Madness entered his eyes. He strode towards her and she was sure he was going to hit her. He seemed to catch himself, keeping himself in check with the fury simmering just under the surface. She knew what day it was. She had gone too far. Far too far. She had gone so past the line she could no longer see it. But she couldn't talk now, not with the class murmuring in confusion. "I'll see you in detention after class Faeilr" his eyes promised death. He continued with the class as if nothing had happened but she didn't move a muscle, just stared blankly at her desk, her stomach churning in terror. He was going to murder her.

The class ended but Anna barely noticed, she remained at her desk, staring at the wood, blocking out the noise surrounding her. It was the last lesson of the day meaning now was her detention. She was alone with Blackburn. He slowly walked over and locked the door, shutting out any noise from outside and then, taking his time, stepped over to her. This time he did hit her, his fist clashing into her cheek, fury making him forget about what people would think. Maybe after this 'detention' it would no longer matter. Her head snapped back and she tried to scramble away. He grabbed the scruff of her neck and pressed her against the wall, his face contorted in anger as he spoke to her. "What were you thinking? How dare you mention that, that name! On today of all days." He swore at her displaying an impressive collection of curse words as he slammed her forward and back so she hit her head on the wall over and over. She was dizzy and she tasted blood but he didn't seem to notice, his grip on her shoulders painfully tight. "Get away from me!" she shoved her knee into his groin and tried to twist away as he bent over in pain. But his grip on her was too firm and he held onto her arm like an iron bolt. However the kick seemed to have brought him more to his senses. They were both panting and she tried to block him as he reached out to touch the bruise on her cheek with surprisingly gentle fingers.

"Are you okay?" She didn't reply, just kept incredibly still as he examined the wound on the crown of her head where he'd banged it on the wall. He was like a predator, unpredictable and she barely dared to breathe in case she provoked him. But he released her and walked over to his desk to pull out a first aid kit. She blanched as he took out the needle and thread and tried to run for the door but he grabbed her and shoved her into a seat. "You need stitches on that cut on your head and you sure as hell aren't going to the infirmary for them. Your hair will cover them so people won't see but the infirmary will ask questions. I'll do it." He gave her some painkillers and his water glass, bading her to drink from it and swallow them. With shaking hands she did, the adrenaline ceasing, meaning her aches and pains started coming back in full force until the pills kicked in to dull the pain. As he worked, stitching the wound Anna found herself thinking about Roanoke, what had happened all those years ago. It was the anniversary today she knew, which was why she had been so stupid to rise up to him when he'd provoked her.

That night on the island, had been the first night trying Anna's experimental brew. The night she'd learned more about the man that she could have imagined. She'd made it out of coconuts, fermenting them and using stills to create a sort of Malibu type alcoholic concoction. As far as she knew it was very strong. She'd wanted to have something to do, to look forward to. Life was busy but dreary on Stow and she'd hoped to be able to have something new to try. So that night they had sipped on the alcohol, then gulped, drinking steadily more and more. She knew it was a mistake, a bad idea but the thought of being able to forget her troubles had been too strong. She should have got Blackburn drunk and made a run for it or something but shockingly she hadn't even thought about it, so eager was she to just have a night where there might be some laughter in the air. Of course alcohol didn't make problems go away, but at that point Anna no longer cared about possible dependency or being safe, she'd just wanted some escape.

So they had begun talking. About stupid things like the colour of the shells she had found, how stupid the hobby of collecting shells was, and what they missed most about the world they were excluded from. "I miss cheese, you know, cheese and pasta, cheese burgers, lasagne, anything with cheese in it" she'd told him dreamily, looking at the stars, her guard down for the first time in months. Apart from her drug-addled night two weeks before.
"Cheese? Out of all the things in the world and you pick cheese. I've no idea how you ever made it into Com-co. Not books, music, films, internet, family. Nope Anna Faeilr is fine without any of these things. All she needs to keep her happy is a block of fermented milk. Get the girl some cheddar. Not to worry, we can milk that panther later, make a nice Gouda." She'd scowled at him, kicking him jokingly, forgetting, for once, who he was. "Fine then, what do you miss?"
His eyes had appeared soft and far away and for once unguarded as he'd gazed at the stars, lying down in the sand. "I miss not having to listen to you witter on. The bliss of those days shut off in the computer lab, programming. Computers don't blather on you know, they don't ask stupid questions. They are reliable, take orders and are completely readable."
"I'm not readable?"
He'd glanced at her, twisting his head to the side in order to do so whilst lying down. "You are an enigma. Completely impossible." She'd grinned at that. Impossible was good in her books.

