The Intern

Chapter 2

The hallway was dark, save for the strip of yellow light that spilled across the floor from the kitchen. I watched as two black shadows danced around in it, gliding in and out before coming together in a screaming, black mass.

"This is your fault!" I heard my mom scream, and I tried to focus on the dark shapes still moving in the light. I tried to will them into nothing more than objects. I couldn't take their screaming anymore.

"My fault? You live here, too. She left you, too!" My father's voice joined in, and the illusion of shapes was shattered.

I leaned into the wall and closed my eyes, wishing it would stop. Wishing that Mikasa would walk through the door, laugh off this sick joke, and return things to the way they were. I had been strong before this. I had been a person before she left. Now I didn't know what I was.

"She didn't leave because of me," my mom's voice was menacing, accusatory. I had never heard it that way before, and something about her tone chilled straight down into my core.

Was it because of me? Had Mikasa left because of something I did? I had to admit, the thought had been plaguing me since the moment she crawled out the window two days ago. I could be the cause of everything. Everyone always told me I was a little shit, and perhaps she had come to realize the same thing. Maybe she couldn't deal with it anymore.

I slid down the wall until my ass touched the floor, and it sent a cold shock up my spine. My hands were in my hair, twisting the strands around my fingers as they curled and my nails dug into my scalp. I rocked in place, but was not consciously aware of the movement. My insides were frozen, and my mind was lost. The only thing I could focus on were the screaming shadows still moving across the strip of light on the floor.

I stared, willing them to leave.

"What are you staring at, kid?"

My head snapped up towards the sound and I winced when my eyes caught the light of the elevator. I pressed the heels of my palms against my eyes, rubbing them as I tried to adjust to the sudden brightness. What was going on? I could have sworn I was sitting in the hallway of my house.

My old house that I had moved out of. Three months ago.

"Are you just gonna sit there like that?" The voice spoke again, and I could practically feel the deep reverberation thrumming through my body, sending my heart into a hurried beat, "It's creepy."

I stumbled as I stood up, hands still pressed to my eyes. "Shut up."

"Oh, it speaks," the voice was amused.

"I said shut up." First kid and now it? I wasn't sure if I was moving down the totem pole or not.

"Why don't you make me?" His tone was playful, but there was danger in it, floating just below the surface.

I dropped my hands to my sides and shot him a deadly glare. Or rather I tried to make it seem deadly, but I'm pretty damn sure it was caught between awe and arousal. His beauty was intimidating; to the point that I was sure it would kill me if I stared at him for too long.

"You're staring again, kid." I really hated that fucking pet name.

"So what if I am?" I challenged, and almost faltered when I saw sick curiosity light his eyes.

"Suddenly you have such an attitude," he took his time with the words, his voice deliberately teasing, "Where was that earlier?"

"I called you a low class hooker. That didn't count?" I asked, and somewhere in the back of my mind I wondered how I had suddenly become so fearless around him. I had barely been able to form words before.