To Rescue a Villain

Chapter 17

When I found my "husband", he was sitting in the kitchen waiting for his food to cook, an opened car magazine in his hands. He had been scanning some of the black vehicles on the second page, I wasn't sure what kind of cars they were since I wasn't well versed in such things, but he dropped it as soon as I entered the room.

"Hey. Back so soon?" He glanced at the square clock on the wall. "It's only been ten minutes."

I paused to catch my breath then sat next to him, so relieved that he wasn't angry at me. "Let's go to Odette's," I gasped, too out of shape to handle running all the way across the building.

Derek laughed, amused by my panting. "You sure you'll be up for it?" he giggled, to which I just squinted my eyes at him. "You didn't seem like you wanted to go...with me," he added quietly, slumping his shoulders and turned to check on whatever he was cooking.

I really had hurt him. He was just trying to cover it up.

He thought I didn't like being around him which definitely wasn't the case. I loved hanging out with Derek. He was fun and interesting. It was just his future I wanted to shy away from. "Of course I want to go. I wouldn't have agreed to it otherwise."

"Really?" Now he wasn't sure if I was taking pity on him.

"Yeah."

"Are you a Valdis?"

I frowned in confusion. "Maybe."

"Did you kill your family?"

My eyes went wide.

To someone from earth this question might have seemed totally out of the blue but to those in Manica it was commonplace when discussing the Valdis. It was common knowledge that the majority of Valdis grew up unaware that they had powers and when they did gain them they'd often lose control and end up harming or even killing the people closest to them. That was why one of the theories about Dark's wife's mysterious death involved Polly killing her accidentally.

After we sat in silence for what felt like seconds but was actually a couple minutes, Derek finally looked away again and apologized, assuming he'd just opened an old scar. "At least now I know how you appeared in front of me so suddenly," he said quietly, more to himself than to me.

If only he knew the real reason. "Do you think we should keep away from each other just in case?" I asked. "I don't want to end up hurting you by accident."

The future villain shook his head. "You're probably at more risk of killing someone without me because of those nightmares."

He was probably right. I wondered how bad it could have gotten during the night if he hadn't been holding my hand. "Okay."

I really was part of this world now. I was one of the mystical Valdis, the most revered beings in Manica.

Maybe my powers had something to do with my arrival here. They might even date back to my days on Earth. Maybe I'd been born with them. Maybe my extreme will to save Derek had created them. I'd probably never know.

...Ugh. One thing was just piling on top of another. Would I be able to handle this much information and stress without breaking down? Maybe I should just stop holding it in and tell Derek who I really was. No, that might risk breaking the fourth wall and sending me back home or something. I didn't know! I didn't know what to do!

My head slammed on the table with a thump and I wrapped both my hands around my head, allowing my fingers to tangle themselves up in my hair. I could feel the beginnings of a headache forming.

"You okay?" Derek was about to reach for me when his timer buzzed and he had to turn off the stove before the food could burn. Once that was complete, he turned back to me, eyes overflowing with concern.

"I'm fine," I whispered, my voice muffled from my position. "I just need a minute." To emphasize this, I moaned loudly out of exasperation.

"Sorry," I muttered miserably, forcing myself to stand. "Just got a lot on my mind. Let's go to Odette's. Going out will do me good."

"Okay. Let's."

I could tell he was trying to hold back his joy at my response, which immediately made me feel guiltier for rejecting him earlier. If he really, truly did like me then I'd have to choose between taking the risk and dating him or shoving him away, a decision that would go against everything I'd been trying to do these past two months. I was more stressed about that than finding out I had super powers.

So, we abandoned the food he'd been cooking in the fridge and headed to Ace's place to invite him to Odette's. As we walked, Derek somehow managed to wrap his fingers around mine and I just couldn't muster enough strength to stop him. I'd save any repercussions from that for my future self.

◑○★☆●◐

"Hi, Di." I waved to the computer as I entered the office, still a tad sleepy from going out the night before. As though on a sensor, Di turned on and smiled at me as soon as I spoke up.

Di. Mary had apparently decided to give her that name and it didn't sound all that bad. Made me think of the name Delilah, though, for some reason.

As I sat in my chair and rolled it around the room like a child (it was the one good thing about this office) my eyes centered on a small, black device lying on the floor to my left. After staring at it for a few seconds to make sure it wasn't a bomb or something, I eventually picked it up and studied it's broken, glass cover.

"Di." I held it up to her face. "What is this?"

The AI studied it for a moment, then answered without hesitation. "It is your wife's. She wanted me to extract some files for her."

"Oh?" She could have asked me instead. "What sort of files?"

Di hesitated, something I didn't know it could do, then pulled up a long series of videos on my computer. I quickly placed the device on my desk and stepped forward to have a closer look at these "files".

From what I could see of the colorful screen shots they were cartoons of some kind, which was odd since I'd never seen Mary watch anything in all the time she'd spent with me.

Thrilled that I might actually get to learn something about my girlfriend's past, I reclined in my chair once more and leaned forward eagerly. "Play the first one."