Evanesce
Chapter Seven
Chapter Seven
So… Ryan has a bright and cheery apartment on the civilian side of the city. Bright, cheery, and on the civilian side. Perhaps it can be seen why I was a bit skeptical at first. The first two might have fit on a good day, but….
Anyway, we went to this bright and cheery place. Neil'd caught up with us on the way out of the alley, so he followed. Pretty quietly too, which made me thankful. When we got to the place, Ryan wasn't quite the same. He didn't act as though anything was wrong, and said nothing about whatever it was he wanted to talk about.
It was irritating. Before he had been anxious, now he was a carefree host entertaining friends. A friend; he made no sign of knowing Neil and I had to introduce them. I put up with this kind of crap for about an hour before confronting Ryan.
I suddenly wondered if I'd done something wrong, the way he looked at me. He took a deep breath and glanced over at Neil, and then back to me.
"I don't even know what to believe anymore," he finally said, "And before I start, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure," I answered, hoping that I'd get that much closer to his explanation.
"Why didn't you run away?" I was thrown off guard. I didn't know what he was asking at first, and could only blink in miscomprehension. I saw a hint of a smile that turned into something more mournful, "I watched you die, now tell me why you didn't run away."
I felt cold before he'd finished the sentence. I looked at Neil, sitting to my left on this green couch Ryan had. I guess I've seen both sides now. He gave me a slightly annoyed look back.
"What?" he asked, "Why do you people keep looking at me? I've got nothin' to do with you guys." He looked like he was going to say something else, but didn't. I might have laughed once. He thought we were insane, I'm sure. It was funny in its own depressing way.
"I had nowhere to go," I stated, looking back to Ryan. If he saw through the lie, then he didn't say anything about it. It didn't take long to get him to drop the subject. It wasn't because of my efforts though; Kris was standing in the doorway of the small living room. I think I smiled, but if I did it didn't last long. The man she was with, he was the younger of the scientists I knew all too well. It took a minute to recognize him…
I don't remember standing or crossing the room, but that's where I found myself. I had the man pressed against the wall, with one of my hands around his throat. I would have killed him, I'm sure, but Ryan intervened.
He tried to pry my hand away, and I thought he'd break my wrist. Whatever clarity I had was spent wondering which would break first, my arm or the man's neck. I guess Ryan felt more drastic measures needed to be taken, because he floored me.
I stood shakily, and glared at him. He just smiled apologetically. I looked at Kris, she looked pissed, and the man… he looked like he had always looked when I saw him - cold and calculating. A little more disheveled maybe.
I didn't spend the time to wonder; I ran. Rather, I tried to. Ryan caught me by the shirt before I'd gone five steps. I don't know who it was, but someone said, "wait."
"Hey, look at me," I reluctantly followed instruction. I tried to recall… had he been talking? "I promise, no one's going to hurt you. If anyone tries, they're dead, understand?" Trying to protect me? I don't need that. I can take care of myself. "Trust me, okay?" I wanted to, and I think I must have a little.
I wasn't angry anymore. The aftereffects of the rage I was used to, a little fatigue and slight regret. I wasn't used to the feeling of despair, or the contradictions and theories I was putting together without really thinking of it. The voices? They were a jumble of confusion, drowning out almost everything around me.
In more ways than one, I felt trapped.