Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
DEUS
When we reach the hospital, the others are all waiting in a room as I question why I would possibly waste time sitting here. It’s such nonsense.
August smiles when he looks up and sees us. “Find anything?”
“No, I have failed,” I say as I pull out my invoice pad and add an “I am a failure” discount. It’s a significant amount because I have failed significantly. I probably owe them money after this.
Landon grabs the pen and scribbles out the discount.
“You haven’t failed.” He turns toward August. “He’s acting like he did nothing while he pointed out things that I’m pretty confident weren’t even there.
He’d be like, ‘Look at the way this thin blade of grass has been tilted at a point-three-degree angle, which means that the culprit was running at two point three miles per hour.’”
“Only you run at two point three miles per hour,” I tell him.
“Shush, I was being mean to you. You’re supposed to just stand there and take it and not deliver sass back to me.”
“I will deliver all of the sass back,” I say. “Excuse me while I go take a piss.” Now that I have safely brought Landon here, I will simply head back to the woods and figure out who I need to murder so they can never hurt my people again.
“Yeah?” Landon asks. “I will piss with you.”
“I do not feel like crossing streams with you today.”
“You act like you’d be interested on another day.”
“Perhaps.”
Landon’s face scrunches up. “No! You’re just going to run off.”
“I would never,” I say as I leave the room and rush off to the bathroom.
“He’s trying to escape, don’t let him! Lex, you stay and let us know if you hear anything,” Landon instructs before he and August follow me.
“Ooh, two men get to watch me take a piss. Isn’t this how a porno starts? Or do you have to hold it for it to count?”
“We’re not going to watch or hold it. We’re just going to hover around you,” Landon explains as I head into the bathroom and hurry toward a stall.
August slides in front of the stalls. “There are perfectly good urinals right there.”
“Yeah, but what if I have to take a shit?” I ask.
“You would have said that, then.”
“Nah, I’m too much of a gentleman,” I assure him.
“A gentleman is the last thing I would classify you as,” Landon says. “Now drop your pants and make it rain.”
“Hon,” August says.
“Too much?”
“Far too much.”
They wave to the urinals, so I head over to one and unzip my pants, hoping this will make them back off a bit.
“I don’t hear anything happening,” Landon comments.
“Deus Jr. is a bit shy with two men watching. What if just August watches?” I ask, well aware he’s the weaker of the two. Yes, he has super strength, yes, he can freeze time, but it’s limited. I’m also quite confident I could bully him better than Landon.
“August is only allowed to watch me pee,” Landon says.
“Yet you have him watching me now? Fine, then just Landon.”
I slide my finger into my pocket and pull a quarter out before I flick it so hard it strikes the window.
“What was that?” August asks as he immediately looks over at the window.
Quickly, I turn invisible and make a break for the door until August appears in front of me and practically clotheslines me after having frozen time long enough to locate me.
After taking the arm to my throat, I use his own arm to redirect his momentum.
I’ve found that even the best of fighters struggle to fight when they can’t see the person.
I slip out of his grasp and rush through, dashing into the hallway.
I’m confident he won’t freeze time too much; he wouldn’t want to use up his power on me when there’s a real enemy out and about.
I get all of ten steps before I feel this force grab me.
The issue is, Landon doesn’t seem to know where to grab me with his power, so he ends up grabbing my pants which means that when I step forward, I don’t expect the lack of movement in my legs, causing me to flip forward and slam into the ground.
My pants are torn down, and I look over at Landon as he whips my pants off with such force that they fly right into his hand.
“Well… that wasn’t what I planned to happen,” he says just as the nurse walks down the hallway and stops before the room we’d been waiting in.
“Ellison’s family?”
I drop my invisibility and she screams, jerking back. “How is Ellison?” I ask.
“Where are your pants?” Lex asks.
“Landon really wanted them for some reason. Ellison?” I repeat, positive she was going to say something about him. “Is he…”
“He’s doing quite well,” she says, acting like something about this scene is wrong when half the people in this place are wearing less than I am. “The doctor would like to talk to you, so please follow me.”
I willingly follow her into a room where Landon throws me my pants, which I’m putting on when the doctor comes in.
His eyes narrow, but he stays composed. “Ellison is doing very well. He’s lucky that all vital organs were missed and that we were able to close him up with no issues.
He required a blood transfusion, but along with that and a super from headquarters who can help promote fast healing, he’s doing extremely well.
It sounds like you got help for him quite promptly.
He’s waking up now, but we only allow two back in the ICU at a time.
The first two who’d like to go back, please follow the nurse—”
“What kind of laceration was it?” I ask.
“What do you mean?”
“How clean was the cut?”
“Oh. The cut was extremely clean.”
“So something very sharp. Hmm… was there anything else that stood out?”
“No. He’ll wake up soon and hopefully will be able to tell you more.”
“Alright,” I say.
“I’ll take the two who’d like to see him first,” the nurse offers.
“Deus, go ahead,” Landon says.
“Nah, I’ll go later… when he’s more awake.”
“Come on,” he insists as he tries to tug me. “You’ll finally get to see him without a suit on! You might even see his tattoos.”
“I do… want to see his tattoos,” I say, like that’s a good excuse to go.
I reluctantly allow him to drag me after the nurse and into the ICU. Ellison isn’t quite awake yet, but I don’t like seeing him there on that bed. I watch him for a moment before giving Landon a thumbs-up. “I’ll go swap out with August.”
“Deus—”
And I slip out. He can’t depants me in the ICU where there are patients recovering, so I manage to dodge out the door and rush off.
Asmodeus, you were born for this. Do you understand?
You weren’t born because your parents wanted you.
Your birth was all a part of the plan. You can’t have attachments.
You are to dismiss all familiar feelings.
You are a product of a plan. Nothing more.
And if you don’t prove yourself, you will be removed.
You will have no purpose at all then. You go out there and do what you’re told.
If you die doing it, then you should have been better.
That’s right. I should have been better and this would never have happened.
I can’t get caught up in my own feelings and thoughts. I have a job, so I must complete it.
At any cost.