She never liked Larry- that Clarisa knew well enough. He was one of the very few people in her life that she failed to tolerate. Apart from his rudeness, there had been so many rumours going around about his desires for her. In spite of this, it took some time for her to come to the conclusion that this was all his doing.
She had broadcasted a telepathic distress call to her colleagues, but given the present weakness of her mental capabilities, she wasn't sure if anyone heard her. Where there was uncertainty there was still hope, and this hope she held on to. She reached for the bar one more time, but her hand slipped upon contact and dropped beside her on the concrete floor. She squeezed her eyes shut in agony, fighting the despair that was waiting for the first opportunity to take over. Though she had to admit to herself- it had been a long time since she felt this trapped.
Nearly a decade ago, she had been confined to a similar prison of her own construct- a bird cage with the same black bars. Darkness had taken over her for the first time, and she had felt helpless, lost and frightened- until Prince Charming saved her. She remembered so vividly how his deep grey eyes found hers, how he brought her to her feet with a lift of his hand, how the cage bars fell with one touch. His embrace invoked a certain emotion that empowered her, an emotion that she could now only long for, and thinking about its absence only weakened her. Her mind found its way back to the subject of Larry. On second reflection, the possibility of him being the one who trapped her was absolute. With the strength of her powers, only a perceiver’s Darkness could inflict such helplessness on her.
She and Larry had been assigned to a prison where the Darkness was thriving. She pretended not to be bothered by the combination of partner and location. The place was poorly lit by blinding ceiling lights that shone on a small area of the floor. Incorporeal, they walked past the convicts in their musty cells, the bars crawling with black beetles that doubled every few seconds. Shouts and expletives filled the air with the occasional rattle of the gate. Several inmates were quarreling with a prison guard, and the dispute was bordering on violent. Larry ran his long fingernails across the bars which rang sonorously through the corridor. The beetles that clung to the bars dropped to the floor. He chuckled to himself,
“This should be simple.”
Clarisa, who had been lost in the conversation of the fight, responded, “What?”
“Killing the bugs. How hard can that be?” Larry smirked.
“We have to find the source, remember?” Clarisa said gravely. “That would save us time.”
“That should be easy for someone as adept as you are.” The green eyes narrowed predatorily as he added with an unnecessary accent on the last word,
“And as gutsy.”
Clarisa cast him a less than flattered glance before heading up a steep flight of stairs at the end of the corridor. “They were arguing about their date of release. I think the source might be the key to the cell, which should be located up in the office.”
“I’ll get it!” Larry called after her suddenly. “You stay downstairs.”
She whipped around to face him. “Why?”
“You never know if the Darkness might corner us,” he reasoned as he placed a hand on her shoulder. “You stand guard against those insects, I’ll go get the key.”
Apart from the musty stench coming from the cells, Clarisa began to smell something fishy. “Just a minute ago you said I was adept at sources.”
Larry’s lip curled, and Clarisa flinched uncomfortably as his hand moved further up her collarbone. “True, but no matter how brilliant you are, I want to keep you safe, and that’s downstairs, alright?”
He didn’t leave Clarisa with much of a choice, for he was gone in the next moment. She frowned and turned back to the cells. Larry did have a point about the Darkness playing tricks, so she gave him the benefit of doubt. She ignored the quarrel that was beginning to sound repetitive and focused instead on eliminating the Darkness. She ran her fingers across the bars as Larry had done, and the beetles that covered them splattered like heavy raindrops to the floor. Soon, all the bars had turned silver again, and at this same time the inmates decided to stop their racket. Clarisa knew too well that the squabbling would happen again unless the source was cleared. She was about to head upstairs to check on Larry when she spotted from the corner of her eye, an empty cell on the far end of the corridor, its bars still black and its gate wide open, the crooked grills casting an unsettling shadow against the light. She was certain that she had covered all of the cells, and that this one had not been there before. She approached it cautiously, her heart palpitating. Whenever that happened it was never a good sign, and it rarely ever did happen. She stopped in front of the entrance and stretched out a hand to touch one of the bars. She braced herself, but instead of seeing the beetles fall as they should, she felt something bitter being shoved into her mouth, followed by a hard push that sent her flying into the cell. She heard the gate clang shut before everything went black.
