Fear
Chapter 13 of 17
TheDeepEndWhen we were safely outside, I sat on the porch steps and pulled him down next to me. When I felt him wrap an arm around my waist, I relaxed.
“Why aren’t you afraid?” Nixon asked.
I watched his breath twist in the cool air before I answered. “What am I supposed to be afraid of?” I stared up at him and watched his mouth twitch.
The intensity in his grey eyes made my heart pound against my chest. He reached out and pushed my hair behind my ear, then shook his head.
“You know you should be afraid of me, and yet here you are, curled up with me like I’m some old security blanket.”
“You won’t hurt me,” I said. When I looked into his face again, I saw something that made me frown. “You won’t, right?”
“I can’t promise you anything,” Nixon said, shaking his head. “I’m sorry.”
I stared at his hand, again laced with mine, and raised an eyebrow at him. “Why can’t I―”
“It was only temporary,” he explained. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to handle the transfer at first. Though, I admit, you did a better job than the last person I allowed to access my power.”
“What happened?” I asked, not quite sure I wanted to know.
“She became very frightened,” he said softly. Suddenly, he reached up and rubbed his eyes, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of glasses. “She started to back away from me, shrieking for me to break the connection. When I told her to relax, she pulled away.”
“So she thought you were crazy,” I mumbled.
He nodded. “Somehow she screwed up my connection for anyone else I tried to encounter. I didn’t know if anyone else could help me.”
“So, this thing, whatever it is, has been going on for a long time?” I said. My thoughts were clouded when he finally put his glasses on. I shook my head to uncoil that image from my brain.
He smiled.
I frowned at him.
“So,” I said, trying to figure out my words. “What’s this whole deal of me not being human? Because last I checked, I definitely was.”
“You’re taking this exceptionally well,” Nixon praised. “I’m a little worried you might go and hang yourself when things finally set in.”
“That would be the human way of doing things,” I said. When he stopped laughing, I let my mind wander. “What am I then?”
He sobered up, his face serious. “I told you that I don’t know the answer to that one.”
I made a noise in my throat that sounded like a growl and said, “You’re bullshitting me, right? You mean to tell me that you’ve been sent to protect me and you don’t even know what I am?”
“Please,” he said, his voice barely a whisper. “Please sit down.”
I was trembling from where I apparently stood, glaring down at him. His expression was half between shock and pain. He looked like he wanted to say something but thought better of it.
“If you want to speak, do it. It’s not like you’ll say anything worth hearing.”
He rose from his spot on the porch, his lips curved into a tight unpleasant smile. Before I knew what was happening, I felt my back hit one of the columns that held up the house.
“You’re so foolish,” he hissed, his eyes darkening behind the lenses. “Stupid and foolish. Don’t you see that I don’t have all the answers to your insignificant questions?”
“Stop,” I whispered. He was very close and for the first time, I was afraid. “Get away from me.”
He frowned at me, and the light from the kitchen had slid onto his face from the window, his eyes cool. He stepped back and lowered his gaze.
“I’m sorry I frightened you,” he said quietly. He reached for me and I moved away, feeling the fear in the pit of my stomach suddenly explode.
“Can you please leave?” I said gently, my head turned away from him. I couldn’t meet his eyes. I didn’t want to see the pain in them because of me.
“Casey―” he pleaded.
The last thing I remember before I shut the door in his face were his fingers slipping through my hair.
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Latest 25 Reviews for Delude
17 Reviews | 9.35/10 Average
Anonymous
Nice. This is really getting interesting...
WRITE FASTER! Tiny snippets do not satify me!
Throw us a couple-a-thousand words!!
Author's Response: I have a lot more chapters done, it's just waiting for them to be submitted here that makes the wait longer.
Give me your email and I'll send the rest to you.
Anonymous
Interesting...
Casey is really handling this pretty good, which is surprising. But there is that hint that she has been 'prepared' for her coming-out party.
If only I could have played with my Mom's mind whenever I came home late, or brought a female friend home!
I sense some training coming on also!
Good work!
Author's Response: She does overreact a lot though. I would if this situation was presented. I don't think I would believe anything I was being told.
I hope you like the next few chapters. I'm introducing a new character soon :)
Anonymous
Beautiful.
This is going very well, and I'm really looking forward to the next chapter!
Great work!
Author's Response: Thanks very much.
I'm trying to not make this story too obvious, but it's already unraveling that way.
Anonymous
Nice.
Not cheap, uninteresting drabble, but a very emotionally deep, and realistic meeting of the minds by Nixon and Casey.
I like where this is going, and I'm glad it isn't obvious.
Good work!
Anonymous
Another good chapter!
One of my favorite lines:
“Don’t worry, I won’t ask for any weird sexual favors in return.”
Wasn't expecting that from Nixon. Actually, this story is starting to feel familiar...
Have you ever read a manga called 'Tag'?
Really intersted in what a 'Sweeper' is. Are you preparing to go down a supernatural sort of road?
Author's Response: I am going to go down that road :) Like it wasn't obvious.
No, I haven't. I've actually never heard of it. What is it about?
EdgeOfDark's response: Tag is about a girl who becomes best friends with mysterious girl, who makes her a target for humiliation, rape, and possible death. All of this revolves around cell phones, and the victims doing whatever the text tells them to do... otherwise they get killed.