"How did you get into Com-Co? What did you do to merit a place? All you plebes seem utterly ordinary to me, I can never fathom how any of you lot are seen as the cream of the crop. Though you have resilience and strong survival instinct which is good. You wouldn't have survived here without it."
"My parents. Mum's always working and Dad's a genius in other aspects, has hobbies and things like that. But they sent me to all these boarding schools, nannies and such. I never spent any time with them" her voice became bitter, "but at least my grades were good so they were happy." She scowled. "I'm a good observer, I listen, and notice things other people don't." She had his full attention now.
"So one day at one of the boarding schools I notice my teacher isn't on the ball. She's got these bags under her eyes and she's stricter with the punishments. I see that another girl in my class didn't do her nails, which isn't normal for her, and she's the daughter of the headmaster. The teachers start teaching us stuff as normal but they slip in sentences of discontent like "we have freedom of speech, as long as it fits in with the corporations". Stuff like that. The school was closing down and they were getting more anxious and careless in their words. They started to talk a bit more about terrorism and I started to realise that not everything I had been taught was gospel truth. That conspiracy theorists maybe were not all nut jobs. So I started researching things. I tried to cover my tracks but only to an extent, I didn't really think they'd do anything. After all we are a democracy and all, and we are civilised, no war and all that". Blackburn had snorted at that and taken another swig. Anna had sobered up quite a lot during her speech and drunk more as well.

"So I was stupid. I posted stuff, about the Middle East, the monopolisation of companies, the ownership of food and water onto social media sites. I followed blogs and I had a vlog for a bit. It seemed harmless but you know how it is when you want the truth, you become sort of consumed by it." He'd stared at her then, hands running through his hair, recognising the truth of what she said.
"Anyway, I um, started getting a bit too much attention. Turns out the daughter of a rich bank woman is someone people think is rational, someone they might actually listen to. I'd ignored my online friends when they'd warned me to be careful, thought it was fine, I have human rights. I was an idiot." Her voice started to slur again as the drink renewed its hold. "In the end they tried to arrest me on some stupid charge of insulting the government and spreading discontent, a terrorist charge." She'd smiled wryly. "But I got publicity and argued my case pretty well. They could've shut me down, but not too easily. My parents had practically disowned me for hurting their precious reputations but they were important people. The charges were dropped. So I was offered a job here instead. Probably to keep me quiet and out of the way but, the way I see it, keep your friends close, and your enemies closer." She'd yawned.

"You moron girl, they own you now do you see that? You have a computer inside your head child – they can do anything they want!"
Anna had sighed, "Not if my programming is good enough. I finish this contract and I can get the word out. But I wasn't gonna uncover anything looking at blogs and leaks on the web, so I came to the heart of it all." She'd muttered grimly, "not that it matters now anyway."
He'd smirked, "so you thought you could take the corporations on, thatta girl. Idiotic but admirable." She'd stuck her tongue out at him. It was strange how the alcohol took away certain boundaries and barriers. Made them more comfortable around each other.

"So… what about you? What was all that about guilt following you around the other week?" she'd asked, the drink making her bold. That was when the mood had changed. It had been relatively light and subtle but suddenly the air had seemed to become heavier. "It doesn't matter" he'd snapped at her, and a bolt of anxiety had shot through her. "Not anymore." So they'd lain there in silence, swigging more of the coconut concoction until Blackburn had broken it. "It was in Roanoke. They'd tried to 'cure' me, but I escaped from Vengerov and his men." The way he spoke the name Vengerov had made her shiver at the venom in his voice. "I disappeared, off the grid, took my wife and kids from right under their stupid, pompous, arrogant noses." Anna had gaped at him. She'd never known he had a family. Grimly he continued. "It was…. horrible. I was obsessive, paranoid and Schizophrenic. I was constantly vigilant against Vengerov's men. It was a toll on my family I know. My wife, she was good to me, helped me. But it was hard for her, the kids couldn't leave, the two boys, a year apart. They needed space, space to run."

