Chap 20
Damian POV
I have my head bowed slightly, which I never do, but I'm trying to make an appeal to my father. It's something I've never been successful at doing. Yet, I need to ensure that this one is . I need to get closer to him somehow, and make him trust me again. So I can find Becky.
"Father, you've raised me to be a thinker, which is why I hold every prestige in the academy when it comes to academics. I'm not a mindless soldier, you didn't build me that way. You built me in your image." Father rubs his chin absorbing my words as they caress his ego, so I continue,
"If I was brought into the fold about the particulars of the deal, then I may have been more inclined to perform the duties asked of me." I raise my head looking at him "Which is why I was hesitant, but after Demetrius briefly explained the deal and project, I was able to grasp the understanding of the message you needed to send." Even if I don't agree.
For a moment Father doesn't respond, he just stares at me as if he were a judge and I were a prisoner on death row, finding out if I'm next in the chair. But all he says is "You have caught me in a forgiving mood. But remember next time I might not be as forgiving." as he stands making his way over to the bar to make himself a drink as he always does.
"Demetrius still completed the order, which leaves me in a rather forgiving mood as I await the call of the traitor." I nod understanding he's referring to Becky's father. I chew the inside of my cheek to hide my anger at him purposely hurting their family, for his own greed.
I think back to Anya's father and how he treats her and how he treats me when I'm there. How he pulls me aside to have a guy talk, and check in with me or when I'm on the phone with Anya and he makes sure to talk to me even if it embarrasses her. He's a man who simply wants to see his daughter happy and who will do anything to keep it that way. He's a good guy who I've grown to admire, and I think back to his words of trying to compromise with my father. Especially seeing as he's in a good mood, maybe I should push a bit of my luck.
"I do have a request, since I've been called home." I try to keep my voice from shaking. "I request permission to have company. I'm used to the dorms and being around my friends, the estate can be …isolating."
He crosses his arms "We can't risk you bringing about your idiotic friends about the grounds." I clench my fists. "They aren't idiots. I have obligations, and a relationship I wish to continue." trying to keep my voice from showing my annoyance.
Father seems unimpressed and defers to Demetrius with his eyes as if he couldn't be bothered. I turn to look at him pleading with my eyes.
He nods at father "I don't see the harm in it; so long as it is limited to one person, on select nights." Father nods "If you're convinced you'll coordinate with Demetrius on who comes on the property."
"I'm not a child that needs babysitting." I challenge, but Father glares "Either through Demetrius, or you'll be alone!" he raises his voice, clearly losing patience with me.
I nod, "Now I have some matters I need to attend to." he motions for the door, not pushing further I turn to leave the office.
For a moment I put my ear to the door curious what it could possibly be, fathers voice trickles faintly "How are we with Katrina." Demetrius states "Still on track, I have an idea I want to try that may speed up the timeline." I can hear a mechanical whir sound beyond his door, which made me question if something else was in the room I didn't realize.
"Good, if this Blackbell girl doesn't prove herself useful, I'll start sending pieces of her until he gives what he owes us." He states venomously, I hear a creak of hinges and a heavy door shutting, lifting my ear to slowly walk away, increasing my speed as I got farther from the office until I broke out into a full sprint toward my room.
After I was laying in my bed scrolling on EdenBook mindlessly lost in thought for what felt like an hour. Trying not to imagine father actually hurting Becky.
A small knock sounds at my door, "Come in" I call out sitting up from my bed. Demetrius strides in the room, in a white tee and black sweats looking like he just got out of the shower. Maybe more time passed than I originally thought.
Demetrius sits at the chair at the desk across my room, facing the bed. He runs a hand through his damp hair looking more tired than I ever saw him. "Damian look, I don't want to be an asshole. At the end of the day you're still my kid brother, and I want you to be happy. One of us should be." he mumbles the end part, looking at the ground detached for a moment.
"So here's how it's going to go. Let me know who and when ahead of time, so I can make sure I'm around. If anyone is new, I need time to run background checks. Otherwise it's not going to happen no matter how much you beg." I nod.
"The estate has increased security so I can't have people going in and out, which means once they're on the grounds they stay put till morning." I counter "Does it matter who?"
He smiles a genuine smile that I don't think I've seen in years "Anya's been personally vetted by me. If that's what you're asking." I raise my brow at that, I'm not sure how I feel about my family looking into her background like she's a criminal or spy.
"But I don't think you'll have to worry about me, rather than her father. He seems very…protective." He says distantly as if in thought.
I rub my hands together nervously. "He trusts me with Anya, he knows I would never hurt her." Demetrius chuckles "I know what you want to do with her." I toss a pillow over at him which he catches and chucks back at me hitting the headboard.
"She's more than that." I say, feeling my ears heat up, "I know." Demetrius says flatly "You don't have to explain yourself to me. Like I said, just tell me who and when." he says standing and yawning, making his way over to the door, opening it to leave but stopping short.
