Silence is the New Riddle

【39】

Edward's P.O.V.

Feeling slightly rattled from what had happened, it took me a while to successfully hook the DVD player to the computer and to put the DVD in said player. It wasn't what Ridley had said that caused how I was acting, but rather something quite the opposite. It's funny how the smallest, most insignificant things are what have the biggest impacts on our lives.

Ridley may have lost her memories, but she was still unconsciously drawing on them. Her taste for coconut and fudge ice cream was proof of that. I only knew one other person that had the same taste for it, and that was why I was certain that Ridley would also like the movie.

After starting the movie, I sat down next to Ridley on the couch and much to my surprise, she leaned against me, red-rimmed eyes focused on the screen. I wondered how she'd feel once she got her memories back, if was even possible for her to. That'd be something that Jon might know more about, maybe I should ask him about it.

I would say that it wouldn't be possible unless something shocked her system as badly as the time that she'd lost her memories, and her voice. They two were definitely connected, that was  for certain. There was no way that I would subject Ridley to going through anything that remotely came close to what she'd gone through in the past, I'd have to find some other way.

My eyes strayed from the screen as I studied a spot on the wall next to it. I'd taken a gamble with promising to help her,  and I thought about how she'd react once she found out. Would hse hate me? Not just for the possibility of her having to go through things again. She might, and that bothered me. I didn't want her to hate me, that wasn't even close. Then again, nobody wants  another person to hate them, especially if you're close to them. Maybe I shouldn't have promised to help her, it'd just cause too much grief on both ends.

Shifting, I moved my arm before it fell asleep and put it around her shoulders. Her hair was a bit too short for my liking, and the job that Harley did with dying her hair was even worse.

Still not paying attention, I turned my gaze to a nearby surveillance feed that showed part of the ground around the warehouse. Squinting slightly, I realized that for whatever reason, Jon was going out into the city. Selina had told me that he'd gone out once before, and I'd assumed that it was to get more supplies. I kept note of all our transactions though, and Jon didn't mention anything to me about getting anything from the city. Even if he was in the most foulest of moods, he told me. He knew about how important it was.

An unsettling feeling went through me as I watched him drive away, just what was he up to? The notion of him possibly liking me did not escape my mind, in fact, it quite often occupied it despite my wishes. A man's mind was wholly he own, and to have it disregard what you wanted was fairly annoying. I had decided to treat him no differently than I had before, why would I?  Jon could be who ever he wanted to be, I would respect that. The only thing I was worried about was when and if, he'd make his move.

I was pulled out if my thoughts when Ridley poked me in the ribs. She nodded towards the screen and I turned back to watch it. The familiar tune of the main title drifted through the air and I watched as the Phantom led Christine to his secret lair.

Sing once again with me,
our strange duet.
My power over you
grows stronger yet.

Anna had always liked this scene, though I never tried to understand why. Maybe she liked it for no particular reason, she'd certainly never told me why, though I could guess. In another time and place, she would've said that she pitied the Phantom.

"It's not his fault he's the bad guy," she'd said, knees drawn up, sipping a cup of tea. "He can't help but love her. He's not evil, just misunderstood. Most 'bad' guys are."