Destruction - The Oasis Project Book 2 (Complete)

Forty - Ira

"Excuse me." I cleared my throat. "I'm not going anywhere without my friend."

We sat around a worn dinner table, Yulian, Beiya, Bruce, me, and two others. Beiya polished off two and a half portions, but no one acted like it was out of place. Bruce had told us that we were having kangaroo tonight, and it wasn't bad. I would have enjoyed it if the conversation between Bruce and Beiya from earlier wasn't looping in my head. I had just gotten here, barely had time to recover. The least they could do was keep someone familiar with me.

"If you can't even tell me what the hell is going on, how am I supposed to cooperate?"

They all stared at me, some frightened, some a little convinced, Beiya was indifferent. "You are not going anywhere," she said. "I will deal with Robin. I don't know what's gotten into him."

Yulian cast me a questioning glance and I shrugged; he probably knew much more than I did, what with Beiya keeping all the crucial information from me. The back of my neck and shoulders were tingling and on fire. When I finished whatever I could of dinner with the room as silent as a graveyard, I excused myself from the table, washed the dishes as fast as I could, and locked myself in the bathroom to run cold water over my skin.

󠁌♟♙♟♙

I gave up on the idea of sleeping before I even got into bed. Bruce's house, as I found out, had a lot of things stored in the most unexpected places. I found a rubik's cube under a lamp, a bunch of pens by the bathroom sink, and a book in the kitchen cupboard. I took the book to bed, figuring that if it was put away in the kitchen cupboard, nobody would miss it for a night. It was The Art of War, something that I vaguely remember reading in Manhattan. It wasn't an easy read, and I wasn't much of a reader to begin with, but it took my mind off the plans, or the lack of plans, that were coming up for me.

"Come in," I said absently when quietly firm knocks sounded on my door. I thought about switching the ceiling light on when Yulian let himself in instead of just having the lamp, but I decided against it. "What's the time?"

Yulian made a clueless face and shook his head, pulling up a chair to sit by my bedside. "Time to sleep, I suppose. What are you reading? I could hear you from the corridor." I tried to not let him see the title, and when he did, he laughed as if he was helpless. The boy who picked the lock to the tool shed was surprised that I stole a sharp screwdriver - it was the same look he had given me so many years ago. "Let yourself rest, Ira. Come on."

I didn't budge. "You heard them. I'm going somewhere. It'll be fun."

"Irina Konstantinova." Yulian took the book from my hands while I cringed at my name. He saw the rubik's cube by the lamp too and threw it in the air before catching it precisely. "You are the worst. Go to sleep."

I looked up at him when he leaned over to switch off the lamp. "What am I living for?" I said in the darkness.

The lamp turned back on, and Yulian put my potential distractions back on the bedside table, coming over instead to hug me. It was warm, comfortable, but I had lost all emotions. I hugged him back and put a smile on my face, but I feel like I was puppeting my body.

"It will get better, Ira," Yulian said, patting me on the head. I thought about how that was not in line with my luck but didn't say that out loud.

󠁌♟♙♟♙

When sunrise rolled around, I was the first one up. By the time I put bread in the toaster, Yulian wandered into the kitchen. "Sorry I woke you," I said.

He looked exhausted as he ran a hand through his bronze hair. "It's fine. It wasn't just you. I had dreams about the desert and the car. This is much better." He smiled like he didn't just explain a nightmare and nudged me in the arm. "Have you tried the Australian jam yet?" He pointed to a half-full jar of Vegemite.

"No," I said, picking up a piece of toast and throwing it between my palms to cool it down. When it was cool enough to rest on my hand, I brought the Vegemite closer to me and examined it. "Should I?"

"Up to you," Yulian said, but his eyes twinkled. He got a knife out for me from the drawer, a proper metal knife. "Haven't seen one of these in a while?"

I'd used one last night, but I went along with his teasing and took the knife. "Careful, I might-" I pointed the end at him and faked the beginnings of a stab motion, making Yulian snort.

Opening the jar quite easily without putting down the toast or the knife, I spread Vegemite generously over the toast. It smelled a bit strange, but if it was a local classic, then it couldn't be that bad. Yulian watched me with eyebrows arched in amusement as I lifted the toast to my mouth.

"Fucking hell!" I exclaimed in English, spitting out the small bite. "Where's the bin?"

Yulian did not hold back his laughter as he directed me to the trash, in which I threw the offending toast, never wanting to see it again. He even filled me a glass of water, which was the next thing that I thought of. I rinsed my mouth in the kitchen sink and gulped down several mouthfuls before even looking at Yulian again.

"That bad?" he said, still wheezing with laughter.

"I hate you." I pointed at him but ended up giving his shoulder a friendly shake. "What am I supposed to eat now? I've lost my appetite."

"There-" Yulian's suggestion was cut off by something I couldn't hear. Head tilted, he widened his eyes. "I've got to wake up Four."

She was already awake, rushing out of her bedroom while tying up her hair. The scars on her arms had an oily sheen to them. "You two, go upstairs. This is a confidential meeting, and Robin isn't somebody you want to meet."

There was no reason why we had to obey her, but we did. I was glad that I didn't get to Oasis earlier when she would have been in command of the team. Yulian and I headed upstairs to my sunlit room, trying to see the car that was pulling in. When we couldn't see from my window, we tried his, which wasn't much better.

We lurked in the corridor like curious children, but the staircase made it impossible to see what was happening on the ground floor. The front door creaked open, and someone stepped in. There was no exchange of words, but I heard tense footsteps down the corridor before another door sounded shut.

Without much awareness, I walked toward the staircase. Yulian pulled me back. "What are you doing? You heard her. Whoever Robin is, it's not a good idea."

I shook off his hand from my arm. I felt a pang of hunger as my decision snapped into place. "I'm doing things on my own terms."

The pounding of my heart made my head feel like it was going to explode as I made my way downstairs. Bruce and the others were outside one door, and I headed right for it. I could hear Beiya's angry shouting and a muffled voice that spoke back at her. Bruce's gaze told me that what I was about to do was a terrible idea, but he didn't stop me as I approached. I took that as a green light to turn the handle and push my way in.

"Listen, Four," a man was speaking with his back to me, "I just want to confirm-"

I threw the door against the wall and made my presence known. "Okay, first of all, I don't-"

Robin turned around, and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. His brown hair, almost black, was in a familiar side-comb. His glasses reflected the glare of the sun. When he fully faced me, his green eyes softened and lit up in astonishment. "Ira?" His voice trembled.

My eyes felt like they were going to spill tears, but a huge grin spread across my face and warmth filled my entire body. "Stuart!" The next thing I knew, my arms were around his neck, and his were around my ribs, crushing me. I laughed and cried, rocking Stuart back and forth while he buried his face in my hair. I had so many questions, starting with why the hell he was Robin, but right now I just wanted to melt into him.

"You're okay," he whispered, holding me tighter and rubbing up and down my back. It soothed every single nerve. "I'm so happy you're okay."