Reapers - Master of Souls (Reapers Chronicles Book III)

14 - Withdrawal (2 of 3)

NP: Stone Cold by Demi Lovato

I'll take the pain

Give me the truth

Me and my heart; we'll make it through

My eyes flew open. Vincent and Vladimir came into view. I found myself sitting in the couch without any memory of getting there.

"Aramis." Vladimir snapped his fingers in front of my eyes. "Are you with us?"

Automatically, my forehead wrinkled. "Y-yeah."

They both threw me these weird glances.

Vladimir placed a palm on my forehead. "Aramis, you weren't moving for minutes. You weren't even blinking."

It took a minute to grasp everything. I stared blankly at Vincent's terrified face before panic could set in. What just happened? Was I... seeing things?

I lifted my brows and shrugged. "I'm fine."

A vase flew across the room and crashed on the wall. Vincent was having the mood again. I would ignore it, but there was this little problem of his inner demon awakening.

"You're doing it again," he growled, trembling.

"Doing what?" I sighed.

"Lying," he told me before turning to his brother. "She's lying."

Vladimir sat beside me, squaring his shoulders. "You can tell us, Aramis. Whatever did Hector do to you?"

"Seriously?" I laughed.

They were waiting for my answer and it looked like I couldn't talk my way out of the interrogation room.

Taking a deep breath, I put on my calmest façade. "Something about examining my soul. I was out practically the whole time I don't even remember half of it."

"And?" Vincent probed.

"And? That's it," I managed to say in an even tone. "I'm okay now. So I suggest we all pretend like it never happened."

Vincent shook his head and paced the floor. "I'm not buying it."

"So? Don't," I chided. "You want me to start groveling as if I had been tortured and, or molested? Not happening... If it makes you feel any better, though, he did turn me upside down and called me Doll." I shivered at the last word.

Vincent marched right up to me and grabbed my shoulder so hard his fingers dug into my skin. "This isn't a joke, Aramis. You've been his test dummy for what? Like ten months? And you expect me to believe that?"

"T-ten months? Ten... I-I was in there for—" My breathing became heavier. "I'll... need a minute."

It took a while for the whole thing to sink in and I was hyperventilating by the time it did. I found Alex's glass of bourbon on the table and glugged it down. The bitterness nearly burned through my gullet. My face contorted involuntarily as the liquor made its way down my stomach.

"It did feel like decades." I fanned my face with my hand. "But I didn't think... Why on earth didn't you save me sooner?!"

Vladimir placed a hand on my back. "Well, you see Aramis, there have been a few... complications."

"A few?" Vincent scoffed. "You kidding me? First, Hector's Undead? There's no end to them. It took at least six months since he ran out of bodies to zombify. Second, we lost a lot of men out there. Alex and Max were basically vegetable. Hell, Max still is. Third, Hector kind of told everyone you died in some experiment. And fourth..." he suddenly stopped and turned his away.

"And fourth," Vladimir continued. "Vincent was in coma the whole time. He had just woken up that time he broke into the laboratory."

I stared at the floor. I just couldn't absorb anything anymore.

Vincent kneeled in front of me. "Aramis, say something."

I blinked and mumbled, "Something."

Then I walked out of theroom, muttering something about getting fresh air. The noise of breaking furniture became the background music as I mechanically went down the stairs.

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So yeah. The usual. Vote. Comment. Share. Use #AraVin or #Reapers and follow me on Twitter @Simply_shim or add me on facebook--Shim Simplina :)