On reaching the room, he stepped out of his Shadow Realm and leaned in, letting the scanner catch sight of his right eye. At the buzz of the lock disengaging, he opened the door and slipped in. Inside, he couldn’t help but stare at the room. The bed was a giant shell. The end tables were shaped like crabs, and the walls and floor were glowing blue, giving a water effect. It was…fun, he had to admit. He kind of wanted to stay there.
“Bah ab bah,” a sweet voice cooed from somewhere in the room.
Severo smiled and walked around the bed, his grin widening as he found the baby sitting strapped into a car seat, shaking a teddy bear teething ring. At least, he thought it was a teething ring. The baby froze on seeing him, her face scrunching up.
Crouching down in front of her, he waved. “Hello, Nymphant.”
She blinked cutely.
Seri enteredthe little room that held a ton of vending machines, along with a few other random things, and went to the one with all the baby stuff. Staring, he eyed all that was inside. Pulling a prepaid credit card from his pocket, he swiped it and then selected multiple items, including a new binky, some formula, and some more powder and diapers. That done, he pressed to checkout. In a split second, the items were waiting for him to grab in the large slot at the bottom.
Seri quickly piled the stuff up in the bucket and headed back down the path he’d taken from his room.
One of the lights flickered off above and he stumbled forward, past the small stretch of darkness. Frozen, Seri stared back, his heart rate speeding up as his breathing became shallow.
His heart beating quickly away was all he could hear. Not wanting to give in completely to his fears by running, he power walked away instead. On reaching the door of his room, he took a deep breath through his mouth, trying to stop his hands from shaking.
“Calm down, Seri,” he told himself. “There is nothing there… It’s nothing… You are stronger than this.”
Composure regained, and no longer on the edge of a panic attack, he leaned forward and scanned his eye. At the sound of Skya’s giggling, he couldn’t help but smile.
“What’s so funny, dewdrop?” He laughed, walking in.
At the first sight of his giggling daughter, his own laughter came to a screeching halt. As Seri stared at the man sitting there on the bed with her in his arms, the ice bucket slipped from his grasp and clattered to the floor, its content spilling out.
The return of his out-of-control heartbeat seemed to clash with his daughter's continued giggling.
“Don’t… Don’t hurt her.”
Gun…he needed his gun… And then he saw it…right there next to Severo on the bed, the bullets scattered nearby.
Severo sighed. “I don’t want to hurt either of you, Seri.” The man’s voice was slightly off, no doubt due to the bandage on his nose.
“If that were true, you would have stayed away from me,” Seri rasped, fists clenching.
Tears began to form in his eyes as a wave of devastation crashed into him. This was it… He could no longer run.
The man winced. “You know I have no choice.”
“That’s garbage and you know it! I didn’t do anything. You all have no right to take me in!”
“I have my duty to the law. I have to follow it. You know that.”
The law?! Was this guy serious? The only thing the law did was protect the powerful and step over the helpless. It was useless! Always had been and always would be!
“The law,” he laughed bitterly. A tear slipped free and he angrily wiped it away. “The law is crap. The law is for the fake high and mighty to make others feel good, but to help no one!”
“I’m sorry you feel that way. I know you don’t believe me, but this is all I can promise you right now. You will get justice.”
“Ha, justice! You think I want justice?!” Seri held back a sob. “I don’t want justice! I want revenge! I want the last six years of my life back! I want to be left alone, and I want Preston to burn for all he did to me!”
Severo stood, Skya in his arms. She had stopped laughing and was frowning now, face all scrunched up, she looked like she was about to cry. He longed to grab hold of her and run. But he knew he was trapped. He had fucked up. Seri shouldn’t have left Skya alone, even for a second. Why hadn’t he remembered how easily she could be used against him? Lack of sleep probably didn’t help.
“Don’t you see that this is your chance at taking Preston down? You can turn in all you know.”
Seri let out a laugh that ended in a sob. “So that’s why you won’t let me go? Because you want Preston to go down? Does mine and my daughter’s safety mean nothing to you all? If you want information, I can give it to you right here. I don’t need to go anywhere for that.”
Severo shook his head. “Charges have been filed. Things have to be sorted out first. And they will be, I promise you.” The Dweller held out his right hand. Handcuffs dangled from his wrist, one side attached while the other hung there open…
