Epsilon

by Dezirae Bates

  “Just because you’ve managed to handle getting Williams back on the train, doesn’t mean you're some sensei able to fix everyone’s problems,” Geneva said, looking Cassidy over but Cassidy didn’t give her another minute to argue back with her, already walking over to the Epsilon channeling room.

  “Give me my time then I promise I’ll give her to you,” she said, disregarding anyone else who wanted to argue as she settled herself in the room, sitting in front of Yvette, placing her hand on her to wake her. The spark of green left her fingers, sending a short electric pulse into Yvette’s skin and the woman came to rather quickly, scrambling to pull her knees to her chest.

  “Cass? What’s going on?” she asked, clearing her throat when staring at her hands which were trembling. She clenched her hands, begging her Origin to come to the surface, unable to conjure the magic at all and it was in that moment that she noticed that she was in another Origin channeling room. “Cassidy?” she asked, locking eyes with her.

  “You nearly killed a couple out in town. You’re here, in the Epsilon room to calm down for a little while, okay?” she said softly, reaching out and thumbing over the top of her hand. She shushed her softly, trying to get Yvette to focus on anything other than the need or want to use. “I know it’s hard, I know,” she said softly, squeezing her hands with a frown.

  “I did what?” Yvette asked, the break in her voice nearly echoed in the room before she started to shake her head. “I didn’t do anything, I don’t remember anything,” she said, clawing softly at her temples and Cassidy moved to grab her hands, pulling them into her lap and her green Origin spun over them, trying to settle the woman down.

  “You don’t remember?” Cassidy asked, reaching up and brushing back a strand of her hair as she watched her, shaking her head no rather vigorously.

  “No. No, absolutely not. I know that I’m having issues but I would never,” she swallowed hard, staring up at Cassidy with a face that had no idea what she had done. Cassidy watched as the terror set in, watching as Yvette came to terms with possibly losing herself to the abilities she’d grown to enjoy. A volatile nature was hard to break, especially when aided by such a strong and suggestive Origin like Sigma. Cassidy squeezed Yvette’s hands, letting them go as the green Origin subsided around them.

  “We’ll get to the bottom of this, I promise, okay? Just, I’ll be right back,” she said, cracking a smile and leaving the room to return back to the cove. Yvette simply nodded, watching her body shake on the floor of the Epsilon channeling room.

  Cassidy closed the door behind her, staring at the members sitting around the table, many of them surprised that she was back so quickly. Over the past month, Cassidy had picked up a knack of teaching better methods of control to others, using her Epsilon abilities to teach emotional Origin control. It seemed to be working for many but it took time, more time than Cassidy had just taken.

  “Well, you’ve either gotten very good or she’s worse than we thought,” Joseph teased, clearing his throat when Cassidy seemed to be looking rather serious. Many of them leaned in, eager to hear what she had to say to them, all but Sebastian.

  “You’re here to tell us that you don’t think she has anything to do with her losing control,” Sebastian said, his eyes staring at his hands before lifting them to meet Cassidy’s gaze. She took in a short breath and nodded her head, swallowing hard as she stared at Sebastian’s demeanor. The man had changed far more than she ever thought possible over the past month. He’d been sleeping more, the gauntness in his cheeks seemed to be filling and there was a light in his green eyes that Cassidy never noticed until recently. Something within him was healing and Cassidy had herself to thank for much of that. Even without a bond.

  Joseph glanced from Sebastian to Cassidy, arching a brow between the looks he gave both of them before leaning back in his seat and laughing. It was a genuine laugh, a guttural desperate attempt to hear the words that were said and to hope to anything in the world that what he was putting together wasn’t possibly true.

  “You- you think they’re getting to us... and we don’t even know it?” Joseph finally said after he calmed himself, staring at the table and then down the room to Yvette, listening to her moans. Origin withdrawal was one of the biggest and deadliest killers to a triggered person there was. First there was the sickness that came with not using and then came the illness of using too much to compensate once you could use again. It was a drug in every shape of the word and it was their life blood. Some used it for good, some for personal gain and some simply because they wanted to make sure no one else could be better than themselves. If the Exodus were using Chis to come and manipulate existing members of the League to do terrible things, even worse than the things that got them kicked out in the first place, it would only be a matter of time until the League surrendered and the Exodus got their way. But, that wasn’t possible. Chase and the others had promised Cassidy that they wanted harmony. They wanted a future where everyone could exist without issue, without hatred. Or, so she’d been told.

