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I suppose I shouldn't have had that whole talk about Cupid and his arrows and Psyche and love.

Just because I was a hopeless romantic at heart doesn't mean everyone was too.

Jamie avoided me like the plague for the next few days.

For what, I didn't know. I had a suspicion it was because of my stupid rant about love and trust back at the bookshop. Like how embarrassing was that?

I didn't let it get to me, though. Not for the first few days. It wasn't like Jamie paid much mind to me anyway. He was a man of few words. Not like his lack of attention was slowly starting to piss me off.

It wasn't.

What irked me however was that he was plenty fine with talking to anyone and everyone who wasn't me. Like the landlord. Or our next-door neighbour, Dolores. Or even Penny when she dropped by the apartment to hand me over my paperback novel she had borrowed earlier.

He was talking to everyone but me. He was making eye contact with everyone but me. And just because I had weirded him out by my insight on the topic of love?

It got to a point where we didn't even meet up to discuss our portfolio any further the whole next week.

So, naturally, I decided to confront him about it. We were living in the same apartment after all. I needed him to treat me like an equal and not like a fucking ghost.

That night as I walked back home from the Agency with some Chinese takeout, I was pleased to find him in the lounge. Even though he looked ready to go somewhere.

"Are you going somewhere?" I asked him with wide eyes.

Jamie barely spared me a glance, too busy shrugging on his jacket. All he gave me in response was a small affirmative hum.

"But I bought takeout for us."

"Us?" He rose a brow in my direction.

"I mean...I thought..." I trailed off, staring at him with furrowed brows. This was as farthest as a conversation had gone between us since the past week. I kept standing right there in the middle of the lounge, staring at him with furrowed brows.

"Can't right now." He briefly shook his head and headed for the front door. I watched him go and something heavy settled in the pit of my stomach.

Don't be pathetic, I told myself.

Still, I hoped he'd look back, just once. But he didn't as he opened the door and left. Leaving me all alone in the apartment.

Sighing, I started shrugging off my own coat and placed my bag on the couch. Then I flopped down on it with the takeout boxes.

Why was Jamie acting so weird? And why did I even care? Was I letting this crush thing go way too far? Orias would be disappointed, I thought. I should stop myself from being distracted over...things like this and pay attention to other more pressing matters. Like that ski-masked man, for instance. And maybe even Neo--though I hadn't seen him around much either.

I got up from the couch again, sulking a little now, and fetched a fork for myself. Then I opened a box of noodles and started eating. That, and some nice movie was enough to get me settled on the couch again.

I soon forgot about everything around me as I let the couch cushions engulf me, my eyelids drowsy as I pushed the empty takeout box aside.

Today had been one of those days. There had been a lot of customers at the bookshop and Jon had been busy taking care of his sick wife at home, so I had been the only one there. Not that I minded in the slightest. I loved working at that bookshop even if it tired me the fuck off sometimes.

I was too busy in my head, swimming through drowsy and irrational thoughts, with a cute guy and a cute girl flirting on the TV screen in front of me, when I heard a thud.

I figured it must've been a noise from the apartment above mine. A lot of thuds did come from up there.

That's when another thud came. More like a loud knocking sound.

I was up on my feet in mere seconds, looking around the lounge in alarm. The only noise I could hear right now was from the movie behind me and my own racing heartbeat.

I slowly crept towards the kitchen, my eyes darting around the whole apartment.

Was it that someone was breaking in? It wasn't uncommon in this town. Especially on this street. But the fact that this was my apartment we were talking about made me panic a little. And panic was not good. Sure, it got you all pumped up on adrenaline. But if I panicked too much, I made rather stupid decisions.

Deep breaths, Dahlia, I spoke in my head. Remember, deep breath in. Deep breath out. And count on your instincts.

I stepped back in my sock-clad feet and tried to look for something that could work as a weapon. Unfortunately, my only option were takeout boxes.

