ℂ𝕆𝔻𝕐 𝔽𝔼ℝℕ 𝔸ℍ𝕊:𝕀𝕄𝔸𝔾𝕀ℕ𝔼𝕊

𝙼𝙰𝚂𝙺𝚂

A/N: I'm back and feeling better, sunbabies💕
𝓦𝓸𝓻𝓭 𝓬𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓽:5.4𝓴+
𝓦𝓪𝓻𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼:𝓝𝓸𝓷𝓮

The wooden doors were closed as you took a needed deep breath.
Your hands were already touching the wooden doors but you found yourself unable to move as a knot in your stomach was growing tighter since you didn't know what you were about to go through. It hadn't been until you were about to enter that room that you started to feel what could be called nervousness.
A pair of eyes were staring at you from just a few meters away and you could feel how that glare was throwing daggers at you. When you turned your head Ms. Mead was looking at you as she always did. It was that kind of stare you give when you're desperately waiting for someone to fail, to be there to witness it and be the first person to point it out. How much would she love to see you fall and not be able to stand up, how pleasant it would be for her to have something that she could constantly remind you of and embarrass you with, but you were not giving her that, If someone had to fall first, it was going to be her, not you.
Taking another deep breath you finally pushed the doors to both sides, opening them. Michael Langdon was already looking at your direction, and he had been for all the time you had been standing outside the room.
Giving one last death glare to Ms.Mead you entered the room and closed the doors behind you as your eyes met Langdon's ones.
For a few seconds silence reigned in there as you two stared at each other without moving a single muscle. The only thing that could be heard was the fireplace, the logs crackling as flames devoured them without mercy.
He was an imposing man, everyone at the outpost had realized that and you were no exception, but unlike everyone else, you were not afraid of him even though you felt like you should be, but he had no possible way of hurting you, at least that's what you thought.
Not a single word left Langdon's lips, he just stretched one of his arms to offer you the chair in front of him, a desk being in between his chair and the one that he had offered you. An interesting detail was that it seemed like a nice gesture, but there was no other chair around him, so it was a command dressed like a nice offer.
The sooner you sat down, the sooner all of this would be over, and you were feeling more and more uneasy as you walked towards him and took the seat he had offered you.
Even if his eyes were locked with yours, you felt how he was scanning and analyzing your whole body and every move you were making so you tried to sit down in a relaxed way, with your legs together and your hands on your lap, the right one in top of the left hand.
Once you were sitting down and settled in front of him and under his attentive and analytic stare he leaned forward on his chair. His elbows rested on top of the desk as his hands met and his fingers got intertwined on his chin as his head leaned slightly towards his right.
His eyes scanned your whole body in a second; your jawline was not tightened as he had seen on the previous people he had had going through the test and your shoulders weren't tensed either. To him, it was also surprising how your fingers were not fiddling with the black fabric of your dress, but of course his face didn't reveal anything, he knew how to conceal and hide his thoughts so no one would be able to read him. Langdon enjoyed having the surprise factor, the desperate emotions on people's faces he always achieved was amusing for the blonde guy.
"Nervous?" He finally asked, very calmly. The prior silence had been an uncomfortable one, especially under his stare, but it hadn't made you nervous, moreover, you were not nervous at all. He was intimidating, but he didn't inflict fear on you, just curiosity, like the whole situation. He had been very careful to not give any kind of clue or hint of what the tests were going to be about, so you were feeling slightly uneasy about the situation, but definitely not nervous.
"No." A small, almost imperceptible smile appeared on his face for half a second. Your answer didn't surprise him since he could see and sense you were not nervous, but that was another reason for him to play his extraordinary mind games on you, after all, doing the tests was his duty, but that didn't mean he couldn't enjoy them.
"You really are not." This time he let a subtle hint of surprise be perceptible in his words but that didn't provoke any kind of reaction from you, and oddly, that amused him. "Good, cause I won't tolerate nor permit any kind of lies, tricks or disingenuousness in general. I want the truth, the raw truth." The way he was talking was paused, calmed, but intense at the same time. Instead of answering with words, you just shrugged slightly and nodded your head once, with a firm and short movement. As you waited for the second question he took his time thinking, as if he had plenty of options to throw at you but was deliberating which one would make you feel the most uncomfortable, which one would catch you totally out of guard. His chin was resting on top of his still together hands for a few seconds, the decision had been made. The smile on his face appeared again, but this time it stayed there and it radiated confidence and a hint of arrogance. "I've been glad to see you know how to quickly take orders and follow instructions. I guess being Ms. Venable's daughter has helped you with that, am I right?" Air got stuck on your lungs and you felt how your throat closed, your eyes opened widely and how your hands had become tight fists. Now he got you exactly where he wanted. As he closed his mouth, keeping the smile, your lips parted, but you were speechless. Your mouth opened and closed a few times. That was a secret, and a very well hidden one. Inside the outpost number three only three people knew that; you, Wilhemina and Ms. Mead, no one else, not even the gray ones, the people that were there to work and serve all of you knew and it was supposed to be like that. After a few delightful seconds of silence for Michael, you finally found your voice again and could ask the most obvious thing, but it came out almost unconsciously.
