It's Hard Not To Play
I wasn't exaggerating. I really could not take this.
I was sweating heavily now. All I could think about was Krit. And Krit's body.
And...
Zack was worried about me. I had never gotten this bad before. He knew it, I
knew it. It didn't change anything.
My mind seemed to hum. I couldn't focus. All my thoughts were in broken
fragments. And my thoughts were what was killing my right now.
"Zack." I spoke for the first time in hours.
"What, Ty?" he asked.
"I need...a distraction. I need...to not be able to hear my thoughts. I need to
be someplace loud. Very loud." I said.
Zack frowned as he tried to figure out what I was saying. I sighed in
frustration.
"Syl. I want to talk to Syl." I said impatiently.
Zack shrugged and took out his phone again. He dialed a number, then handed it
to me. I held the phone up to my ear just as someone answered.
"Yeah." Syl's voice came over the phone.
"Syl." I sighed with relief and frustration that it wasn't Krit.
"Ty? How you holdin' up?" she asked.
"I need...noise." I said, hoping she would understand.
"Gotcha. I'll be there in a bit." she said, immediately getting what I was
trying to put into words.
I gave a small smile of relief before handing the phone back to Zack. He still
looked confused, but had obviously heard Syl's end of the conversation and knew
she was coming.
After what seemed like forever, Syl arrived. She carried an old, beat-up CD
player and a small black pouch.
"Cade's out in the car if you want to talk to her." she said to Zack.
Zack nodded and walked outside. Syl looked down at me, concerned.
"Got it bad, huh?" she stated the obvious.
I bit back a smart remark and just nodded. Syl set down the CD player and
unzipped the black pouch. She rifled through CD's.
"Got a preference?" she asked.
"Loud. Fast."
"Try this then." she said.
She put a CD in the CD player and handed it to me. I put the headphones on and
turned up the volume as loud as I knew I could stand it and pressed play. My
hands were shaking.
Syl left the other CD's with me and backed off a few steps. I didn't care
anymore.
At first I listened to the words, but soon I phased them out and just heard the
noise. I had to turn up the volume twice to drown out my thoughts. I hugged my
knees tightly and rocked slightly to the tempo. I kept my eyes tightly shut.
Halfway through a song, my eyes snapped open as the lyrics hit me. I pressed the
back button and played the song again. Barely aware of what I was doing, the
words of the song started coming out of my mouth when I reached the same spot in
the song.
"Pull my chin, stroke my hair, scratch my nose, hug my knees.
Try drink, food, cigarette, the tension will not ease.
I tap my fingers, fold my arms, breathe in deep, cross my legs.
Shrug my shoulders, stretch my back, but nothing seems to please.
I need contact.
I need contact.
Nothing seems to please.
I need contact."
I kept repeating the words of the song until it ended. Much as this wasn't
really getting me off the thoughts of the activity I wanted to be doing, it was
helping. Somehow, hearing the words that fit with my mood was helping.
In the next songs I listened for words that struck that chord. When I found
them, I would repeat the song and again, unknowingly, sing out the words myself.
"Bees are buzzin' in their honey catacomb.
All the noise seems to call my head a home.
Can't escape the scratchin'.
My blood makes a noise.
It's hard not to play when there are so many toys.
So many toys."
I suddenly noticed Zack, Cade, and Syl staring at me. I ripped off the
headphones and threw them at the floor.
"What were you doing, Ty?" Zack asked slowly.
"I don't know." I snapped, "How the hell should I know?"
Zack glanced at Syl and Cade worriedly and for some reason that made me very
angry.
"This would all be over with by now if you would just let me find Krit." I
growled.
"No, Ty." Zack shook his head.
"Who are you to force me to be the good little girl, anyway? You're probably
sleeping with Cade and she's younger than me, remember? Just because I've got
the same DNA..." I said heatedly.
"Knock it off, Ty." Zack said through gritted teeth.
"Make me." I taunted.
"Maybe you should just let her..." Syl began.
"No!" Zack said with enough force to make Syl take an unconscious step
backwards.
"See. If it were anyone but me, they'd be with someone by now. Max, Syl,...Cade.
But not little Ty. Have to protect her. Little, innocent Ty." my voice dripped
with bitterness.
"I don't want to do this, Ty." Zack said.
I was too out of it to even register what he had said. Not until he approached
me and swiftly delivered a blow to my temple. Being knocked unconscious was
never such a good thing.
***
I was still staring in shock. Had Ty really just said that? Had she really just
goaded Zack into hitting her, knocking her unconscious?
