A Second Tyranny

Darkness and Desire

WISTY

I stayed on the couch in the living room of Whit's apartment for the whole night. It was six A.M, but Whit and I were already up, too restless to sleep for any longer.

"Are you sure you'll be all right?" asked Whit.

I responded with an eye roll, "Spare me your big brother concern. I can take care of myself, don't worry. Just...find something interesting to do to keep you occupied in the meantime."

"I'll continue reading The Dark Dance trilogy. I should be able to finish the second book today," said Whit. "I'll be in my bedroom upstairs. If Pearce does anything to hurt you, he'll have me to answer to."

"He won't. You kept him in chains, remember?"

I crept downstairs to the basement as quiet as a cat and leaned my head tentatively against the wooden door, listening for any sounds of movement. I heard nothing but stillness and silence. He's not awake yet, I knew. The thought reduced my involuntary trembling and soothed my racing heart. The chloroform my brother sedated him with must be really strong. I was thankful of that.

Using my M, the lock clicked open with a flick of my wrist, and I peeked inside. Sure as I thought, Pearce was on his knees with his head lowered and his shoulders slumped forward, dead to the world. His arms were shackled to the wall behind him. I stepped into the room and closed the door quietly. I walked around him in a circle and then stood in front of him. I bent a little to observe him. He appeared to be kind of soft and gentle in his unconscious state, not at all menacing. He looked almost...handsome. I got the same overwhelming emotions when he was in my presence every time. Being in a room alone with him and breathing the same stale air made me uncomfortable, but I've already faced him a hundred times before, and I could do it again. I would be absolutely fine.

The only thing I could do was to wait. The plan was for me to talk to him, which I believed to be pretty stupid considering the fact that Whit and I could just kill him. I paced the length of the basement back and forth, contemplating on what I would say. Pearce was my beautiful, terrible nemesis. It wasn't like I could just greet him with 'Hello! How's it going?' The sooner and quicker I got this over with, the better.

"Good morning, Wisteria."

I whipped around at the sound of his quiet, velvety voice and met his unwavering gaze.

He said in an amusing tone, "We meet again. I'm delighted that yours is the first face I see after your daredevil brother knocked me out with...what was it again...a chloroform-drenched rag?" His brow furrowed dramatically. "Was the sedation really necessary? That seemed rather craven of the heroic wizard Whitford Allgood. He should've picked a fight with me instead." He shrugged nonchalantly. "I would."

"That's exactly why he chained you up: in order to prevent you from harming the people or doing anything else ludicrous," I said.

Pearce told me, "That isn't my intention."

"No? Then what is?" I raised my voice. "You know you are hated by everyone in the City. There's nothing for you here. You could've stayed in the Shadowland to rot." I took a step toward him and narrowed my eyes. "Why are you here, Pearce?"

He shook his head slowly. "Are you so blind to the truth? Deep down, you know why," he cooed with a cold, flirtatious smile.

The way he said it somehow made my skin crawl. It made me feel nervous and unsettled. What was he trying to convey?

I replied, "Do I? I'm not quite so sure about that."

"You will be."

I stared into his piercing clear blue eyes. We were silent for a while.