"How can you know that?"
"I know everything and everyone." He said in a casual way that almost made you feel annoyed. His forearms were now positioned on the armrests of the chair he was sitting on and his legs were crossed. Not only he was showing himself very comfortable, his position was making you feel small in comparison to him, in a very humiliating way.
"Then what's the need of making these tests?" Insolence. Michael was not expecting that but he also knew it was just a response of the awkward, uncomfortable and uncongenial situation he had just put you in. His head leaned to his right again and that's the moment you knew he was not going to answer that question, of course he was not.
"When was the last time your mother hugged you?" He asked starting to move the index and thumb of his right hand, brushing them against each other absent-mindedly. You were not going to think about it.
"Shouldn't you know that already?" The movement on his right hand stopped and for a moment he seemed like he was starting to get pissed, but his face hadn't changed at all, it was the same as before you had dared to sass him for the second time in a row. His hands crossed and rested on top of the bucle of his belt.
"I want to hear it from you." You had to answer him, there was no way of escaping that question. Taking a very needed deep breath you started to try and remember. A hug, had she ever hugged you at all? Even if you didn't want to do it in case it would be a signal of feebleness, you lowered your stare as your head was still trying to remember one time your mother had held you on her arms, making you feel loved.
"I don't remember." Even if you had been searching between your memories for less than a minute, it had felt like you had been thinking about it for ten, at least for you. "I don't even know if she's ever done it." Langdon didn't talk right after you answered, and that made you think he would insist again. The anguish of not being able to leave that room until you were able to tell him when was the last time Wilhemina hugged you or showed you any kind of affection made you move uncomfortably on your chair, a small and almost imperceptible movement that didn't go unnoticed by Michael, but what you thought was coming didn't happen, what came felt worse.
"Do you love her?" That was his fourth question, and it was already making you want to stand up and leave that stupid test unfinished.
"She's my mother."
"That does not answer my question." Now his behaviour had become bothersome. The inner you was asking yourself what was the purpose of this test. When he had said that everyone at the outpost would have to go through a test to see if they were deserving or not the kind of test you had imagined was very different. You had thought about some questions to show your abilities, demonstrate your intelligence... Things that could serve to select the people who were going to survive and probably repopulate the earth at some point, but this test... It was sounding more like a game, a sick and twisted one. Michael raised one of his eyebrows as a way of hurrying you to answer, and even though you didn't want to do it, you found yourself telling him the truth.
"I respect her and I treat her politely but I don't know if I can say I love her."
"She's never acted like a mother, has she?"
"Not what would be considered a mother by most people."
"Including you" He made it sound like a question, but it was a statement.
"Including me." What was the point of trying to hold back anymore? It was crystal clear that it was not going to work with him. The weirdest thing was that you didn't really care about passing the test or not, but even thought that, you were answering his questions cause you felt like you had to for some reason.
"Ms. Mead is not very found of you." Again, another statement. Apparently the most entertaining part of the test was over, cause he stood up from his chair to start walking. When he passed by you he made a small stop to give you a small glare that you couldn't fully decipher, then he just kept walking towards the fireplace.. While wondering why he was switching the place so suddenly, you stood up but didn't approach him, just stood still next to your chair. "Why is that?" Michael was giving you an opportunity to vent, to say all the things you disliked about her, who knows, maybe that would diminish her chances to survive.
"She's just Ms. Venable's lap dog, maybe even a little bit obsessed with her, so I guess she must think I'm someone to get rid off." From him, the only thing you heard was what sounded like a chuckle.
"You don't really like her either I see."
"Would you like someone who takes every chance they get to mistreat you?"
"Physically?" He asked seeming genuinely interested.
"Once." Michael remained silent,and once again, his head leaned to his right in a slow movement, inviting you to continue in a subtle way. "I don't remember how it went exactly. I think.... I think I broke something and she slapped me. Ms. Venable didn't like it and forbade her to do that again. The poor Ms. Mead had to change the physical for the psychological way." When your eyes went back to him Michael was no longer by the fireplace, but just a few steps from you, and still approaching.
