A Dagger through Dimensions Chapter 52

Outsiders

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Chapter 52

Waking up with a crick in my neck came from sleeping on Sally’s couch. It only helped to aggravate my sour mood as I watched the sunlight creep through the window. Of course, my thoughts about the police arriving at any moment didn’t let me sleep much. On top of that, I heard some of the conversation between Adele and Sally in the bedroom long past midnight. Of course, I didn’t hear it all.

They would suddenly grow quiet, and I heard the radio turned on for a while. The police put out a description of Adele and me, so assumed some of the chat probably involved that news. I guess I was too much of a coward to force myself into their discussion. Still, I wasn’t comfortable with the probable outcomes that morning. While I think Sally has my back, I’m still dealing with the fact that I’m a moron for having this triangle develop.

Still, we needed to find a solution to the immediate problem. Lees wasn’t going to stop until I was dead. It was the one thing I was sure about. Even with Cora’s illusions helping us, there were no guarantees that Lees or others might track us down.

Still, I wanted Adele to keep pushing forward. However, the look she gave me last night didn’t get my hopes up for that outcome. Instead of anger directed at Lees, I carried a strong suspicion that she considered me a snake worse than him.

“Cora, I guess it’s time for you to help me out here,” I said to the empty room. “I can’t find your body if Lees takes me out. So, give me some clues.”

The room and my head remained quiet, as I expected. I got up and went to the window. While looking over the parking lot, my numb brain had trouble thinking of the next steps. As I stood there, I kept debating various ideas, none of them worth a second thought.

“You look worried,” Adele’s voice brought me out of my thoughts.

“I can’t imagine why.” I let the sarcasm slip out. “Just a power-hungry guy and a dead crazy woman fighting out who’s going to control Stull Junction. We’re just stuck in between them.”

“You look tired. Get more sleep. You’ll need it. Sally’s going to take you over to that house she has.”

I looked over at Adele. She was wearing a blue dress that Sally must have given her. She looked cute, but I heard the resentment in her tone. Her words really didn’t surprise me. I heard some of her thoughts about me during the night. Still, they annoyed me.

“That sounds definite. What are you planning to do?”

“I’m going back to my apartment. Then, I’m leaving this place.”

“That’s crazy. You know you can’t leave. Besides, the police will arrest you, maybe kill you. Lees isn’t going to kiss you for throwing hot water in his face.”

She stared at me.

“It doesn’t matter. I’ll take care of myself. I should have done that in the first place.”

“Yeah, you got a raw deal with me. I get it, but that doesn’t mean I’m not worried about you getting hurt.”

Adele gave a tired chuckle at my words.

“Yeah, the husband who cares for me. I used to believe that.” The woman placed her hands on her hips, giving me an angry stare.

“Overnight, I’ve had time to think about everything you’ve told me since the beginning,” she said. “You’ve been manipulating me from the start. That’s your idea of fixing things. You kept reading that damn black book. Everyone who came to you, you’ve used the knowledge from the book to turn everything your way. I’ve decided there’s no difference between you, Lees, or Cora.”

A bitter smile came to her face as she mocked me.

“Outsiders run this place. You only use familiars like me to keep you happy. Isn’t that right, Sebastian?”

“Damn, you’ve got a nasty habit of ignoring the biggest problem because your feelings get hurt,” I replied with growing frustration. “Dying is a hell of a lot worse than remaining pissed off because I tried to survive this shitty place. But you’re going to hold that out as some damn shield. I get it, it’s your badge of honor. But I’m warning you Lees’ thugs won’t give a crap about your hurt feelings.”

I ran my hands through my hair, feeling the frustration.

“Maybe I did you wrong, but you don’t need to act this way right now.”

“That’s nice. You’re finally admitting the truth. Maybe you should have done that sooner. You’re the one they wanted from the start.” Adele’s eyes flashed.

“If you told me what was happening, maybe I could trust you. But you just proved that I don’t matter to you.”

I turned away, about ready to explode. However, I couldn’t really blame her. I was the one who turned everything into this mess.

“Yeah, it’s my bad. We’ll leave it at that. I’m a nobody who walks into a fucking world that makes no sense. Maybe I tried to play it like I remembered in the old black and white movies.”