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The man clears his throat and steps in. I wonder if he feels the same tension that I do right now; Jasper’s words lingering over my head like a concrete brick that could fall and smash on me at any time. “Master Cunningham,” he says, and Jasper gives a small nod of the head.
The elevator starts to move again but nobody speaks. I sneak a look at Jasper, and realise how much taller he’s standing, like he’s really comfortable in his own skin. Maybe that’s what’s different about him. He’s grown more confident in being Albert Cunningham’s son.
He notices me staring at him and I immediately look away, my cheeks flushing. My eyes are focused on the doors in front of me, but I can feel his never leaving my face.
I feel the force of the elevator beneath me, and my heart rate quickens. I start to feel faint and press my hand to the side of the elevator to steady myself. Deep breaths Emerson, deep breaths. Jasper sees me, and starts to walk over, but I hold out a hand to stop him.
He stops in the middle of the elevator, behind the man who is looking down at his watch extremely awkwardly. I wish he would get out and leave us alone.
“Mr. Phelps,” Jasper says, his voice full of tense authority, “get out the elevator.”
The man looks more than happy to oblige and presses the button manually and hurries out of the elevator. Now it’s him and me again. Except now he’s closer and his eyes are softer.
He takes another cautious step towards me, and I let him. We are now standing toe to toe, and my heart starts racing again. But this time it has nothing to do with the elevator.
He leans towards me slowly, his hand softly brushing a loose strand of hair out of my face, “Waffles, I-”
“Don’t. Don’t say it. Don’t do it to yourself.” I tell him, trying my best to lean away from him. But I don’t want to. His force is pulling me in like a magnet, and I am doing everything in my power to stop myself from being magnetic. “I know how this is going to end.” I feel the tears welling in my eyes, but I can’t let them fall. I will not let them fall.
“No, you don’t. You don’t know how this is going to end; none of us do. That’s why you have to give this a chance. Give me a chance.” He drops his hand from my hair and takes my hands, almost begging me. “We’ll go to Black Opps. I’ve already talked to Annabelle about it.”
“What?” I ask. He’s talked about me to Annabelle. Is that why he’s been going to see her so often? To discuss us running away there together.
“I’d been planning to escape for a while. And I thought that you might want to-” he scratches the back of his neck, “well, that’s what I came to your room to talk about anyway. But I guess you had your own plans.” He takes a step back as if reminding himself of his anger. “Plans that didn’t involve me.”
“Why Black Opps? Why run there? Isn’t being trapped there the same as being trapped here? Same concept, just different walls.” I say ignoring his last sentence. I don’t know how to take them. I never seriously considered him coming with me. I thought he wouldn’t want to.
“No, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. Annabelle has these plans. Brilliant plans,” his eyes narrow but I can sense a touch of excitement in them. “A new way to live, where everyone gets treated fairly. No separation, just perfect unity. She wants me to be a part of leading that movement. And I want you to help me.”
“Jasper,” is all I say because I don’t have the words for anything else. I’m not sure if I should tell him about what Mum told me. I don’t want to in case my mum was lying, but also because I don’t want to hurt him more than I already am.
“You don’t have to say anything.” He interrupts me before I have the chance to speak. “I get it. Beast Eye is your home. You don’t want to come. I’m stupid to think that we felt the same.” He is surprisingly calm now, which is odd in contrast to how scarily angry he was when I first stepped in the elevator.
The elevator doors open, and he steps out, but I stay in the elevator, unsure of whether or not I should follow. He continues walking without looking behind him. Eventually, curiosity gets the better of me and I follow him.
We are in the garage, and he walks over to a car, pressing his finger to the door to unlock it. “Where are you going?” I ask. Stupid question really. I know where he is going.
“Black Opps. This is your last chance. Come with me and I will keep you safe. Or stay here and attempt to escape on your own.” He takes one look at me and knows exactly how I’m going to answer. “I thought so.” He steps back out of the car and presses a key into my hand. “Put this in the hole next to the steering wheel of the car and put in my password 9233538. This will manually start the car, but as soon as you do this you will have to hurry because Dad will immediately know that something is up and come down here looking for you. But by that time hopefully both of us should be safe.”
“Why are you doing this?” I look at his large hands clasped around my tiny ones.
“Just because you’re not coming with me, doesn’t mean that I want to see you die.” Before I have the chance to say anything, he steps back in the car, shuts the door, and drives away.
I stand there for a moment thinking over everything that has just happened before slowly walking back towards the elevator. I hop inside no longer caring about the enclosed space, and the sudden movement. I would have taken a thousand elevator rides if it meant getting to speak to Jasper for just one more moment.
As I ride up the elevator, I feel the ache of the tangible absence of him. I don’t understand why it even matters to me, him driving away so easily. A part of me thinks that he will come back. Then again, I won’t be here to see if he doesn’t. He won’t come back, I tell myself. He’s made up his mind. That might be the last time I ever see him, and the reality of that stings harder than I want it to.
I don’t care. I tell myself. But I’m lying.
Chapter 36 - Emerson Clarke
Iopen the door to my room and notice that Luna is still there. She has packed away all of the supplies so now all that sits on the bed is a couple of backpacks and her own worried expression. At the sight of the door opening, she immediately perks up, walks over to me, and gives me a hug. “What happened, Em? Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” hoping if I say it aloud it will make it true.
“What did he want anyway?”
“He just wanted to tell me something-”
