(Please read the important author's note at the end of this chapter please)
Silas' POV:
"Jared, what's going on?" Atticus asks as he answers the phone, Lincoln driving so we can get home and Atticus can get to work.
I assume Jared is talking to him, but I can't hear anything so I just try to relax. It's a little, well, a lot, difficult because I'm currently terrified that psycho killer lady is going to bust through the door of the car and murder me.
She's probably pissed at me because I am kind of the one that got her identity exposed because I lived. If I hadn't fought back, she'd have been able to kill me and I doubt that Atticus' boss would have allowed him to do in depth investigation to find out who killed me.
I can't dwell on that.
It's not the right time to panic; I need to focus my energy on being alert and ready to protect myself at any minute that I can.
"I don't give a fuck if Darrel doesn't want me in! We both know he doesn't value my days off, he just values my current absence so that I can't look into this!" Atticus yells into the phone, making me wince a little at his brutal tone.
I've never heard him speak that way, except for when I was in jail and he yelled at Darrel and punched him.
Lincoln looks at me through the rear view mirror, concern living in his eyes.
"I'll be there as soon as I can," Atticus says, sounding a bit more relaxed. "I'm supposed to meet with her tomorrow, but I'll call and see if she's in town today. Maybe she's seen the news."
Atticus bids Jared goodbye and then hangs up, just as we're pull off the street and heading toward the quieter area where their house is.
I see Atticus' hand grab Lincoln's thigh, and I assume he's doing it to calm himself down. From what I've seen of Atticus in the last month or so of living with these two, he is very touchy and affectionate, so it's a good thing he can divide his clinginess between myself and Lincoln!
We get back to the house and Atticus has us get out of the car.
"I'm sorry, I have to go," Atticus tells us, kissing me on the lips and then kissing Lincoln. "I'll try to be home soon."
Neither Lincoln nor myself are going to push him to get home because we know how stressed he probably is right now, especially since it looks like Andrea Velazco has lost it a little bit and is going after everyone with Mistacesemia instead of just my group of 2003 people.
"Come on, let's go inside," Lincoln urges me, taking my hand and guiding me into the house. "I'm proud of you, Silas! You went out in public and didn't panic!"
He's great at brightening the mood, so all I can do is smile and let him hug and kiss all over my face. Lincoln is adorable and I love how touchy he is; he and Atticus both are and I adore it.
We walk into the living room, but as soon as we do so, I feel a wave of uncertainty and fear wash over me. I barely have time to grab Lincoln and raise my hands to lift a wall of my power when I hear a gunshot.
I'm holding a small dart in mid air, and I let it fall on the ground. I make sure Lincoln is close to me as I make eye contact with our attackers.
A man is holding a gun, and he looks pissed. Beside him stands a young woman who looks vaguely familiar but I know that I've never met her personally.
"Fuck," the man curses, because he knows he cannot possibly hurt me or Lincoln.
I use my powers and take his weapon, destroying it before his eyes.
"We aren't here to hurt you," the woman says, stepping forward but backing away when I move my hands slightly.
I was attempting to be threatening, and I am glad to see it worked.
"The gun could've fooled me," I respond in a sharp tone, still keeping the barrier up. "Who are you and why are you here? And, trust me, if you don't want to talk to us, I know a certain officer who will be happy to arrest you for me."
The woman crosses her arms. "Trust me, you will want to hear what I gave to say, Silas Murray."
Well, she knows my name. That's creepy.
"How do you know my name?"
"My little sister tried to kill you," she says, and that's where I realize I've seen her before.
She looks similar to the girl on the news!
"My name is Melina True, and my little sister is Andrea Velazco. The dart was only to knock out your boyfriend so I could speak with just you, but I suppose we can speak with both of you," Melina says, and she looks at the wall I have created. "You can lower your shield, Silas."
I shake my head. "I will lower it when I feel safe doing so," I tell her bitterly. "Who's the guy with you?"
"My husband, Jacob," she says, sitting down on the couch. "He works with a laboratory where they are responsible for both lethal and non-lethal weapons, but they don't use bullets. They create different substances and poisons to use in their weapons. My little sister came to visit us about two months ago and then left out of nowhere, and the next day, there was a report of a break-in to his lab, and then the death of a young woman with Mistacesemia in South Carolina, where I was born and the rest of my family still lives.
