consultingbuscus:

Whiplash, Part 2 - “Missing”

For a moment, Irene just stood there, stunned. Her mind was racing, and she couldn’t even remember what she had just agreed to. All she knew was that she wanted more. So much more. When she finally came to, she realized Jim was walking back they way they came. “Come along, my pet. We’ve got a car waiting.”

“I’m no one’s pet!” She yelled in frustration, but she ended up following him anyway.

When they reached the packed London street, the sleek, black car Jim mentioned was indeed parked there, unnoticed by the passers-by. The driver sat in the front street, silent and still as a stone. She swore it wasn’t here before, especially since he had been walking when they met. Which must mean..

“I knew you’d agree to come with me, so I made sure this would be sitting here after our.. ‘discussion.’”

She looked at him, raising one eyebrow. “So you’re psychic now, is that it?”

“Not psychic, no, no. Genius.”

“You’re mad.”

He chuckled, more at himself then at her. “Same thing.” He reached towards her, lifting her chin upward and looking directly in her eyes. Her heart caught in her throat. “Now, are we done with small talk? It’s not exactly my style, I do love getting directly to the point of the matter.”

It took her a moment, but she closed her eyes, pushing his image out of her mind. She needed to think if she was going to keep a grip on herself. Why would this man, of all people in the world, have such a huge effect on her? And why had she so easily agree to help him with god knows what he wanted to do? She felt hot breath in her ear, and the hand tightened a bit around her face. “Remember, I don’t like to be kept waiting.”

She slide into the back seat, Jim taking the one next to her. As the car pulled away, she watched people rushing by in an attempt to keep up with their daily lives. Some off to jobs, or to be with their families. They drove past a mother pushing her light pink stroller along, no doubt a young child crying inside. Her vision blurred as she went back through her memories, to a time she spent with her mother.

Her mother was the perfect example of everything an Adler should be. Calm, and poised, she held down their home while her father was constantly away on business. They used to sit in the garden together, reading stories and talking about their day. Everyone Irene came across called her a brat, and spoiled, but not her mother. Even when her father took her away, her mother cried and screamed, begging him to stop. That was the first and only time she saw her father strike her; it made her hate him all the more.

When she was with her was the only time she felt truely and utterly at peace. She vowed that one day she’d go home and take her away, hide from the world that had cast them both aside. Without her, she felt.. Missing. A missing puzzle piece, thrown out into the world with no plans, no one to help her. Out of place. Her mother was the only one she truely needed.

She looked over at Jim, who was not staring out the window, but at a fixed point directly in front of him. She looked in his eyes. Where a normal person might seem phased out, she could see the gears in his brain whirring at a breathtaking pace, calculating his next move. No, his move for days, maybe even months from now. She wondered if he had a family of his own.

But monsters didn’t have families.

“This is my kingdom, you know.”

His voice made her snap back into reality. “Kingdom?”

“Yes. Or, at least it will be. Have you ever played chess?”

“I’m not one for games.”

He turned to look at her, radiating a fake innocence. “But it’s such fun! You see, I am the king, and this city is my chessboard. Winning the game simply means pushing my pawns to the right location. And I never lose.”

She felt a hand touch hers on the cold leather seat between them, and she looked down to find him grasping it gently. He leaned in again, and a part of her knew he was doing it on purpose. “Every king needs his queen. You are the only one in this filthy place with a brain. I need you, Irene.”

She heard a deep sincerity in his tone, and a voice in the back of her head told her not to believe it. He said himself he was a criminal, but she couldn’t help the way she felt when he looked at her. He gave her his undivided attention, and even when his actions were a bit strange, her attraction grew.

Suddenly the car came to a halt, and she looked up to find a large, white house. In fact, the entire street was lined up with the same. They looked like an army of mansions. He opened the door, taking her hand to pull her out and guide her to the front.

“Where are we?”

“This is your new home.”

askaklsflk HAILY oh my god.

I will go down with this ship.

(Source: hailiarty)