crackled between my fingertips, but that was it. Callum laughed.

"I've installed power dampeners all over this room. It would be to no avail." 

He drew closer, and I realized I was getting pretty damn tired of being backed up against walls. So when he took another step closer to me, I did too, and pushed him further back.