Blade Phenomenon by Josh Anderson

Author:Josh Anderson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: EPIC Press
Published: 2015-06-21T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 14

February 1, 1998

* * *

Two years later

“I almost left here two years ago after I got back from time weaving with your father,” Allaire said to Demetrius. She couldn’t believe what he was asking of her as they stood in Ayers’s playroom in the factory building. “Do you remember what I said when you and Yalé convinced me to stay?”

Demetrius nodded. His face said he knew he had no leg to stand on. “I know. I know.”

“My terms,” she said. “I’m done answering to that psycho . . . I’m sorry. I know he’s your father, but you know what . . . ?”

“It’s okay, Beachy,” Demetrius said. “I know he’s crazy.”

Allaire dodged a toy car coming straight for her cheek. Demetrius’s son, Ayers, just looked at her and squealed at his near-miss. His playroom was spare, but he was barely interested in the few toys he did have. If he couldn’t throw it, climb it, or hit it, it might as well have not been there at all. There were cameras in every room of the Seres’ factory, and when she wasn’t right there to be the target of Ayers’s aggressive play, Allaire would watch him set up stuffed animals to target with kicks or punches.

“Careful, Ayers,” Allaire said with that half-patient, half-annoyed voice that children’s caregivers seem to develop without even realizing it. She sat down on the ground “crisscross applesauce” style.

“Allaire,” Demetrius said, sitting down next to her. “He needs to be around other kids. Wanda’s talking about full-time preschool.”

She rolled her eyes. “And your father?”

“I think he’ll live with it, for now. Until Ayers is old enough to start telling people things he’s not supposed to,” Demetrius said.

Allaire looked at him skeptically. “I wouldn’t be so sure. Someone has to drop him. Pick him up. That’s a lot of contact with the world outside of here,” she said, adding with a sarcastic tone, “and we know how Rickard feels about that.”

“I know it’s hard for you,” Demetrius said. “There’s a lot of stuff going on right now.”

“It’s not about me,” she said, pulling Ayers into her chest for a forced hug. “But, I’m only here because of this guy. Otherwise, what am I doing?”

Demetrius gave her that look again. The one he always gave when the idea of her moving on from the Seres came up. He’d never say it, but they both knew Rickard was unpredictable.

“I can’t stay here just so I don’t become a loose end,” she said.

“You could never be a loose end, Beachy,” Demetrius answered quietly. “But—”

Allaire shook her head. “But, I could.”

“It’s a strange time,” Demetrius said. “There are things I just can’t share. You know my responsibilities.”

Ayers toddled over to her and she pulled a marker out of his hand when he drew an orange squiggle on his cheek. “Why do you two keep going into the tunnel?” she asked. “For years, you stayed out.”

“Just do this thing my father’s asking, please,” Demetrius said. “Like I said, it’s a strange time.

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