Hi all! Thanks again for all the feedback, follows, and favorites! I can't tell you enough how much I appreciate it. I hope you like this chapter! And as usual, I only own Audrey.
When I wake up, my head is bouncing against the window and there are only two hours left in the flight. I sleepily open my eyes. My notebook is still in my lap and I have a serious crick in my neck. I turn my head to the side and see that Erik is already awake and is talking to a flight attendant.
"Oh, great, Audrey, you're awake," I hear him say cheerfully. I want to make a face but I decide against it when I realize the flight attendant wants to bring me breakfast. I have barely said the words before she's gone and come back. I am so happy when I see waffles that I want to kiss her. I barely see what Erik is going to eat before I dive in.
I set my notebook on the flight tray beside my plate and I see Erik look at it out of the corner of my eye.
"Are you keeping a journal?" Erik asks me. I try not to laugh.
"No, I'm just taking notes," I reply. I eat some more.
"Notes on what?" I'm not sure what he's thinking. Maybe he's concerned I'm sketching him so I can give his picture to the police or writing down everything that's happened so I can give a statement. Either way, it's rather funny. For a man who could kill me and everyone on this plane in a matter of seconds, he is strangely suspicious of me.
"Well, they're mostly on what you can do. I've never really known someone who has abilities like me and I'm an inorganic chemist with a specialty in metallic alloys and compounds so you are supremely interesting to me." There's no use in lying. Erik is rather fascinating.
"I thought you were a bank teller," he replies, looking over at me.
"That was only supposed to be temporary," I groan, still bitter about my latest rejection. "I should be working in a lab but I haven't been hired at one yet." Not a total lie.
"Are you good at it?"
"If I have one talent, chemistry is it."
"I can think of at least another." That was kind, even though I've always considered invisibility a hindrance. "I don't think you should reject what you can do. You should embrace it."
I shake my head. "That's easy for you to say. If you get embarrassed, things don't start flying around. I actually disappear."
"My power used to only manifest when I was angry. It just takes practice to control."
"It would take a lot of practice for me. I can't even make myself turn if I want to."
"Your emotions don't always have to hinder you. They should help you." He's undoubtedly right. I know that almost all of it is in my head but I resent having the power at all. It causes me so much grief and has since I first knew I could do it. I've spent so much time trying to push it away that I'm not totally sure I could really master it now.
"Well, I'll be sure to work on that." Oddly enough, I wondered whether Erik thought of himself as a freak as I always had. Apparently, not. He's embraced it and become a force to be reckoned with while I tighten my hands into fists and hope my power will just go away.
"Until you've learned how to control it, why don't you do something to cover it? If it starts in your hands, you should wear gloves." I'm assuming that my confession to Erik last night has totally changed his opinion of me because he's actually offering help.
"I've tried it. It doesn't work. I know that you would think it wouldn't affect my clothes but it does. It's terrible. If I were to touch you when it happens, you would be invisible too."
"I think that means you're powerful. You should exercise it more often. What you can do is amazing." I look down at my tray and smile. I've never thought of it that way before.
"Thank you," I say, "but it might take me a while to accept that." 'Might?' More like 'will.' Luckily, Erik decides to drop the topic there. But he will come back to it, over and over again.
"So everything you've been writing since we got on the plane has been about me?" Erik might be close to smiling… or close to knocking me out. I'm not quite sure. Either way, I feel my power start to flex. No, I tell myself succinctly.
"Not exactly. A lot of them have been about mutation in general, which I would never have thought of if you hadn't mentioned it. I was always under the impression it had to be genetic in families, not just random. But like I said, you're the first person with a mutation that I've ever talked to other than my father."
"That's the same for me. I assumed I couldn't be alone but I never thought I'd ever really find someone else." He kind of smiles so I do too. This is a good sign.
We each finish our breakfast and the flight attendant comes and retrieves our trays. I take the fact that Erik has been nice this morning as a sign that I can talk to him about my questions.
"Since you happen to know what I've been writing down, can I ask you some things?" I request quietly. Erik looks like he wants to debate it but he doesn't.
"Sure," he replies. I flip open my notebook and get ready to write.
"What's the heaviest thing you can move?" I ask, staring at him expectantly.
"I'm not completely sure," he says. "I haven't tested all of my limits yet."
"Do you think you could fly if you had some kind of suit with metal on it?" I wanted to say armor but that is such an outdated word and Erik already looks like he wants to laugh at this question.
"I've never thought of that before but I'm going to keep it in mind."
"What if I had on a necklace or a ring or something like that? Could you move me purely with that little bit of metal?"
"Yes," he replies as though this is something he has done many times over.
"Wow," I whisper. "Can you manipulate magnetic fields?"
"Again, I'm not sure."
"I bet you can. How about things that are only partially metal? If there's the smallest amount, can you control it?"
