You and Me Time

 

Chapter Twelve

 

My hands start to shake—badly—and I close my eyes, reopening them only to find that the appearing Company employees aren’t a hallucination. How I wish they were.

Chase steps in front of me, blocking me from the people that start to surround us in a semi-circle. Our backs are to the river, so naturally the Company members are cornering us.

Reuben, a slight smile on his face, steps forward with his son, Oliver. I truly dislike Oliver—he with the Talent to make you see your worst fears as if they’re coming true. He made me see everyone I care about die.

“Ah, Skye, my dear. How lovely to see you again.” Rueben says with a casual, friendly voice. I shiver, still being hidden behind Chase. “And Chase, you too of course.” He adds, his voice letting on that he knows he’s in control now. I feel my stomach doing flips.

“What is it that you want from us?” Chase asks icily. My hand is still in his, enveloped by its strength and warmth. Right now it’s holding me up.

“It’s not always a matter of wanting something,” Rueben says, strolling casually around the forest grounds in which we all are gathered.

“Cut the s**t, Rueben.” Chase growls, his muscles tensed as if ready to fight.

Rueben turns to look squarely at Chase, his friendliness gone. He says, very seriously, “I want to duplicate Skye’s DNA.”

Chase laughs and the sound is without humor. “You’re not touching her,” he says, laughter gone. 

“And that, Chase, is where you come in.” Rueben says, narrowing his eyes. Chase shrugs, looking unconcerned.

“What do you need from me?” He asks out of curiosity, still blocking me from the Company. Should they attack he’ll be the one to get hit. Realizing this, I tug at his arm, trying to get stop him from blocking me. He stays where he is, not budging, and continues blocking me.

“I don’t need you, I need your DNA; but for purely scientific reasons. You see, I need Skye’s DNA for a wholly different reason.” Rueben says, eyeing with curiosity the non-verbal argument going on between Chase and me. If he would just move…

“Why do you need Skye’s DNA?” Chase asks, his eyes dark. He tugs gently at my hand to get me to stop trying to move him. I sigh in frustration, staying hidden behind him.

“I’m dying,” Rueben says conversationally, his voice only saddening slightly. Chase’s expression doesn’t change, and for the most part, neither does mine. This man has kidnapped and ruined my life, killed my parents, and tortured Chase and his family. You can’t honestly expect me to feel sorry for him.

“What does that have to do with Skye’s DNA?” Chase asks with emotionless eyes. Oliver is looking at the river, his eyes angry. Now whether its anger at me, or at his father, I haven’t a clue.

“She’s a Persuader,” Rueben explains, unnecessarily. I think Chase knows what I am, for freak’s sake. The Company members’ eyes shift nervously, eyeing me with a new hate.

“And…?” Chase questions, his eyes snapping at a man who is snarling at me, his eyes hateful. The man, whose mind has probably just been Controlled by Chase, looks away from me, his face resuming its normal expression. Rueben smiles slightly.

“She could, theoretically, Persuade her body into keeping itself alive.” Rueben explains, and realization kicks in. A muscle in Chase’s back twitches and I reflexively smooth my hand over it, trying to calm him. His muscles relax under my touch, but stay tensed, angry.

“If I had her DNA, I could mix it with mine, and I could, too, be a Persuader.” Rueben says, his eyes zeroing in on me vengefully.

“You’re not touching her,” Chase snaps, his eyes glaring hatefully at Rueben. I bite my lip, hard.

“If I were a Persuader,” Rueben continues, “I could Persuade my body into staying alive. I could live.”

Chase shakes his head, eyes dark. “You can make Talents, Rueben. Why don’t you just make yourself a Persuader?”

Rueben’s own eyes darken, and he looks away from Chase and I. “It doesn’t work like that.” He mutters, and then his eyes snap to Chase. “Now move, so I can take her back to my lab.” He says, eyes cautious. Chase’s body shifts to I’m forced to take a step back, closer to the river.

“You’re not touching her.” He repeats, the muscles all over his body tensed.

Now, you may be asking yourself why we don’t just comply and let Rueben take my DNA, saving himself, and yaddayaddayadda. But, it doesn’t work like that.

When someone takes a Talent’s DNA, they kill them.

I don’t know why it works like that, I honestly don’t think about it that much, but that’s the way it is.

