quickly, and he grabbed my wrist and halted me. The connection tingled where our skin touched and I wondered what exactly he was, and for that matter, what that made me. I had a bad feeling it wasn’t something I was going to like.
“This is a binding contract. If you renege, there will be repercussions.”
“Like what? Are you going to shoot me a sixth time?” I’d always had a hard time with sarcasm. People told me I used it as a defense mechanism. I disagreed. I just thought I was funny.
I pulled my wrist free and signed. “Red ink, fitting. Considering the situation, I’m surprised that you didn’t make me sign in blood.” I laid the pen down near the paper.
He didn’t answer, just took it off the table, folded it and put it in his pocket.
“I can leave now?”
“You’re free to go.”
I hesitated, now that I could walk out the door I knew I left behind any possible answers about my origin that I might have been able to discover. I stood, taking longer than what I naturally would have. Angry that I hadn’t gotten the answers when he had offered.
“Did you need something else?” He looked to me, his face blank, but I could sense amusement again. He knew what I wanted but clearly wasn’t going to make it easy for me.
My spine straightened. I’d figure it out on my own. “I don’t need anything,” I said, as I walked from the room.
My hand was on the knob closing the door when I heard him. “By the way, you’re an alchemist.” The door clicked in place.
So I’m an Alchemist? What the hell did that mean?
Chapter Seven
I groaned when I heard Mrs. Harvey knock the next day. Looking at my beat up clock it was four in the afternoon, give or take ten minutes. I’d slept over twelve hours. Sometimes I couldn’t sleep for more than three, so I was shocked. I guess even though I had healed, getting shot multiple times still took some recuperating.
When I finally made it home last night, I’d spent a good few hours researching Alchemists. All I’d found was a bunch of rubbish about changing base metals into gold and the fountain of youth. Nothing even came close to jiving with what I’d experienced. Plus, I hadn’t been able to lose the feeling I’d been followed, even though I hadn’t seen anyone.
Standing up, I was in boy shorts and a thin t-shirt minus a bra, but I didn’t think she’d care, so I went to go greet her as is, but it wasn’t Mrs. Harvey when I opened the door. I knew his face. He had introduced himself as Vitor. It was the man who had asked me if I was okay after I’d fallen at Lacard.
“What are you doing here?” I held the thin aluminum door firm, ready to slam it in his pretty face if I needed. It would probably buy me all of two minutes.
He held up his palms in the universal sign of surrender. “I mean you no harm. I just want to talk.’’
“You’ve been following me.” I didn’t need it confirmed, but he nodded anyway. He wasn’t as large, or filled out as Hawking, but he still had a powerful build. If he was immune to my tricks, like Hawking’s men had been, I wouldn’t stand a chance at a one on one fight against him. “Why?”
“Can I come in and talk to you?”
If I let him in, he could do god knows what to me. If I didn’t let him in, he’d probably still do god knows what to me. I glanced over at the Harvey’s and saw there wasn’t a single light on. They had bad eyes, so even in the middle of the day they would keep a light on. They were probably at bingo. No one else would even call the police if they saw me dragged off, not in this neighborhood. In this place, you minded your own business, or you would be next on the list. I decided at the last minute to try to play nice, or as nice as I was capable of being. I stood back and waived him in.
“Wait here, I’ll be back in one minute.” I walked down the hall to my room and found a pair of sweat pants and a sweatshirt. I took it as a good sign he hadn’t tried to follow
“This is a binding contract. If you renege, there will be repercussions.”
“Like what? Are you going to shoot me a sixth time?” I’d always had a hard time with sarcasm. People told me I used it as a defense mechanism. I disagreed. I just thought I was funny.
I pulled my wrist free and signed. “Red ink, fitting. Considering the situation, I’m surprised that you didn’t make me sign in blood.” I laid the pen down near the paper.
He didn’t answer, just took it off the table, folded it and put it in his pocket.
“I can leave now?”
“You’re free to go.”
I hesitated, now that I could walk out the door I knew I left behind any possible answers about my origin that I might have been able to discover. I stood, taking longer than what I naturally would have. Angry that I hadn’t gotten the answers when he had offered.
“Did you need something else?” He looked to me, his face blank, but I could sense amusement again. He knew what I wanted but clearly wasn’t going to make it easy for me.
My spine straightened. I’d figure it out on my own. “I don’t need anything,” I said, as I walked from the room.
My hand was on the knob closing the door when I heard him. “By the way, you’re an alchemist.” The door clicked in place.
So I’m an Alchemist? What the hell did that mean?
Chapter Seven
I groaned when I heard Mrs. Harvey knock the next day. Looking at my beat up clock it was four in the afternoon, give or take ten minutes. I’d slept over twelve hours. Sometimes I couldn’t sleep for more than three, so I was shocked. I guess even though I had healed, getting shot multiple times still took some recuperating.
When I finally made it home last night, I’d spent a good few hours researching Alchemists. All I’d found was a bunch of rubbish about changing base metals into gold and the fountain of youth. Nothing even came close to jiving with what I’d experienced. Plus, I hadn’t been able to lose the feeling I’d been followed, even though I hadn’t seen anyone.
Standing up, I was in boy shorts and a thin t-shirt minus a bra, but I didn’t think she’d care, so I went to go greet her as is, but it wasn’t Mrs. Harvey when I opened the door. I knew his face. He had introduced himself as Vitor. It was the man who had asked me if I was okay after I’d fallen at Lacard.
“What are you doing here?” I held the thin aluminum door firm, ready to slam it in his pretty face if I needed. It would probably buy me all of two minutes.
He held up his palms in the universal sign of surrender. “I mean you no harm. I just want to talk.’’
“You’ve been following me.” I didn’t need it confirmed, but he nodded anyway. He wasn’t as large, or filled out as Hawking, but he still had a powerful build. If he was immune to my tricks, like Hawking’s men had been, I wouldn’t stand a chance at a one on one fight against him. “Why?”
“Can I come in and talk to you?”
If I let him in, he could do god knows what to me. If I didn’t let him in, he’d probably still do god knows what to me. I glanced over at the Harvey’s and saw there wasn’t a single light on. They had bad eyes, so even in the middle of the day they would keep a light on. They were probably at bingo. No one else would even call the police if they saw me dragged off, not in this neighborhood. In this place, you minded your own business, or you would be next on the list. I decided at the last minute to try to play nice, or as nice as I was capable of being. I stood back and waived him in.
“Wait here, I’ll be back in one minute.” I walked down the hall to my room and found a pair of sweat pants and a sweatshirt. I took it as a good sign he hadn’t tried to follow
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