"But you don't care about it." Apparently this ambiguous tone of voice that was between a question and a statement was common in him.
"Not anymore" He had surpassed the personal space bubble now and was too close for your comfort but you thought that it was probably one of his many ways to intimidate his interlocutor. "But she still tries anytime she can."
"Would you choose Ms. Mead to come with me and survive?" Either his questions had ridiculously obvious answers or were those wants that make your stomach twist and turn.
"I guess you have to be objective with this whole thing but I cannot be objective with her." As you were talking his eyes were scanning your whole face, looking for anything that could tell him more than your words were doing. He surely knew how to get what he wanted and make anyone feel petite and insignificant.
"So..." He started tilting his head once again. Of course he knew the answer, but again, he wanted to hear it from you.
"So no."
"Who would you choose?" Suddenly you felt the desk behind you against your lower back. Without you noticing it, you had taken steps backwards as he had taken them forward, caging you between his body and the desk and you hated yourself for letting him do that but you achieved to conceal that, at least on your face.
"I can't tell, I barely know them." Michael didn't like ambiguous answers, but yours only sound ambiguous, you were saying more than you thought you were. The blonde boy was always a step forward.
"Not even.... Ms. Venable?" Your eyes squinted for less than a second when you felt the mockery on his voice as he pronounced your mom's name as you had called her, cause that was the way you were used to address to her.
"Apparently not." Having him so close allowed you to sense how he smelled like, and you couldn't really tell what it was, just that it felt familiar. It was a very subtle scent but full of nuances. He was still staring at your face as if he was studying every single trait of it and all of them could give him information he could use against you. His voice surrounded you, as if he used it as an embrace that didn't have an escape. The crackle of the fire couldn't be heard anymore.
"And you? Would you like to be saved?" For a moment, the fact that he had asked if you wanted to be saved instead of asking if you were worth of it, bewildered you. This time was no exception because the apparent ambiguous card was pulled by you again.
"I'm fine with both options. If I survive, fine, if I don't, fine."
"Liar." He slowly said, excessively articulating each letter of the word as his face got even closer to yours and his chin raised a little bit, making you feel not only confused but slightly overwhelmed by him.
"I didn't lie" You said more on the defensive that you intended to.
"Yes you did, but you don't even know you did." He explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. His arrogant smile appeared on his face again, and that, mixed with the way he was talking to you definitely made you pissed. Usually if someone talked to you in that way you wouldn't doubt to answer scathingly, but talking to him that way didn't seem a good idea. "You only know the life you've had until now, that's why you think you don't care but you're desperate to know something else, have a different life." Instead of answer him back rudely, you opted for looking away from him, thing he didn't like. His left hand went to your chin to grab it in a delicate but firm way to make you look back at him. "Right now you don't have anyone nor anything to look for comfort in. Your life has been quite pathetic and sad, even empty until now. I don't blame you for your feigned indifference towards your life."
"This ends here." You said with your jaw clenched, feeling the blood starting to boil in your veins.
"Of course" He answered softly without letting your face go and his smile changing from the arrogant one, to one that almost seemed comprehensive. "We can continue later."
"No" Even if you knew it was not a good idea you grabbed his wrist and moved his hand away from your chin. "I meant we're done, for good." He didn't answer and neither did he make a stand when you tried to move away from him, he just let you go as his eyes followed you as you walked towards the doors and opened them with swift movements that were clearly filled with anger.
You just had put a foot out of the room when your eyes met with Ms. Venable's ones. She was standing on a staircase and for a moment you thought you could see worry on her face, but you didn't stayed there to be sure of it, before she could say a word or take any other step you kept walking towards the opposite direction.
Once you were out of your mother's sight, Michael appeared on the doorframe and him and Ms. Venable exchanged a look; she stared at him with her fake calm, trying to look unbothered while he looked at her truly unbothered and with a smirk that told Ms. Venable that he was able to carry out the threat he had given her the day before.
~
The library had become your safe place since you didn't really like to interact with the rest of the people that lived in the outpost number three. No one else visited the library, they preferred to sit down and observe time pass next to the fire place of the music room listening to the same song over and over again, fools.
Since the encounter with Michael and the test that happened the day before you had wanted to stay away from people even more than usually.
The ones that had gone through the test before you had gone through a huge questionnaire later, and not by Langdon, but by some of the other guests of the outpost number three. They wanted to know what was waiting for them, what they should expect and every little help that they could get to pass the test and be chosen to survive was something they cling to because their lives depended on how the test went, literally.