He'd taken a huge, shuddering breath at that point. "Then, the day came. The wife was… afraid of me. She'd stuck with me the whole time, for years, but it was too much and so she tipped them off," his voice broke. Anna had been frozen, not daring to move in case she broke his spiel. "They sent in troops to get the boys out. Esme, she stayed with me when it happened. Took them in the car and" he'd paused and she had been shocked to see tears spilling from his eyes. He must've been really drunk she'd thought. "I'd planted mines around the house. I was terrified they would come for my family, terrified he'd use them to get to me! The ruthlessness of that man you have no idea! But the car, with the boys in, it went over a mine and" he had paused then and whispered, "they were gone". Anna had had the feeling this was the first time he'd told anyone about it.

They had stayed in silence for a long while after that, each to their own thoughts. They'd drunk some more, and Anna had started to sing, quietly at first and then louder as her confidence grew. It was a wild song, tuneful but erratic, unpredictable as the wind with nonsense lyrics and words switched as she felt it flow. He'd chuckled, "I didn't know you could sing girl."
"You'd be surprised what I can do."
"I don't want to know. Doesn't bear thinking about."
"Jerk!"
"Stupid girl."

He'd turned to her then, with a strange expression on his scarred face. His eyes, woozy and unfocussed before had suddenly became clear. His hand, rough and large had gently caressed her face. Mind addled with hooch Anna had grinned and hesitantly, furtively leaned forward to kiss him. His badly shorn stubble had scratched her, but in that moment she hadn't cared. She wouldn't have noticed if a ship had arrived right then. His hands had stroked her cheek, rubbing his thumb. He had pulled back, eyes searching her's. "I shouldn't be doing this" he'd croaked. "I'm a professor, a Lieutenant. Shouldn't be doing this."

He'd drawn breath and pulled her back towards him, forcibly titling her head up by the chin, using his hand, but gently caressing her as he crushed his lips to her's. It had felt ethereal, time had slowed and she had felt every breath of wind, every touch, every point of heated contact. Yet it had also felt very very real. Anna had pulled back and grinned, her vision blurring slightly from drink as she'd slid her cool hand under his shirt. In return he had snaked his arm around her waist, pulling her towards him so she had been practically on top of his lap, her legs framing his sides. He had run his hand through her thick hair, and titled his head to kiss her again. She didn't know how long they had remained like that. Time had stilled, throbbing on erratically but largely it had ceased to exist as she took in the passionate embraces, the comfort of human touch and the ability to relax, to get under the skin of this man for once. "You are so beautiful" he'd muttered. She knew it wasn't true. She changed with the lights of the seasons, sometimes seeing herself as plain, other times ugly and on rare occasions, very pretty. But she'd accepted the compliment nevertheless, blushing down. He'd kissed her again quickly, then longingly. He'd then repeated what he had said before, his eyes darting downwards. "I shouldn't be doing this."

"Yeah well you shouldn't be doing a lot of things, like tying me up, threatening me either but you do" she'd murmured absentmindedly. He'd recoiled like he'd been struck and reality had come flooding back to her. Adrenaline had helped clear her head as she'd scrambled away. They'd spent the rest of that night ignoring one another and the next day had reached an unspoken agreement not to speak of it. Too many secrets had been shared. It had been due to the drink, she knew that. It had been a moment of weakness, it didn't really mean anything she knew that. She still loathed him and he her. But they'd been alone on Stow for so long, she'd needed some contact. That was all.

Back in the present Blackburn had finished the stitches. "Sorry. I shouldn't have mentioned it, Roanoke. It was insensitive." Anna found herself admitting that one small transgression. The rest of the things she'd said she had no regrets about. "Put some make up on that bruise girl." He left the room.

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Ok so one of my favourite chapters - but what I really want to know is what did YOU, the home viewer, the reader, think?