Young Writers Society

Seb sat up in alarm. "Did I say something?"

"No," Eli said. But I did. He couldn't help but wonder if this timing was a terrible coincidence, or if West somehow knew.

He abruptly pushed that thought away, and shot to his feet. He brushed the grass from his jeans and quickly tapped in a response. The last thing he wanted was for the Agent to come looking for him.

Sorry. On my way back.

Sebastián frowned in concern. "Everything okay?"

Eli shot him a bemused glance. "No. Work things. Which you apparently know about now." He started down the hill, back towards campus. "But it'll be fiiine."

Seb only needed to take a few long-legged strides to catch up to him. "Eli?"

Eli ducked between a fence, crossing between two houses to get to the main road faster. A small terrier barked at them from a recently-mowed backyard.

"Yeah?"

Sebastián rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. "We're not done talking about this. I'm in it with you, now."

Eli paused, gratitude welling up in his throat. He glanced at his friend. "Thank you."

Seb gave a small nod and flashed a crooked smile. "You do your thing. I think I'm going to try to go to Programming, just to make the effort."

Eli shrugged, speeding up his pace as he tried to ignore the anxiety in his chest. "Okay. You're more responsible than me, at least."

They walked another two blocks in quiet thought. Eli was grateful that his friend didn't pry, that he seemed to understand that Eli wasn't willing to divulge much more at the moment. He felt dumb for overreacting about Seb's finding out, but he couldn't shake the feeling that it was still a mistake.

When they got back to campus, Seb split off towards the Computer Science building, and Eli gave a short wave.

"Don't do anything stupid until I get back," Seb called.

"Can't promise anything," Eli called back, and tried not to focus on the fact that it seemed like everything was going to hell. Seb knew, Atlas was in the hospital, and West had noticed his leaving.

He sped up his pace.

---

Rosiello Hall had become more animated as the afternoon dragged on. Eli made the mistake of entering through the main door, where some of his dormmates were milling around. Emmanuel and Kody, two Rosiello acquaintances, glanced up from where they sat by the front desk.

"Eli!" Emmanuel exclaimed, rolling his chair forwards. His eyes shone, with excitement or fear, Eli couldn't tell. "Dude. We heard the news."

Kody nodded earnestly, pity flashing over his face. His floppy blonde hair fell over his eyes. Textbooks, paper, and calculators were spread along the front desk. The two of them often worked together during Emmanuel's shifts.

"Are you...doing okay? I mean. Pyro, man. That's crazy." Emmanuel tried to contrive a concerned expression, but Eli saw the thirst in his eyes.

"I'm fine," Eli said stiffly, crossing swiftly to the stairway. Did they really think that this was all just a juicy story? Atlas could have died. Could still die. Atlas, who, until yesterday, had been their dormmate and friend.

"I heard that his own powers flipped out. That he's been a villain this whole time, and no one even knew!"

Kody nodded. "Yeah, man. Where are all these superpowered freaks coming from, anyway? My mom said when she was little, there were only a few bio supers in her entire state. What gives?"

Eli took a deep breath. "I don't know."

He pushed a hand through his hair and inched past them with an apologetic look. "Sorry, but I'm not feeling one hundred percent, guys. Hard night yesterday. I'll talk with you later."

He pushed open the stairwell door, but not before he saw Kody give a disappointed shrug.

Leeches.

He managed to avoid running into anyone else on his way to his room, which was a relief. Next time, he would definitely enter from the side door.

His door was unlocked when he arrived, and Eli frowned. He hadn't been the most stable before he'd left. Maybe he'd forgotten?

But when he pushed open the door, he knew why.

A man with flaming ginger hair reclined at Eli's desk, picking through his backpack as if it were his own. He pulled out a sleeve of Rift's suit and snorted.

Eli couldn't stop himself. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Agent West glanced up, and grinned. His face was shadowed, but his water-blue eyes reflected dully in the dim light. For some reason, he hadn't turned on any of the lights.

"Hey, kid. Long time no see." His voice was a low rasp, and it sent shivers down Eli's spine.

Eli glanced back down the hall, then back into his room. He stepped inside, shut the door softly behind him, and leaned into the wood, trying to calm his rapid pulse. He flicked on the overhead lights.

"You're not supposed to be here," he accused.

West swung his feet around and placed his elbows on his knees, still smiling. "Yeah. But we needed a check in."

The Agent gestured to the backpack. The sleeve hung out like a limp black and white snake. "Do you really just leave this sitting out? Anyone could break in and find it."

