Love & Hate

2 Months Later

"If only you were paying attention then maybe things would have been different," a voice laughs quietly.

Light shines into the dark room, but only very briefly. Then the door clicks shut. Outside the barred window, clouds part and a pale silver contrail of light glimmers inside. Although, the window is more of a barred hole in the wall. Selene glances up at the light with lifeless eyes. Irritation flits across her face, and she turns away from it. Any and all light is too foreign, and painful, to be welcome in her life. It has been for too long.

Selene can barely register what happens to her anymore. Nor does she notice what they do to her when they call her to the pale, steel room. The only constant in her life is the pain in her heart. It only grows inside her, and has never shown any signs of waning. It's a non-stop current of pain that never shuts off, not even for a moment. It hurts, but only because she's never near him. She may never be near him…

Contrary to popular belief, Jack hasn't forgotten her. In fact, he sometimes wakes up from the nightmares. Or rather, the memory of what happened that day. He did try to find her once, but only once. The twins found out and they didn't hesitate to show everyone; even Martha. It wasn't a conversation that he particularly enjoyed, and he's determined not to be subjected to it again. He found it almost impossible to convince them that he wasn't interested in her the way they thought he was. It's probably the way they still think he's interested in her for. Although, Crow sometimes still teases him about it. Jack decided it was better to forget he had met her completely, and to stop thinking about what happened. It isn't working like he had hoped. His nightmares of that day, and the consequences, have played over and over in his dreams more often than before.

Jack can't escape his thoughts. He can't bury the memory like he hoped. There's only one choice left for him. His choice has practically been made for him. Jack turns and glances at the clock, irritated.

02:04 am.

He kicks the covers off and walks over to the laptop on his desk. Tapping his foot, he waits for the laptop to load. The moment his homepage is up, he pulls up his e-mail and delves into his bin section. He sighs in relief as one particular e-mail is still there. Jack copies and pastes the entire document into different, and varied, files. Next, Jack starts to skimming through each and every file, and clicking on every link, big and small. He supposes it's possible for him to have missed something before. More than anything, he wants the nightmares to stop. This is the only option that seems to make sense to him.

His search refuses to bring up any valid and useful results. He grits his teeth in frustration and anger. It's impossible for him to fathom how anyone can disappear without leaving any trace at all. As irritated as he is, he begins his search all over again. Jack knows he's missed something, he's sure he has. It has to be something small and seemingly insignificant. Just as he thinks that, he finds a link that wasn't there before. It's small, isn't highlighted and covers only one letter. He clicks it and scowls at the screen as it slowly loads. His eyes widen slightly as the screen comes up onto a strange website. Right in the centre of the screen, a small video box opens. It soon becomes apparent that it's Sector Security surveillance footage. He leans forward, curious.

Selene turns away. She looks almost like she's about to cry. Then she looks up and to her left. The big television. For a brief moment she looks really ill, then there's the panic in her eyes. The panic takes hold of her in an unbreakable grip. She's visibly shaking. Then, without seeming to mean it, she speaks. One word. Just one word. Move. Then a loud crack! reverberates around the square. The television falls.

Jack pauses a moment before rewinding the footage to when she first ran from the dark alley. He watches her carefully as she runs away and back. He tries to find a link to another camera and frowns when he realises that this camera is the only one he can access. So he starts it again from when she enters the square. His eyes focus intently on everything she does. Unfortunately, he's not getting anywhere. He squeezes his eyes shut and pinches the bridge of his nose. He finds it annoying, extremely annoying. There's nothing else for him to go on at all. It's just more stress, really isn't what he needs.

"I thought you said you didn't like her?" Crow grins.

"What are you doing here?" Jack snaps. Slamming his laptop shut.

"It's twelve Jack. You said you were going to meet up with us at Martha's," Yusei replies.

"I don't like her!" Jack yells, glaring at Crow.

Yusei frowns at the laptop before re-opening it while Crow and Jack have their shouting match. Yusei frowns as he notices Jack and the girl. He barely manages to read her lips when she whispers move. Then the television falls from its place. His eyes dart back to the girl and catch her running into something. Or rather someone. He pushes the laptop away and frowns. It's just when everything seemed to be going well. Not anymore, of course.

"What are you doing?" Jack snarls.

"Him," Yusei says. "The girl went with Him."

"How'd you?" Jack's eyes are wide and his jaw hangs slack.

"It didn't look like she went willingly either," Crow mutters. "I thought we were rid of him."

"Let's get going," Jack comments, staring at the screen. "We'll talk about this on the way."

"Don't mention this to Akiza," Yusei says suddenly. "She won't be happy about this and she might try to find him on her own."

"Good point," Jack frowns.

"Ah, the sun hurts, doesn't it?" a voice asks. "You'll get used to it soon enough."

A scuffling sound comes from the shadows. The soft clink of chains signal struggled movements. A low groan echoes as whoever it is strains to reach out. The owner to whom the voice belongs steps out. Sayer smirks down at the darkest corner and puts down a small plate with food. It's only an apple, but it's all she's been getting lately. He walks away and out the door, but he doesn't close it. Instead he watches as a pale, thin hand extends from the shadows. It's pulled back by the chains before it can reach the plate. She inches further out and into the light. Her gaze is intently focused on the meagre apple shining in the rare slats of light. She manages to use her other hand to grab the side of the plate and pull it into the shadows. Sayer smiles, content, and closes the door.

Yes, he's happy with his new toy. Very happy indeed. She's much more fragile and weak-willed than Akiza. More easy for him to manipulate and mould into whatever his heart desires her to be; a weapon. That's what he wants. Someone who won't hesitate when it comes to confrontation. Someone he won't have to lie to. He can just tell her what he's planning without having to worry about her running away or his control slipping. She's absolutely perfect that in that way. It's a shame to him that she's not that powerful, psychic-wise. He finds it alright though, some of his special intense training should be able to fix that. Not too intense though. There's a pain in her chest that she mentioned, directly over her heart, that's worrying. The doctor's couldn't find anything wrong with her, and it's holding his plans back. He'll keep his eye on her, because letting the perfect little doll go is just stupid.

The only outward concern he has are those troublesome Signers. He won't let them take Selene away. She's far too important to just let go. Selene is the key that he's waiting for. The one who could help him attain world domination. So for now, she'll be in training. When the time comes though, there won't be anyone standing in his way. There will be chaos for the normal people out there. The ones who aren't psychics that he has no use for whatsoever. He stops outside his office and pushes the doors open. She hates the sun. She hates it with a fierce passion, but at night; that's when she comes alive. He opens up the document on Selene on his computer. There's a connection, however thin or strong it may be, he knows he can use it to his advantage.

Selene.

Age: 15.

Skills: Slight premonition. (Needs a lot of work)

Abnormalities: Unidentifiable pain in chest. Hates the sun. Comes alive at night (especially when there's a moon).

Yes, she's going to be the world's worst nightmare. Premonition, what a find! Now, if he could only enhance her skills. Either way, he's going to have everything he's ever wanted. Everything he's ever worked for. It will all be his. With her by his side, there's nothing that can stop him. With Selene, he can have absolutely everything.

Disclaimer: I own Selene, the plot, the brown thing, and the alien fox. Everything else goes to their rightful, respected owners.

-Chapter Edited.