Deception | Sequel

Chapter Six: You're Lost Without Me

This place must be at least two jumps away from the End by Teleporter, which means it's somewhere in a 6,500km radius from the End. That could be literally anywhere, especially because I don't know where the End actually is.

So basically, I have no clue where in the megabitten world I am. That's great. Awesome. Stellar. Absolutely per—

A knock sounds from the door.

I bolt upright just in time to see the door swing wide and Deception and a deliver-bot swish in. A stab of ice hits my fingers and I am on my feet faster than my head can keep the world from smearing.

Deception slows her approach, a crease between her eyebrows. (They're thin and so sharp, I feel like if I touch them, I'll cut my finger. What the megabytes, brain?) "It's okay. There's nothing to fear here."

Except you and your mind control. Muscles tense, I watch as she rounds the second couch and stops across from me. The deliver-bot wheels to the low glass table between the couches, sets down a tray of edibles I don't bother identifying and two wine glasses full of clear liquid. Task done, it swivels and rolls out the door, closing it with a soft click. Clenching my fingers into fits, I turn my gaze back to her. "I don't know you."

A carousel of emotions flicker over her face before settling on a wince and a glance down and away. She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, expression twisted and pinched. "Did you...really blank yourself?"

Two hollow pangs shiver through my chest. I've seen that expression before on David when he realized—actually, fully realized—that I am not who I said I was or whom he knew before. It's the, 'how could you do that to yourself?' and the, 'you're not the person I know and it hurts' look. It's the heart-wrenching, pain-filled, tightly pressed lips of betrayal, the scrunched eyebrows and darting eyes of denial, the tense shoulders and guarded position of walls closing up.

And it's on her face. Her, a villain, hurting just as much, if not more, than David.

It's not what I expected.

Her breaths are heavy as she continues. "I knew something was off about you when you left, but I—I didn't—" her eyes snap to mine, brimming with the burning of an open wound, "—Why didn't you tell me you were hurting so badly? Why did you insist on leaving? I could've helped you! Prevented you from sliding far enough to blank yourself! I would've kept you from losing yourself!"

The agony, the regret, in her voice strikes my heart so hard I almost flinch. She's hurting so much. And...and something is wrong. Didn't she leave me behind? Isn't that what I remembered when Edison reversed the blank for a little while? Isn't that what the Auto-Played Message implied? I frown. "You were the one who left me behind."

Deception shakes her head, hair flying in a quick circle around her. "What? No, you insisted on taking that mission on your own for secrecy and safety. If I had known you were struggling so hard mentally... Oh, Elias, why didn't you tell me? You know you get lost without me!"

I still, a slow, sneaky tendril of purple vibrating in my chest, hitting deep inside of me. I was...mentally unstable before I left her? And I...hid it from her? Why? Had I wanted to escape her? Or was it for some other reason, like stress? Or maybe I didn't have a reason other than secrecy and safety?

"I do?" Why do I get lost without her? Why am I dependent on her? Hang on, I am not dependent on her, I don't need her to keep my way, and she left me, not the other way around. Maybe. She...would know the story better than I do, and that look in her eyes right now, that trembling in her voice and the near-tears desperation speaks towards truth.