I was cornered.
Not literally, but Leo stood between me and a clean escape from the apartment.
For days, I’d been avoiding him.
Successfully.
Even though I knew I would eventually, statistically, run into him again, I really didn’t want it to be today. I’m sure there were things left unsaid between us. I wanted to keep them that way, just for a little while longer.
I had a meeting with Dr. Goodwin—he would stay Dr. Goodwin in my head, not Aaron—and some others later this morning. What about, I wasn’t sure. But it was at Hubert Industries, so I didn’t think it was related to the Organization. Was it a performance review for my job? Something to do with the clinical study I was a part of? They hadn’t reached out to me about the next part in a while, but with Goodwin apparently an integral part of both, was it really necessary? Probably not, but I didn’t know for sure.
Starting my day with another argument with my roommate was not what I wanted. My anxiety was high enough already.
Leo spotted me before I could decide whether or not to retreat back into my room and try again in five minutes.
“Coffee?” he offered, sounding hopeful.
Admitting defeat and bracing myself for what was sure to be an uncomfortable interaction, I took slow, measured steps into the communal space and towards the kitchen. He set down his bowl of cereal as I approached, already turning to pull a mug down from the cabinet.
“Sure,” I hedged cautiously. “Thank you.” After hesitating another moment, I set my work bag down and took a seat.
He didn’t say anything as he prepared my coffee. If it were just a week ago, the silence would have been comfortable. But I was on edge, wondering what, if anything, he would want to talk about. The tantalizing scent of caffeine didn’t set me at ease, seeming to ramp up my anxiety instead. Maybe I should have said no to the coffee.
Finished, he slid my favorite mug across the counter towards me. The peninsula between us served as a physical barrier, one that I was grateful for. I’d planned to treat myself to a coffee on my way into the office, but I could spare a few minutes here instead.
If Leo had something he wanted to say, he had approximately seven minutes to get it out.
I didn’t look at him, and I had no idea if he was looking at me as the minutes slowly ticked away. I kept my gaze locked onto the coffee swirling in my mug, cinnamon dancing on top.
Leo sighed, loudly. I didn’t react.
“Callie, I…” he moved in my periphery, coming to stand in front of me on the other side of the peninsula. He braced his hands against the countertop and leaned into them, ducking his head.
Finally, I looked up. He was staring down at my hands gripping my mug. Slowly, so slowly, he looked up at me.
“I’m sorry,” he said simply. I didn’t answer, didn’t react. There had to be more to it than those two words.
It took another minute before he continued. “There’s a lot that I regret from the other night. And I’m sorry for upsetting you.”
The laugh bubbled up and out before I could stop it. A confused expression fell on his face.
“That’s…You’re sorry that I got upset?” I asked. He nodded. I pushed the coffee mug away from me and stood, grabbing my bag and slinging it over my shoulder as the words tumbled out violently. “You’re not sorry for being a controlling asshole, or kissing me without my permission, or anything else that actually matters. You’re just apologizing for how it made me feel. Awesome. Got it. So you won’t change your behavior. Good to know.”
I stalked towards the front door, shaking trying to wrangle my emotions so I didn’t accidentally teleport myself somewhere.
“Callie, no, please,” he begged. He darted in front of me, blocking the door with his hands raised. I took three quick steps back. “Fuck, I’m so bad at this.”
I crossed my arms, waiting.
“Obviously, I’m sorry for all of it.”
I pointed an accusing finger at him. “No, it’s not obvious.”
“Okay. Well. Um, then I guess I should be more specific?”
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
I raised my eyebrows. “You think?” I checked the time. “You have exactly three minutes before I’m leaving.”
“Got it. Alright.” He held up his hand, ticking off each apology on a finger to keep track. “I’m sorry that I’ve been treating you like shit. You don’t deserve that. You’re smart, and I’m sorry if I ever made you feel like I didn’t think you were. I’m sorry that I kissed you like that. I was out of line. I should have just told you my feelings and left it at that. I’m sorry for coming across as controlling. I swear to you, that was not my intention. I just…”
He looked down at his shoes, shoulders sagging.
“There’s something else going on.”
When he didn’t continue, I asked, “What?”
His eyes were sad. “I don’t know everything. But I know enough, I think.”
“Leo, just tell me.”
He shook his head and sighed. “I want to tell you. But it will take way longer than two minutes. If you call out from work today, even for the morning, we can talk about it. I’ll tell you everything I know.”
“You can’t ask me to just ditch my job without giving me any sort of hint,” I argued.
“You’ll just need to trust me.”
It was my turn to look down at my shoes.
Could I trust him? He’d apologized for basically all of it. But actions spoke louder than words, and he hadn’t shown me a reason to believe him yet.
