Page 52 of Anomalies

With rage.

I tumble headfirst from my dream without warning, and when I open my eyes, no shadows are lurking in the corner, and there is no hazy fog sweeping across the floorboards.

Guess my Velkan didn’t have the energy to scare me shitless tonight.

But that memory was new…vivid…loud.

And that woman looked like me.

I huff, shedding my sweat-ridden pajamas for a new t-shirt and pair of shorts, then I hear a creak coming from the front porch. I peek through the curtain to find the Captain, sprawled across the porch steps, various papers strewn out around him. Moonlight dances in his dark brown hair, weapons gleaming where they hang from his padded vest. He looks almost…normal.

Callan is young, he’s just been forced into a position that requires him to act older. I wonder how much of it is an act⁠—

No. I don’t wonder. That would require me to care.

I’m reminded of the spare key he has when I glance at my makeshift security system—a chair tucked under the doorknob, with a glass lantern balancing on top. I roll my eyes at it, crossing the room to the window that faces the forest. I crane my neck to get a good look at the stars, but they’re blocked by the trees and the thick white windowpane. I could get back in bed, but my body is too awake to sleep. To alert after that broken and blurry memory.

My eyes dart between the front window and the back window.

Maybe I can go see the stars.

It can’t be that hard, right? To sneak away without Callan knowing. I used to sneak out of Catherine and Merrill’s house all the time, and the two of them never caught me. I learned to be as quiet as a mouse. I learned how to slip by undetected.

I ponder my options a second longer.

Fuck it, what’s he going to do? Kill me? If he catches me and tries to mess with my head, I’ll just start crying again. Can’t say I would have picked tears as the weakness of the Captain, but I guess everyone’s afraid of something.

I slide a shawl around me, shove my feet into some boots, and carefully pull the back window open. My heart pounds as I swing one leg over, then the next, pushing silently off the windowsill and falling only a few feet to the ground. I absorb all my weight in an attempt to land quietly–

The front porch creaks the second my feet hit the ground.

I drop to a crouch behind the cabin, one hand over my mouth to prevent any audible breaths from escaping. From underneath the raised foundation, I watch Callan stomp down the porch steps. And then he freezes.

The air in my lungs burns, begging for release, but I hold it in.

He stands there a moment. Turns. Stands some more. Then he stomps back up the steps.

I let go, and all the air flees my lungs, and only when the porch is silent do I smile. “Moron,” I mutter to myself, dusting my hands off as I stand. I can’t wait to tell Gemma how I’d snuck past the ever-feared Captain. I might even tell the entire camp⁠—

There’s a violent crash, then glass shatters, and within seconds, a pair of boots hit the dirt behind me.

I whirl around, finding Callan with his arms crossed, staring right back at me. He’s barely breathless despite having just rammed through my poor excuse for a security system and I can feel the smugness rippling off him. “Figures,” is all he says, and my jaw goes slack.

“Well, if you knew I was out here, why didn’t you just walk around the fucking cabin?!”

“Why don’t you just follow the rules?!” he snaps back.

“Chiaros, you and your rules,” I groan, turning away from him. “I can’t sleep, so I’m going on a walk. Alone.”

Callan lets out a sharp laugh, then cuts me off in my path towards the forest. “You aren’t going anywhere alone.”

I throw my hands up in frustration, then I ball them into fists. “Callan, you said you didn’t have time to babysit, so don’t. You said you have a million other responsibilities, so tend to them. You’re wasting time following me around, all I want is to see the fucking stars.”

“You…want to see the stars?” He doesn’t ask it in a mocking tone; he asks as if he’s surprised. As if he really expected me to be sneaking out to kill someone or steal something.

I force out a deep breath, doing my best to be civil. “Yes.”

Callan’s jaw ticks, his grey eyes scanning the sleeping rows of cabins behind me. “Alright, Lucina,” he breathes, turning towards the forest. “Let’s go see the stars.”