The Bloodshadow 2: Meet her Sidekick Dark Matter

Chapter 11

Tracy entered her room, with Dimitri right behind her. He never entered her room, just stood there leaning against the door entrance. She stripped down to nothing but her black sports bra and her black Victoria's Secret branded underwear. “Before you say anything,” she said, breaking the silence, without looking behind her, to look at her father. “Hear me out, I didn't tell you about Xander because, A, I figured you wouldn't believe me, or B, Tell me that, I'm putting way too much faith into something that I shouldn't.” She went into her dresser and pulled out a dark blue plain, cotton sweatshirt, charcoal gray, heavy sweatpants.

“That's it right there,” Dimitri pointed out, “you have become this person that puts way too much faith and thinks that she can trust anyone that gets in your way looking for help, that you don't see the pain it will do to our world in the near future.” She was brushing her wavy, long, brown hair into a ponytail, while listening to the comments his father was making about her decisions.

“You weren't there,” she exclaimed, turning around to give him a glare. “You didn't see the pain that I saw when I met him at Athena's lair. When I looked into his eyes, all I saw was pain, and not a lot of hope for himself to be saved, which is where I needed to come in and help him.”

Dimitri sighed, and placed his hand on his stump arm, and tilted his head in frustration. “You really think that this guy is trustworthy with, who he practically was raised to be.”

Without a change in looks on her face, she continuously looked at her father. “Do you remember that boy in the Tenements?”

“Alex?” he asked. “Yes, what about him?”

“Well, you know how we've been trying to get him to open up about, what happened to his parents, or if he remembered anything?”

“Yeah.”

“When I took Xander to the Tenements to show him and to really see for myself if he wanted to change,” she started, making it all sound as if she was confessing to the Man upstairs. “I showed him Alex, and he got him talking, and opening up about his nightmares, his feelings, his fears, and the terrors that were haunting him throughout the night.”

“And, what does that mean?” Dimitri squinted his eyes toward his daughter.

“After Xander finished talking to Alex we left the Tenements because he wanted to kill his mother for making him do all of these awful things to these people, and he didn't want to feel that sense of guilt that he felt twenty-four seven.”

“That's when you called Jo.” he said following along with what the story was about.

“Yes,” she stated. “To have her help us take Athena down once and for all.”

“For your sake or his?” he asked, very snobby.

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“It means that he might just be playing you.”

“They say dogs, cats, and even little children can sense evil in someone, why didn't Alex see it if you are telling the truth?” she asked, staring back at her father. She was trying to figure out the meaning to this conversation.

“I don't know but I just don't trust him.”

“Really after stopping those robbers and wanting to be good.”

“Okay, how do you explain tonight's mistake?”

“That's what we are trying to figure out.”

“What do you mean?” he asked, seeming like this conversation wasn't going the way he wanted it to go.

“He said, he blacked out when he killed those men.”

“And, at school today, when he beat up that kid in gym class?” Without her asking how he knew about that. She realized what kind of generation of teenagers there are in that school, that kind that put everything either about themselves or some else. Xander probably was the number one thing people were talking about all day.

“I think so, he says he was fine but he had a look on his face that was unforgettable.”

“What kind of look?”

“Anger during the killing, and then after just pure terror and confusion of his doing.”

Dimitri understood now. “When did he start acting like that?”

“I don't know, he woke up from the coma this morning.” Dimitri still had a look of distrust. Finally, Tracy came clean and told him about the warehouse about Xander risking his life for Alex, who was now deceased and Athena torturing him for being on Tracy's side about the world and his mother. “If he really was still following Athena or is still on his side, why would he risk his life for this.” She said gesturing to their home and the vigilante suit. “Please, Daddy, trust me,” She begged.

Dimitri surrendered his argument and continually stared into his daughter's eyes in a deep thought. “Alright,” he said. “But I still won't trust him but for you I will follow your lead on this.” Tracy was going to take it. Then they continued talking about what may be wrong with him.

“Do you think it may be? PTSD?”

“Xander, may have it but I don't believe anger like that sends you on a warpath.”

“How does he snap out of it?”

“I don't know, at the school he stopped when I touched his fist. Then, at the bank I told him to stop but he snapped out of it when he shot the robbers.”

Dimitri just gave his daughter a blank stare, while she was putting some Nike branded sneakers that look like they were worn more than once or twice, they were dirty, and worn out, and old the white check mark symbols on the side of the shoes were no longer white they were a filthy brown Tracy didn't bother tying the shoes tight. Then he rolled his eyes and left the doorway to go back to the laboratory. Tracy followed in behind him, hoping that she was making the right call.