"The girl who was killed died by a lethal dose of a poison that no person should have access to... we didn't even know it was Andrea until the OSIU pushed the South Carolina Supernatural Investigation Unit to look into the death and realized the shape of the person and look of them was the same as the person who attacked you and killed the other person with Mistacesemia here. They contacted Jacob's lab because they're the only ones who have access to that kind of poison, and then I later got the call from some man who works with the OSIU. Ah, what was his name?"
I chime in. "Was it Atticus or Jared?"
"I spoke with Atticus on the phone and Jared through email," Melina says, recognition flooding her eyes. "But I needed to speak with you. I have some training with the Supernatural Unit in Maryland and South Carolina, so I found your file and tracked you down because you are someone with Mistacesemia. It took a while because you were not at the address on your file-"
"Courtesy of your sister blowing up his apartment and killing innocent people in attempts to hurt Silas," Lincoln interrupts, and he is livid.
Not that he doesn't deserve to be; this woman literally admitted that she was attempting to shoot him with a poison dart to knock him out so she could only talk to me.
"I need your help," Melina says, and she sounds so desperate that I kind of feel for her. "Andrea is not a killer. She would not do something like this."
Lincoln scoffs. "Did you see the news this morning? She killed someone openly, in public, and now the country is literally hunting for her because she murdered someone in cold blood!" he shouts, and Melina shoots him a nasty glare. "Don't look at me like that! You're the one who broke into our house!"
She takes a deep breath, and I'm sure she must've learned that from living with sisters. Though I didn't interact with mine very much, I know that siblings of any sort take a lot of patience.
"I don't think that was Andrea on her own. She is not someone who willingly hurts other people, much less someone with Mistacesemia. I think she's being forced to do this, blackmailed, something along those lines. Please, I need you to help me."
Lincoln doesn't look convinced at all, and I'm not sure if I should be either.
"What do you want us to do?" I ask, and Lincoln looks at me in confusion, and I can tell he's trying to process what's on my mind.
Melina lights up a bit.
"I haven't agreed to anything, just so you're aware," I tell her, but her face doesn't fall.
She better have a good plan and explanation, or else I will not assist her. Even if it's for another Mistake; I have too much to lose, too much that I've just gotten and I cannot let this relationship, the happiness and love I've been shown, be taken away from me for someone who tried to murder me.
"I want you to help me find out who is controlling her."
"We have no proof that she's being controlled, psycho," Lincoln says as I finally put down my barrier. "So, our answer is no thank you, have a shitty life, let me show you to the door. I'll even call you an Uber to the airport if it'll make you fuck off sooner!"
I have to fight a laugh, because Lincoln is right.
These people have nothing.
No way to contact her, no proof, nothing other than their distress and dedication to the idea that Andrea Velazco is innocent.
"You must have some kind of resource besides the OSIU! They won't help us."
"Is now a bad time to tell you that we're in a three way relationship with the guy who contacted you and got you tickets to come here?" Lincoln deadpans. "He actually dropped us off and then went to work to find out how to stop your sister from trying to wipe the country of all people with Mistacesemia."
Melina goes white and Jacob grabs around her waist to keep her from collapsing. "You... you're going to tell him that I came here, aren't you?"
"Secrets aren't healthy for relationships," Lincoln says, and he raises his phone, where I can see he's involved in an ongoing call with Atticus. "And he's already on his way."
The door bursts open and Atticus arrives along with a group of police officers who are not involved with the Supernatural Investigation Unit entering the room, their weapons raised.
They arrest Melina and Jacob, and as they leave, I see a small piece of paper dropped on the ground by Melina.
I lift it up and see an address and a phone number.
Garden Inn
Seattle, Washington
(888)123-4545
(Ask to speak with Lucy Charleston!)
Atticus hugs Lincoln as they leave, before he pulls me into a shared hug between the two. "Are you two okay?! Lincoln, you nearly gave me a heart attack!"
Lincoln shrugs. "Calling 911 wouldn't do much because we couldn't really state our address and Silas has already been accused of murder once, so we don't really want a repeat of that," he says, ruffling my hair before catching sight of the paper. "What's that?"
I show it to the pair. "I think Melina knows where Andrea may be and I think she's telling us how to contact her."
•••
Hello my lovely readers !
I hope you all are enjoying this story :)
I want to let you amazing people know that I unfortunately have been having some ongoing health issues and between a new job, school, and going to the doctor pretty frequently, I am exhausted and updates will be a bit slower (probably 1-3 times a week)
I apologize for this, because I'm used to updating daily, but I do not have time right now and I value the quality of my work so I will not push out bad chapters because it will ruin the quality.
Thank you all so much for reading this author's note!