"I hit her too hard." Zack frowned, his voice holding the note of worry that
most people couldn't hear.
"She'll be okay." I assured him.
We Manticore byproducts bounce back pretty well.
"You two stay with her. I still need to run that mission to DayTechCore." Zack
said.
I nodded. He needed some time to clear his head. And we did need the
intelligence that Zack was going to get. If we wanted to do both at the same
time, go for it.
"Don't worry." I said, knowing he would.
Zack turned and started towards his motorcycle. He wheeled it towards the door,
pausing just before he reached it.
"If Krit shows up, beat the hell out of him for me."
He didn't wait for a reply from either Syl or me, but continued out the door.
"You know, impeccable timing must run in the family." I commented to Syl.
Syl snorted and nodded in agreement. I settled in for a long wait.
"So, Syl. How does that rock-paper-scissors thing work?"
Syl and I spent the next long, boring period of time playing rock-paper-scissors
and waiting. Waiting for Ty to wake up, for Zack to get back, for something,
anything, to happen.
So of course, anything did happen.
Syl and I both looked up when we heard the sound of a vehicle engine. She shot
me a questioning glance and I shook my head. No, I wasn't expecting anyone. She
got up and stalked silently towards the door.
She was two steps from it when the windows exploded. I ducked and shielded my
head with my arms. When I looked up, I saw men in black uniforms storming the
place. My first thought was Manticore. Then, I stopped thinking and reacted.
I let the soldiers come to me before whipping out attacks. I didn't want to
leave Ty defenseless. I jumped straight up and kicked out, connecting with the
skulls of two guys at the same time. They both crumpled. A third guy started to
pull a weapon and I broke his arm with a sharp crack. He screamed and dropped to
the floor. I engaged a fourth guy, but noticed that the injured were being
dragged away. I decided to not immediately disable the guy I was fighting and
see what was going on.
"Retreat!" someone yelled.
The guy I was fighting moved to run off. I yanked him back. Someone was going to
spill their guts about what the hell was going on. These guys couldn't be
Manticore. They didn't operate like Manticore. Manticore wouldn't call a
retreat.
A gun went off and the guy I had a hold off, sagged to the ground. I looked up
and saw a guy pointing a gun at him. The guy fired again at me and I was forced
to dodge bullets. By the time the gunfire had stopped, the building was empty
again. I looked over to see Syl looking at me with an utterly confused look on
her face.
"Who the hell were those guys?" she asked.
I sped over to the door, but all I got a look at was the back of a large black
van as it drove away. I noticed something white on the van and amped my vision
to see what it was. That van said DayTechCore.
"Holy shit." I said.
"What? What is it, Cade?" Syl demanded.
"That was a DayTechCore van. They know we're Manticore. Whoever the hell they
were, they were looking for Manticore's."
"How the hell did they find us?"
"Don't know. They must have tracked you somehow. We have to move. Help me get
Ty." I ordered.
"How could they know? I never left a clue. What did I do wrong?" Syl muttered as
she helped me rip the bar Ty was handcuffed to out of the wall.
"Stop it, Syl." I snapped, "We'll get back to your apartment and contact Zack.
Until then, concentrate on making sure we're not followed. I doubt that
explosion left the car in good shape so we'll probably be walking."
Syl's mouth clamped shut and she nodded. She turned to go scout the area outside
of the warehouse. I turned to Ty and slapped her hard.
"Wake up, Ty. I'm not going to carry you."
I had to slap her a couple times before she finally came to.
"Alright. We have to get out of here, so you have to snap out of it." I said.
"What?" she asked, confused.
I was not going to waste time explaining it to her. Time to try a different
strategy.
"We're going to find Krit." I tried.
Amazing how fast she was on her feet.
"Goody." she said.
Oh, boy. It was not going to be fun trying to keep her away from Krit when we
got to the apartment. But what other choice did we have?
***
I seemed to have a lot of energy, all of a sudden. I knew Cade and Syl would
agree with me. Just let me go to Krit. Then, it would all be over.
I must have been walking pretty fast because Cade kept grabbing me by the free
handcuff and dragging me back to her and Syl. It seemed to take forever to reach
the apartment.
Before Cade or Syl could stop me, I bolted up the stairs and kicked the door in.
Krit, Max and Logan were here. I could tell that instantly. I spotted Krit a
second later. And somehow I ended up sitting on top of him. I must have knocked
him to the floor, but I couldn't remember doing so. Not that I really cared. I
gave him an urgent, hungry kiss that he immediately returned.