“Can we talk tonight?” I counter-offered. I had a support group meeting that I planned to go to, but I’d cancel to talk to Leo.
I glanced up at him. He looked defeated, refusing to meet my eyes.
“No. It needs to be now. I don’t mean that in a controlling way, but I have no other choice. Please, believe me.”
I shook my head, moving to step around him to the door. I’d shove him—or teleport him—out of my way if necessary.
But when I took the first two steps, I wobbled, barely staying upright. I tried again and barely managed to shuffle one foot forward.
I blinked as I looked down at my feet, trying to clear my blurring vision.
My next attempt sent me sprawling, the room around me spinning. I tried getting back to me feet. My arms felt like spaghetti.
“What…” My tongue was thick and foreign in my mouth. I couldn’t coordinate it enough to get other words out, and panic settled in my chest. Was this a stroke? Did I trigger my LaShoul’s by using my ability too much?
Was I dying?
Leo stepped up next to me. I couldn’t tell if he was looking down at me or not, but he didn’t make a move to help me. No sudden concern from him, no alarm, no reaction of any kind.
“I’m sorry about this, Callie,” he said, the words coming through layers of cotton in my ears. He crouched down next to me, stroking my hair away from my face with gentle fingers. I blinked again, an automatic response to try to clear my vision, which failed. “When I said it couldn’t wait, I meant it. It’s bigger than you and me, and we can’t risk anyone else finding out about you. Especially not Hubert Industries. They’re getting way too close, and if they realized they had the key in their grasp? It could spell disaster. We couldn’t risk it anymore. I really hoped that you’d agree to talk to me, and I could bring you in without all this fuss.”
He reached into my bag on the floor, and I watched helplessly as he pulled out my phone. After a moment, he showed me my calendar, wiggling the phone a little.
“That meeting today, with that Goodwin person? That could have been a trap for you. And I know you probably don’t see it this way right now, but later you’ll learn that I’m just trying to save you. Again, I am really sorry it had to be this way.”
I couldn’t move, my limbs feeling like they weren’t a part of me anymore, my brain sluggish and just now catching up to what had to have happened.
He’d…drugged me?
He stepped away, giving me his back and leaving me to mull everything over at a glacial pace. I heard the door open as though it was a thousand miles away.
This was un-fucking-believable.
Panic clawed at my chest, my breaths heaving in and out as I hyperventilated. I needed an out, right the fuck now. Get myself some space to think. Could I teleport myself in this condition? Hide myself in my closet or something until this drug, whatever it was, wore off?
No. I’d be found there, easily. It would have to be out of this building. But where would I go? I’d never tried to teleport myself such a distance. How would the drug affect me?
Leo was talking to someone else at the door. I had seconds, if I was lucky, and two options.
Option one, give up. I could play along, learn what was going on, and go from there. My heart wanted to believe that Leo was telling the truth, that he had some world-altering reason why this made the most logical sense, that I’d be thanking him later. My brain told me that I was a fucking dumbass for hoping that was a possibility.
Option two, teleport somewhere. Anywhere. And quickly. Let the drugs wear off and hope they couldn’t track my location with the bio-screen. I wouldn’t have my phone, my wallet, or anything. But maybe I could ask the Organization to remove the screen for me. Ask them what they knew, if anything, and why I was suddenly important.
Leo came back into view before I’d made up my mind. I had enough reservations against the Organization as it was that there was no obvious right choice. They’d obviously been keeping things from me, but were slowly revealing more as time went on. The trust had to go both ways, and that was still a work in progress.
My trust with Leo?
Gone. Nonexistent.
Decision made. It might not be the right decision, but one problem at a time.
Leo’s edges were crisper than before, the blurriness in my eyes lessening, leading me to hope the drug he had to have put in my coffee was fast-acting but not long-lasting.
Maybe I could pull it off. If I was insanely lucky.
“Again, I am sorry about this, Callie. I’ll apologize to you forever if I need to. But once we’ve discussed everything in a secure location without the risk of Hubert Industries snatching you away from us, it will all fall into place and be as it should.”
Two men came into my view, dressed in bright blue paramedic uniforms, a stretcher being pushed between them. So this was how they’d get me out of here and to wherever the so-called secure location was. No one would think twice if they saw a patient thrashing around while strapped down to a gurney. These men probably had more sedatives they’d force into my body to keep me from becoming a problem.
I had to act now.
No pressure or anything.
Before they could touch me, I burrowed down into myself, reaching for my power. It flickered there, and I wasted no time willing it into a raging inferno to bend to my will.
With their hands nearing, less than a second before contact, I squeezed my eyes shut and hoped that I could do this.