Defiance | Book 1 [EXTENDED]

CHAPTER 26

We walked into the next room. I realised the place was bigger that I thought for a hide-out behind a wall. The rooms were actually quite amazing. There were basic brick walls that were covered with graffiti and polished cement floors, bookshelves were laden with hard-cover books. There were no windows since, well, it was a secret living space behind a freaking wall. The light came from hanging solar power lamps that dangled from the ceiling. In the corner of the room was a tub. I walked towards it and turned the tap. Water gushed out of it,

"How?" I asked Max, switching it off,

"Well, Craig grants mutants access to resources,"

"So he knows you're in here?"

"Yes. But as far as he knows, I'm on his side. All the mutants that same across me, I killed. Even the ones that walked into my house. There were a couple that got away, but they were taken care of"

"But I thought you said your 'decoy' house was secured with cameras. Didn't Craig see?"

"No, I made sure the system was triggered. I mixed the wires around a little. They came to check on me once they're system was lagging,"

"I'm so confused, you keep changing the story" I say, circling the dust off a book with my index.

"There were cameras they saw glimpses of what was happening but they weren't suspicious, they just came to check the system. I'll explain everything. Why don't you have a bath and I'll fix us something to eat,"

"You speak to me like I've forgiven you. I haven't,"

He walks over to a small cabinet and pulls out a towel. He then walks right up to me, so close, the tips of our noses touched. He gently brushed his lips against mine, "let's be honest here," He said moving his hand up my arm. He brought his lips even closer, and kissed me. I bit him. Yep, straight on his bottom lip, "Don't flatter yourself," I say grabbing the towel from under his arm, he moaned quietly in pain.

"You bit me!"

"I did? congratulations Sherlock Holmes, do you want an award for pointing that out?"

"Ugh, I'm so stupid to think that things could actually be normal, but maybe I was wrong," He said, walking out,

I didn't say anything. I walked towards the entrance of the room to close the door. But there wasn't one, just a clear rectangular opening in the wall that separated the two rooms. Absolutely no privacy.

I looked out into the next room, Max was busy charting a map on the table. I turned back into the room and tiptoed across the floor to the bathtub and turned the handle. The water was warm as I ran my fingers through it. I quickly took my clothes off and slipped into the clear water. Once I was in I craned my neck to see if Max was close-by. Once I was sure I was hidden, I leaned my head back in the tub and shut my eyes. I started to hum softly, skimming the water with my thumb. The fact that I was completely naked in a tub full of clear water in a room without a door, and a male mutant in the next room, didn't seem to bother me as much as I thought it would. 

This was the first time in a long time that I had been surrounded in clean water. I walked my fingers along the side of the bathtub, flicking away the stray droplets.  I took a deep breath and sunk my head below the surface. I opened my eyes, the water blocked my sight, making my vision blurry. I shut them again and let myself drift into thought. 

I heard the gunshots echo through the white walls. Eve ducked down as Max ran in with a gun. Each time the scenario changed, he wasn't dead. He turned the gun towards Eve as I tried to wiggle my hands through the straps that held me down on the chair.And then I heard the two bullets that were released from Max's gun. I looked over at the woman dying on the floor. Max ran over to me and untied me from the chair, "Did they hurt you?" he asked, taking my head in his hands. I felt a warm feeling, almost realistic.