I jumped slightly as The Forgotten reached out and brushed a stray tear off my cheek with his gloved thumb.
When had I started crying?
“Tell me, Milo.”
“Wh-what?”
“What do youwant?”
My mind was racing, and for once, I couldn’t seem to get a hold of my own thoughts. Usually, I could work through complex math problems in seconds. I could dissect multi-layered theories and organize my dissertations into rational, easy-to-understand theses. But this… this raw,powerfulemotion that felt so random andbaseless,I didn’t understand it. I couldn’t quantify it or find its origin.
What did I want?
Ishouldbe saying I wanted my mother back, that I wanted to be reunited with her. But for some reason, I just… had this strong and profound feeling that there was nothing to worry about.
Abruptly, it was like a dam broke somewhere deep inside me, and this unfathomable trust for this stranger bloomed out of nowhere.
Which was…insane.
He’d murdered my friend right in front of me… he’d blackmailed me, and kidnapped my mother to hold her hostage… but… there was something… this black hole that kept begging me to look closer, but every time I did, nothing of substance echoed back.
“Do you want that kiss I stole from you earlier? Hmm?” he hummed, and I blinked in shock, confused by the way my entire body reacted positively to his offer.
“I… I—uhm…”
“You lonely, baby? I know it’s been a while. Two years is a long time, sweet boy. I can’t blame you for wanting to feel close to someone...” He let out a low chuckle and ran his knuckles tenderly over my warm, damp cheek. “Though, you could maybe choose someone a little less miserable thanSebastian.”
“How did you?—”
“Oh, Milo… I knoweverythingabout you. I knoweverythingthat happens on this campus. There is nothing you or anyone else can do to hide from me. The devil knows they tried.”
I was quivering, and for once it wasn’t with fear.
A strange heat and a sense oflongingwere erupting through me, and I found myself reaching out with shaking fingers for his mask.
He jerked back, shaking his head.
“Nuh-uh. Not yet.”
“I just… I need to see you… You don’t understand. There’s something about you… Something about Seb. It’s driving me crazy…”I choked on the word ‘crazy,’ and more tears spilled down my cheeks.
Why did it feel like my heart was breaking?
The Forgotten hung frozen before me, and I heard his AI whisper a warning in his ear.
“Don’t do it. Not yet,” NOVA warned, but The Forgotten growled a firm‘Shut up, NOVA’before reaching forward and slipping my glasses off my nose.
My world collapsed into smudges of black and navy. The light of the moon illuminated the now smoky and featureless form that made up The Forgotten. Shadow and light seemed to bloom and bleed with every small movement he made before me.
“Okay, Milo. You can take it off now,” he whispered, and I reached through the blurry blacks and blues and hooked my fingers around the edges of his mask.
NOVA play: Crystalised by The xx
With shaking fingers, I lifted the mask off the man’s face, and he took it gently from my hands. I couldn’t see where he put it, but as his breath danced across my lips, I didn’t really care.
Basically blind and trembling with that bleating, unquenchableneedthat had erupted out of nowhere,I reached slowly for the man’s face.
I jumped slightly as my fingertips brushed against his warm cheek. Rough five o’clock shadow scraped like sandpaper as I traced a charged path down to his jaw.
