AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“She doesn’t seem fine,” he says. “I don’t see her anywhere.”
“She’s a grown-up, you don’t need to watch her all the time,” I tell him.
He glaresat me. I think he’s going to try to punch me, but Rei is next to him in a second. He doesn’t touch him–I think Rei’s afraid Misha might punch him instead of me.
His presence is clearly enough to stop Misha from actually lifting his fist.
“People are watching,” Rei says between gritted teeth.
Misha glares at him, but he takes a step back. His posture barely changes, his eyes narrow as he looks me up and down.
“Let’s take this somewhere more private,” Rei says. “Before they kick us out?”
“That’s a good idea,” Misha replies. From behind him, I can see the priest. He’s also glaring at me, his arms crossed over his chest. “As soon as you take us wherever she is, we can stop having this conversation.”
“She’s here somewhere,” I reply. “I don’t track her movements. That’s insane.”
Misha is about to say something, but Rei shakes his head. “Just show us,” he says, still looking at me.
“Through that door,” I reply, pointing at it and dropping my voice. “Maybe you can go through it and stop making a scene.”
Rei laughs under his breath, no humor in his voice. “You’re coming with us.”
“What?” I ask.
“You don’t want to get kicked out, do you?” Rei says.
No one’s intervened yet. I think they’re all invested in how this is going to end since it’s clearly a confrontation. I can see, from the corner of my eye, that a few people are using their phones and are getting ready to film. But there’s nothing to film yet, so the room’s temperature remains still, tense.
“Come on,” the priest says from behind him. “You don’t want to disturb these nice people’s church experience, do you?”
I resist the urge to roll my eyes, but we can’t stand around here having a stare off all day. I don’t think Trine would appreciate it actually got into a fight in public so I shrug my shoulders and walk through the doors as the exorcists follow me.
They’re close by, watching me closely, ready–spoiling for a fight. It’s hard to stay level headed when I want nothing more than to meet them on their own terms.
I can just picture how satisfying it would be if I could punch one of them in the face. Any of them. I’m not picky.
“You can’t just take her away like that,” Rei says. He’s obviously trying to keep an even tone despite it being difficult for him. We’re in a large, gray hallway with modern wooden-colored paneling and black and white fixtures. We’re surrounded by black and gray office doors that seem to go on forever, the sound of the air conditioning muffling the voices that carry from the cafe.
They’re obviously talking about what just happened. Or didn’t happen, I guess.
“She can decide where she wants to go, doctor,” I say.
“Not when she’s this sick,” he replies. “What would you do if something happened when you were around and we weren’t there to handle it?”
“I’ve handled it before, haven't I?” I ask, surprised at how angry his words make me.
“And you’ve done a spectacular job, haven’t you?” Misha says. “Considering now things are worse than ever and she won’t even let us finish the exorcism. Yeah, great contribution there, demon. I don’t know how you managed to convince her not to let us help…”
I hold my hands out by my sides when he trails off. “I understand that you don’t trust me. I understand why you don’t trust me,” I say. “But I’m asking you to trust her.”
“How?” Misha asks. “You’re eroding her from the inside out. You’re making her less herself than before.”
“I…” I quiet when I see the double doors swing open behind him, a young woman in a white dress and a headband approaching us with a smile on her face.
She has a large folder in her right arm. “Hi,” she says. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
“Actually,” Rei starts. “We’re in the middle of a…”
