Strings Attached

32. Ch5 Sc11&12

Nov 21, 2023

Hello there all you wonderful people!

I just want to say, right off the bat, sorry if this is a little later than normal. I am starting to get why Substack slows down this time of year. Things are getting busy in my offline life.

Anyway, we are very slowly, approaching a goal here that I never imagined I would reach, not in 17 years of writing. I can’t tell you what it is, or else I might jinx it, and I so don’t want to jinx it! But you can be sure I will tell you when it happens.

So, in order to avoid thinking about it, I’ll go back to the story.

Last time we saw Misty feeling something like hope. The guys all made an effort to include her and make her feel supported, and for someone who has experienced untold horrors in her short life, feeling welcome and secure for the first time… It is a profound moment. I think maybe she finally has the courage to take some risks. I can’t wait to see how.

Previously… After Luke’s interminable scans and tests, Misty is feeling antsy, and when Logan interrupts her workout he gets more than he bargained for. But even after Misty knocks Logan out he still invites her to join the family for dinner and what she experiences there changes everything.

Since we started having Elle join us for dinner, she seemed to be a little more relaxed. She had settled into a predictable routine, started exploring the tab on her own, figuring out how the apps work. She had smiled at Tom and even seemed to be a little more relaxed in the staff’s company. She finally seemed to be settling in and maybe letting go of her furious latch onto me. And it’s all gone now.

“Write it down!” Luke says, orders, before leaving me alone in General Morgan’s office, in such a compelling tone laced unmistakably with enough influence that everyone in the building must not only be aware of it, but themselves possessed of an irresistible urge to write.

Staring at the blank page before me I am possessed by an anxiety that makes me feel frozen in place. My heart races, my palms are sweating so much that it is difficult to grip the pen. All I can think about is how it is all my fault.

Our party plans progressed and came together so well, even without me there to help out. Everything was in place, all I had to do was shut my mouth and it would all have worked out. She would have had her evening swim, gone to her rooms to shower and eat her packed dinner then gone to bed. She wouldn’t have been lonely, she probably wouldn’t even heave known we were out of the house, but I had to tell her, now didn’t I? I am an idiot.

But now I stare at the page, feeling Luke’s compulsion, with no idea how to put it into words. I can't disobey. I could, Luke's influence is strong, not absolute, and the intensity he used was clearly a display for the General’s benefit. If I were to resist here, it would only put us all in an even more precarious situation. I wipe my hands on my muddy jeans, grab the pen again, and take another deep breath. The black lines on the yellow paper seem to dance and mock me.

I write, "Joel provoked Elle," scrawling my letters over the page. I wonder when last it was that I had to write anything out by hand.

“She only defended herself.” I scribble as neatly as I can, knowing that I am doing irreparable harm to my friend's reputation, probably killing his career, but it's the truth. Joel, Ava and Maxine, they taunted Elle, pushed and pushed until she felt cornered. Tom only wanted to put an end to it. But it was Joel who led the charge.

Sitting in the hard wooden chair, in General Morgan’s office, I think of all the sparring matches, all the times I let Joel kick my butt and knock me to the mat, the broken noses, the split lips. He was a good friend. He won't forgive me. He will see this as a betrayal. I see it as a betrayal.

As I write down the events, I relive them.

"Elle came up to the party unexpectedly."

I watch Elle saunter up the path, looking at everything in utter wonderment. It's a long walk, and the little lanterns only light the path, so while her feet are bathed in soft yellow, her torso is illuminated only by moonlight. The blue spaghetti straps of her dress stand out stark against her almost glowing, milk-white skin.

I think I am the only one who notices her until Joel smirks and points with his chin, "What's this now, huh? Little cuz'?" He says, the red beer cup in his hand sloshes as he swings around, with his hand on my shoulder. Her eyes glint when she looks at him in this weird way. I think that is when he decided to bait her.

"I should have known Ava and Maxine would join in."