So, I think you can see why I’m freaking out a little bit.

“Chase, I know you’re strong, but there is no way you can fight the forty Talents ready to kill you on my command.” Rueben says, smiling patronizingly. Chase shrugs, looking unconcerned.

“I’m ready to find out if that’s true,” he says, lifting an eyebrow. Rueben sighs, stepping backward and motioning with his hand for the Company employees to attack. I panic, my thoughts spiraling into all kinds of different directions.

Chase pushes me back gently, away from him and the Company, and in the direction of the river. I stumble and then catch my balance, watching as Chase stands in the same spot, concentrating. On cue, about fifteen Company members fall down, unconscious. Chase smiles quickly before a look of concentration passes over his face again. I see a woman lifting her hand to touch Chase, to kill him with her Talent, I assume, and I step in front of her, Persuading her quickly to turn around and walk from the forest.

With that, fifteen more company members drop to the ground, immobilized. Chase lifts an eyebrow at the last ten, who needless to say, look a little scared. I gently Persuade a couple of them to leave as well and I watch as they turn around, walking from the forest quickly and quietly. Rueben glares at Chase and me, sending his son Oliver forward. Oliver walks with confidence towards me, smiling evilly. I narrow my eyes at him, opening my mouth to Persuade him to leave as well. He holds up a hand before I can say anything, and images fill my head. Images of my parents dying. I clutch at my stomach, feeling it flip over multiple times, and close my eyes, praying for the images to leave.

My mother is in an over turned car, blood trickling down her face as she cries, calling out for my father, not realizing that he is already dead. I cry with my mother, full body sobs that probably make a lot of noise.

The images stop in my head, and I feel a hand on my arm, tugging me up from the ground where I fell. I pull away from the hand before realizing that its Chase’s. He wraps his arms around me, tucking my head under his chin. “It’s okay, you’re okay.” He murmurs into my hair, comforting me. I take a deep breath and it’s as shaky as I feel. I pull away from Chase suddenly, whirling on my heel towards Oliver, who backs up nervously, seeing the look in my eye. I hold up a hand, feeling the power in it, knowing that I could kill him if I wanted to. And I do. I want to kill him.

I take a few steps toward Oliver, pushing past the images he throws into my head. Then I reach out my hand, my fingers pressing against flesh, and I see Oliver collapse under my touch. He falls to the ground, his eyes closing, and I kick him once, in the side.

He’s only unconscious, unfortunately. I couldn’t have killed him. I wanted to—I still do—but I can’t.

Rueben, not realizing that his son is only unconscious, charges at me, his eyes filled with fury. He raises a hand, hitting my squarely across the face. I see Chase fighting the only Company member left, and realize that I’m on my own for now. Rueben raises his hand again, hitting me once more and I can feel my lip slice open, blood filling my mouth. I spit it out, on Rueben’s shoes, and glare at him hatefully.

“You want my DNA, Ruebes?” I ask, eyes dancing mercilessly. “Come and get it.”

I back up, waiting for Rueben to narrow his eyes and follow me. When he does, I back up again, just out of his reach. This continues several times until Rueben takes a leap at me, his fist connecting with my temple. I feel tears sting my eyes and I take a sharp intake of breath, letting it out in a whoosh.

Rueben takes advantage of my situation, lifting his shirt slightly to reveal a gun resting snugly against his hip. He pulls it out, clicks off the safety, and levels it at me. By now, I’m fumbling for words, unsure of what to do.

“You don’t want to kill me,” I tell him, my voice Persuading. Unfortunately, being that I’m not concentrating, I can’t really Persuade Rueben, and I’m staring at the gun aimed at my forehead, unsure of what to do. I feel fear and hate trickle into my veins, filling me with coldness.

“You killed my son,” Rueben says, his eyes dark and emotionless. I take a breath, shaking my head.

“I didn’t, I swear. He’s unconscious, you can check. I didn’t kill him.” I say, panic rising in my voice. “Chase,” I call out as Rueben raises his hand again, hitting me under the chin, causing my jaw to click and my teeth to snap. I see stars.

And not the celebrity kind of stars.

“You killed him!” Rueben yells, not listening to me. He raises the guy with a shaky hand, leveling it so that it’s staring me in the eye.

And suddenly, I feel myself get very angry. Really angry. Violently freaking angry.

