Chapter 7
He had heard their words before. Their promises, their vows. And when he heard them now again, his heart wanted to trust. His mind was more sceptical. In confidence, he talked to Copley. Told him to set up something similar to what they had done before to try and capture the team. However, the difference was that this time no one would get tortured. No one would die. Their reactions to this ‘betrayal’ would be his gauge whether to trust their promises. Actions did speak louder than words after all.
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The team woke up to a familiar sight. Again, hands and feet bound to tables. Again, in a clean smelling room. Again, fearful of their lives.
Nicky and Joe looked at each other. Trying to make sure that the other was alright. Andy was seething, one name in her mind and on her lips, “Quynh”, who looked terrified. Sebastien felt a surge of guilt at being the reason why. Nile was staring at him, seeing right through the façade of fear he had on.
They had been awake nearly 30 minutes when Andy managed to wriggle one of her hands out of her bounds. Quickly untying her other hand and legs, she started helping the others out.
There was no security. No cameras. Nothing that would depict a lab. This seemed to be an amateur's attempt to capture them. A suspicion started to rise in Andy’s mind. He didn’t believe them. This was his attempt to see if they would suspect him or not. His attempt to see if he was going to be left again. The fact that her brother trusted her word that little almost brought her to tears. Quynh in her arms, Andy looked at Nile, who seemed to have come to the same conclusion. Nicky and Joe were oblivious to things.
They would have to come up with a plan to ensure that Booker would learn how to accept and trust in them and their word. But that would have to wait till they could speak without him overhearing them.
It was dark out and they had no idea where they were. Making it a fair distance away from the site that they were held at, they settled down on a dry piece of land and got ready to rest.
Nile wanted to share her suspicions with Andy, but one look at the latter's face told the former all that she needed to know. He was testing them.
They settled down to sleep, but sleep only came fitfully.
Nicky and Joe, both blithe that they were safe and happy were still reeling from their escape. The thought that Booker had betrayed them again had not even crossed their minds. Neither did the thought that this was a test of their word.
Andy and Quynh lay in each other's embrace and the elder told the younger of her misgivings. Quynh seemed to understand why and told Andy as much. She added that even though her dreams, she could see how much pain Booker was in and how much he had been let down by the guard.
Booker was wracked with guilt. How could he think that they would say things that they didn't mean? He had known them two centuries and yet he was uncertain of their word. Tears started to stream down his face. He kept silent. He did not deserve their succour or love. He deserved his exile. And yet he could not bring himself to tell them. He could not bring himself to do so. He needed them and he didn't want them to hate him, not so soon after learning that they truly did care for him. He curled into himself and held back his sobs.
Nile fell into an erratic slumber. She kept jerking awake and falling back asleep. She was worried about the state of her family. Troubled by the fact that one of their own felt so insecure of their love that he felt the need to test them so.
When morning came six very unrested people opened their eyes blearily. Yawning they cleared the area of any trace of themselves and walked back toward the facility where they had been kept. They contacted Copley, who met them there and tried to help them in any way he could. They found nothing.
That night, under the guise of wanting some time for themselves, Andy, Quynh, Copley, Nile, Nicky and Joe met at a sequestered spot near the safe house where they were staying.
Seeing that Booker was not among them, Joe and Nicky briefly wondered if the others believed that he had betrayed them again, before evicting that thought from their minds. He would never do that.
Copley began explaining how Booker begged him to set up a fake capture because he wanted to gauge their reactions to it and to see if they would blame him. No harm was ever meant to come to anyone.
Andy reassured Copley that they didn't blame him and told him to clear off. That this was something that they would have to deal with as a family.
Talking among themselves, they agreed that they would not let Booker suspect that they knew. They wanted him to tell them of his own conviction.
Nicky and Joe were heartbroken. They could not believe that they had screwed up to such an extent that their Sebastien would want to go to such lengths to see if they would stay with him or not.
Days turned to weeks. And summer turned into fall. Andy's mortality into immortality. The orange leaves of melancholy resonated deeply within Sebastien's heart. The guilt had only grown in the weeks past. Sleep would not come to him. Tears flowed all too easily. Every affectionate gesture and word threatened his eyes to overflow.
He wanted to break down and tell them everything. Every breath he took pierced his heart. He made the decision to tell them the truth and if they were to exile him again, then he would face the consequences.