Upon coming to her senses, Clarisa had tried everything in her power to eradicate the Darkness on the cell bars, and although a handful of beetles did come off, she was unable to take down her prison, let alone teleport from it. Until this assignment, she had always been able to subdue anything within reach of her hands. She had been known as the most powerful perceiver in the department, and now she was sprawled on the cell floor, as limp as a ragdoll, as helpless as a baby. The bitter substance, whatever it was, had to be the cause. After what felt like hours, it came to a point where trying again made no difference except to cripple her further. Her hand slid down the bar for the last time, and on the floor it remained. She had lost all control over the Darkness. It bewildered her; this had never before happened in her career. Her eyelids began to droop and she fought to keep them open, for giving in to sleep would be a sign of defeat. If she did, there was no knowing when she would wake up again, or if she ever would.
But then, sooner than expected, she won the battle when the sound of a lock and key startled her to alertness. That was followed by a scattering of beetles, some of which landed onto her face. She winced as they crawled over her eyelids and down her cheeks, not able to shake them off. Within seconds they faded away, and staring at her between two grills was a pair of grey eyes, intense and concerned. It was almost as if the memory of her past rescuer was being played out before her. Almost- because these eyes were twice as intense. The gate screeched open, and the new rescuer knelt down by her side.
“Clarisa, we need to get you out of here,” Leo said urgently as the cell bars began to disintegrate. “Can you stand?”
Clarisa could not believe her senses. Leo had come to her rescue, when it had always been the other way round. She would have laughed if she had the strength to.
[No, I'm afraid.]
It worried Leo that Clarisa could not even communicate verbally. [Stay still.] He supported her back with one hand and positioned the other beneath her knees before hauling up the frail body. His touch triggered the warm emotion that she had longed for, but it felt different- different in the best way, and she did not know if that was a good thing. Once outside the gate, Clarisa regained her strength and motioned for Leo to stand her upright. As they took a moment to catch their breaths, the whole cell collapsed into a pool of black bugs, squirming and scuttering about until their time was up. The creeping mass dissipated, leaving an empty spot at the end of the corridor, as there should have been.
“You're certainly not one to play damsel in distress,” Leo frowned. “Larry sure gave you hell.”
“You knew what he did?” Clarisa said surprisedly.
“I heard your distress call. I bumped into Larry outside the office upstairs. And you're not gonna believe what he was doing.”
“I have no idea.”
“He was commanding those bugs,” anger flashed in Leo's eyes. “All of them.”
As horror spread across Clarisa's features, he continued, “He set this whole trap up. For you. He was pouring his Darkness into the key, into your cell. He knew the key was the source all along, and he took advantage of it. I wouldn't be too surprised if he poisoned you with one of his bugs.”
Realising what had been in her mouth and body the entire time, Clarisa scowled.
“How did you stop him then?”
“I didn't. He got away,” Leo shook his head in chagrin. “But I managed to take this from him.”
He held up the silver key, which Clarisa took from him for examination. “You’ve never done sources, have you? How did you clear the Darkness from this?”
“I was in a very good mood earlier on,” Leo growled. “I was.”
“Now that’s a first for you,” Clarisa smiled wanly. “But we still have to inspect this place from top to bottom. Clearing the source isn't safe enough this time, not when a perceiver is involved.”
“Agreed.”
They split up to play pest-exterminators, combing the floors swiftly but thoroughly to make sure the place was beetle-free. Soon, Clarisa reunited with Leo on the ground floor, wearing a look of concern on her face. She voiced,
“I wonder what his motives are.”
Leo maintained a moment's silence to think through the possibilities before turning to Clarisa.
“Well… we do know that more than a few people dislike you at the moment.”
Clarisa shot him a confused stare. “What are you talking about?”
“You mean you haven't heard?” Leo almost laughed. It was a wonder how Clarisa was never up to date with bad news. “Many of our colleagues have been gossiping about how fake you are.”
Clarisa’s eyebrows furrowed in disbelief. “Why would they think that?”
“Don't ask me,” Leo shrugged innocently. “I chewed a couple of them out myself.”
“What's that got to do with Larry's motives though? If anything, Larry clearly doesn't dislike me,” Clarisa pointed out.
“True…” Leo recalled the love rumours. “Or it could be because of that deal with London. He might be taking matters into his own hands, turning you in in exchange for the loan.”
