Resurrection [On Hiatus]

13 - Trust

That night Shades didn't sleep at all. Partly because he was afraid that Norah's return would turn out to be a dream the moment he woke up, partly because the wheels in his head kept turning. So much had happened today and so many things had been said... Again and again he relived the moment he saw her, the same emotions getting a hold of him. That had been the reason he had snuggled up to her when she was asleep, despite the fact that she'd told him not to. But after all these years of mourning and missing her, he just needed to feel the warmth of her body and wrap his arms around her. And since she didn't want to be touched when she was awake... well then she left him not much of a choice. 

However, the moment she woke up she rolled away from him, casting him a dark glance. Nevertheless a grin crossed his face. He'd always found her smoking hot when she was angry. "C'mon baby, you look at me like I was trying to strangle you. I just wrapped my arms around you when I was asleep. My body missed yours, I can't help it."

He sat up straight. The blankets fell down until they laid around his waist and her eyes glided across his chest and stomach. His smirk increased when she failed to hide her admiration completely. 

"I'm going to take a shower," he said. "How about calling up some memories there too?" He wiggled his eyebrows. 

She rolled her eyes. "Maybe I once was stupid enough to fall for your charm, but that doesn't mean it will happen again. I'm not a naive teenager anymore."

"You never were," he muttered. "At most at your first day of school. You've lost that habit very quickly."

Sighing, Norah stared past him. "You really think there's a chance Clive is behind all this? Or that he's at least involved in it? I have no memories of him, but his name makes me shiver."

Shades wasn't surprised. What that guy had done to her, had ripped up her soul. 

"What if this is your fault? What if my so-called dead and all those experiments were just a way to have revenge on you? If you hadn't killed him then – then..."

"Then you would have killed him."

Overwhelmed, she stared at him. "No – I wasn't like that."

Shades' jaw tensed. Some people might regret their first murder, but he didn't. Clive deserved much and much worse. "He made you like that," he finally answered in a grunt. 

The memories about Clive gave him the feeling that a layer of ice was creeping across his skin. By now he had spent a great part of his life among criminals, but none of them managed to turn his heart into an ice cube. Leaving the bed, he headed to the bathroom without saying another word, taking a hot shower which hopefully scorched every thought about that asshole. 

. . .

After the shower he felt a little calmer. He found Norah and her friends in the living room, who still looked skeptically at him. 

"So... what's the plan now?" Norah asked. 

He sat down on the couch. "Depends on your goal."

"Staying alive is a good start," she snorted. "Just like not falling in the hands of the ones who did this to us."

"So first we have to find out who's behind this." He took a while to think. "I gotta go to Harlem's Paradise, assessing the damage and give a statement. I'll let them make a couple of identikits of random people, you go to my other house and stay low until I know more. I'll send Comanche with you."

"Comanche?" Norah repeated with raised eyebrows. 

"Darius."

Her face expressed even more confusion. "You two are still in contact? How? You were like... enemies!"

"Long story, don't have time for that. Stay inside, I'll talk to the cops and Comanche and send the last to you."

And he needed to talk to Mariah. The moment she learnt about his feelings for Norah she would turn into a nightmare, but until then he wanted to use her influence and money. 

"You're fucking serious?" Erebus looked at Norah in disbelief. "We're really going to trust that fucker? Handing him all the strings? He killed one of us! He's hunting people like us!"

"And people like us are hunting us," Norah shot back. "It was a gifted person who killed me on my wedding day. I have no doubt they're responsible for your so called deaths too." Her fingers clenched into a first. "Whether it's about gifted or normal people; we can't trust anyone."

"But we can't trust him either!" Erebus persisted stubbornly. 

Norah's glance slid to Shades. "No, we can't trust him either."

. . .

Please comment and vote! I really need a bit of encouragement to keep this one going, I feel like I'm more motivated for my other stories. :x