I mean, who is Rueben to boss me around, torture me, hit me, and throw wild accusations at me? I don’t deserve that. If anyone deserves it, it’s him. He should pay for what he’s done.

I lift my hand quickly, pressing my fingers to Rueben’s inner wrist. “When you made me an Extinguisher I thought my life was over,” I say, as Rueben falls to his knees, gun cluttering to the ground. I hold my fingers to his wrist still, feeling his pulse slow. “Turns out, it wasn’t my life that you ended. It was yours.”

And with that, I feel Rueben’s pulse slow until it stops altogether. He looks at me with a detestable expression, dying with hatred in both his heart and his eyes.

I step away from his still body, my hands shaking, and feel my eyes widen. Holy. Holy, holy, holy.

I’m a murdered.

I just murdered somebody.

I take another step back, turning to see Chase still fighting with a Company member. When the Company member notices how Rueben is dead, however, he takes a step away from Chase, and falls like a deadweight to the ground, unconscious.

Chase turns to me and my eyes are drawn to a cut on his jaw, the blood running down his neck and onto his shirt. I press my lips together, feeling my eyes water and run up to him, throwing my arms around his neck.

He hugs me back, holding me close, and I feel the strength and safety of his arms around me. “Chase,” I cry into his shirt, my voice muffled. He pulls back gently, looking at me with concern and I lift a hand up to wipe away the blood from his jaw. “I killed Rueben,” I whisper, my eyes filled with tears. I hope Chase doesn’t hate me, doesn’t push me away and tell me that he’s a killer whom he wants nothing to do with.

“I know,” Chase says, his eyes watching me carefully. “Are you okay?” He asks.

I wipe at my eyes, shaking my head. “Yes, no. Maybe, no.” I sigh, pressing my lips together and peek up at Chase, whose eyes are locked on mine, filling me with strength. “We need to get out of here.” I whisper, my eyes wandering to the cut along Chase’s jaw. I bite my lip, wondering if he’s in much pain and hating myself for causing all of this. As if reading my mind, Chase frowns and shakes his head at me.

“This isn’t your fault, Skye.” He says with a low voice. I look away from the pull of his blue eyes, and watch a leaf fall from a tree slowly.

I let my eyes wander back to the cut on his jaw and I feel tears fill my eyes. “But you’re hurt.” I say, as if he doesn’t know it. Chase shakes his head, wiping at the blood running down his neck from the cut.

“I’m fine,” he says reassuringly, only the bleeding isn’t letting up. He lets it trickle down his neck, unconcerned. “Come on,” he says, tugging on my hand gently. “We need to get away from here before they wake up.”

I follow him as we walk through the forest, not saying a word. There are large quantities of unconscious—but alive—bodies lying around, and it’s creeping me out.

When we finally reach the road, I see Erik’s car sitting in the middle of it. I can only hope that everyone else is okay.

What I see, as we near the car, is that everyone is standing around it, looking around predatorily. I give a sigh of relief when I see that everyone is unharmed and I feel Chase relax beside me slightly.

“Chase! Skye!” Margaret says happily, relief flooding into her voice. She runs up to us, hugging each of us in turn. “Thank God you’re okay.” She says, tears filling her eyes. I feel my own eyes fill again and I smile weakly, blinking the tears away. We walk with Margaret back to the car and before we do anything Chase says, “we need to get out of here. Now.” Everybody complies, knowing something has happened by the stricken look on my face and the gash on Chase’s jaw. Margaret runs her fingers over her son’s jaw and the cut heals up, leaving only blood as evidence of his preview injury.

Once we’re all piled into the car, Erik drives away speedily and I rest my forehead against the cool glass of the car window. My thoughts go back to the forest, where all the unconscious Company employees lay. I think of Oliver, who is going to wake up and find his father murdered, and feel my eyes fill up tears. Although Oliver doesn’t deserve my sympathy I let the tears spill from my eyes silently, rolling down my cheeks. I close my eyes, trying to clear my head, and take deep breaths. I feel Chase’s hand rubbing my back gently, comforting me, but the tears don’t stop.

My eyes still closed, I hear Brody ask in a tense voice, “what happened?”

The car grows silent as neither Chase nor I answer and Brody grows worried, impatient. “What the hell happened?” He demands.

Chase keeps his hand soothingly on my back, and sighs. “We ran into Rueben.”