"I'm positive I could."
"This is incredible. You're incredible. I know you probably don't care what I think but what you can do is extraordinary. The idea that you could control this entire plane is absolutely mind-boggling." I know I am blabbering, which I'm normally not prone to, but I have never been so excited about something in my life. That there is someone else who is just as different as I am but with this particular ability is just fantastic.
"Imagine the pair we'd make if you master what you can do." Erik looks over at me then, his mouth almost curling into a smile. I barely register that my hands are vanishing. He's assuming I'll help him get rid of my father. Where before I was undoubtedly nothing more than a shoddy lead to Sebastian Shaw, I am now possibly a partner. I'm not sure whether I'm happy about it or whether I'm nervous. Nervous, I think. Unequivocally nervous.
The idea to kill my dad isn't a new one. I thought of it all the time as a teenager at his complete mercy. I had running fantasies where I would miraculously get the strength to not only flee but kill my father in the process. But I was always stuck on how. When my invisibility was first revealed (at the dinner table, no less), my father claimed I wasn't alone because I had him and that he could do things I had never dreamed about. I soon learned that he could manipulate and absorb energy, making it so that anything I could throw at him would never hurt him. It would only make him stronger. And once he had the energy, that was when I was supremely frightened.
Thus, I was never quite sure how to manage it. He would see me coming from a mile away. It would be impossible not to. He knew I hated him and resented him but more than that, he knew I was scared of him. In that way, he was always going to have the advantage and I was positive that that would never change. It's a miracle that I was able to run away at all.
As I finish thinking about this, I realize the plane is about to land in Buenos Aires.
I make it through the flight alive, even though my fingernails have put a permanent imprint on the armrests of my seat. Erik takes my hand to lead me through the airport like he did in London. I assume this means he still doesn't trust me, which is fine. I don't really trust him either.
He guides me through a crowd of people and then pulls me towards him.
"Where do you think Shaw is?" Erik asks.
"Well, there's a couple of places in Villa Gesell, which isn't too far from here. One is the house we moved to after the war, which might not even be there anymore." I certainly hope it isn't. There would be enough there to indict my father for a lifetime. "Another is a bar. I vaguely remember that my dad and his friends used to spend a lot of time there."
"Vaguely?" Erik replies.
"I ran away when I was fifteen. My whole time in Argentina is a little groggy."
"Well, you'll take me to both." I nod and follow him out of the airport, still holding his hand.
It is later in the day in Argentina than I would've thought so there is only time to visit one place today. Erik decides my old house is it. I am quiet the entire drive there, consistently trying to mute my invisibility. I'm surprised that I'm able to remember how to get there as easily as if I come all the time. Erik keeps staring at me as though he thinks I will have a breakdown but he doesn't say anything, which is good because I need to concentrate on not disappearing.
All of a sudden, I am there, standing in front of my old house, while Erik prowls inside. It is clear no one lives in it, probably because it is so off the beaten path. That's why my father liked it; it wasn't likely to be stumbled upon by outsiders. It is still large and grand and beautiful but I'm not able to appreciate that. All I can see is a place where I was kept prisoner.
I look down and my hands have faded, the invisibility creeping up my arms and legs. I feel it spread through my chest, covering the wrinkled pink dress I fell asleep in on the plane. My body remembers the last time I was here and it seems to know that my power was the only reason I escaped. I'm better than this. No, I'm not. I'm not scared. Yes, I am. I'm not going to run. But I want to.
Erik emerges from the house and I flex my fingers, suddenly fully visible again. If he noticed what was going on with me, he doesn't mention it.
"There was no sign of Shaw," he says down to me. "It seems like he abandoned the place years ago."
"I figured he had but it was worth a shot. Sadly, if he's not here, I don't know where he'd be staying," I reply, crossing my arms. I hid my hands under them, just in case. "There was nothing in there?"
Erik had a knowing expression on his face but he still shook his head. "It was obvious that he'd lived there at some point but there wasn't anything to give us a clue about where he might be now." I nod.
"Then he may not even be in the country," I tell him. "I'm sorry. This was the best idea I had."
He only shrugged in obvious disappointment. This might merely be the latest false lead Erik had followed in pursuit of my father and again, I feel sorry for him.
By now, it is too late to even think about going anywhere else so we go to a hotel for the night. I feel a little nauseous when I realize we'll be sharing a room but I understand that I still haven't proven I'm not going to fade and run while I can. Erik doesn't trust me and I'm still utterly at his mercy. This vendetta against my father may still include finishing me off purely because Erik's mother was murdered. Just because his mood towards me has changed doesn't mean that he isn't tricking me… and he could be thinking the same thing about me.
I breathe an audible sigh of relief when I see two beds and an incredibly nice bathroom. My fingers, which had been disappearing, slowly become visible.