And then I was being yanked off of him by the back of my shirt. I immediately
lashed out, but my hand was caught at the wrist. I looked from the hand that had
caught mine to the person it belonged to. I suddenly had a distinct dislike for
Max.
"Let go." I said in my command voice.
"Not gonna happen." Max replied.
I looked down at Krit and struggled. Max refused to let go. I kicked backwards
into her shin. Max made a noise of pain and shoved me hard down the hall. I had
obviously made her angry.
A kick to my back sent me stumbling forward into my bedroom. The door slammed
behind me. I immediately slammed back against the door. I felt Max bracing
against the other side.
"Don't bother!" Max called, "It'll be barricaded in a minute!"
I sighed and slid down to sit on the floor. So close and yet so far away.
"Ty!"
I straightened with a jerk.
"Krit?" I asked.
"Yeah." he called back through the wall, "Are you okay?"
"I'd be a lot better if you were in here." I replied.
"I can't, Ty."
"Sure you can. I've got a window." I replied.
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that."
"Don't you want to?"
"Not the point. This is for your own good, Ty. Try to get some sleep. Please?"
"All alone?" I whined.
"Ty, don't."
"Can't help it, Krit." I said, "You're awfully hot."
"Much as I'm enjoying this, I have to go, Ty." Krit said.
"Don't go."
"Have to. I'll see you when you're better." he promised.
I sighed. Why couldn't I be better now?
***
"She's a bitch when she's in heat." Max growled.
I raised an eyebrow.
"Don't go there." Max said quickly.
"Shouldn't we be calling Zack?" Syl prodded.
I nodded and picked up the phone. Then, I suddenly had a thought.
"Forget the phone number?" Krit teased.
"No. I just had a thought. With Zack's luck, or lack thereof, I'll call and
he'll be in an air vent and his phone'll ring and then he'll get shot at or
something." I said.
"I thought there was no such thing as luck?" Logan mocked.
"Oh, shut up. Go sit on the couch." I replied, sending him an annoyed look.
"But it's down the hall, barricading Ty's door."
"Exactly." I agreed.
Logan just rolled his eyes and cleaned his glasses.
"Zack's back." Max announced from her spot at the window.
"That rhymes." Krit commented.
"I thought I mentioned nothing good coming from things that rhyme." Syl said
immediately.
"I wonder what else rhymes with Zack." Krit mused, ignoring her, "Black, tack,
wack, hack, uh...spack. Is that a word? Track, rack, pack...uh...sack."
"Krit?"
"Yeah?"
"Shut up." I interrupted before he drove me insane.
I turned around just in time to see Zack striding through the door.
"Cade?" Zack asked, surprised, "What are you doing here?"
"Big boom, men in black, fight scene." I said shortly, "You got something to
share or no?"
Zack nodded, but he was looking past me down the hall. Probably distracted by
the sounds of banging coming from Ty's room.
"Well, I found out who's running the DayTechCore operation. Someone called
Voice. And apparently, this guy worked with Lydecker for some time. I also have
the name of a mentor who works nearby. Someone named McCallen." Zack said.
"Check him out?" I asked.
"What I was thinking." Zack agreed.
"In the morning." I announced, "I'm tired. And I want a back massage."
"I'm good at those." Krit said.
"Not from you." I said, shooting him a look, "I'm getting a migraine. Krit,
you're sleeping on the couch."
"Why?"
"Because we're sleeping in your room, genius."
"But..." Krit began to protest, but my look stopped him, "Alright. But I'm
taking my sheets."
"So where are Max and Logan going to sleep?" Syl wondered.
"Your room." I said.
"How do you figure that?" Syl complained.
"Couples get a room." I replied.
"Damn it." Syl swore, "That's discrimination against single people."
"Get over it." I said, heading down the hall.
"Good thing it's a fold-out couch." Krit commented.
"Good thing." Syl grumbled.
"You know, you could be a couple if Zane..."
"Shut up, Krit."
I closed the door and stopped their conversation.
"You have to explain to me what happened." Zack insisted.
"Later. I get very grumpy if I don't get my back massage and a good night's
sleep." I said.
"Yes, ma'am." Zack agreed.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Not fair. I want a back massage. Cade sucks.
The songs mentioned before were "I Have The Touch" by Heather Nova and "Under
The Water" by Jewel. Don't sue me.
Poor Krit and Syl have to share the couch. But the question is, who's the cover
hog? Guess we'll find out in the next chapter.
Ty