At the mention of the man’s that I’ve murdered I open my eyes, trying to stop the tears from falling down my cheeks. Why do I feel so damn guilty? It was either my life or his. I should be happy I’m still alive.

“Did he hurt you?” Brody asks with a low voice and his eyes on me. I shake my head, wiping at my eyes.

“I was getting into the Company employee’s heads, telling them to knock themselves unconscious, when Rueben found Skye. He was holding a gun to her head, ready to kill her, but she got him first.” Chase explains, as if nobody will judge me for being a murderer. I look out my window, clearly crying now. Chase’s muscular arms wrap around me, pulling me to his chest and I continue crying silently, refusing to look at anyone. The silence that fills the car is staring me in the face, calling me a murderer.

“Skye…killed him.” Logan chokes out, sounding as if he’s half disgusted, half amazed. I feel my stomach lurch. I’m a killer. Why wouldn’t he be disgusted?

“Yes,” Chase says, his arms wrapped protectively around me. I take refuge in them, hiding from the judgments in the car.

“Well, good for you.” Elena says finally, and I look up in surprise to see her genuine face. “If you ask me, he needed to die.” She adds, and I choke out a surprised sound, not believing her.

“The important thing is that you’re alright.” Margaret says. I blink cautiously.

“Are you okay?” Brody questions me, concerned only with my well-being, just like Chase had been when he found out.

“Sure,” I answer quietly, avoiding his and Chase’s eyes.

“Won’t the police be after you?” Maggie asks me worriedly. I blink, having not thought of that. Oh, crap.

“No, it’ll look as if Rueben died of a heart attack. Nothing more.” Chase tells her, and I frown, wondering how he knows this. “There were no signs of attack.” He explains to me, seemingly reading my mind.

“Nevertheless, we need to be careful for a while.” Erik speaks up, finally saying something. “But, between us, this is good news for everybody.” He adds, giving me a slight smile and I feel myself fill with warmth.

These people accept me. No matter what I do, they’ll accept me.

Erik pulls his car into the driveway and everybody gets out, walking up the front stairs and into the huge house. I see Brody look at me with a look in his eye, and I halt in my tracks, remembering something.

Chase looks at me with a frown, “what is it?” he asks, concerned. I blink, shaking my head.

“Remember when you were gone and I was dying and Logan took a memory from me? I just....remembered some of it.” I say, frowning as well. Chase raises his eyebrows, runs into the house quickly and comes out two minutes later with Logan.

“What memory did you take from Skye?” He asks his brother, and Logan shrugs his shoulders, looking innocent.

“I didn’t take anything from Skye,” he says, looking genuine. I shake my head, frowning. I only remember that Brody said something to me and then Logan and Brody got into an argument about it.

“She’s beginning to remember,” Chase explains, frowning at his brother. Logan’s eyes widen, and he looks away from me sharply, pleading with his brother.

“Chase, please trust me. You do not want her to remember.” He says, sounding as if he’s actually concerned for not only me, but Chase too. I raise an eyebrow.

“What the hell happened?” Chase asks, anger filling his voice. “Did someone hurt her?” He asks, fury coloring his voice.

Logan shakes his head, knowing what he’s thinking and dismissing the idea. “Something was said…something that didn’t need to be. Just…just forget it. Please.” He looks at me with sad eyes and his eyes are pleading. “Please, Skye.”

I feel the frown melt from my face and I surprise myself by nodding. “Why did I start to remember the memory?” I ask Logan, curious.

He sighs, rubbing his face with his hands. “I didn’t concentrate enough when pulling the memory from you. And when that happens certain things can trigger the memory back. That’s probably why you began to remember.”

I nod, looking at the ground for a moment. “Forget I even mentioned it.” I say and Logan looks at me gratefully.

“Margaret is making popcorn, and we’re all going to watch a movie or something.” He tells us before heading back inside. I sigh, watching his retreating figure move into the house.

Chase looks at me, his face shaded by the dark night. “Are you okay?”

I nod dismissively. “I should be asking you that. I know what you went through in there,” I say in reference to being held captive by the Company. “Nobody is okay after that.” I say quietly, watching as Chase’s face grows guarded.

“I’m fine, Skye.” He says, muscles tense. I nod, taking a step closer to him and grabbing his hand.

