.The Eraser.

vight-deux

                                                               -22-

The huge room suddenly felt very small to Atara. Words cannot describe her disbelief as she glanced between the leather mask in his hand and Onyx's face.  

Everything in between, from the time she assassinated the Mandossa prime minister and to the present predicament, seemed like a really, really bad dream. Maybe she was in dream land; but as she continued to look at him with the light from the windows obscuring his form a little, it all seemed too real to be a mere nightmare. 

Onyx nervously moved his whole body to fully face her. He was relieved that he had revealed his identity to her. For the past thirty minutes, it was hard for him to keep up the act like he didn't know her. 

He ran a hand through his curly hair as her shocked eyes watched his every move. He felt uncomfortable and awkward in the quiet space. 'Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all?' He thought nervously as his left hand still held onto the leather mask. 

The complete absence of sound in the large room felt too unsettling and odd. He was so curious to know what thoughts were running through her mind at the moment, now having known his real self. 

''Atara...'' he started and her eyes instantly hardened while her lips formed a very thin line. It was a mask of in difference; he knew it all too well. He didn't know exactly what reaction he was expecting, but seeing her usual warm eyes turn into rock, he felt his heart sinking. She was looking at him like he was the devil himself. 

'' Where are you keeping everybody else Onyx?'' she finally spoke out in a very strange tone. 

He rubbed his eyes in a tired manner. Yup, that settles it; she definitely thinks he is a monster. 

''I don't know.'' 

She shook her head in rage, probably thinking about what a fool she had been, trusting him when they were at Walton's College. She thought that he was a normal person, but all along he was the lead to the ZED. Kieran's intel was not misjudged after all. But did that even matter? She was in the enemy's clutches now, her enemy-Onyx. 

''Obviously you're lying-you're a pretender.'' 

The saying, 'people are not as they seem', repeatedly played in her head; making her feel even more stupid. How blind she had been. Louisse and Jean, even the late Copper would have been disappointed in her lack of judgment and easily fooled brain. 

'' Look- am not lying and I meant what I said, you can trust me.'' 

With an emotionless tone she said; ''my resentment towards the ZED has not changed just because I now know who you really are. To me, mask or not, you're still a ZED and it is my duty to kill you.''  

Onyx felt a slight chill run down his spine as her cold brown eyes held his gaze, daring him to test her even more.  

'What were you thinking?' A voice spoke in his mind as he wondered exactly what possessed him to remove his mask in front of her. It just made the situation more complicated. But as he dug deeper into his brain for the answer, he knew that it was right in front of him all along. He just wanted Atara to believe in him. He wasn't a monster. 

Her sharp gaze never left his face. 

''Why do you hate the ZED- and me now, so much?'' 

Atara looked taken aback by the question, but she quickly suppressed the confused expression with hatred. 

''Is that really a question?'' she asked him like he lacked brain cells. Onyx nodded. 

'' I think it's obvious.'' She sneered.