Sunday updates here we go, hope everyone is safe and healthy <3
Chapter Thirteen
Staring down at the cup of coffee on the table I wait for it to cool some. I stir it absent-mindedly as my mind tries to wake up from the horrible dreams I was having. Ruka and Dax aren't up yet, and I am thankful for the time to collect myself and process everything that happened yesterday. Running a hand along my arm I take a big sip of the coffee and give a content sigh.
A knock at the door breaks me out of my state and I get up tentatively. Looking at the clock I see it is barely past six o'clock in the morning. I normally wouldn't be up this early, but I was tired of having awful nightmares and eventually just got out of bed. Walking to the front door I peer through the peephole and see Aviva standing there. Opening the door, I peer out at her confused.
"Hi Faith, I think I left my phone here last night," Aviva says confused.
I gesture for her to come in and she walks into the kitchen. I plop back down on the stool and sip my coffee as she searches for her phone. She finds it under the table, and I don't even question how it got there. She casts a curious glance at me, and I just take another sip.
"I didn't know you drank coffee," she says amused. I turn my watch on.
"I don't usually need it, but it's been a rough twenty-four hours," I say.
"What exactly happened, Faith?" Aviva asks me confused.
I sit there contemplating everything that did happen before dropping my head onto my arm not in a sling and let out a long groan. The events of yesterday are more of one long blur in my mind. I didn't want to tell anyone about my epiphany of possibly having Dissociative Identity Disorder without a doctor's confirmation, nor do I want to explain to them that the man I kicked the shit out of, may have been the triggering event for everything. A warm hand is placed on my arm causing me to look up.
"We don't have to get into this now, but just know that your family Faith, and you can always talk to Lena or me," Aviva says with the utmost sincerity.
"I'll keep that in mind," I say with a small smile and she heads off to take care of wedding plans. At the mention of the wedding her voice becomes tighter and posture, stiffer.
"Aviva?"
"Yeah?" She says peering over her shoulder.
"If you ever need to vent about the wedding, or just talk, I've been told I am a great listener," I say with a small smile and she laughs and nods before leaving.
I finish my coffee and hop into the shower and wash away the dirt and pain of yesterday. Stepping out of the shower I shoo away the memory and take notice of the bruises on my arm and stomach. I trace my fingers over them absent-mindedly before pulling on a long sleeve short and loose pants. I leave the sling in my room not wanting to put it back on right now. Walking into the piano room I hear someone in the kitchen. Sitting down at the piano I start playing and just feel the music flowing through my fingers.
Nobody disturbs me, and I don't stop. The music consumes me, and I lose track of how many different pieces I play. Everything just folds into one long melody until something shattering in the kitchen breaks my concentration. Rushing to the kitchen I see a broken plate on the ground and a startled Ruka. Looking around I don't see anyone, so I grab the broom and start cleaning it up.
"Thank you," Ruka says and I can hear in her voice that she is still shaken.
"What happened?" I ask while tossing the glass in the trash.
"I just startled myself and dropped the plate," she says dismissively but I can see that she is still slightly shaken.
"Ruka?" I ask her, and I meet her gaze. I can see the fear lingering in her eyes, is she afraid of me?
I listen for footsteps, a heartbeat, someone breathing, but I only hear us. Dax comes in in a hurry and sees me cleaning the glass up off of the floor and lets out a sigh of relief. He grabs the vacuum and we finish cleaning up the mess.
"Are you alright, Ruka?" Dax asks her quietly as I grab a quick snack.
"I'm fine, I just startled myself, that's all," she says, and her heart skips a beat. Why is she lying?
I cast a curious glance in her direction, but she is too busy finishing making breakfast to notice. Looking her over I don't see any evident signs of harm, but I can tell something else happened. Looking around the kitchen I don't see anything until I glance out the window. Something is dangling just past the window frame. Getting up from my seat I walk into my bedroom and climb out onto the fire escape.
Looking towards the kitchen window I see a rope hanging from the rooftop. The cable is thick and meant to support something that is heavy. Glancing up to the roof I don't see anything, but I am at a bad angle. Closing my eyes, I listen again, and then I hear it, a heart-racing away. Slipping back into my room I grab my pocket knife and then go back out on the fire escape.