"You just need to figure out how you're going to get Daddy's permission for a sleep over." he teases and closes the door before the pillow I threw hits the door with a soft thump as he escapes.
I throw myself back on my bed, I need to tell Anya about Becky. I just don't know how to tell her, without her being completely disgusted by my family or it changing how she views me. But at this point I may need to sacrifice my relationship with Anya to save Becky. It's the right thing to do…
Anya POV
Today is the day of the University tour which should help in the mission and for us getting Becky back. I ended up getting stuck doing the tour with Damian, it made getting to the professor and Becky's boyfriend a bit trickier.
Damian and I are the only ones on this school tour since I'm sure the Science teacher used his name to get us a private self guided tour. Of course not after the dean met with us and gushed about the program we were going to be sitting in on. Obviously fishing for donations for Damian if he did choose the University after graduation.
We sat in the back of the class tucked in a corner of the grand lecture hall; while all the older college students started to fill in the seats. Damian and I made jokes about how the dean was begging for him to open his wallet right there on the spot. While we waited for Dr. Petrov to enter, Damian asked what we should be expecting.
A brunette walked in with messy curly hair in a haphazard bun, she has dark circles around her eyes that seem deep sunken in. A tingle of shock comes from Damian, so I peer into his thoughts on why he feels startled at her presence.
What is Katrina doing here? My eyes widened when I heard him say her name in his head.
A memory flashed in his mind, showing Demetrius putting on cologne and getting out of the car and her jumping on him kissing him deeply outside the limo. Then Damian sniffed the same vial of cologne, and then masterbating in the limo. As if reliving his thoughts from the moment comes to my mind in his memory, pheromones like animals.
What the hell? I remember him thinking about that before, but I didn't realize it was real and not a fantasy at the time. I tried to take the moment to ponder on it, but I didn't realize she was introducing us to her class. Damian nodded and I raised a hand in greeting, she said as brightly as she could, "Welcome, if you have any questions feel free to stop up after class, I'll be happy to answer any of your questions."
As she began her lesson I leaned over to Damian and whispered "It's supposed to be her father teaching the class." I point to the schedule of Dr. T Petrov. "Do you know her or something? You looked like you saw a ghost when she came in." I say lying hoping he doesn't call my bluff.
He raises a brow at me, did I make a face?
"She's…my brother's girlfriend." He mumbled through tight lips as if not a soul could hear it. I widen my eyes and look at her again, as she points enthusiastically to the board. She clearly focused on prosthetics since I'm sure they gave her a heads up on our project to ensure our interest. But unfortunately I'm only interested in finding out more about her now.
"She doesn't seem like his type." I state, picking up my phone but hiding it beside my notebook to not be rude, he chuckles beside me, "I said the same thing." he said agreeing with me.
I type in her name on the search bar to see what I could find. Which wasn't much since she pretty much lives in her fathers shadow.
Interestingly enough last summer the Blackbells held a fundraiser in conjunction with her nonprofit organization, which she seems to be the co-founder of. The information seems generic and repetitive just asking for donations toward war recovery efforts they have across the country. I note the event and non profit information, in a fresh page in my notebook underneath the notes I'm taking for the class, out of sight from Damian's questioning gaze.
I found her last thesis and found one where she was writing on encasing hazardous material inside a metal device to allow safe transportation. I also see that prior to her thesis, she co wrote one with her father, in fact it's the only one of his works she's noted in.
The paper discussed how to trace this particular strain of hazardous material found about the regions, where Uranium could be mined under water. This is where those skimming and highlight skills come in handy, procrastination does have benefits.
I send the links from the articles, nonprofit, and her bio to Papa, to dig deeper he'll know what to do.
Damian's thoughts start to trickle in as he watches the lecture even though he's clearly lost in his thoughts. I tune in, to try and see if I can get anything else. Who would've known the world is small enough that Demetrius is banging the professor anyway.
What information could he be trying to extract from her?
He pulls out his phone and looks up her degrees and history. I try to decipher his thoughts as he does his own research beside me while I take notes, him unknowing. He lands on the non profit website, and tries to find more information on it. But the website has so little he can't seem to find a connection either; I look over all my notes but I can't seem to connect anything just yet.
After a while he gave up and started paying attention to the lesson. She's talking about the different neurological ways that prosthetics could be used through, someone raised their hand and asked if there is one that moves with a person's thoughts. Which piqued my interest and I stopped doodling on my notebook and decided to start taking some notes.
She talks about how it hasn't been perfected but there are some who theorize a device can be built to amplify psychological signals.
I couldn't help but raise my hand intrigued, the professor smiles wide and points at me "Do you have a question?" I nod, "building on what they said before, theoretically would the same principle be applicable for psychological projection onto objects or let's say, people?"
If she weren't a woman of science my question would have sounded straight out of a sci fi novel, but she pondered for a moment. Some of her class started coming up with their own hypothesis intrigued at the idea, some deeming it not possible.