One of the best I've ever read!
Author's Response: That sounds cool, aside from the rape part. Kind of reminds me of One Missed Call, only they get voicemails, they heard their voice, then they died.
It's weird. It's an Asian movie so yeah, lol
EdgeOfDark's response: Hey, how many more chapters do you have to go?
Author's Response: I don't know. I'm still hoping to not get Writer's Block like I have with other stories. Why do you ask? :D
EdgeOfDark's response: Very curious!
My stories are all outlined, and I know how many chapters there are, and how long they usually going to be. Yours feels 1/3 of the way done!
Author's Response: I just have to figure out things. I mean, I have the main plot, but I need more of a character development for some.
EdgeOfDark's response: Ah! So most of your work is tied up in character development! You do that very well by the way.
Have you peeked at one of mine?
Author's Response: Not yet. I'm sorry.
The next chapter will be up soon, and then you'll be all caught up :)
EdgeOfDark's response: *waits impatiently!* 
Anonymous
Okay, this is getting good, and you know, I'm hooked. I have a bad feeling Casey is in for trouble with this Nixon kid.
What are snake-bites?
Author's Response: Nixon's the good guy :)
Snake-bites: Two piercings just under the bottom lip: one on the left side and one on the right. They can be studs or rings, or even a combination of both.
Anonymous
Uh oh. This is not looking good.
At least she knows what kind of person Jade really is. Sucks how she found out however.
Great chapter! Where's the rest? ^_^
Author's Response: I should just get your email and send you the rest, considering you're the only one whose reading this story, haha.
EdgeOfDark's response:
Boy do I know THAT feeling!!
My jaw really hit the floor when one of my fics turned up as a 'Featured Fic' on TPP.
Originals hardly get the time they deserve anywhere, especially good ones like this. You're a pretty competent writer too, and I hope you keep at it.
I think Original Authors should really support each other. That being said, I'd really like to know what you think about some of my work too!
Author's Response: Oh, I've never had the thrill of knowing my stories were featured for anything.
There's only a few sites I'm apart of, like Mibba, which is a relatively good site as far as reviews and things go. You should try it out.
Anonymous
Wow. Very well done. I could see this so clearly in my mind's eye. You built the scene masterfully, and I found myself wanting more of this tale!
Excellent work!
Author's Response: :DD Thank you so much.
Anonymous
Oh no! Not another Mindwar: Marooned on Earth type of story!
Awww, gee. I was really hoping for something new and different.
That said, it was still writen well, and easy to read... and I liked it.
Author's Response: Casey's not an alien, if that's what you're getting at, lol. That would be too predictable.
EdgeOfDark's response: So what we've got here is a special sub-strain of Humans who play puppeteer with the Normals?
Author's Response: Somewhat. I don't want to give things away.
Finish it! I really like this and want to know where you go with it.
I like how the ticking clock upset her. That has come up in a lot of my stories and it was the basis of my first song. Very good writing!
“What?” I hissed, as I read the answer. “What the hell are you talking about?” I said to him, my voice a little louder than I intended.
Everyone turned in their seats to look at me.
“Miss Sullivan—”
Fuck.
------
That was hilarious. Makes me think of things I have written!
Anonymous
Wow.
One wants to get close to these characters but...
Poor Casey really doesn't give much thought to her future or much else it seems. Is Nixon going to be just as irreverent and aimless?
Author's Response: Nixon's probably the most important character, other than Casey, in this story.
EdgeOfDark's response: LOL!
No! Not irrelevant! irreverent!
Is Nixon going to be just as irreverent and aimless as Casey?
Author's Response: Oh, wow, lol, sorry.
He might be. I don't really have much of him thought of yet.
Anonymous
Very good: I like how Casey is tentatively sharing her thoughts and feelings with the reader. That’s something you do very well with your characters.
It’s a shame that she and her mother don’t have a better relationship. What heartache. They could really help one another if they both weren’t so emotionally selfish.
Nice chapter!
Author's Response: Things are just going to go downhill from here anyway, and Casey knows her mom wouldn't believe anything that's going to happen, so she kind of has no one to depend on.
Thank you for the review. The next chapter should be up soon.
Anonymous
Nice!
I like where you're going with this, and it feels totally authentic. Very good job of describing the environment and characters. It's getting interesting!
Author's Response: Thanks very much :)
Anonymous
Hmmm...
That is one crude, intolerant ("Who likes to sit in a small ass seat with some fat kid?"), smelly, lazy slob of a kid.
He seems like one of those people with two definitive sides; not Good or Evil, just Evil and Indifferent.
Needs a serious foot in the ass.
I can hardly wait to see him get torn to bits... He is going to get torn to bits, right?
Author's Response: Well, since the main character is a girl (I guess I should have specified and the name throws people off), I'd hope she's not tore to bits. But someone else gets torn, and they deserve it.
EdgeOfDark's response: Ah... So someone is responsible for the tourturous birth of Evil Casey and Indifferent Casey. Going to be interested in seeing what kind of Monster that is.
Author's Response: Oh, she's not really that bad. Just dislikes most people and is a bitch in the morning. There's far worse than her in this story :)