You didn't want to be burdened with their questions and worries and also you didn't want to go over what had happened and what Michael had told you, but you had thought about his words a few times since yesterday without being able to stop yourself from doing so.
Your life has been quite pathetic and sad, even empty until now. I don't blame you for your feigned indifference towards your life.
The book that was being held in your hands became a lot heavier after hearing his voice inside your head again, and with a heavy sigh, you put the item on the table in front of you.
Why had he achieved to bother you so much with this words if they were not true? Cause to you, he was completely wrong, but what if he wasn't? After all, he knew who your mother was, but maybe that information could have reached him in another way and he could be just pretending to know it by himself. Who was Langdon after all? No one knew a single thing about him, he had just shown up there without anyone knowing he'd come, saying that he was part of the Cooperative, the people who was in charge of the current situation, the ones with most power, ready to give the life at the outpost three an abrupt turn no one was ready for.
As you tried to make those thoughts go away from your head, stomps could be heard approaching the library and your eyes rolled as you knew perfectly fine who was going to show up there in a few seconds.
When Ms. Mead entered the library you were already looking at her direction with a tired glare that didn't go unnoticed by her, and if she already didn't like the idea of having to address to you, your reception didn't make it better.
"Haven't you been told that dinner was ready?" She barked from the doorframe.
"Yes, I was told." You answered diverting your stare from her to bring it back to the books you had on the table,
"Ms. Venable doesn't like it when you skip meals." Her words just made you roll your eyes. No words left your mouth though, answering her was just a waste of time. Yes, of course you knew that Ms. Venable wanted you to follow the rules as anyone else had to, but you didn't really care about it. "Do you think rules work differently for you?" She was not going to leave you alone, so your time at the library was apparently over. "I'm talking to you" Her jaw clenched as she said those words and one of her hands closed around your wrist, making you look at her again.
"I know rules are the same for everyone, I just don't have any interest in following them if I don't want to." The disdain in Ms. Mead eyes as she looked at you was growing with the pass of the seconds, and it would be a lie to say that you didn't enjoy that.
"You better quit this bratty attitude..." It was not the first time she had tried to threaten you so the words that she wanted to say next wouldn't be new for you, but you interrupted her before she could finish the sentence.
"Or what?" Messing with Ms. Mead was something you knew you shouldn't do, but it was entertaining and entertainment was something that lacked in there, so anything that could make you forget about the tedium that reigned in the outpost number three was welcome. The small detail of Ms. Mead opening and closing her fist as you smirked, knowing she couldn't do a thing to you even if that was what she wanted the most at that moment was delightsome. "What are you going to do about it Miriam?" Her lips became a thin line as your smirk grew wider. The first trial you made to get freed of her grip was in vein. Not only she didn't let you go, but her hand restrained your wrist even tighter. Ms. Mead was feeling frustrated and even if she knew you were acting the way you were was just because you wanted to irritate her, she couldn't help it. With another swift movement you finally saw your wrist released from her angry grip.
Giving her one last arrogant smirk you started to walk towards the door of the library carrying a book on your arms.
"Ms. Venable wants to know about your test and what happened with Mr. Langdon." Her voice didn't show a hint of annoyance or anger, she had recovered pretty quickly or she was improving her technique of hiding and concealing things. Both of you were giving the back to each other and it was not until you didn't let go a heavy sigh that you didn't turn to her to answer. Oddly, she turned to you at the exact same time.
"Then she can come and ask me herself at any moment."
~
After a long, relaxing, hot steamy shower you brushed your hair, relieved to have it loose after spending the whole day with a complicated half-up. victorianish hairstyle.
Your plan was to read for a while before falling asleep, basically what you were used to do at nights. The environment was perfect to do that; total silence, the dim light of the at least two dozens of candles you had in your room and the faint smell of wax together had become the perfect background for your reading sessions.
Once your hair was perfectly brushed and without a single knot you tied the silk belt of your long, crimson shaded robe, the only garment you were wearing. That was pretty much the attire you usually wore for sleep, a robe or absolutely nothing. Sleeping while wearing clothes felt uncomfortable for you, the feeling of the sheets directly against your skin or the smooth touch of the silk was much better.
When you opened the door that separated your own bathroom from your bedroom, ready to enjoy some chilling time by yourself, you didn't expect to find Michael on your room, next to the desk, the fingertips of his right hand brushing the cover of the book you had taken from the library.
As soon as he heard the door being opened his head turned slowly towards you, still at the door frame. You hadn't seen him since you abruptly left the room where you two were and the test unfinished, and honestly, his presence was not one you wanted to bear.