Clarisa was about to consider the plausibility of the theory when a familiar voice sounded behind them, “That's not true. Not entirely.”
They spun around, and standing there with his hands in his pockets was Larry Dooley. Immediately Leo took a defensive stance, to which he responded flatly, “No, I'm not going to hurt you. I’m just here to tell you a sad tale.”
“I'm not listening to your bull,” Leo said harshly. “You hurt Clarisa.”
“Hurt her?” Larry shook his head. “That was never my intention.”
Leo glared as Larry began to circle them aimlessly. Clarisa on the other hand, was keen to hear what he had to say. Her eyes met his, and Larry fixed his gaze on them.
“You know I never wanted to hurt you,” he addressed her alluringly. “I wanted to keep you safe, remember?”
Clarisa remembered those words, along with his unwanted touch. She stared at him defiantly as he stepped towards her.
“I wanted to hand you over, but not in exchange for any loan. I wanted the both of us to work in London. Together.”
He took another step forward, and Clarisa took one backwards.
“You would be greatly valued there, and I, rewarded. We would be respected, unlike the way people regard us now.”
“I am valued here,” Clarisa said firmly.
“Do you think so?” Larry sniggered. “They all say you're pretentious. Manipulative. But I think you're real. Beautiful, brilliant, and real. That's why I want you. I appreciate you, and I don't think anyone in our department loves you as much as I do.”
“Me.”
It was out before it went through his head. Clarisa and Larry looked at Leo in surprise. To get himself out of the potentially sticky situation, he quickly elaborated,
“She is valued here in our department, and I fail to see how crippling her with the Darkness demonstrates your love for her.”
Larry rolled his eyes at Leo and directed his reply at Clarisa, “Then how else were you supposed to feel my pain? The pain of loss, the pain of heartbreak?” His voice rose by an octave as it filled with emotion. “The pain of a lover when the other leaves without a word? Without any sort of warning?”
Clarisa felt him pulling at her heartstrings. Her gaze frozen on Larry and her face expressionless, she responded to him telepathically,
[I know the feeling.]
Larry's eyes lit up, relieved and surprised to have Clarisa's listening ear.
[She left me, and that was when it came for me. The Darkness.] He opened the floodgates to his mind, and Clarisa’s overflowed with imagery. Giant beetles crawled towards her, and she shut her eyes, but it didn’t stop her from seeing them. As the insects climbed over her and began to eat her alive, Larry’s narration sounded in her head,
[It came for me. Not just one of them, not just two of them, but in swarms, in colonies. It never leaves me alone, never lets me go. Everyday they dig into my flesh, throw a feast in my chest, and oh, how I bleed. I tried to fight them, but do they leave? No! They come back again, every morning, every night, hungry for another meal, seeking pleasure in my suffering. They won’t stop. They are a part of my life now, a part of me now, all because she left me. But you…]
The link severed, and the images vanished. Clarisa reopened her eyes, panting as she recovered from the overwhelming phantasms. Leo, who had been watching gingerly as the telepathic exchange took place, clenched his fist when he saw the paleness in Clarisa’s cheeks. Clarisa noticed his itch for aggression and signalled for him to hold.
[You can end this.] The pained, ravenous look had returned to Larry's eyes. [You can end it all. All you have to do is let me take you…]
She had heard enough.
[No.]
Larry paused, unable to accept the reply. More forcefully, Clarisa told him,
[Leave me.]
A long silence filled the hall. Larry's eyes fell to the grey floor, but only for a moment. They looked up again fiery and vengeful. With one fierce motion of his arm he cast a string of black beetles her way. Almost concurrently Clarisa raised her hand, and the bugs bounced off her palm and onto the ground like nothing more than a few household pests. They could no longer hurt her. Leo had lunged at Larry and pinned his hands behind his back. He kicked and stomped at Leo as they wrestled on the floor. Having no other alternative, he begged,
“Please! Can’t you see this isn’t my fault? Can you not feel my pain?”
“Clarisa…” Leo groaned as he tried to keep Larry’s legs down with his weight, “What do we do with him?”
