Chapter 6
“In roughly ten minutes, the police are going to arrive at your door,” The Forgotten said calmly, and my eyes widened as I immediately began to panic again.
He wrapped the hand that wasn’t fisting my hair around my jaw, pinching me firmly enough that my lips parted. He gave me a gentle shake.
“For fuck’s sake, calm down. They’re coming to ask about me. I left the security footage at Synapse so there would be no confusing you as Melanie’s killer. They know you were drugged and kidnapped. They don’t know you’re here. They’re just coming to investigate to see if they can find you.”
“Please… I don’t… I don’t want anything to do with this… I just want my mother back…” I whispered, but The Forgotten continued as if I hadn’t said anything.
“Feel free to tell them anything you want about me. It doesn’t matter. Tell them about the texts, the flowers, that I’ve been stalking you… I don’t care. What you tell the police is not what matters.”
He let go of my face slowly, almost as if he was testing me to see if I would remain calm without him forcing me to sit still.
“What does matter is what you do once Sebastian Stevens arrives at the precinct.”
His words washed over me, and I felt my eyebrows shoot up in surprise.
Sebastian Stevens? As in the Chief Marketing Officer of Neurovance? What did he have to do with anything?
My captor chuckled softly at the look on my face and brushed his thumb over my cheek, brushing away the tears that were still dampening my face.
“Yes. That Sebastian Stevens. He will insert himself into the investigation and offer you a job. I need you to accept that job.”
“Wh-what?” I stammered, but The Forgotten was standing up now, patting his hands over the many pockets of his tactical pants before pulling out a small external drive.
“Why would Sebastian Stevens care about any of this? Why would he offer me a job at a time like this?”
The Forgotten shrugged as he toyed with the small device, spinning it expertly between his fingers as he observed me from behind his mask.
“You really have no idea how brilliant you are, do you, Milo?” he asked, his robotic voice sounding strangely tired.
“Neurovance has been after you since you submitted that essay. Melanie wasn’t lying to you about that.
Seb has the power and the money to make this entire investigation go away, and I need you to let him do that.
Accept the job. Go and live on Neurovance property.
” The stranger reached out and took my shaking hand in his.
He dropped the drive into my palm and curled my fingers around it.
“Once you’re situated, Sebastian will get you set up in a lab that C-level Neurovance employees refer to as ‘The Cave.’ That’s where they’ll have you begin work on what they’re calling the NeuroManipulator 1.
5. You are not to make any progress on that device.
I don’t give a shit what bullshit story you need to feed management, but do not finish that project.
Instead, I want you to plug this drive into the main stack. I’ll know once you’ve done that.”
“Y-you… You’re forcing me to be an accomplice in corporate espionage!?” I stammered in disbelief, and my captor let out a mechanical laugh.
“More or less. Yeah.”
“I can’t do something like this!” I exclaimed.
“You can, and you will.” His ominous tone stood in direct contrast to the way he almost affectionately tapped my nose with his index finger. I tensed, understanding the threat for what it was, but I couldn’t stop myself from protesting. Panicked words spilled out of my mouth without my permission.
“You don’t understand! I’m not nearly stealthy enough to pull something like this off. People call me Murphquake, for god’s sake. In first year, I was almost exclusively referred to as Murphy’s Law… Even by professors!”
The Forgotten slid his fingers around my nape and leaned over me, resting his mask against my forehead as he squeezed the back of my neck.
It was strangely grounding, and I found myself stilling instinctively beneath his touch.
“You can do this, Milo,” he whispered. I think it was meant to be comforting, but the mechanical voice distorter just made it eerie.
My lip trembled. “What if I can’t?”
He sighed and pulled away before making his way toward my bedroom window.
“You don’t really have a choice. I’ve shown you what happens if you disobey. Don’t make me hurt anyone else, Milo. Please, just… be good. I’ll be in touch.”
Suddenly, there was pounding on the door to my apartment, and a gruff, male voice was shouting, ‘Police! Open up!’
I jerked around to face the door, startled by the banging. Reflex told me to rush to the door to let them in, but my wrists were still throbbing from the way I’d been tied down just moments before.
Whipping back, I found myself searching for my captor, unsure of whether he would allow me to answer the door.
But my breath caught as I quickly realized that he was gone.
My window was open, and my drapes were billowing softly in the cool nighttime breeze, filtering out the unsettling scent of my captor’s cologne.