“Why are you lying to me?” I ask him quietly, as my fingers trace lightly over the bruises covering his body. They probably locked him up somewhere, barely feeding him, beating him until he was of no use.

Chase looks away, his eyes hooded and jaw muscles tense. “I said I’m fine,” he snaps. I bite my lip[ and look down at his hands which, despite his anger, are moving toward me, grabbing my waist and gently pulling me closer to him. I wrap my arms around him, hugging him tightly. “We’re going to be okay, right?” I ask him softly. Chase pulls back slightly, inches away from my face, and captures me with his eyes.

“Yeah,” he says quietly, one of his hands tucking a loose piece of hair behind my ear. “We’re going to be just fine.” He says, kissing me gently. I feel my eyes drift close, and I relish the feeling of Chase’s hands on my skin, his mouth on mine.

“Movie’s on!” Someone, I think Elena, yells from inside the house to Chase and I. We pull away from each other reluctantly, our eyes not wandering from the others.

Chase kisses me again, his lips wandering down my neck. “We gotta go,” I tell him, my voice heavy with emotion. He ignores me, kissing my collarbone seductively.

“Seriously, Chase,” I say, not wanting to move an inch. He kisses my shoulder softly and I shiver, lifting his face with my finger under his chin. I kiss his mouth roughly, and then pull away, a grin on my face. “Come on, we’re going to miss the previews.” I say, and he groans in good humor, holding my hand as we walk into his house.

He brings my hand up to his mouth and kisses my palm gently as we walk through the halls in search of the mini movie theater the Davenports have in their house. I snatch my hand away from him, grinning. “Look we’re going in there for family time. Not you and me time.” I say, my eyes narrowed good naturedly. Chase grins and my heart falters, skipping a beat I’m sure.

“You and me time,” Chase murmurs, his eyes dancing over my body. “Now that sounds good.”

I roll my eyes at him and he kisses me as I pretend to try and get away from him, giggling loudly. Brody clears his throat and I stop giggling, looking over at him.

“Oh, Brody! Sorry! We’re ready for the movie,” I say, beginning to walk over the theater room.

“Speak for yourself,” Chase grumbles behind me and another giggle escapes my lips. The look in Brody’s eye—half need half resentment—triggers something from the memory Logan took from me, but I shake my head, forgetting about it like I promised I would.

Chase and I walk into the dim lighted theater room and plunk ourselves into two chairs, letting our eyes wander away from each other long enough so catch the title of the movie.

During the whole movie, Chase is either playing with my hair or tracing his fingers lightly over my skin. I giggle, smacking away his hands, and try to focus on the movie but want nothing more then to focus on Chase. I can’t remember the last time everything felt this…perfect. Which is weird, because things totally aren’t perfect. I mean, I killed somebody. Killed somebody’s father. Things aren’t perfect in the least.

But when I’m with Chase, whether we’re talking or kissing or laughing or fighting, things seem perfect. Or they seem, at least, like they could be.

The movie credits roll, and I realize that I have zero idea what the movie was about. I smack away Chase’s hands as they begin playing with my hair again and I fight a smile, pretending to glare at him. “What was your favorite part of the movie, Chase?” I ask loudly so that everybody will hear him make up some phony answer.

He grins, standing up to stretch. “The part where they lived happily ever after,” Chase says, his eyes laughing at me. I stick my tongue out at him and stay sitting. Margaret smiles warmly at the both of us as if she couldn’t be happier.

“Shall we watch another movie?” She asks everybody, receiving confirmations from the sprawled out bodies sitting about the room.

We’re about to start another one when we hear a noise. It sounds like something breaking, and for a moment we all freeze. I listen carefully as what sounds like a pair of feet shuffle angrily towards the theater room. My eyes widen and the grin melts off Chase’s face as he holds up a finger in the universal “quiet” gesture. Erik frowns, staying completely still and listening as the footsteps come to a pause.

Then somebody breaks down the door leading to the theater room. And that, my dear friends, is when the s**t hits the fan.

Reviews

[Aimee]

Ahhhh, great chapter, again! Can't wait to see what happens next!

And I wonder if Skye'll figure out the memory Logan took from her. O:

[Rusty]

Nice.......like the drama....can't wait to see how Oliver retaliates against them. And the Brody twist is great, glad to see her talents are stronger than anyone is aware of.