My letters scrawl across the lines again and I swear. Shoot! I wish I could type this out.

"Hey, lay off!" Tom shouts from the starting line, he smirks cheekily as he hops up onto the platform for his second attempt of the night. We built the thing to challenge each other, each of us trying to outdo the other, making for quite the obstacle course.

Tom watches for the perfect moment, steps off the solid platform onto the narrow, suspended log, and passes the first two swinging clubs with ease. It should just be a matter of timing, but with the way the log is suspended on long uneven chains, it sways too and gets a little more off-balance with every step. Tom gets tagged by the third club but keeps his feet, and makes it past the fourth onto the second platform. The mu-rem-Zhuang is next. That's the one that broke Ava's right arm. Its multi-leveled arms rotate in opposite directions, and you have to dodge just right to get past it, but since that one was Tom's, he has no trouble. Around the corner is the mud slick, I positioned the rocks two meters apart. You have to leap earnestly to reach each one, and with each botched attempt, the slippery mud gets all over the rocks, making them even more slick. Tom falls on the third, to raucous laughter and a chorus of applause.

"We all thought it'd be fun for Elle to try. No one thought she would be able to make it past the first challenge let alone the next."

She's going to surprise you, I think when Joel leads Elle up to the platform. She looks back over her shoulder at me uncertainly, and I smile encouragement, hoping she won't get hurt too badly, but when she steps off onto the log her stance changes. Her movements become so lithe, supple. She walks coolly past the clubs barely even swaying on the log. She cartwheels past the mu-rem-Zhuang, her braid trailing behind her as she bends past the long rotating arms without blinking. She leaps like a ballerina, a string of perfect grand jetes, across the mud-slick rocks, barely pausing between each one. She flips up the tower like some kind of monkey, and steps across the tightrope like it is a country lane. Slides down the rock face and skips every second rung on the hanging ladder. She even does a flip going across the rope swing, landing neatly on the balls of both feet as if she were hopping down a single step, not a five-meter drop.

She smiles at me. The entire gathering erupts in a sudden ovation. Everyone saw what she did - breezing through the entire course on her first try where experienced soldiers struggled to get through the first few challenges.

"Joel accused her of cheating. Everything works mechanically. There is no way to alter the speed or difficulty of the course, but Joel insisted she cheated somehow. Maxine and Ava backed him up. Evan joined in. Before we knew it they surrounded her, and cut her off from Tom and me. They had all been drinking, They were all already hurt.”

I can see her there. Elle standing just below the last platform, the crowd lauding her on her amazing run, They are all standing between her and us there's no way for Tom or me to get through. Next thing I know, Joel and Evan step out of the throng, and Maxine and Ava are not far behind.

“How'd you do it?” Joel demands, standing across from Elle menacingly. She looks back at the gauntlet and shrugs smugly, wrinkling her nose, as if to say it wasn't that hard. Joel is so angry I can smell it even from across the yard, and the mood of the crowd seems to have shifted. She stands serenely watching, waiting, as they all jeer at her relentlessly. It seems they are angling for a fight, despite their injuries. Joel’s head is all bound up from the gash on his brow, Ava and Maxine have their casts, and Evan's right knee is bandaged. Elle stands her ground, frowning now, as they scream invective at her. Someone tosses a ball of mud, and another throws their drink. The foaming liquid dribbles down her dress.

"I don’t know how Tom managed to react faster than me, but he was the first to reach Elle. Even though he stood between them to defend her I think she felt she had to stand up for herself." I scratch out slowly with hands which are shaking now.

Tom somehow pushes his way through and stands between her and them, holding his arms out to keep them apart, begging them to back off, she’s just a little kid. She grabs his collar, shaking her head frowning at him with an ernest look. She glances back at her accosters, and pushes Tom back gently with her hand on his chest. Her confident smile only infuriating Joel and his lackeys even more.

Joel steps around, Tom steps reluctantly out of the way. Elle and Joel mirror each others steps, the others surround them making a mock arena.

