LIAR | QUEEN AU

Chapter 48 - Every Night And Every Day A Little Piece Of You Is Falling Away

Sh*t. Of course the one person I had to slam into was Freddie. This is f*cking great. I'm a goddamn mess of a kid, and he's here to make things better. Hell, he's probably the one who set up the brainwash machine.

Oh God, he's the one who set up the machine! He probably came back to check if we were... you know. How ironic. The brainwashed becomes the brainwasher. Wait! If he thinks we're brainwashed, I can use it to my advantage. I could lure him in and then finally arrest him!

Before he could come back to his sensesーhe did take a pretty nasty fallーI sat myself back down on the floor. I've just got to look clueless. I've got to be completely numb. Come on, Deaky, clear your thoughts. Forget about everything you just found out, everything you've done, and be blank. It's that or you let Freddie get away again.

Okay, I can do this. I'm not an actor, so what? You can pull off one gig and arrest him. The fate of the f*cking world rests in your hands. It's now or never. Arrest that b*tch. Mind cleared. Here goes nothing.

Freddie tousled his hair blinking once or twice to get his mind to stop spinning it seems. He patted down his clothing as of course his sullied apparel is the most important thing right now. Once tending to his woolen, quite soft seeming scarf, he finally took a glance up at me. Freddie looked me up and down awaiting a reaction out of me. I gave him nothing. It took every single drop of courage to do nothing, but I managed. Just barely.

"John?" He scooted closer. He was testing if I were still there. I don't know how a brainwashed person is supposed to act after being "washed," but I'm hoping Freddie doesn't know either.

I didn't know if the fear in my eyes were genuine or just my feigning. It's hard to tell when you have a monster of a man so placidly staring back at you. "W-what?" I croaked. Lovely start, John. Keep going. I leaned back a bit in so called shock. "Get, get away! W-what's happening?! I-"

Freddie crawled next to me keeping his voice in a soft tone. "Hey, it's okay. I'm Freddie. Do you remember me?"

I paused. I haven't heard him speak like that in so long. I didn't think it were possible at this point. It was revolting. He dared pretend to be so gentle with me when he knows what harm he's brought on all of us. It's horrifying how easily one can be manipulated into the grasp of men like him.

I forced the tears out of my eyes. God, I hope he's buying this. I feel incredibly embarrassed sitting here out on the sidewalk hyperventilating like a psycho. I blinked and rapidly shook my head. "N-no... I... I'm sorry..."

He smiled sweetly and said, "No worries, dear. Do you know where you are?" Freddie's being oddly amiable. It's strange. If I had just met him, I would never have guessed he was a deadly assassin of any sort. I'd actually believe he was trying to help me.

"No... I, uh, I don't." I gulped. I pointed in a vague direction. "I, I came from there. There were just people... and they looked... I don't know. It's, it's hard to describe. I ran off. I don't know where I am."

Freddie furrowed his eyebrows and looked far off in the direction where the base was. He adjusted his position and looked back down at me. Curtly, he explained, "You're in Singapore. You said there were people where you ran from? I should help them out then. I had word of an, erm, incident there," he stood up, "and I just wanted to see if everyone was okay-"

Sh*t. He can't leave. He'll know I'm faking him out. In an act of desperation, I grabbed his arm and screamed, "No!"

"What?" he questioned, snapping his head back and fidgeted his captured hand awkwardly.

"I, I'm scared. Please! Please don't leave me!" I pleaded. Oh, how foolish I feel. I squeezed his hand tighter. "I don't want to be alone." Ugh, I cringed. I shouldn't complain. I've just got to play my role.