I can easily get to the roof but if whoever is up there has a gun; well you shouldn't bring a knife to a gunfight. I continue to listen, and I just hear pacing but no metal clinking. Sucking in a breath I start climbing up to the roof and easily pull myself over the edge. Catching my balance, I see the stranger is facing the other way, completely oblivious to me.
Looking them over I don't recognize the uniform, but they are in one. The dark brown top and black pants are all durable looking but there is no logo or marking to indicate who this person is. I put my watch into my pocket and make sure it's off. Stepping closer they whip around.
"Stop, don't move," I command, and he freezes, hand midway towards a weapon of sorts.
"Who are you?" I ask, and I see their eyes zoning out.
"My name is Alastor Brown," he says.
"Why are you on my roof?" I demand, and I hear Ruka's panicked voice.
"I'm looking for Macie," he says.
"What do you want with her?" I ask curiously.
This is the second time these people have come after her. I don't know what she is into, or why they are after her, but I know she is a good meta and a friend of Aviva and Lena. Making up my mind I wait for his response.
"It's my job to retrieve her," he says.
"Why do you need to retrieve her? Who is giving you this order?" I question stepping closer. My watch starts buzzing in my pocket alerting me to a call.
"Her father wants her to return to her proper home," he says, and I can hear the strain in his voice.
I stop my advance and am only a few feet away now. Alastor looks me dead in the eyes and I can see the war waging in his eyes as he tries to keep himself from answering my questions. I can't help the faint sense of satisfaction I feel, it's so easy to get the information I need sometimes.
"You should leave, before you get hurt," I say.
"I was told not to return unless I had Macie with me," he says and my head jerks back.
"Why do you people keep coming here? She doesn't live here," I say.
"We've pinged her location in this building more than once," he says. I wonder if Macie knew anyone else in the building.
"You can move," I say, and he lunges at me.
I am fully expecting that and sidestep him. I manage to jam my leg in-between his and he hits the ground. I grab his arm and pull him into an armbar and push his head into the cement.
"Let go of me, you witch!" He yells.
"Shut up and sit still," I growl out and he falls still.
"Ruka! Call Aviva and Cathleen!" I scream, and I hear her yell something back, but her voice is carried away by the wind. In a few moments, I see Aviva appear first and then Cathleen and Alexander.
"What is going on?" Cathleen asks me genuinely confused. I yank out my watch with my free hand and turn on the app I need.
"This dude is looking for Macie," I say confused, and their eyes widen.
"Why would they come here? She's not even in the building," Aviva says confused.
I get off the man and Aviva and Alexander pull him to his feet and cuff him. His body is slack, and he looks like he is in a separate universe. I try to figure out what to say to him to make him less of a vegetable but still be cooperative. Turning it back off I gesture for them to close their ears.
"You will cooperate with them and tell them what they want to know. You are free to move again but don't lash out, be calm," I say and he the glazed look in his eyes lessens some.
"How can you do that?" Alexander's voice questions me and I scratch my head.
"Why don't we talk about this later once we take care of him," Aviva jumps in and I silently thank her
"Dinner's on me," Alexander says, and I just shy away from his gaze but nodding. There is no hiding anything anymore, especially with how nosy this family is.
"We'll text Ruka the details," Aviva says softly before they all disappear.
I climb back down carefully from the roof and hit the fire escape. Ruka's head whips up and she runs out to help me up, I can tell she was crying, and I pull her into a big hug. Tears slip through my eyes as well and we just stand there for a moment. She helps me back in through the window.
"Why didn't you tell me you saw someone on the roof?" I question confused and another tear slides down her cheek.
"Because I knew you would go out there and try to fix the situation," she says seriously, and I pull a sheepish look. Dax joins us in my room.
"Who even was that?" Dax asks.
"Somebody that actually wasn't here for me, he was looking for Macie," I say.
"Do you drink some of my coffee?" Dax asks changing the subject. I may have accidentally had three cups earlier, and I may be slightly wired from the caffeine.
