An Act of Chivalry (Sander Sides)

Chapter Eighteen

I pushed his door open and found them exactly the way I left them. Virgil hadn't stopped crying and chances are he wouldn't stop for a while. As for me, I was grieving in my own time, too determined to appear strong in front of my allies.

I passed Thomas on the way and handed him a mug before sitting with Virgil on his bed. "Here," I started, handing my friend a warm mug of hot chocolate. My friend cupped it with shaky hands and begun to sip it in silence. While he did so I turned to Thomas, who was yet to take a sip from his. "Thomas, any idea why Vee's all-"

Thomas, who was staring into a mug jumped back out of his gaze. He sighed, straightening his back and sipping at the beverage. "Virgil, can I tell him?" He mumbled after processing my question. Virgil didn't say anything but you could spot the nod from a mile away. I wrapped a protective arm around my anxious friend as I tuned in.

My mentor set his mug down, "Remember when I first brought you all together. Week one?" I nodded in response. "Well during that first week I had noticed Virgil acting off so I did some investigating."

"You stalked me," Virgil interrupted in a joking manner.

"That too," The mentor laughed. "But by doing so I caught Virgil's strange behavior and took it to our scientists." Thomas's eyes widened ever so slightly and he pushed himself onto his feet, still speaking as he jogged over to Virgil's closet. "They came up with a jacket, the material used was known to feel therapeutic." Thomas opened the closet and started rummaging through it as he spoke.

"So that's why he wore that jacket all the time," I interjected.

"Yup," He closed the closet with something black in his hands. "But lucky for you Virgil-" Virgil's head shot up. "They had another design before the one you lost." He tossed a black jacket on the bed beside Virgil, "That should help your nerves."

The emo was quick to zip it on and play with the zipper. I watched him mess with his hood for a minute before he composed himself, leaning back into me and listening to Thomas. It was adorable.

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I opened my eyes and lifted my head ever so slightly. My glasses were gone yet my vision was clear as day. I think I was hanging by my wrists on the wall, but that's not what fazed me the most.

"Patton, your awake." A familiar voice said. It was Logan, who stood straight up with his hands folded behind his back. I tried to struggle but my body wouldn't move. I couldn't move at all. The leader pulled out a small light, flicking it on and lifting my face to meet his. I watched helplessly as he shinned the light between my eyes and smiled, retreating the light and moving to place it back on a desk.

A chuckle echoed through the room and I tried my best to pinpoint the sound. My head wouldn't turn but someone seemed to be studying the situation from the far left.

Logan returned a minute later with a key in hand. He reached above me and let me drop to the ground. I thought I was paralyzed, to be honest. I thought I'd tumble to the ground like a mannequin. What I didn't expect was to land quickly onto my feet and stand straight up.

My heart raced with the clapping beside me, the person still didn't show themselves. "Do I need to?" Another familiar voice questioned. I internally growled. It was this man again. Wait-memories flooded back in. I'm not dead, this isn't a dream. Did I survive?

A hand came in contact with my face, snapping my head to the side. It hurt, and I wanted to cry out, but my body wouldn't let me. There was a thud and I found myself against the wall, this time by the force of Logan. The nerd held me by my shirt as he lifted me ever so slightly off the ground.

In the leader's eye, something flickered to life, but it was gone as quickly as it came. "Oh, and Patton." Logan started, but his voice was horse and void of emotion as he stared through me. It felt like he was reaching into my head to speak to me directly. Maybe he was.

"Logan says hi."