Subject 15

CHAPTER 19 - Seth

I took my time walking to the diner. Not that it was far or that I was tired – I simply wanted to think about what had happened and what I was going to say. I let the light rain drizzle on me, my whole body becoming slowly soaked again, but I didn't care; my mind was too consumed with what I would say to Samantha.

An image of Raven suddenly flew in my mind, and I stopped in my tracks, remembering that she would expect me to be at the Old Faction soon enough. I cursed, then after a moment's thought, sent a message to an acquaintance in the Old Faction, a vendor with fair prices in the black market. I knew that he had a Mask from his own, and he was relatively close to our building, so he could get a message to Raven.

He joined the link after a moment's hesitation, asking somewhat gruffly, "Who is this?"

"Him," I replied.

"Oh..." replied the man, following it with, "Everything good?"

"Tell her that I won't be home tonight. Too dangerous. She'll understand."

I could hear the vendor sigh over the link as he said, "I won't be able to make it to her until another hour or so, but I'll do it."

I nodded to no one and replied, "Thanks."

I was about to disconnect when the vendor said, "Hey... after what you did at the Majestic, with Scythe, I owe you my ass... I wouldn't want to pay back my debt to a dead man.... Take care of yourself out there."

I nodded again, a flicker of a smile darting across my face as I said, "Thank you... I will."

The vendor made a gruff, confirming noise before disconnecting, and I finished the walk in silence, thinking about our conversation.

When I stepped inside, I noticed that the diner was fairly crowded, and most of the tables were taken, but I quickly saw Samantha wave to me from a lonely booth in the corner. I was glad, not because it was like being on a date with her, but because the seats around us weren't filled; it gave us some privacy for the topic to come.

As I sat down I noticed two burgers and drinks in front of Samantha, and she quickly said, "I took upon myself the liberty of buying us something to eat. Hope you like jalapeños on your burgers – they weren't entirely cheep. Ever notice how much food is nowadays?"

I chuckled grimly and said, "Every day. Thank you though – I could always use a little spice," and Samantha smiled at that. I quickly unwrapped my burger and took a bite, and Samantha did the same, both of us waiting for what the other would say. The burger was absolutely delicious, the mean and vegetables blending together to create a flavor that made me eat it slow, trying to savor every bite of it. Eventually Samantha spoke first and she said, "I think that that's terrible that Rebecca almost..."

"Yeah," I agreed, taking a sip of the root beer Samantha had bought.

"I'm glad she was saved by that guy though," Samantha said with a small, knowing smile.

I tried not to notice, but just nodded, taking another bite out of my burger before saying, "It's crazy though... A guy with wings..."

"He looked kinda handsome, don't you think?" said Samantha, her smile growing.

I laughed and replied, "He was fit, I'll say that much," and I made sure that my Mask held it's blank apparel. Samantha continued to smile as she said, "You know... he kinda looked like you..."

I nearly choked on my drink, and I coughed as Samantha laughed. I regained my breath and said, "Well, I'm glad you think so, but like you said, he was kinda handsome, and the last time I looked..." I playfully looked myself up and down and concluded, "I didn't fit that criteria."

"I dunno," said Samantha, and her smile showed her teeth as she whispered, "I think you could fit the bill."

I laughed, dying inside, but said, "Ok, I'll play along. What's your reasoning, O great detective?"

Samantha's eyes gleamed as she said, "First, you're eyes zoned out when you said something was wrong, then you rushed out and are gone for almost half an hour. Then, when you do come back, you're white t-shirt is missing, you're thoroughly soaked, and you won't look me in the eyes when you give your excuse, which was a particularly lame one at that. Rebecca had a white t-shirt around her waist when she talked to us, and when we saw the video you nearly broke my hand from holding on so tight."

I looked directly into Samantha's eyes, raising my eyebrows semi-playfully and stated, "I'd like to say you've been paying attention, but I'm certainly not convinced..."

Samantha smiled even more, her eyebrows raising as she said, "In the video the being was wearing the exact outfit you are wearing now, minus the t-shirt, and, unless you have a doppelganger, he had that exact same scar on your knuckles." With this she leaned in and whispered, "And just between you and me, it looks like from the back of you your hoodie is covering up some sizeable holes in your shirt. The hoodie slightly sags into them."

I inwardly cursed as I realized she was right – I could practically feel the fabric of my jacket touching my bare back. I finally sighed and said "Ok." in a forceful whisper, and Samantha was silent. I looked down at my food for a second, then back at her and said, "Alright... I'll tell you a little later... But I can't tell you here." With that, my eyes went back down to my food, my appetite gone.

Samantha looked confused and said, "Tell me what?"

I looked up into her eyes again and said, "Tell you... a little secret."

Samantha looked at me for a long time... then her eyes started to zone-out. She started to mumble under her breath, looking down at her food, and then her hands began to shake. I looked at her worryingly, and I asked, "Samantha?" Her hands continued to shake as she whispered, "No, you're wrong, I know you are." I didn't know what to do, so I just put my right hand on top of her left, and I said a little more forcefully, "Samantha!"

Her head quickly snapped up, and her eyes were full of fear, and she started to quickly look around, breathing quickly, as if just awakened from a nightmare. I quickly placed my left hand on her cheek, and turned her face to look at me directly into my eyes as I said, "Hey, you're ok. It's alright. Everything is going to be fine. Just breathe... slowly." Her breathing calmed down, and she turned her head away from my hand, pulling her hand out from under mine and said, "I can't tell you here."

I nodded understandingly and asked, "Where?" She thought about that for a moment before asking, "Do you have a car?"

I shook my head, and she said, "Lucky us, I do." I smiled, and she said, "What?" I looked away after shaking my head, saying, "Nothing, it was nothing."

Samantha gave that mysterious smile and gave my arm a slight shove before saying, "Don't assume anything yet, tough guy." She stood up from the booth and asked over her shoulder, "You coming?"

I smiled and stood up, taking the tray and finishing my burger before dumping the empty containers into the trash, and followed Samantha outside.

I didn't know what was going to happen next, but I did know one thing: the word us kept ringing in my ear.

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