A/N: Well well well, here we are again. Honestly, I don't know how many chapters this is going to have, but I can totally see 10 chapters, maybe. Well, we left off with Wraith in Austin's room. Also, a song for this chapter, since it makes sense for the theme of this upcoming interaction.
You Don't Even Know Me by SLANDER & RIOT...
"We need to talk." She says with slight irritation.
"Pray tell, what are we going to talk about?" I responded with annoyance. I really hope she doesn't go where I think she is going with this.
"You should know," she responded blankly. She is still sitting in my chair, acting as if she owned the room.
"I said I don't want to talk about it, plus even if I told you, how would I know you wouldn't use it against me in Kings Canyon?" The answer is, I don't know. So excuse me for not wanting to talk about my past." I spit out in response, walking by her to my dresser.
Wraith now stood up, glaring at me as she did in the mess hall the other day, "At least you know your past." she spits back.
I tensed and realization kicked in, "So that's why you're called Wraith? Because you don't know who you are? That's why you're interested in my past? You're looking for answers."
She only nodded once, assuming that is a 'yes' to every question. I looked her in the eyes, searching for a lie. My face softened when I realized that she wasn't lying.
"That explains the look of hunger when I first saw you. You are searching for answers about yourself." I hypothesized.
"You'd be correct in that fact. I have no recollection of who I was. Anything past five years ago is a blank. I'm interested in your past because maybe something lines up and will open up the memory per se." she explained. I have to see if I can get her to explain anything. Maybe I should tell her about my past, but only if she asks about it. It's time I let go. I've been holding on for so long.
"Okay, the better question is: What do you remember?" I asked her, while also gesturing for her to sit down. She complied and let out a long sigh.
"Alright, I'll explain, you can ask questions when I have a break in talking, understood?" She said with authority laced in her voice.
"I understand." I mean I do get why she's called Wraith, but what led to it? What happened?
"Five years ago, I woke up in an IMC Detention Facility designed for the Mentally Ill. I was on an operating table of sorts and all I knew was that I had to leave. There was no ifs, ands, or buts. I needed to escape. The first thing I heard, which actually was the thing that woke me, was the voice in my head. It screamed at me to wake up. This voice drove to near insanity, on more than one occasion. I tore the tubes and needles, and anything else that was plugged into my body and hopped off the table I was on, knocking over some equipment. The room was bland, almost as bland as this room, but a little larger. I didn't know what it was used or what it was going to be used on, but I wanted no part of it. Some scientists or doctors, I didn't care who they were, all I wanted was freedom. The voice in my head told me to throw the table next to me, because there were armed guards coming, and they would prevent my escape." She took a deep breath, looked to me to see if I had questions. I motioned with my hand to tell her 'keep going'.
"The guards busted into the room, but they didn't expect the table that knocked them over. I didn't have time to grab a weapon, so I hopped over the guards. One of them got lucky and grabbed my ankle and I fell, which they took the opportunity to throw all their weight on me, restraining me. We fought and I ended on top, choking him, but then something happened. I-I My-" she trailed off.
"What did you do, what happened?" I asked, urging her to continue.
"I killed him, but they disappeared like they never existed. I didn't know how I pulled it off, but I didn't have the time to question it. The voices in my head told me to take the next corridor on my left, it would lead me to stairs, and one step closer to my freedom. I had to avoid so many people, I was sure I wouldn't have made it far without the voices. They helped me when I learned to trust them. They never lead me astray after I started to really listen to them."
She stopped talking to look at me because my face was riddled with questions. "I know you have questions, ask them."
"First one, What happened when you didn't listen to them? You mentioned near insanity." This was something I had to know, the side effects.
"When I don't listen to the voices, all I feel is the pain. Unbearable pain. Agony, that's one word for it. Hell is another. I wouldn't be able to sleep for days. All they would do was argue." She whispered out.
"I'll guess it doesn't get easier if you didn't listen to them any other time." She nodded. "The second question, when your eyes go all milky white, that's the voices isn't it? That's when they speak to you?" I started to notice the pattern after the second time.