Eli watched him, and replied slowly. "I wasn't in the best... mental place this morning. Usually it goes elsewhere."

"Mm. Little slips can add up into a big mess. No exceptions." He picked up the backpack and threw it at Eli. Eli fumbled, caught it. West's smile had vanished, replaced by an icy expression. "Put it away. Now."

Eli grit his teeth, but he went to his closet and climbed onto the box filled with winter clothes to reach the ceiling. He pressed the backpack into the corner between the ceiling and the wall, momentarily turning it intangible so that it was nestled halfway into the cinder block. It was barely visible in the shadows, and only accessible to Eli.

He shook the pain from his hands and emerged. He faced West with a scowl.

"Okay. What do you really want?"

West tilted his head, pushed clear hipster glasses up on his nose.

"Just checking in, is all. A lot of crap is going down at the Program at the moment, between you and me. Wouldn't want you to make anything worse."

Eli tried not to roll his eyes. "I got your message," he said. "I'm doing what you asked."

"Really? Because my trackers told me that you went off campus today, almost immediately after I told you to, what was it? Stay low."

West leaned in, grinning a wolfish smile. His teeth were dazzling white. "And I just had to make sure you knew what we're dealing with here."

He stood up and flicked a finger at the phone clutched in one slender hand. He was just wearing a plain black tee, dark jeans, and Adidas sneakers, but Eli couldn't help but wonder how many weapons he had managed to conceal underneath it all.

West stepped in, too close, his breath hot on Eli's face.

"The public is crawling all over this news, Eli. I'm surprised that no one's sought you out more than they have, with you being the only witness and all." He raised a blonde eyebrow. "I need to be assured that you won't go blabbing, or risk exposing yourself."

Eli watched him silently, unmoved from where he stood. He refused to back away, even though every nerve screamed at him.

"We shouldn't be having this conversation. You know that I wouldn't do that."

"You wouldn't? Not even if it's the trauma speaking?"

Eli resisted the urge to snarl. "No. And you owe me news on what's really happening. What happened to Atlas."

West's smile turned sharp. "I don't owe you anything."

He finally turned his piercing gaze away from Eli, and pulled a slip of paper in his pocket. "But you did suffer a great deal," he said, dripping with sarcasm, "And from what I can see, you've kept your mouth shut so far."

Eli tried to keep his features neutral, guilt and relief mingling bitterly on his tongue. At least West didn't suspect Seb, not yet.

West continued, oblivious. "So that's why I'm going to be generous, and give you a few days off to recover."

Eli's thoughts shuddered to a stop. "What?"

The Agent tilted his head. The freckles across his cheeks looked like a spray of blood. "Why so surprised? This is just a job, after all. You need some time."

Eli stayed silent, biting his cheek. In his entire career with the Program, West had only given him extra time off once, when he had been throwing his guts up at the end of last semester. Either West really was being merciful, or something was up. Maybe this was a warning. Of what, Eli had no idea. 

West patted Eli on the shoulder. "Three days. Then you're back to the missions on Monday. Alright?"

Eli nodded, trying to ignore the possessive grip the Agent kept on his shoulder. West squeezed, so tight that his nails dug into Eli's skin. Eli squirmed uncomfortably.

"Tell me, kiddo. You were there with him, then. Did Pyro say anything, anything that seemed out of place or concerning?"

Eli pried his hand off of him with an effort. West's eyes flashed.

"There was... a lot of screaming." Bile rose in Eli's throat. "I'd say that that was fairly concerning."

"Mm," West murmured. "Nothing else, before that?"

"No."

Watery blue eyes studied him for a moment too long before smiling, yet again. A shark's smile. "Okay. I'll let that go for now. Here."

He handed Eli a small capsule. Inside were two small white pills.

"Thought I'd deliver them personally for once."

Eli reluctantly took the capsule. "Thanks."

West strode to the door. He paused with his hand on the knob.

"Keep out of trouble, Eli. And, oh." He glanced back, nonchalant. "I've been told to request that you leave Atlas alone. No hospital visits, no phone calls. He needs his space to recover."

He gave a sarcastic salute. "Until next time."

And then he was gone, the door swinging shut behind him.

Eli waited for a moment before realizing that his shoulders were bunched up to his ears. He tried to relax with a sigh. He glanced down at the pill bottle, a plan already beginning to turn in his head.

Three days off. That would be plenty of time.

Subscribe to Hero for Hire for weekly updates!