"Was I not allowed to do that?"
"I could care less, I just didn't know you drank coffee," he says with a small laugh.
"I don't drink it often," I say as we head back into the kitchen. It makes my anxiety worse, so I try to avoid it.
Ruka's phone goes off and she informs me of our pending dinner plans with Cathleen, Aviva, and Alexander. I grumble about it but just going back to playing the piano. I really didn't want to have to explain everything that has been going on or everything that has happened, but at this point, I have no choice.
Before I know it Ruka is ushering me into the shower and helping me do something with my long, tangled hair. She pulls a sweater dress and some leggings out of my closet that I didn't even know I owned. I am guessing this is a nice restaurant considering all of the fuss. We wait in the lobby for the driver and I dread what is about the come. Anxiety starts to consume me, and I fidget with my watch.
Ruka notices my anxiety and pulls me closer to her in the car. She hands me her keys and I sit and play with them trying not to worry about what could happen, the questions I might be asked, or how terrible this whole dinner could go. When we pull up to the restaurant my heart kicks into double time. Ruka presses her lips against my cheek and I can't help but be slightly startled.
"Why are you so anxious?" She asks me, but I knew she could guess the answer.
"I feel as if I am being pressed into a corner," I say quietly.
"Everyone at this dinner cares about you Faith, we only want to understand you and help you," Ruka says in a loving tone and I nod.
"Please trust us Faith, we love you so much and only want to help," Dax says giving me a hug. I love them too, especially Ruka and Dax, although the entire situation has been nothing but a mess, they've done nothing but try to understand and help me.
I feel my anxiety subside slightly but not completely go away. Climbing out of the car my legs are slightly shaky, but I hold my head high. Ruka wraps her arm around mine and guides me into the restaurant. Her hand traces patterns on my arm distracting me slightly. As we are seated around the table the overwhelming urge to pee hits me and I stand up and rush off. Sitting down on the toilet I hear the door open.
"Faith?" Aviva's voice asks me, but I am too busy relieving myself.
Stepping out of the stall I make awkward eye contact with her before going and washing my hands. We silently walk back to the table and sit down, and everybody is eyeing me up confused and I just shake my head.
"Is a girl not allowed to pee without everyone wondering where she went?" I ask throwing fake amusement into my voice. Anxiously having to use the bathroom is a real problem.
The tension dissolves and everybody starts chatting amongst themselves. I look around the private dining room and can't help but to marvel at how beautiful the room is. I fidget with my watch some more as we order and then the waiter leaves.
"Faith?" Cathleen's voice calls my name and I snap back to attention.
"Alexander has a few questions for you after you left so abruptly the other day," Cathleen says in a soft tone and I nod.
"Well, I think we all want to know what exactly your ability is," Alexander says, and I let out a sigh.
"Well we can't start there," I say, and he raises an eyebrow.
"You never told them what I told you?" I ask gesturing to Aviva and Cathleen and they look confused.
"I didn't feel right trying to explain it," he says.
"I respect that," I say gathering my frenzied nerves.
"I am not like you guys in the sense that I wasn't born with my meta ability," I start off and Ruka rubs my arm.
"There is a camp, down in the southwest where they take children from orphanages and put them in a camp. They do awful things to these kids, they're beaten, abused mentally and physically, tested on, injected with strange things. The list goes on for far too long, but I came from that camp," I say looking up from my napkin. I see the pain in Aviva's eyes.
"Orion and I were both orphans and were put in the camp when I was five and he was a little over seven. They showed us no mercy and by the time I was seven I underwent surgery. They inserted this little mechanism that enhances my hearing along with something a lot more invasive. They laced all of my vocal cords with Xespeocium," I say and Aviva chokes on her water and Alexander's eyes pop open. Even Cathleen looks confused and concerned.
"Did you just say Xespeocium?" He asks me absolutely baffled.
"Well they had to lace it with something else or I would have exploded," I say.
"No shit," Alexander says scratching his head.
"Well with the metal coating my vocal cords I am able to throw my voice into such a smooth and seductive tone, I can essentially brainwash people. That's why I stopped talking for so long, but with the watch Aviva engineered, I can speak again," I say.
