Chapter 1: Falling
"Come on."
"No."
"Urgh, Dr. P… –"
"I said no." The petite red-head rolled her eyes from her place on top of his desk.
"You're being unreasonable." The young doctor scoffed, not looking up from his file.
"He's a madman Calliope." Callie scrunched up her nose at the use of her first name in its full form. She hopped off the doctor's desk, black heels clacking off the floor as she does.
"Just a peek?" She took off her bright blue trench coat and hung it on the door next to his khaki one. It clashed horribly with the banal décor of the psychologist's office she was in.
"No Callie."
"Come on Dr. P., all I want is just a quick look at him," she whined, reaching up to reposition the dark blue knit cap on her head. "Just let me see his face without all the crap on it and I'll do nothing but file all day." Dr. Palladino looked up, contemplating what all that filing would actually mean to him.
"No," he decided, shaking his head. "You're mother would have me taken out back and shot for exposing you to his breathing space."
"Who is telling her?" Callie asked, rewrapping her navy blue and white muslin scarf around her neck. Dave Palladino rolled his eyes.
"It's seventy degrees in here, take off the scarf." Callie shook her head.
"It looks cute." Dave scoffed, muttering something about teenage fads that Callie decided to ignore.
"Seriously, an inmate comes in here and yanks that and you're dead before you can scream." Callie sighed and unwrapped the scarf again.
"Stop avoiding the real issue here. I want to see him." Dr. Palladino went back to his file as Callie hung her scarf up under her coat.
"Who?" Callie glared at the dark haired man playing dumb with her.
"You know who."
"Voldemort?" Callie gave him a withering stare he chose not to notice. "I already told you, he's too dangerous." The teen let out an exasperated sigh.
"And I told you, I just want to look at him, I don't want to touch him." She crossed her arms over her chest, instantly moving them back away from their new position after feeling cool metal burn her skin. She rolled her eyes at her own anxiety before tucking the silver compass dangling from the chain around her neck back into the breast of her cut out navy and baby blue dress.
Dave started walking out of the office, his head still in his file; Callie followed like a puppy looking for scraps. "And I said –" Dave stopped talking when they got out into the hallway and finally looked up from his file. Callie turned her attention to a scream coming from the opposite end of the hallway.
"You said what?" Callie asked, turning back to the good doctor who, she hadn't noticed until she was about smack into his back, had stopped dead in his tracks. Callie quickly sidestepped Dr. Palladino to avoid hitting him. Unfortunately, in her haste to avoid knocking into him, her heels scuffed on the ancient asylum's linoleum floor, causing her to fall forward. Callie gasped and squeezed her eyes shut quick, bracing herself to hit the floor. But the cold pain of plaster against her face never came.
Callie's bright blue eyes opened at the feel of warm, masculine hands hugging her cold arms just above the elbows. Her eyes trailed up her savior's form, slowly taking in his white hospital scrubs, sharp Adam's apple tearing at his throat, the deep scars (so painful looking she almost flinched) that ran up to his temples, the curly blonde hair holding only the faintest hint of green now, and finally up to the intensely dark eyes that just watched her. Seconds that felt like eons to the awkward group assembled passed before Callie righted herself on her feet. Callie and her scarred savior stood staring intently at each other, her arms in his hands, for a full minute before he started laughing.
The shrill sound broke everyone out of their trance. Callie jerked her arms out of his hands and jumped back into the chest of a waiting Doctor Palladino as two burly guards she hadn't noticed before grabbed hold of the maniacally laughing man and pushed him past the doctor and the teenage girl. The pair could still hear laughing when Dave spoke, "I said "no."' He sighed before continuing up the hall with his file.
Callie stood rooted to the spot she'd set herself in, staring at the place on the floor where her face should have hit, replaying in her mind exactly what had just happened, and listening to the laughter long after she couldn't hear it.
"It's okay Callie," a tall red-headed man soothed lightly, gripping the arms of a tiny eighteen-month old girl. Callie's fingers were digging tightly into the cushion of the hideous pus green sofa. "I'll catch you." The man's smile radiated such warmth that she couldn't help but return it as she let go of the couch and took a large step forward, towards him. Her knee gave out when her foot hit the floor and she collapsed into the arms of the red-headed man. His smile never faded. "I'll always catch you Callie."