“Joel feinted and she didn’t even flinch. Then he took a shot and all hell broke loose.”

Elle grabs Joel as he takes his first serious shot. Three taps later and he is on his ass. I’m not even sure where she hit him. Belly, throat, groin? Ava and Maxine double-team but Elle sidesteps Max and breaks her other arm. Ava goes for her legs, and Elle slaps her off her feet.

“It all happened so fast. All Elle did was react to their attacks, she didn’t push the offensive, but then Evan came at her with an energy attack. That was when she started to build power.”

The green glow starts on her hands and spreads slowly. Then Tom steps up behind her and gets her in a headlock. She is taken completely by surprise and doesn’t even react until it is too late, but Tom's muscles make quick work of knocking her out.

“We tried talking to them but no one listened. Tom knocking Elle out was the fastest and surest way to end the conflict.”

I sign the bottom of the two-page statement and step across to the door. Luke and Tom are waiting for me outside. Apparently, he had less trouble putting his version on the page.

I know that Luke is less than pleased at having been called away from his meeting. I’m not sure who it was that called in the General but he arrived first, brought Tom and me here, and put unconscious Elle in her room under guard. There was nothing we could do.

As we walk to the shuttle, tails between our legs like a pack of whipped dogs, the sun peeks over the horizon.

The party sounded so wonderful! The way Logan talked about their cyclic celebration made it sound like so much fun. He told me all about the music, games, camaraderie - It wasn’t like that.

I should have known it was a bad idea. I have not seen any people besides the ones who reside in Luke’s house since my arrival, and even though I am becoming more comfortable around them they hardly interact with me, besides my old nurse Molly.

Teag was right about one thing, Elder beings shouldn’t mix with Lesser ones. Those strangers, Logan and Tom’s friends, they taunted me. They messed with Logan and Tom as if they were inferior, filthy Lesser things themselves. They thought they could mess with me?! They were wrong. But it seems, so was I. Because no sooner had I started to put them in their place than my friends turned on me! Tom had me by the neck so fast I couldn’t mount a defense, and now I am locked up in my room under guard and Logan and Tom have left the Estate with that General Morgan. Hmfph! Elder or not, his measly energy signature didn’t feel like any kind of General I know.

I sit on my bed brooding all night. Luke and Logan told me from the start that I wasn’t a prisoner. They told me I was free to come and go as I pleased, but now there are soldiers outside my locked door. It’s not like I killed anyone. All I did was defend myself.

* * *

It is morning and Luke is back. He dismisses the guards, thanks them for their night’s vigil, and unlocks the door. He dithers outside as if he is gathering his thoughts before he opens it.

I don’t feel like complying today.

“I know you might have some questions about last night.” He says, looking every bit the concerned parent. “I am not angry. I know they taunted you. I know that Joel attacked first. I am sorry that Thomas had to intervene, but there are rules here that we all have to abide by.”

I stare at the wall as he talks. The short version is: “No fighting.”

I know. It was one of the first things Logan talked about with me. No raw energy. No violence. Pacifist. I thought it would be easy to follow the rules. They said I was safe here. I thought I could make this a new home for myself. It certainly seemed like that’s what they were offering. I look down and grind my teeth as Luke continues to lecture.

After a while, Luke stops talking and just looks at me. He looks at me the same way James looked at me the day they came to fetch me to TTH. The way a Mind Smith looks when he is trying to make First Link. I look back at him and smile wryly. It won’t work. I know what he is trying to do and I won’t let him. No one will ever do that to me again.

Thanks for reading! I hope you’re enjoying following along with my Bottled Embers!

Next time… After the boys’ birthday party goes horribly wrong, the guys and Elle have to find a new middle ground. Will Elle be able to integrate into this family whose culture seems to differ so drastically from everything she knows?

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Bottled Embers

Strings Attached

32. Ch5 Sc11&12

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