Well it has been literally years, but here is the next (short) chapter. If you are anything like me, going back and reading the previous chapters is an excellent idea. I have really loved dipping my toes back into Soul and Scott's story and I hope you enjoy it too! As always any comments are welcome.
Enough waiting here it is:
*****
Cannibalism really wasn't what Soul wanted, but he still didn't trust Scott enough for anything else, and the others looked so expectant. Plus he couldn't just stay here, the morning had told him that if Sylvia got her way Soul wouldn't be thinking much ever again.
As it turned out, they didn't get far enough for the bond, temporary or not, to be enacted. Right before leaving for a more private, and Soul assumed, romantic, location the door opened. Outside the twins waited.
"Hello friends, we thought there weren't going to be any more meetings until tomorrow." Soul was terrified, but somewhere deep inside he was relieved, he knew Josie would have been able to make it and somehow Nova would find a way to blame him, and honestly he didn't think he could lead, how could he when he had no idea what was going on. He had no idea who was his friend, or where Sylvia's reach ended. Stuck here all he had to do was stay away from Scott and keep hold of his own thoughts.
They were lead back to their rooms, Josie was crying softly. But she probably needed rest more than anything. She really should have been trying to run away, the stress in this house was more than she needed but more would probably kill her and her baby.
Back in the scarlet room Scott flopped onto the bed. Soul paced. He was so blind to what was happening, he wanted to trust Scott, to believe that he didn't want to hurt him but he was so pushy and trust came to Soul slowly. He didn't know what he felt and wouldn't ever be able to know how he really felt, with whatever his mother had done to him, with whatever Sylvia was continuing to do to him. And even Scott couldn't know how he felt about Soul. The only reason he proclaimed to love him, and proclaimed he couldn't control himself was because of what his mother had done. Neither of them had chosen this by themselves, and yet, they would never be free of each other.
"What are you thinking about?" Soul turned to look at Scott as he spoke, and Soul began to laugh.
"What do you think I am thinking about?"
Scott looked too relaxed for the situation. He had kicked off his shoes and had folded his t-shirt next to him. Soul considered if the escape attempt, as short lived as it was, had to do with a larger plan, were they trying to lure him into a false sense of camaraderie. Were they all on the same side? Maybe they were all really good actors; even Josie could be in on it. She had seemed really sick, but maybe she was still trying to do anything to get her parents approval. Maybe someone had done something to him when he was recovering from Nova's punch.
He was so in the dark anything could be possible. Really the only person he could trust was Sylvia- trust her to be awful and do whatever she could to figure out whatever his drawings meant.
Soul wished he could just trust Scott; he wished that he could just give up and not care who won. With so little knowledge he couldn't even decide he didn't care. Even Josie's story, assuming that it was true, and that she was really trying to be helpful didn't make any sense. He kind of knew the story of the allegory of the cave. But how it related to this he had no idea. If Scott was the light and he was drawing the shadows, what he drew still wouldn't be the truth, it would be indecipherable. And if Scott were the light then they would have to ask him and be hurt to figure it out anyway. Plus they would know what he was drawing. The shadows were the easy part. But then his mother, what had she done? Chain them so the shadows made even less sense? Obscure them even more?
"What am I thinking?" Soul began "I am thinking that no matter what I do something bad will happen. I am thinking that everything anyone has told me has just made me feel more lost. I am thinking that I would do anything to get out of here, but I don't know how or what I would do if I did escape. I am wondering if everything wouldn't just be better if I was dead."