Another thud came from the window situated at the further end of the lounge, right beside the front door.

And then a really loud crash.

I pressed my back against the kitchen counter, feeling the coolness of it against the only thin t-shirt I was wearing.

I barely managed to dodge out of the way when something came flying towards me.

"There you are," a scruffy woman's voice filled my ears, nearing me as I scrambled up from the floor. "I knew I'd find you here."

With a glance at the counter, I noticed what she had just thrown at me was a black device that looked much like a taser. One I had seen before. The taser that had hurt like a bitch.

"Is this gonna be a routine now?" I sounded a little breathless as I backed into the kitchen, watching as the bulky woman, clad in black gear, approached me. "Who's sending you guys anyway?"

And how did you know where I live? I didn't ask her that though. Just thinking about it was enough to send my mind into panic mode. I hoped she couldn't see it on my face.

The woman laughed. Her dark ski mask was a replica of that man's--the one I'd encountered inside that building which had been set on fire.

"Just a kid." She tsked behind her mask, her gaze drilling into my face. "The Agency will fuck you up, kid. Too bad I have to kill you."

Kill me.

I grabbed the first thing I could from the counter behind me--an empty mug--and threw it at her. It went sailing just past her face and crashed on the wall behind her. I cringed.

The woman laughed again, much pitifully this time. She was just a few steps away now, walking slowly and surely. I guess I had an advantage at that.

"Don't they give you training these days?" She asked. She was strangely more talkative than that ski-masked man. "What a pathetic aim that was."

I didn't necessarily like it when people insulted my aims. "Well, I tried." I shrugged, then ran at her, taking her by surprise and hooked my arm around her neck, pulling onto all my body weight until I had her in a headlock with the side of her face flat against the kitchen counter. "Your turn now. Who are you?"

She chuckled darkly, struggled, but when I pressed my arm further along her windpipe, she fixed me with a nasty glare.

"I come from the people who will destroy the Agency." I had a feeling she wanted to spit on my face. I was suddenly glad she was wearing that ski mask.

"So I've heard," I muttered, my arm numbing a little with the force. "Why do you want to destroy the Agency?"

She chuckled again, a sound so dark and evil that it just about managed to make me shudder a little. "Either you must be new or they must've spent years brainwashing you, kid, if you're standing here asking me why!"

I faltered a little, surprised, and she saw it coming. Tripping my feet from under me, she made me fall flat on the floor. I barely got the chance to turn over before she was on me, really really heavy, with the familiar taser in her hands.

"Oh, for fuck's sake." I groaned, trying to push her off, but failing to do so when she pressed the top of the taser just below my chin, waiting to press the button. "What is up with you guys and these...tasers?"

"They've got enough power built in to kill a human." She hissed, leaning over me. "More than enough for one like you."

"What is..." I gasped, trying to pry off her grip when her leather-gloved fingers wrapped around my throat, squeezing. "...that supposed to mean?"

She glared through the only two holes in her mask. "We were played. We were tortured by that Agency of yours. We gave up our lives just because of the promises they made us."

I couldn't breathe.

"They controlled our lives." She seethed. My eyes watered and I tried desperately to pry off her grip on my neck. "They tortured us to the point of death. Does that sound like your Agency, hero?"

No, I wanted to say. But all that came out was a failed attempt at words. Not when my lungs were seconds away from burning to death.

"Let...go!" I managed out, struggling. She pulled the taser away and pressed it near my shoulder, pushing the button only for a second maybe. It was a surprise I could scream even when I was being strangled to death.

And it was an even bigger surprise that none of my neighbours was running in to help me out.

"You've been a puppet like us all!" The woman hissed at my face. "They'll break you down. Break you until you won't be able to think straight. Until you won't know who you are. Until you forget everything!"

At this point, if I were in my suit with my vitals constantly being recorded by the Agency, they would've already sent backup to help me out. But since I was in my college clothes right now, it really was all up to me.