"Yes, when they appear, my eyes fade out and I listen." Wraith had this baggage and she couldn't recall anything about her prior life. What tests did those IMC bastards run on her? "Any other questions, Austin? Or can I continue?" Wraith asked. I shook my head and leaned back until my back hit the wall. I was absorbing all this, seeing if I can find a way to help her get the answers she seeks. She deserves it after all the hell she went through.
"After fighting through however many guards, I was outside the facility and I continued to run. After maybe a days' worth of running. I collapsed and cried, all while the voices were screaming at me to keep moving, that we weren't safe yet. I remember getting off the planet and trying to ask around to see if anyone had information on me. No one has yet. I did some of my own research and found that old IMC research facilities were close by and buried underneath the Apex arenas, and with every win, I am one step closer of finding out who I really am." She finished with a sigh.
"You are looking for closure? Just to set your mind at ease?" I asked while thinking of other questions to ask, and the perfect one came up.
"Basically, any other questions for me Austin?" she asked, and yet she seemed to have a smile on her face like she knew what I was going to ask.
Narrowing my eyes, "How did you pull that voodoo stuff back at the gym earlier?"
"You ever heard of phase shifting?"
That equipment hasn't been used in 5 years, why bring it up now? "Yeah, it was used back in the old IMC-Militia Wars."
"Well, basically, I have that ability to use the Void to my advantage. I can phase out of this reality and come back seconds later. I even see other versions of me in there, searching for even better possibilities. That is one of the reasons I have another nickname here."
"Mind if I ask what it is?"
"Interdimensional Skirmisher."
I took a deep breath, "Remind me to not piss you off then, cause that does not sound like a peaceful death."
"Oh it's not." and she disappeared in some void particles. I was on alert now, sitting up now, she could do anything. She could kill me to cover her tracks, then again, why would she tell me? This some quid pro quo mumbo jumbo?
"Maybe." A voice whispered. Then wraith appeared, on top of me, straddling me. I'm pretty sure heat is rising to my cheeks. This was unexpected.
"What are you doing Wraith?" I asked lowly.
Feigning innocence, "Nothing in particular. I do expect you to tell me your back story at some point Austin." She leaned close to my ear, her cold body pressed close to mine, I had to suppress a groan at the contact. This hasn't been a situation like this since six years ago before I left for the Outlands. Wraith started to laugh, or was it a giggle? "Oh really, you haven't been put on the spot in that long?"
I tensed, did I say that out loud?
"No, I can hear your thoughts in the Void, its effect is only temporary, but it allows me into someone's frontal thoughts." She then sat up, looked me in the eyes with great intensity and continued, "You're wearing a color contact aren't you?"
Perspective.
"How did you know? After all these years, no one has ever noticed that small detail." I said, slightly surprised.
"The moonlight only reflected off one of your eyes, not both, meaning a contact is in. Your brown eyes are nice to at I'll admit, but what is your real eye color?" she purred. Is she...? No, she can't be, that doesn't fit her character.
Well, the jig is up, I reached up to my left eye and pulled out the contact, revealing my real eye color. Wraith sat up straight, looking at me like I was someone she never met before. My left eye is a solid dark navy blue, while my right eye is a golden chocolate brown mix. "The contact is specially made for my eye, as it scans my other eye and matches the pigment. Pretty handy if I do say so myself." I smiled in triumph.
Wraith, seeming satisfied at my answer, got off me, much to my disappointment, and headed towards the door. Before she left though, she turned around and flashed me one of those smiles, "Also, why would I kill someone who has an interest in me?"
I stood up now, and glared, not harshly, but in question. How did she know? Then I remembered she could read my thoughts and I guess one of those thoughts was pushed to the forefront of my mind. She didn't wait for my response as she walked out of my room and shut the door. I stopped the door before it did and asked, "Which room are you in? In case I want to talk to you when I'm ready?"
"Only about seven rooms this way." She said as she pointed down the left hallway.
Good to know. She deserves to know my past after she told me hers. I'm surprised she didn't ask me to say it after she told me her's.
"I thought about it, but thought we had enough heart to heart for one night. Some other time Austin." Then she did something I didn't think she has ever done to anyone else.
She blew me a kiss.