"What are you doing here?" You asked trying to sound as disinterested as you could while finally closing the door before taking a few steps forward. That was your room, your own personal territory, and he was not going to make it his.
"I came here to talk" He simply answered with that tone of voice that you had heard the day before, the one he used to make anything sound as if it was evident and make the person he was talking to feel stupid.
"About?" As you crossed your arms on your chest, the robe moved slightly, revealing a little bit more skin of your cleavage area. Michael drummed his fingers on top of the cover of the book once before talking.
"I wanted to ask you to continue with the process of the test." His words came out almost nicely but you knew that trusting him was not an option, just like everyone else. Michael placed himself in front of the desk, slightly leaning against it with his hands crossed in front of him.
"Well, thank you, but I'll pass."The conversation ended there for you, and the idea of spending some peaceful time by yourself was still on your head, so you walked to the main door of the room with the idea of making Michael see crystal clear that you two were done, but to him, you two still had to talk. On your head you would open the door for Michael, he would leave, and it would end right there, so when you had started to open the door and Michael put his hand on the door to stop you and close it again, startling you, you knew that the peaceful time would have to wait. Now he had you caged again, this time between the door and his body and you didn't like the feeling, you hated how easy it was for him to make you feel small.
"Perhaps you got a little confused. I asked you politely, but the thing is that you don't really have a choice." Like he had done the day before, now he had you very close his tone of voice had lowered considerably and that sensation of his voice dangerously surrounding you, trying to tear every wall you had up down was back. Him being taller than you also helped to make you feel like you had no escape. His eyes were focused on your face, but they also went to your body a few times, very quick, the robe you were wearing was very thin, so your body didn't hide secrets for him, you felt exposed and that was creating an anguished feeling of irritation on your guts. "You have to go through the test, everyone has to go through it." He stated tilting his head to his right before a small smirk appeared on his lips. His left arm stretched and his hand rested on the door, right next to your head. "Do you think rules work differently for you?" Those same words pronounced by Michael made you clench your jaw. It was no coincidence, he knew you had been told those exact same words just an hour ago. The anger Michael started to feel coming from you did nothing but amuse him.
"I already went through my test Mr. Langdon."
"You didn't finish it."
"I don't want to finish it."
"Pity" He said in a clear fake way that almost made you roll your eyes, but you could avert yourself from doing so.
"What does the rest of the test involve?" Then again, just a smirk as he straightened his head again, getting his face closer to yours in the process, but no answer. "Let me guess... Classified?" Michael's smirk just grew wider, which you took as a yes.
"Does the rest of the test scare you?"
"No" You quickly answered staring directly into his eyes.
"Then why don't you want to go through it?" His lips had started to brush yours with that last question and if you didn't know how to answer him, that gentle touch didn't allow you to be able to think about an answer. Your brain was telling you this was just another one of his tricks, but he was good, he knew what he was doing and he knew it worked. "That's what I thought." This time you didn't let yourself enjoy the feeling of his lips almost against yours or his sweet warm breath caressing your skin. His games were not going to work for you anymore, you couldn't let yourself fall in them. "There's no need for us to be enemies Miss Venable" This time it was you who smirked. You understood why he would thought you saw him as an enemy, but you didn't have enemies, no one could reach that point because you simply have never cared so much about anyone to that point, and neither on the opposite, good, nice way, but shouldn't he be able to know that?
"I don't consider you an enemy, Mr Langdon." Part of you wanted to grab the lapels of the jacket he was wearing and erase any space left between the two of you, but the other one was commanding you to remain cold and not fall on his web.
"I am glad to hear that." He almost whispered as the hand that was not next to your head, resting on the door, traveled to your collarbone area. Two of his fingertips started to caress your exposed skin as delicately as he had done with the book cover, if not more, his touch almost burned. His eyes were following the slow movements of his fingers as they went over your warm skin, finding some water drops that remained there after the shower. "Because I feel we could get along." Once his hand reached the fabric of the robe you thought he would stop, but he just pushed the fabric aside, exposing your shoulder. The fabric fell until your breast stopped it so you were not exposing anything too intimate to him, just a huge area of just skin.
The intimate moment broke when your hand grabbed Michael's one sharply, stopping him from keeping going with his caresses.
"I'll continue with the process of the test." You said serenely and he nodded with a small smile decorating his face.
"Perfect" His hand moved away from you to grab the knob and open the door, which made you move away from him, which felt like going back to reality, and after he left the room and closed the door, the only thing you could feel was cold.