I managed to squirm a little before ramming my elbow somewhere near her abdomen, and tried stifling another scream when my wrist twisted in a not so normal direction. It hurt, but not as much as my shoulder did. I rolled away from her, gasping and coughing and trying to fucking breathe.

"I'll kill you! Kill you all!" She screamed and lunged for me once again.

The next few seconds went by in a rush and I almost would've laughed in surprise if I were a third person standing there in my apartment, watching us both fight.

A noise that sounded strangely like a sob escaped my lips as I crawled back, my hand grabbing another mug (how many mugs were there even?) before smashing it against the side of her face.

She was stunned for a second maybe, and I managed to tug off her mask, dark crimson blood streaming across her cheek. I stared in horror as she hissed. Her face, one whole side of her face was burned in a way that I knew I'd have nightmares about. With a sick twisted grin, she wiped off the blood from her cheek, only managing to smudge it even more.

"Your Agency did this." She told me. This time I saw the hatred on her face, in her dark eyes, in her voice. Bile rose up my throat. "They ruined me. He ruined me!"

I didn't think twice before slamming my foot into her shoulder, watching as she rocketed back and her head hit the corner of the counter with a loud thud.

She fell, limp. Unconscious. And I stayed right there, pressed back against the kitchen cabinet as I watched her unconscious body. Dead.

No, no, she can't be dead.

I don't know how long I kept sitting there, staring at her with wide eyes. All I know is I almost jumped in fright when I heard the front door slamming open, and I grimaced when the sudden rushing footsteps nearing me made my head pound.

"Fucking hell." Someone swore. "What in the world happened here?"

I looked up to see Jamie staring at me with wide, surprised eyes. They darted from me to the unconscious woman and then back at me. It was strange that I felt this sort of relief settling inside me when I saw him. Probably just because he was familiar. I was really glad to see him.

"She was..." My voice cracked. I cleared my throat and looked back down at the woman. I couldn't see the burnt marks on her face anymore since she was sprawled face down, but it was still imprinted in my head. "She...broke in."

A confused sound came from Jamie's direction. Before I could even count to ten, he was kneeling down in front of me with his hands on my shoulders and his concerned gaze filling my vision.

It was all a little too much.

"Are you all right?" He asked, more like demanded. I flinched when the throbbing in my shoulder seemed to increase tenfold under his grip.

His gaze flickered down and he pulled his hand away a little too quickly.

"Yeah." I nodded, looked over at the woman over his shoulder, then nodded again. "You should call 911. I knocked her out, but...she could wake up." And I realised in horror that I did not want her to wake up right now.

Jamie's gaze was still on me. I saw him clenching and unclenching his jaw. "Let's get you up first."

When he gripped my arms and slowly pulled me up, I tried really hard not to fall against him. He didn't seem to mind though, when I leaned a little into his touch. My eyes, however, kept darting over to the unconscious woman.

"But the...the police--"

"I've already called them." He cut me off and pushed me gently towards the couch, making me sit down. I noticed that he was frowning now. "I saw the broken window from the street below."

Oh. I nodded briefly.

"Okay." He said, his blue eyes still so full of concern. It was strange. I was used to fights and bruises and concussions. I wasn't used to gazes full of concern. Even Jade who usually tended to my wounds back at the Agency never showed concern. Not like the one on Jamie's face right now. "You need to tell me where you're hurt, Dahlia."

Dahlia, his voice whispered inside my head again and then again. I hadn't ever heard him say my name.

"I'm not hurt," I told him. Sure, my shoulder hurt and maybe my left wrist might have swollen a little, but that still wasn't an injury too big. "Really."

His gaze hardened and he touched the sore spot on my shoulder, making me yelp. "You think that's fine? Are you insane?"

"It'll be fine." I pushed his hand away with a frown and nudged my head in the direction of the woman. "Can we make sure she's dragged out first? I feel like she'll wake up any second now."

