Two sides of the same coin

Chapter 18 - Doubt

"Where are we going?"

Bruce said as Ecco continued to drag him to the exit.

"What are you going to do?"

The list of questions continued on but Ecco ignored every single one of them but couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed. When they got outside of the building Ecco let go of him and spared him a small glance before walking towards a white van that was parked only a couple feet away from the building. When they arrived at the van Ecco opened the side door and Bruce was roughly pushed into the van. Not a moment after Ecco hopped into the driver's seat. She began to plan out how they were to escape without the GCPD being too much of a problem before mumbles slowly crept up on her mind. She looked to the back of the van where Bruce was and offered him an annoyed glare. Ecco quickly noted that Bruce was in some sort of panicked trance. She decided to listen to what he was mumbling about, maybe it would give her some sort of an advantage over him.

"Of course Jim wouldn't do that. What was I thinking? How could he do that? No no Jeremiah wouldn't lie to me like that...would he? Maybe he did...forced me to think all of this...No Jeremiah would never do that..."

His mumbling continued to reach the same topic as before but every time convincing himself that Jeremiah had positive intentions for him. The mumbling seeped farther into Ecco's mind, she tried her best to ward her mind of those manipulated and confused ideas but they continued to breach every part of her mind. Her breath began to quicken with all the possibilities and chances Jeremiah had been given to do her harm. If she had been manipulated, she would have no idea.

'What if I'm disposed of just like the followers from before? What if he's been manipulating me all this time?'

She shook her head and looked back at Bruce who was still in that same trance. Ecco let out a sigh and inserted the key to the van and turned it, forcing the engine to roar to life. Despite the loud engine, Ecco could still hear him mumbling in the background. She grabbed the first object she spotted and threw it at him which ultimately silenced him in the end. Although the mumbling had ceased the slight mistrust was still there. She hoped the trust and comfort she felt before would soon return but Ecco couldn't help but wonder if it would really ever return.

Bruce on the other hand had managed to calm himself down but, he had no idea how much time had passed or where he was. He slowly came closer to the front to get a clue as to where he was. He observed all the buildings that they had passed by but somehow he couldn't recognize a single one. Bruce began to collect different little details, any really, but it still didn't lead him any closer to finding out where Ecco had driven him. Just as he had given up the car quickly came to a stop. The quick stop almost launched Bruce through the windshield but instead his head was slammed onto part of the van. Silence filled the van as Bruce remained in the place he had been pushed onto. Ecco felt an even larger pang of annoyance than from before. She sighed and pulled out the keys of the van then hopped out of it. After she steadied herself from the jump off the van, which barely took a second, Ecco turned around and patiently waited for Bruce to also exit the van.

Although Bruce was a little fuzzy from the hit on the head he tried his best to get out of the van but nearly face planted on the ground when getting out. The fuzzy feeling slowly faded away as the both of them walked towards an old building. Bruce noted that it looked like a building straight from the victorian era with the occasional spike towards the tip of every gray tiled roof. The doors only made the fact more obvious from the extravagant paint and open window set on the top of the door. When they reached the door Ecco pushed the door open, what greeted the both of them wasn't exactly what Bruce would expect. Instead of elegant furniture, exquisite chandeliers, and over-the-top walls they were met with an empty house. The paint on the walls had slowly peeled away after many years of no maintenance and there was nearly no sound in the house other than the two's footsteps.

Bruce walked ahead of Ecco as he observed the building but the sight seeing didn't last long. Ecco pushed Bruce through the house, eventually arriving at the end of a hall. He tried to look back at Ecco to ask what was going on but before he could he was nearly pushed to the ground as he entered a room at the end of the hall. Bruce quickly got up and ran to the door, betting that Ecco would slam the door right in his face and he was right. Ecco slammed the door just before Bruce could grab it. He heard the lock turn which left him trapped in the room.

This gave him time to look around the room that he assumed he'd be stuck in for a while. Unlike what he'd seen from the rest of the house, this room had an dark red coat of paint that decorated it. Although spiderwebs made there home towards the corner of the walls it didn't hide the fact that the paint was rather extravagant. A large carpet was placed in the middle of the room, torn threads reached to ridges of the carpet. The carpet wore a dusty cushioned chair, the cushions were a red color while the rest was silver. In front of the chair and away from the carpet was a video camera set on a camera stand. It was a rather odd set up and Bruce had no idea why he was brought her.

He walked over to the chair, further observing the room, before another door swiftly opened. Bruce immediately tensed looked over that tenseness was quickly flooded away as he saw Jeremiah walk into the room. He let out a breath he nearly forgot he was holding as he walked towards Jeremiah.

"Hello Bruce."

Jeremiah said in a rather dull tone. Bruce was slightly taken aback by it and paused for a moment before realizing it was his turn to say something.

"Uh-"

"No need for greetings, it would preferable if we were straight to the point. Now then"

He said as he walked towards the camera, swiftly taking off his hat as he did so, and gestured to the chair.

"Sit."

Bruce, still taken aback by the tone Jeremiah had been using, continued to look towards Jeremiah not hearing what he had said before. Jeremiah kept the eye contact, not breaking it once meeting his eyes. His expression slightly changed to an annoyed one just barely but Bruce noticed.

'Was he annoyed because of me? He's not one to get annoyed that easily, right?'

Bruce thought, becoming slightly nervous but when he focused back on Jeremiah he noticed that he was looking towards something behind Bruce instead of directly at his eyes. Looking into more detail he realized that Jeremiah was quietly mumbling to himself. Bruce stood there for a few moments, wondering if Jeremiah had completely forgotten he was in the room. The silence seemed to last forever when finally Jeremiah took one shallow breath and returned his gaze to Bruce. A bright smile graced his pale face as his eyes glimmered like bright leaves shimmering in the sunlight of a summer day. Bruce, once again taken aback, opened his mouth to say something but Jeremiah once again interrupted him.

"We should get to work, yes? We've wasted enough time as is. Now if you don't mind could you sit in the chair right there?"

Bruce knew staring again wouldn't result in anything good so he walked over to the chair and sat down in it.
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