Chapter 37
Minutes later I am settled into one of the six chairs surrounding the long oval table. Caleb is sitting at the head of the table, and I am seated directly to his right, with Adam seated on my other side. On the opposite side of the table are two older men that I have never seen before, and as far as I can tell, neither is even making an attempt to hide how annoyed they are to be here, and I wonder how much of that annoyance is directed towards me. Directly across from me is the one person here aside from Caleb that I actually recognize. Bea.
She meets me eyes and gives me a sincere smile, which I return as well as my frayed nerves will allow me to.
“Bree,” she says softly, leaning towards me from across the table, “It is good to see you again.”
“You too,” I reply, “But I thought that you were taking time off?”
“I was,” she tells me, her eyes flicking to Caleb, “but the situation here needs to be dealt with. It’s part of the job.” She doesn’t sound as annoyed as I would be if my vacation was cut short thanks to the ex-boyfriend drama of a random acquaintance. Luckily she seems to be a better person than I am, and rather than appearing annoyed, she flashes me a sympathetic smile.
I feel Caleb’s eyes on me, his gaze heating the side of my face, and I slide my eyes to meet his. His gaze is indecipherable, and I can’t help but wonder if he is regretting his relationship– if you can even call it that– with me. It seems like I have brought nothing but trouble into his life since day one. Maybe we would all be better off if I left town and started over someplace new.
Caleb shifts his body closer to mine and, even in this room full of intimidating people, it sends a wave of heat through my body. When he is close enough that no one else will be able to hear, he says in a low voice that sends pleasant shivers down my spine, “Whatever thoughts are going through that gorgeous head of yours right now, forget them.”
“What, are you a mind reader now?” I tease to cover up yet another wave of guilt that sweeps through me. Not only am I causing all of the problems in the first place, but now he has to comfort me for feeling badly about causing them? Gah. The corner of Caleb’s mouth quirks in amusement, but is quickly replaced by a serious expression as he turns to address the entire room.
“Let’s get started. Thank you all for coming on such short notice.
**************
An hour later, and I am completely and totally convinced that every other person in this beautiful, shiny, fancy conference room is certifiably insane.
I am torn between laughing, ugly crying, or running for my life like a bat out of hell.
When they first started talking about werewolves, vampires, and calling themselves *Guardians*, I had laughed. Right in their faces. Obviously they were just trying to lighten the mood before giving me bad news. Caleb’s expression wasn’t playful, though. The others who were strangers to me looked borderline offended. Yet, it wasn’t until I met Bea’s eyes and saw them full of pity that I realized.
*Oh my God. They’re serious.*
“Okay. Let me get this straight. You really expect me to believe that vampires exist. And werewolves. And basically every other mythical, supernatural creature that I have ever heard of.”
“Bree, I—“ Caleb begins, but I’m not finished.
“You *really* are looking at me with a straight face, and telling me that my god awful ex-boyfriend can transform into a goddamn wolf, and that I never noticed during the years that I lived with him. For *years* he made my life a living hell, and I just somehow missed the fact that he’s part wolf?” Hysteria bubbles up inside of me, but I do my best to shove it down, but my voice still increases in pitch until I am half convinced that only dogs should be able to hear it, but still I can’t seem to stop my rambling.
“And *not only* that, but you guys are some kind of extra-special, super powerful protectors whose job it is to keep all of these supernatural creatures in check?”
“That pretty much sums it up.” Adam’s voice greets me, and I cut my eyes to find him leaning back in his chair, looking totally unruffled. Looking as if this is some kind of sick game to him. As the thought hits me, I realize that must be exactly what it is. I have seen enough patients with delusions of grandeur to recognize this whole situation for what it is. *They are all fucking crazy*.
I turn to Caleb, the man that has become my safe space over the short time that I have known him. His eyes are locked on me, his expression unreadable, but I can see the tiniest spark of panic shining through.
I open my mouth to tell them just where they can shove their delusional bullshit, but before I can spit the words out I realize that I might not actually be safe here. People can and do get violent when their reality is threatened, even if their version of reality is skewed and twisted into oblivion. I am outnumbered five to one. I need to play this smart.
I force my tense shoulders to slump forward and drop my head before letting out a huge sigh of exhaustion that I did not need to work to fake. “I- I just think I need some time to process all of this.” I purposely make my voice small and weak-sounding, so they subconsciously register that I am submitting, that I am not a danger to any of them. I perfected this little trick after years of having to de-escalate Andrew when I noticed his anger was getting out of control.
Around the room, heads nodded in pity and sympathy, as if they understood how unbelievable this was, as if they weren’t the ones who were living in an alternate freaking reality.
“Of course,” Bea is the first to answer my pitiful request, “But before you go, there is one last thing.” Despite knowing that there’s really no possible way for this conversation to get worse, I feel my heart rate pick up with nervousness over whatever she is about to say.
Bea glances nervously at Caleb, as if unsure she should share whatever it is she is about to say, and he gives her a sharp nod.
“About your-” she hesitates. “About Mr. Spencer. We currently have him in… *custody*. We have been trying to question him, but he is refusing to speak to anyone but you.”
“*Custody*,” I repeat dumbly. “As in-”
“You don’t have to talk to him now. Or at all, if you don’t want to,” Caleb interrupts, and despite now knowing that he is insane, his protectiveness is somehow still comforting. Stupid. Don’t be stupid, Bree.
The idea of facing Andrew surrounded by these people that have clearly lost touch with reality is so terrifying that it sends a wave of nausea through me, and I frantically shake my head.
“I- I can’t. I need time to process all of this. Please.” My eyes blur with the tears that I fight to hold back until I can get out of the oppressive tension of this room. The walls are starting to close in on me, and I decide to hell with being polite and cautious. *I have to get out of here*. I need time to breathe, to collect my thoughts, to figure out my next steps.
Shoving down rising waves of panic, I shoot to my feet, nearly knocking my chair over and startling one of the older men in the room. I never did catch his name. Not that it matters now, because I know he’s nuts and I need to get far away from him.
“I’m sorry, this is too much. I need to go,” I stammer out before practically launching myself towards the door.
“Bree, wait-” Caleb’s voice reaches me as I reach the doorway, but at this point someone would have to physically restrain me to keep me in this house for even another second.
I run.
***AUTHOR’S NOTE***
Hi everyone! I am so sorry about how long it has been since my last update. I have three small kids, and between cold/flu season, me having to get a root canal and crown during my limited writing hours, and the holidays, the last month really got away from me. I PROMISE you that I am going to finish this story! You can expect regular updates on Tuesdays and Fridays from now on. Thank you all for reading! This is my first time EVER sharing my writing, and I can’t believe even one person has taken the time to read, much less so many of you. I am blown away and so, so grateful! Stay tuned, because things are about to get crazy for our Bree!