The Touch

Chapter 15 - Honesty

 I looked at Theon with my mouth open for a minute before he started again.

"I know. It was the worst thing I could have done and trust me, I deserved the cold shoulder and the punch in the face that I received afterwards. But he is a good friend and I apologised for what I had done and so did Tori. She tried to win him back but Slade was not willing to try. I think if he had truly been in love with Tori then I would have ended up in hospital. I think he also saw that this was an easy way out of the relationship".

"How could you do that with Tori though, being that she was your best friend's girlfriend. Didn't you feel bad for what you had done?"

"Of course I felt bad but I was so drunk and Tori was someone I had loved since we met in Junior college. You see, I loved Tori and always have really. I couldn't understand it sometimes how she proclaimed to be so in love with Slade but then would also flirt with others, including me. I suppose I was so jealous that it just took over everything and when we got drunk that night and ended up in bed together it was like all my dreams had come true. That was until the next morning when I woke and realised what I had done."

"Do you still love Tori?"

"Yes. I think I will always love her. But as you might have seen already, she still holds a torch for Slade. I know that Slade doesn't have any feelings for her other than just being a friend, but that doesn't stop her from trying".

I couldn't help but feel sorry for Theon. He was a nice looking guy and was very much your typical boy-next-door. But I also knew that Tori was one of those women who would chew him up and spit him out if she chose to.

We drove along in silence until we pulled up to my apartment block and I opened the door to hop out.

"Thanks for the lift today and for helping me out back there. I am sorry about the Tori business. She really doesn't know what she is missing".

Theon smiled at me "Thanks Lacey, but please watch yourself around Tori. She has a bit of a mean streak if she doesn't get what she wants".

Yet you find that attractive" I replied, laughing.

"Not her mean streak no, but her as a person, hell yeah. What can I say, I am hopeless!" he laughed.

I closed the door and waved goodbye as the van moved away. Racing up the stairs to my apartment I unlock the safe room door and seat myself on the recliner chair. I knew I was a bit nervous tonight as I still didn't know if I should keep what happened today a secret from Blind Bird. I was not sure whether she would understand what had happened with the school and the others turning up. I also didn't know whether I wanted to disclose the CWT and meeting Theon, Tori, Jeffrey and most of all Slade. I knew she wanted me to be safe and not have contact with anyone but meeting everyone today at the CWT made me feel safe and that I wasn't alone. This was not something I had felt in years and I was afraid that if Blind Bird requested that I stop seeing them then I would have to listen.

Maybe it was time to start deciding for myself who I could or could not see. Just as long as I was safe and with others that I felt safe with then surely that would be fine.

As my vision started to blur I knew I had to block it out. It was best that the CWT remain a secret for now and although I knew it would be hard keeping it from Blind Bird, I knew I had to. For some reason I felt that this was something I needed to do on my own without Blind Bird's influence.

I also knew that I needed to find that diary and see what was written in it. The only way that I knew I could do that was to spend time at the CWT. I would have to make sure that they trusted me enough to be able to show me the diary sooner rather than later. But that would also mean that I would have to be around Slade, which in itself was extremely dangerous. There was no denying the chemistry between us that if unleashed could mean one of two things. I could find the greatest love I had ever felt before, or put myself, Slade and Blind Bird in a very dangerous position, because where there were people with the Touch, there was also a large risk that we would be located.

So the answer was there in front of me. I could not risk his life as well as Blind Bird's. I would continue to help the children with the touch and to build trust with Jeffrey so I could see the diary, but there would never be a future for Slade and myself.

This was the only way.