"How exactly does that work?" Aviva asks me curiously.
"The brain isn't as easily tricked with the noise in the background, it keeps the person more cognitive and less susceptible to being brainwashed," I say with a shrug.
"So, what I have gathered is that you think my mother was the one who performed the surgeries on you?" Alexander asks me and everyone else's head whips towards him in shock and I just nod.
"I just can't believe that she isn't dead after all of these years," he says rubbing his face.
"Her death is practically something you would find in a book, but you never had any reason to ever believe otherwise until I came along," I say fidgeting again.
"So how exactly did you escape the camp?" Cathleen asks me, and my chest tightens. I feel adrenaline starting to pump through my veins as I recall the memories, but I keep myself as calm as possible.
"That's a very interesting story..."
"Well isn't that why we are here? To listen to your story and understand you better?" Aviva asks me and all of sudden all three of their watches ding.
"I have a question for you three first," I say trying to stall.
"That being?"
"How was it never mentioned that you three, plus Macie and Greyson are part of that superhero group here in New York?" I ask, and all their eyes widen.
"I'll be insulted if you didn't expect me to figure that out considering your powers are plastered on the news and I already know that your Meta's," I say and Aviva laughs. It isn't a nervous laugh but a genuine one that lets me relax a bit.
"I guess we didn't exactly do a very good of hiding it from you," she says with an amused smile.
"Now stop stalling," she continues with a small smirk playing on her features.
"Running this high frequency of a pitch requires a lot of energy and it wasn't uncommon for the batteries to run out. Well, one day I was out in my sparring session and it stopped. Quite a few guards were out burying a body of a teenager who didn't make it and they left the gate unlocked. I knocked everyone in the immediate premise unconscious and ran for my life. Eventually, I got to a road and I hopped into the bed of somebody's truck and kept going..."
"How did you knock everyone out?" Aviva asks me, and it dawns me that I never told them that part of my ability. It's not particularly practical in the middle of a city so I certainly haven't had any use for it.
"I have a supersonic screech," I say and even Dax and Ruka look at me baffled.
"I can raise my voice so high that I can make your ears bleed and so low that the pitch can disrupt the rhythm of your heart," I say trying to be casual about it but everyone's jaw drops.
"Well, okay then," Ruka says snapping out of it and people enter the room with our food.
We all pause for a few moments and dig into our food. I savor the wonderful taste and the silence that falls over the room. I know what is coming next and that would probably be the hardest to explain. Calming my nerves, I fall into a strange calm as Aviva calls for my attention again.
"So, what exactly happened yesterday behind the gym?" Aviva asks me.
"Well Dax and I got into an argument over somethings and I left the apartment. I was wandering around for a while when I noticed I was being followed. I could feel his eyes on me from thousands of feet away and I knew I had to handle the situation sooner rather than later," I say.
"Who was this person?" Cathleen asks.
"He was somebody else from the camp," I say hoping I can get away with a few details.
"So why was he following you? Did he want your help?" Alexander asks a snort slips out.
"No, he was there to try and take me back," I say, and my throat tightens.
"He is one of the guard's favorites and he always listens to them, so they would let him go on trips and missions. I guess his latest mission was to retrieve me," I say quietly.
"Why does this seem so much more personal than the first time the group of guys came to take you back?" Dax asks me and my body tenses.
"Cabe is one of my least favorite people on this planet," I say tracing around the truth.
"Why?" Cathleen asks, and I take a slow bite of my food.
"He hurt me in a way that was unique to every other form of torture I underwent," I say, and five sets of eyes are peering at me, but I just keep eating.
"They knew I would be thrown for an awful loop seeing his face again, but I guess that was there plan, surprise me enough to drag me back," I say.
"Why does he have absolutely no memories?" Cathleen asks, and I have to avoid eye contact.
"What?" Ruka asks surprised.
"I went and checked on him in the hospital and he had no clue who he was or where he was from, he didn't even know his name Faith," Cathleen says and faint memories flit through my mind.
