Page 35 of Anarchy Chained: Alpha Thomas

CHAPTER ELEVEN - THOMAS

My face is still right up next to hers. I can hear her heart beating. Feel her chest rising and falling as she considers my offer.

“I don’t even know you,” she finally says.

“What more do you need?” I ask. And I’m serious. “We’re products, Sadie. We were created. Molded into what they wanted us to be. We’ve been through the same things. Were brought up by the same people.”

“You don’t know that,” she says. “We came from two totally different places. You have no idea how I grew up.”

“Neither do you,” I retort. It’s kind of a low blow, but that doesn’t make it untrue.

“Right,” she says, placing a hand on my chair so she can push away and create some distance. “But I will soon. You said so. I’ll remember and I have a feeling that there’s a very good reason they sent me to confront you.”

“Confront me?” I laugh. “That’s a nice way to put it. They sent you on a suicide mission.”

“I don’t care about that right now.”

“You should.”

“Like I said, I’ll remember eventually. It would be stupid for me to make that kind of promise to you before I know all the facts. You’re not a good guy, Thomas. And before you say the same thing right back to me, I’m not the one trying to manipulate the entire town. And I’m not the one hiding things. I don’t remember who and what I am. But you know exactly who and what you are. And you won’t tell me. There’s something… wrong with you, I think. Something big.”

“Like what?” I laugh.

“I don’t know,” she says, standing up from her chair. “I don’t know. But I think I’m going to leave now.”

“No,” I say, getting to my feet so fast, my chair goes sliding across the floor.

“You don’t own me, Mr. Brooks.” But she’s not moving towards the door. She wants a reason to stay and so far I haven’t given her one.

“What do you need to know?” I ask. “What can I tell you to make you stay? I think if you just wait it out, Sadie, if you just give yourself a chance to stabilize, you’ll see that I’m right. They want you dead. I want you alive.”

“You want to use me just like they do.”

“No,” I say, frustrated. “That’s not what I want. I want a partner in this.”

“In your world domination plans? No, thank you!”

We stare at each other for a few seconds. I take her in. She hasn’t changed yet. And she hasn’t showered. She’s a mess. There’s still a smudge on her arm from the destruction I caused at the hospital yesterday. There’s a rip in her stolen shirt proclaiming her name to be Phil. She has those stupid work boots on.

I want to see her. Really see her. And I know she’d feel better if she just cleaned up and took a breath. Got a good night’s sleep.

“I want the truth from you. I want to know why you were in that hospital. Because I think you were there for a very good reason. I think you’re crazy.”

“Look, I want to know all about you too, Sadie. I want that as well. But you’re still wearing that stupid uniform. And you need a shower. How about you clean up, put on something else, and then come back out here and I’ll make us lunch. After lunch, if you still want to leave, I’ll take you wherever you want to go.”

She hesitates. She’s close to a yes. I know this because her eyes dart to the bathroom door on the other side of the room. But something is holding her back.

“Sadie,” I say, walking towards her. “Come on. You can’t just walk out of here on your own. We’re in the forest. You have no car. Just take a breath, for fuck’s sake. Relax.”

“I want to know why you were there,” she insists.

“Fine,” I say, putting my hands up. “Fine. You clean up, we’ll have lunch, and we’ll talk. Fair?”

I smile at her indecision. It’s not exactly fake. I really do think she’d rather leave. But something is holding her here. Maybe it’s me?

I walk over to the bathroom, flick the light on, and run the water for the shower. “Come on,” I say, beckoning her with a finger. “You’ve been here for two days almost. What’s thirty more minutes?”

She looks longingly at the steam rising up around me. Her hair is dark, her skin is probably olive when she’s feeling good, but right now, it’s a little gray. And there are the beginnings of dark circles under her eyes. She really does need rest. She’s pretty now, but cleaning up and wearing something that actually fits would go a long way towards making her beautiful.