"I think embarrassment must be your biggest problem," Erik says, brushing past me.
"Excuse me?" I ask, trying to look outraged but only proving his point. My hands go back to fading as I clam up.
"You were embarrassed about sharing the room because you thought the receptionist was under the impression we must be together. I could tell because you tried to hide your hands." I shook my head before dropping my purse on the closest bed.
"That's preposterous," I say. Erik looks at me and arches a brow.
"You have a very obvious tell, Audrey. You didn't stop concentrating until just now when you saw two beds and even then, the mutation was showing anyway."
"Sometimes, I can't control it. It doesn't mean I'm embarrassed," I respond. He smiles at me as though he doesn't believe a word I say. I don't mention that he's right.
Luckily, Erik is at ease with us not talking. We each take turns in the shower and while I am in there, he somehow has the time to retrieve clothes for us to wear tomorrow. Argentina is unfortunately hot and humid. London, not so much.
I spend my time in the shower contemplating what's going to happen after tomorrow. If my father isn't in the country and I have no idea where else he might be, will it all be over? Will I fly back to London to return to hopelessly applying for lab positions? Or is Erik going to continue dragging me around the globe in a desperate attempt to murder Sebastian Shaw? Whatever the case, I am positive that any leads here will only provide dead ends. Wherever my father is, it is not in Villa Gesell, Argentina.
"Just so you're aware, I've taken extra precautions for us to be locked in this room," Erik tells me, sitting on the opposite bed. I want to ask him what those precautions were but I decide against it. "So you can't just get up and run away in the middle of the night."
"I'll keep that in mind," I reply, "but I wasn't planning on running anyway." He looks like he was half expecting this answer and half not expecting an answer at all. "I know that we don't really know each other but I want to help you. It might be hard to believe, given I've led you to a dead end, but I truly do want to help." Erik keeps up his guarded expression for now but I can tell this is exactly what he wanted. Ever since I told him on the plane a little bit of what my father did to me, I knew it had changed his tune. He's beginning to look at me as though I am less of a captive and more of a friend. Oddly enough, this really pleases me because in many ways, I feel like I've never actually had a friend. Especially not a friend who completely understands what I went through and why I would turn my back on my only remaining family.
This is crazy, I think. I barely know this guy and yet, I desperately want him to trust me, when he probably doesn't trust anybody. I could be forming an alliance with a psychopath for all I know but something inside me says, Whatever he is, you are too.
"It may not be a dead end. We still haven't gone to that bar you mentioned," Erik responds to me.
"I suppose you're right. There may be someone there who at least remembers my father." And has hopefully forgotten about me. "I've been trying to think of other places that he might have gone and I just keep drawing blanks. I'm pretty positive he wouldn't have returned to Germany or maybe anywhere else in Europe."
"Oh, I'm sure he's not in Europe. I've spent years trying to cover his tracks there and each one only revealed a slim possibility of where he may be. I never turned anything up." Well, that answers that.
"Erik, how long have you been doing this?" I ask. "Have you been looking for my father since you were a child?"
"Essentially," he replies. I have so many questions. I want to ask how long he was with my father and everything that happened while he was there. I want to know whether I saw him as a child and never realized what was happening to him. I want to ask why he's never given himself a chance to move past it.
But, "How did he kill your mom?" is the question I decide to ask.
Erik explains it to me slowly, as though it happened just a week ago. Once in the concentration camp, he had been separated from his mother and in anger, his power manifested, allowing him to bend open the gate that had just shut behind his mom. My father had seen it and ordered Erik brought to him. Immediately, my father commanded Erik to move a simple coin but he couldn't do it. Then my father demanded that Erik's mother be brought in. He was going to count to three. If Erik didn't move the coin, my father would shoot his mom. He couldn't do it.
Erik reaches into his pocket and pulls out the coin. He reaches towards me and I reluctantly take it. There's nothing out of the ordinary about the coin but it almost makes me sick to touch it. I flip it over and then hand it back to Erik. I press it into his palm but I grasp his hand instead of pulling back.
"I don't know what to say," I tell him. What happened to Erik is so much worse than what happened to me. I still blame myself for not trying to get away earlier and now, I feel guilty for not at least attempting to take my father out.
"You didn't do it," he replies. "But are you sure that you're alright with me killing Shaw?" I go with my gut and nod.
"If I still thought that I was the only one he hurt, I would just go on pretending it didn't happen but now I know and I'm back to wishing him dead." Erik starts to smile and I know that again, I have given him just what he wanted.
"So you're in this with me?"
"Yes, I think I am." Erik full on smiles at me then and I watch, entranced, as he moves the coin my father had threatened him with all those years ago through his fingers.
Deep down, I know that I have entered into an alliance that I will never fully break. Deep down, I'm sure that meeting Erik Lehnsherr has changed my life forever.