Chapter 24 Untitled Chapter
Then the bill came. Or it didn’t.
The nurse just said “it’s handled” and walked off like it was nothing.
She thought “oh, lucky” back then.
Now? Now that felt wrong. Like someone paid to keep her quiet.
Her fingers hurt. She realized she had been digging them into her palm again.
“Stop it,” she muttered.
And then there was school. One year there was some fee thing. She remembers being scared they would kick her out. Then it was just gone. She told herself her father paid for it. But Antonio was broke as fuck that year. Even Maya wasn't aware of the payment. So who paid?
Kendrix stopped thinking about that, her throat felt dry. She walked few steps toward the dresser and then stopped. She was not sure why she stopped now.
Shit, the car. It happened twice. Same black car, just sitting there.
Once outside the laundromat, and once by the bus stop. She looked away for like ten seconds and it was gone.
“That's weird,”she mumbled. “People just notice wrong things, right?”
She used to tell herself she was paranoid.
People see shit wrong all the time when they are tired. She was tired a lot. Maybe she still was.
She pressed her forehead against the mirror. Not getting ready, just checking if it was actually her. Same face. Same eyes.
But that felt bad now, like maybe it was not supposed to look like that.
She stepped back fast, shaking her head.
“Nope… I'm not doing this.”
A knock came at the door. Heart jumped before her brain caught up.
“Yeah?” Her voice strained.
The door opened a sliver and Nora poked her head in. She didn’t come in, she just stood there like she was checking the room first.
“You’re awake,” Nora said.
Kendrix exhaled. “Yeah. Unfortunately.”
Nora hesitated before saying.“You were walking?”
“I do that sometimes,” Kendrix said flat.
Nora didn’t smile. Didn’t react much. She
just looked at her too carefully, like she was deciding what she could say without breaking something.
Kendrix narrowed her eyes. “What?”
Nora shook her head. “Nothing.”
“That’s bullshit.”
Nora sighed.“You’re thinking too much.”
Kendrix let out a croaked laugh. “Everyone keeps saying that like it’s a switch I can turn off.”
“It is in your head right now.”
“That doesn’t make it less real.”
Nora hesitated longer this time.
Kendrix stepped closer.
“Say it. Whatever you’re avoiding, just say it.”
Nora’s fingers tightened at her side.
Then she said quietly. “I don't…”
Kendrix frowned. “You don't what? Just say it.”
Nora shook her head. “I can’t.”
That hit different. Kendrix studied her.
“You can’t… or you won’t?”
Nora didn’t answer, she just looked away.
“It's not in my place to tell you.”
Kendrix sat on the edge of the bed again.
“This is insane,” she said quieter.
Nora stayed at the door. Didn’t leave, didn’t come in. She just stood there like she was stuck there.
Kendrix looked down at her hands.
Then said, softer.“Was anything ever normal here?”
Nora didn’t answer right away. When she did, her voice was low.
“I don’t think you had normal around you for a long time.”
Kendrix looked up sharp. “That’s not comforting, you know.”
Nora gave a tired exhale. “I didn’t mean it to be.” She gave a half smile and said reluctantly. “Try to get some sleep.”
Kendrix stared at her, then chuckled dryly.
“Yeah. I’ll try that after I stop feeling like my whole life is a badly labeled file someone else organized.”
Nora didn’t respond, she just looked at her for a second too long, then left. The door clicked shut.
Kendrix sat still. The room felt quieter but not empty.
She looked at the mirror again without meaning to. And for the first time, it didn’t feel like she was looking at herself. It felt like she was looking at something that had been watched for a long consistent time.
Kendrix whispered,
“What are they not telling me?”
And this time, nothing answered back.
. .
Kendrix barely slept. Maybe an hour. Probably less. Every time she closed her eyes, her brain started digging through old stuff. Rearranging it. Like it was trying to figure something out before she could shut it down. By morning she was already pissed at herself. And mostly tired.
She pulled on a black sweater and walked out of the room. The hallway was muted, echoing only distant footsteps.
Two guards stood by the entrance. One by the dining room. One outside. Kendrix clocked all of them without trying, and she hated that it was automatic now.
The dining room smelled like coffee and wet pavement. It was still raining, light. Enough to be annoying.
Kendrix stopped at the doorway.
Roberto was already at the far end of the table, all in black like he didn’t bother with sleep. Skyler stood nearby, scrolling something on a tablet. Their voices were low on work stuff. They shut up the second she walked in. That pissed her off immediately.
“Oh good,” she muttered. “The meeting pauses for the civilian.”
Skyler glanced at her tiredly. Then set the tablet down. “I’ll be outside.”
Roberto didn’t stop him. The door clicked shut, and the room suddenly felt too big.Kendrix moved toward the table slowly. Roberto watched her the whole way. A prepared coffee sat by her chair. She looked at the cup, then glanced at him. “Do you schedule my breathing too, or just everything else?”
Roberto didn’t flinch. “You didn’t sleep.”
“That’s it? That’s your read?”
“It’s obvious.”
She sat anyway. The chair scraped, it made a small sound, but it felt loud.
She picked up the coffee, it was warm and exactly right. That pissed her off, so she set it back down.
“How long did you know my mother?”
She said it flat. No build-up.
Roberto paused, then said.“A long time.”
Kendrix almost laughed. “Wow. You and Nora should start a club for people who say nothing.”
“She trusted me.”
It came out too fast. Easier than the other answers.
Kendrix narrowed her eyes. “She trusted Luca?”
“She knew both.”
Her stomach tightened. The rain pattered on the windows.
“So what were you to her?”
Roberto looked at her for a long time. “Someone who failed her.”
It hit wrong. Not because it sounded fake. Because it sounded real. And Roberto never said stuff like that.
Before she could answer, one of the guards outside shifted fast and spoke into his earpiece. Another guard moved.
Not panic, adjustment.
Roberto caught it instantly. His whole posture changed. Subtle, but there. His shoulders went up, and his eyes went sharp.
Kendrix watched him. “There it is again.”
Roberto didn’t answer her.
“What changed?” he said toward the doorway.
A guard appeared. “South entrance. False alarm.”
“Check it again.”
“It’s clear.”
“Check it again.”
The guard left. And silence came back.
“You do that every time,” Kendrix said. “Jump like the building’s about to drop.”
“It usually is.”
“That’s not normal.”
“No,” he said. “It’s prepared.”