I had a feeling Jamie was gritting his teeth, apparently not appreciating my change of topic, before he stood up again. "She's dead."

I stared at him in horror. "She's not dead."

"There's blood all around her head." He raised his brows. "She looks pretty dead to me."

I stared at her once again and saw the blood. Jamie might've just been right.

"What did you even do to her?" He asked me, and perhaps his poorly concealed amusement (and the lack of horror) should've been alarming to me. But right then, I couldn't care less.

I stood up hastily and nearly fell face-first on the floor if Jamie hadn't grabbed me by the waist.

"Dahlia." He sounded pissed off now. "Can you stop giving fucks about that dead woman and let me make sure you're all right?"

"I am all right." I sounded defensive. Because it was weird to be taken care of like this and I knew of no other way than to protest. I will be fine anyway, I told myself. Injuries happened. I always got up in the end though.

"Sit down." He pushed me back on the couch, gave me a glare that effectively rooted me to my spot, and left to go get something. When he returned, he had an ice pack in his hands. I didn't even know we had an ice pack.

I took it from him and pressed it against my shoulder, groaning softly. It went silenced though as loud police sirens made their way around our apartment building.

"I'll talk to them," Jamie told me. "You will let them check you for injuries. Understood?"

I nodded meekly. Clearly, he could get scary when he wanted to be. Besides, the fact that he cared about my well-being was making my head swim a little right now.

Soon enough, multiple police officers barged inside. Two people were pulling out the still unconscious woman on a stretcher. I tried not to look at her face, but I still did. Jamie stood in one corner talking to another police officer. And I tried really hard not to think about the ski-masked woman's words as one of the medic ladies sat in front of me, asking me questions, tending my slightly swollen wrist.

In the end, they left after a thorough check, not giving much investigation into it since it was just a normal break-in. Break-ins were considered normal in this town. And that made me furious, because what if this hadn't been me and someone else? Someone who didn't know how to defend themselves? Would that have been labelled a normal break-in too?

This wasn't a normal break-in, I thought. I needed to see Orias.

When the officers left, Dolores stopped by to help clean up the mess in the lounge and in the kitchen (which was awfully kind of her) and even offered to cook up some food for us. Comfort food. God, she was one of the sweetest old ladies I had ever come across.

Still, I refused. Because I felt awful for making such a big mess. Worrying Jamie and worrying Dolores and even those officers. This didn't concern any of them.

That's when a horrifying thought hit me.

What if Jamie had been here, instead of me, all alone in the apartment? What if I was out when the lady in the ski mask had attacked?

"I think I'll call it a night," I told them both--Dolores and Jamie--failing to make eye contact with either of them as I fidgeted with the bandage around my wrist.

"Dahlia..." Jamie stepped towards me but I shook my head, clearing my throat in an attempt to tell him I couldn't deal with this right now.

I just needed a few seconds to think. Alone.

Dolores sighed and softly patted my arm. "I should leave you two to rest. Don't worry about it, sweetie. Take care of yourself." Jamie and I both watched her leave and close the front door behind her.

"Dahlia," he spoke again, this time with something in his voice that made me look up at him, in his eyes. "Talk to me."

Talk to me. Three words so simple. Yet they held no meaning to me. I wasn't supposed to talk about my problems with just anyone. I couldn't.

"There's nothing to talk about." I laughed shortly, tiredly. "Really, thanks for handling this...all this. I do feel tired. And I got myself checked." I held up my bandaged wrist for further emphasis. "So don't worry about that. If you were worrying, that is. It was just a normal break-in. Happens around here a lot."

But if you had been here instead of me, she could've killed you. She could've killed anyone thinking it was me.

Jamie just frowned at me. It was a little bizarre that I wished he'd smiled. Those dimples might've calmed my racing thoughts a little. Just like Dad's in that photograph I had of my parents.

With a strange lump in my throat, I managed another tired smile at him. "Thanks for being there, Jamie."

And I meant it. I wish he'd known that.