Sweet Felony

Broken Trust

Aru sighed, rubbing at her eyes. "Alright, birdface, what do you want?"

Subala tilted his head to the side... like a bird. "I'm sorry, repeat that?"

"Birdface, what do you want?" Aru repeated, enunciating each syllable.

"Young lady, that is no way to talk to your elders!" Subala exclaimed.

"I'm sorry? Aren't you like, my enemy or somethin'?" Aru drawled, tucking her bleeding hands into the pockets of her dark jeans.

Subala sighed. "At least in the olden days, kids had some respect for their elders."

"Lucky for you, this isn't the olden days,"  Aru quipped.

Something like irritation flashed in Subala's eyes. He sighed again, and crossed his arms.

"Young lady, how much do you know about your mother?" Subala asked, irritation apparently over now.

"Why should I tell you?"

Subala's expression became neutral, unreadable. "It'd be better if you did." 

Well, Aru thought, that's a threat if I ever heard one.

"She's dead. She liked Malini Acharya's music," Aru said. In all honesty, those were the only two facts she knew about her mom. It was bittersweet, in a way, because if she didn't know what she'd lost, she wouldn't miss it, right?

Subala grimaced. "Is that...all?"

Aru nodded, hoping that he'd go away. Maybe then, he wouldn't noticed the sliced bars on the window. Or her bloody hands.

Subala turned around to leave. His footsteps clacked on the floor, but then he paused, a few steps short of the doorway.

"We'll send someone to get your hands bandaged," Subala said, not turning to face Aru.

Aru flinched. How had he known?

Subala left the room, slamming the door shut, leaving Aru quite a bit shocked. Aru breathed in, then out. He hadn't noticed the windows. That was good.

Aru continued this cycle of breathing in and out, not daring to pick up the shards of glass she'd been using, lest someone find her trying to break open the window.

She stared blankly at the floor. The Ghatakas still hadn't come.

Maybe they're never going to come, Aru thought. She shook herself.

She wouldn't abandon the Ghatakas. And they wouldn't abandon her. Unless...

Her father's words came to mind.

Rule three of the Ghatakas. If you get unmasked and caught, we aren't coming for you.

Aru froze. Would he..? Would the Sleeper abandon his own daughter? 

The possibility isn't out of the question, Aru told herself. 

A deep sense of dread, no, betrayal, sunk into Aru's chest. She wanted to laugh hysterically, pretend the whole thing was joke. But she couldn't. The rules. No loose ends. The Sleeper didn't follow the law. He followed his own rules. So, who was Aru to say if he was going to come for her?

After all this time, it was the Wolf who was abandoned by her pack. How... ironic. 

The door creaked open. A figure entered.

Green hoodie, brown eyes, and a bag of medical supplies. Aiden. They sent him, of all people, for medical help?

His demeanor was more relaxed this time. The medical bag was slung around his shoulder, bandaging practically falling out of it.