"Faith?" Dax asks me, and tears blur my vision.
"Did you erase his memories? Can you even do that to a person?" Dax asks me and Ruka stills next to me.
The table falls silent as I start to tremble, the panic swallows me and I start hyperventilating. My chair is pulled back from the table and somebody tries to soothe me, but I start seeing spots. Memories flit before my eyes, taking down the men in my apartment, taking down Cabe, and then a faint memory of me talking to Cathleen in an alleyway. I can't place where that memory is from, but I have a feeling she knows I did something to her and that's why she is pressing me.
Somebody grips my shoulder I shove them away from me and try to get up, but my oxygen-deprived body isn't strong enough and I collapse. Strong arms catch me before I fall and pull me against them. The warmth of their body makes me uncomfortable but brings me out of my state slightly. I am pressed against them and the pressure helps clear my mind some.
"Faith?" Ruka's voice calls to me and I lift my head slightly. Everything is blurry, and I can't focus but I know she is in front of me.
"I didn't mean to-" I stutter out and whoever is holding me pulls me closer to them.
"It's okay Faith," Ruka says trying to soothe me.
"I didn't mean to hurt anyone, especially not Cathleen. Please I can bring back those memories, please don't hurt me, please don't leave me," the words fall from lips as my heart races away and my frantic scattered thoughts come straight out of my mouth.
"Faith focus on your breathing," Ruka says but everything aches and there is this pain in my chest.
"Faith,"
"Faith,"
"Should we call Orion?"
"No, we need to learn to help her ourselves."
"She's going to pass out Ruka."
"She's calming down, her breathing is less raged."
"Cathleen, do you know what she is talking about?"
"I think Aviva may remember this better than I, I went out to find Faith and then I came back with no clue what happened, and I was really dazed for a few days," Cathleen says.
"I do remember that, you were so out of it," Aviva says. I am handed a glass of water and I try to drink it.
"Faith?"
"Give her a minute Ruka."
My vision slowly starts to come back to me and my whole body is trembling violently. Focusing on my breathing I try to calm down. Slowly I can feel my heart rate dropping back to something that would be considered normal. I try to move around some and the arms around me loosen.
"Faith?"
"Huh?"
"Faith, what happened with you and Cathleen?"
What did happen to Cathleen? I can barely recall the encounter but once again I can feel the words burning themselves into my tongue, I know that I said to them, but I can't remember anything in regard to what happened. Straining my memory, I try to remember anything that happened. Focusing I recall the feeling of being watched and followed on my walk home, that was the day Charlie didn't show up. I recall slipping down an alley and then eventually leaving but there isn't much in between.
"Cathleen?" I ask raising my head. We make uncomfortable eye contact as I turn off my watch.
"Cathleen, I want you to remember what I told you to forget," I say, and I watch as her eyes cloud over and she winces in pain.
Dropping my head to my knee's I curl up into a ball and try to focus on my breathing. I never had any intention of hurting Cathleen, but I guess I have even worse control over my emotions then I thought. I am scared to find out what happened in the alley, and I hope Ruka and Dax don't judge me for this.
"How did you know I was following you?" She asks after a few silent moments.
"It was part of our training, to be able to spot a tail from a mile away," I mumble.
Things fall silent for a few moments and I can feel her questioning gaze on my curled-up form, but I don't raise my head to acknowledge it. I want nothing more than to leave this room and pretend any of this never happened. Why do these people care so much about me? They should have just sent me back to the orphanage when they had the chance! I am just one big mess that always manages to hurt the people around me.
"Faith?" Ruka's tentative voice asks me and a hand slowly rubs my stiff back.
"Faith, I have one more question," Cathleen's voice asks me, and I raise my head.
"That look in your eyes that day, when the people were in your apartment, and then on the roof. It's a look almost as if there is a completely different person standing in front of us. Where does that come from?" Cathleen asks me as I am pulled to my feet and sat back in a chair.
"I don't know," I say quietly.
"Do you even remember what happened in the alley?" Cathleen asks me and my face burns with frustration as I shake my head. She can see right through my actions, I told her to remember because I couldn't, and she knows it.