Wronged

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QOC: Got any predictions of what's going to happen in the future of this story?

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- Anna's POV -

When there is anger, there is pain underneath.

It is yet another human defense mechanism. Using anger as a shield from pain helps numb it for some reason. It also helps to put your brain into a state of denial. Denying reality. The truth.

I've never really used anger. I've just been bland and quiet and cold. I've never gotten angry. But Aiden, that's all he's ever used, I think. It's his comfort.

And that's why I'm here now in the park with his phone, crying silently as I stare at the screen and make my thumbs hover above the screen. Noah's contact is opened, the cursor blinking - fading in and out - as it waits for the command to create letters.

I explained to him the situation with Noah. I don't know where he is now. But our conversation went something like this:

It's morning. The clouds returned today when I woke up...or I never really slept. Anyway, I stare at Aiden cautiously as he waits for an answer. My mouth is open, but I can't spit it out.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt?" He rushes out.

I shake my head and take a breath, wiping my hands on my thighs. "No...no." I look up quickly. "Aiden, Noah came into your house last night. He...grabbed me. He just talked to me though."

He stares at me, the worry replaced with confusion and anger. I look down at the sidewalk outside his house that we're currently standing on, the hood on my head softly being tapped with raindrops. The ground has little wet circles that appear randomly and continuously. Rain. It's been raining for an hour and thirteen minutes.

"What?" He growls. "Did he fucking touch you?"

"No," I say. "He just randomly told me that he knows about something...and now he's going to use that something of my ability to his advantage in his 'line of work,' which I'm guessing isn't good." My words come out hesitant and sheepish. How do I explain to him what "something" is? I don't want to reveal this right now.

"He fucking did what? He's trying to hire you?! Tell me you didn't say yes, Anna." Aiden steps closer to me, eyes burning in hope that I didn't agree to working for Noah. He used my real name, so it only clarifies his anger.

"I-I don't have a choice," I say. "You don't understand. He has information about me. Sensitive information. He's blackmailing me with it, and I don't know what to do! I need you to tell him I'm doing the job before he does something with the knowledge he has. Please."

"What information?" He asks, chest rising and falling heavily and his eyebrows dipping in confusion. I swallow and my lips part. How do explain this? "And how is he blackmailing you with it? And how does he know about it?"

Thunder cracks in the sky, and I flinch. My mind is cluttering again, and I feel the pressure in my chest beginning to grow. Remember those panic attacks I mentioned? The rare ones that I never have to avoid being exposed for my unstable mentality? Yeah, they can't always be controlled.