She rounds her desk and sits on the edge of it pondering before she responds, "From an engineering standpoint, think of the brain as individual antennas. There are some that are only capable of sending signals or receiving. All objects and people theoretically operate at different frequencies, but there are certain STAR antennas that are capable of signaling both at the same time so long as they're on the same frequency." she smiled at me as she spoke, "It would take an extraordinary mind to be able to signal both simultaneously. But this is all hypothetical since I'm not familiar with the brain." She stands from her desk once she's done "Interesting theory however, Ms. Forger." I smile brightly still trying to play into the illusion of an interested student.
She never ceases to amaze me.
Damian's thoughts trickled in beside me, as he leaned in "Since when were you interested in instilling your will onto others?" he asked me in a teasing tone. But the way he phrased it made me think.
He's right forcing my thoughts into other people's minds won't change their thoughts, but if I try to force my will to over power theirs, that might be a better take on it. I take some notes on the thoughts, and eventually go back to my phone to find out more about this before the lecture is over.
Usually when I peer into other thoughts purposely I have to peer deep to hear their inner most thoughts. But from what I'm reading about the human brain, the part I need is the one that controls their free will.
I tried thinking back to the moment in the woods, trying to remember the feeling of it when I did it in the moment. I remember, looking deep into his eyes and it was always like a pull inside his mind. That I instinctively pushed into, and forced him to fight his partner.
I was taken out of my thoughts when I realized she's ending her lecture. I asked Damian "Can you wait for me outside, I just wanted to ask her a few questions." slowly gathering my things, he nods wanting the opportunity to get away from her.
Once the last student leaves I walk up to her desk and she greets me motioning me to have a seat, which I decline. "I won't take up too much of your time."
She opens her arms welcoming "I hope you enjoyed the class, I'm sure you were expecting my father. I heard this lecture was personally requested."
I rub the back of my neck sheepishly. "I very much did, but as much as I respect the work of your father. I was excited to have you teaching instead, did he happen to retire?" I let my statement linger for a moment, feeling the worry trickle through her.
"Really? I'm only teaching for a semester, while he's on sabbatical." she says her voice wavering a bit, which she tried to cover by clearing her throat.
Her thoughts filled with worry, he hasn't reached out for so long.
Thoughts drift to the voice in the woods that night and the man's thoughts I heard. How his thoughts were of her in his final moments, before he was shot in cold blood. I can't confirm it for sure, but my gut tells me her father died that night on Desmond's property.
"Oh that makes sense and who better than his daughter to teach his class." I say smiling at her complimenting her a bit, to make her relax. I quickly add, "I'm actually a bit of a fangirl if I may. The device you talk about in your thesis from a couple years ago, quite innovative though only one could only imagine what such a container would look like." I remarked, feigning academic studiousness.
A fangirl? Of mine?
She smiled widely at the compliments I was aiming at her, "Really? Well I was encouraged by my father to revitalize that particular thesis and together we made a prototype." she leans in and whispers excitedly "the patent is pending."
"That's amazing! I assumed most of it was hypothetical; were there any drastic differences than the initial design you briefly mention in the paper." I inquire innocently, hoping that the guise of an academically eager mind, and her clear lack of sleep, leak her to tell me something or her thoughts to slip up.
"We had many concepts for the design, but the final design was something my father mostly created. The initial device was designed to house one substance, the new design now can hold two simultaneously." she says proudly.
"That sounds dangerous. Is it possible that something like that could explode, if not handled correctly." I shockingly inquired, she crosses her arms, her posture turning on the defensive.
"Of course not, the device is intended to avoid such things." She says frowning.
"I only ask, concerned with the war that's currently raging, it just has me on edge. To think a device like that could be repurposed for war." I emphasize, she lowers her arms fiddling with her thick gold bangle bracelet, and says "it's safe, not to worry."
I can't let anyone have the designs until father reaches out.
I put my hands up "I'm sure it is, no better hands than you." I say trying to lighten the mood again.
I readjust my book bag over my shoulder, about to turn to leave but then I started thinking about the pheromones Demetrius is using on her. Which explains her slightly disheveled appearance and her deep sunken in circles. I don't want her to be more suspicious of me, but woman to woman I feel like I should give her some type of warning.
"On a more personal note, be careful… with Demetrius." Before she could finish her response "How-" I turned and made my way toward the door.
But she called out "What's that supposed to mean?" stopping me short when I turned her face was scarlet.
I pointed my thumb toward the door with Damian, "I'm dating his little brother, Damian." I say hoping my relationship with him warms her up enough to heed my warning.
"I just know what they're capable of… be careful." I nod firmly at her and make my way through the door. Not letting her continue the conversation, fear of giving her too much. Before I reached the second set of double doors, I took out Becky's phone that I swiped from the house and texted her boyfriend Jake.
Becky: Meet me at the library in an hour.
It was barely a minute before I saw the message marked as read.
Now that the bait is set, I need to go set the trap.