For a moment Clarisa thought about it, but came to no solution. There wasn’t exactly a prison to hold misbehaving perceivers, so there would be no reason to teleport him to Headquarters. All the beetles should have devoured his heart by now, but something was still keeping him alive. Come to think of it, all misbehaving perceivers had either gotten away, or been taken by the Darkness. There had never been one so insufferably clingy.
Clarisa walked coolly over to the two struggling men.
“Larry,” she began, “We let you get away with what you’ve done to me. Even the Darkness has spared you, and you’re still here. Why?”
Exhausted, Larry stopped struggling, but gnashed his teeth bitterly. “Aren’t you a counsellor? Do you not understand? The reason why the Darkness hasn’t taken me, and the reason why I’m still here, is because I still have hope!”
“And what are you hoping for?” Clarisa asked, honestly puzzled.
Desperation and desire was written all over his face.
“For you to fix my broken heart! For you to go to London with me!”
Though seething with impatience, it amused Leo how pathetically the whole scene was playing out. Clarisa glanced at him dubiously, then back at Larry. She had never believed that heartbreak could be fatal. Neither had she thought herself capable of ending someone’s life in such a manner.
“You’ve tried to court me, seduce me, incarcerate me, paralyse me, injure me, and now, beg me.” Clarisa hesitated before continuing with the next line,
“You need to learn how to deal with rejection.”
Larry stared aghast at the blonde, feeling like he had just been slapped in the face. Worse still, he didn't feel like he had a face anymore. Before he could even think of a response, he heard some scratchy, paper-like sounds, as though leaves were being scraped across rough pavement by the wind. He could not discern the source at first, but with each passing second the noise grew louder and the sources grew closer...
Soon, they were everywhere.
Leo released Larry's hands and backed quickly away from him. He stood up beside Clarisa and they watched as an army of black beetles of all different sizes, bringing their families and relatives along for the banquet, closed in on them from every direction. Leo looked somewhat stunned, while Clarisa observed the scene almost forlornly. In consideration, the six-legged creatures had made a path around them in order to reach their target, who was hugging his knees and shrieking at the top of his lungs. Before long, the screams were muffled when the insects covered his body from head to toe. The figure scrambled and tussled about like a monster trapped under a thick black blanket. As the strangled cries grew wilder, Leo saw a blue light glimmer to his right shoulder.
Clarisa had left.
Without a second thought, Leo followed, leaving the struggling figure to shrink slowly away to nothing. Not a trace of Larry Dooley remained on the concrete floor. Sated, the black beetles dispersed, scuttering back to their home in the shadows.
Sure enough, Clarisa was waiting outside the prison gates for him. She stood there staring at the barbed wire, lost in thought, and stayed in the position even when Leo appeared beside her.
“Are you okay?” Leo prodded.
Clarisa smiled and shook her head as she turned to him. “I'm fine. Just wondering if I was… a bit too harsh on him.”
“Harsh?” Leo said lightly. “I was about to beat him up.”
Leo could have sworn he saw Clarisa flinch a little. Oh no, apparently she was still in a heavy mood. But she recovered quickly enough to say to him,
“Thank you for saving me, Leo. Honestly I haven't been so badly immobilised since I was fifteen.”
Leo raised his eyebrows.
“And what happened when you were fifteen?”
Clarisa recalled the dreadful scene, for what she hoped would be the last time. “Trapped in cage bars. A coincidence, I should think.”
Coincidence or not, there was something crucial in her past that she was not revealing, Leo processed in his head. In response to her thanks, he said,
“How could I not save you?”
“Well, I broadcasted my signal to our entire department, and you came.”
It was only now that Clarisa realised Leo could easily have been the first to hear her distress call, and that could only mean his mind was most intimately connected with hers.
Clarisa marvelled at the likelihood.
She also feared it.
“I’m pretty sure I just beat them to it,” Leo said casually. “It's no big deal, really. Don't mention it.”
“Also, Leo,” Clarisa decided to bring up, “About what you said to Larry back there…”
Leo's phone rang.
Thank god, he thought.
“It's my mom,” Leo said even before successfully pulling the phone out of his tiny trouser pocket. “It’s about time she calls, anyway.”
Clarisa knew how relieved he was, having found an escape from the awkward explanation.
“See you tomorrow, Leo,” she smiled warmly before teleporting.
Leo smiled back at the spot she had stood as he hit the pick-up icon.
Thank goodness, Mom.
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