  “I’m not sure yet, but, you look at her, you talk to her, she doesn’t remember anything. It’s like something just switched off in her head and I know how Origin addiction works, how it starts and how it starts to feel.” She swallowed, her eyes finding Sebastian’s quickly before looking back to the rest of the group. “I don’t think that is what is going on here,” she reasoned, running a hand over the back of her neck as she thought through what her options were. She knew that she needed to talk to the Exodus and confront them,. There were too many things that had come up over the past few weeks that she simply dismissed as coincidence or that it simply didn’t make any sense but this... this was far too connected for her to just pass off as nothing.

  “I’m going to go back to where she attacked those humans, see if I can get anything and then I’ll be back,” she said, all of them nodding except for Sebastian and Geneva. Sebastian seemed disinterested in the entire conversation, glancing off into the distance rather than paying any attention but it was clear that Geneva was just thoroughly done with everyone banding behind the possible prophet.

  “You have two hours. Two hours and if you’re not back, we’re scrambling her memory like a good batch of eggs,” Geneva said, her eyes unwavering as she stared up at Cassidy. The womEn held each other's gaze for a few moments before Cassidy turned on her heel and walked down to the hall towards the exit she was safe to use without an escort. It was only when she was down by the door to the outside that anyone even tried to stop her.

  “You’re going to see him,” Sebastian said, grabbing her arm and pulling her back slightly. Cassidy sighed, removing her arm from his grasp before shaking her head. “You know he’ll just lie and at the worst case, he’ll make you forget that you ever even went the—”

  “Chase wouldn’t hurt me, not intentionally.” She cut him off, crossing her arms firmly over her chest. “Now, I’m going to find out what’s going on with Yvette. You should focus more on keeping her safe rather than what I’m doing,” she said, her hand on the door to push it open. Sebastian reached out and grasped the handle, preventing her from opening the door.

  “I’m worried about the one person too blind to worry about herself” he said, watching her reaction and growing more frustrated by the fact she wasn’t seeing that she was being played. “Don’t even try to lie to me right now. I know where you’re going when you leave here. You’re meeting with him. And, I know you might think that he’s the one and that you were meant to be but believe me when I say, that’s not where you’re supposed to be,” he said, staring her down and releasing the door. “You know it, you just won’t let yourself admit it that you belong here, with us.” He paused for a moment before continuing. “With me.” Sebastian watched as the blood pooled in her cheeks, quickly shaking her head at his comment and taking a step forward into the door.

  “If you thought I was interested, I’m sorry for leading you on. I was simply trying to help you. And right now, I
’m trying to help everyone because I belong in a world where we all exist, equally and happily,” Cassidy said, pushing through the door front. “And, don’t follow me,” she added, frustrated that he was able to get under her skin so easily.

  Chapter 19

  Chase took a full fifteen minutes to get to Cassidy’s old home, which worried her even more than she ever thought possible. Dating someone who was able to teleport upon command, it rarely caused him to be late, let alone take longer than a minute to meet up with her. Every fiber of her being was worried that the entire conversation, she was going to be battling on the offensive, attacking Chase the moment he got there. Cassidy was begging with inch of her soul that it was just a misunderstanding, that Yvette was far more gone than anyone else had ever determined.

  Instead of knocking on the door, Cassidy felt the warmth of his Origin before he even managed to appear in her kitchen, watching as the red slowly started to appear which was filled with his presence only seconds later. Without a word or even a breath, Chase moved across the span on the kitchen and pulled Cassidy into his arms, melting his lips against her own and her body responded instantly. Regardless of the reason for calling him, her soul and his were connected in the most primal of ways and while they managed to develop their affections for one another, almost every greeting began the way this one did. Cassidy nearly lost her own train of thought as Chase’s fingers tangled up in her hair, his tongue dancing against her own and the spark of their origins ran over their skin like wildfire. Hearts beating as one, pounding faster against their ribcages as the kiss lingered, it wasn’t until Chase separated for a moment for a breath that even a conscious thought passed over her own mind.

  “Chase,” she practically moaned, the name dripping from her lips as she tried to clear the fog that had settled in her mind. She ran her tongue over the bottom of her lip, blinking her eyes rather quickly and pulling out of his arms far enough so that she could regain some of her sanity.

  “I just missed you,” he whispered, rubbing the small of her back when she pulled away, swallowing hard. “We’ve been monitoring what’s going on with some of your people out in public and I was worried that they’d found you out or something,” he said, brushing the hair out of her face and managing a gentle smile in her direction. “Every time we leave here, I worry more and more that we won’t make it back here,” he admitted softly, Cassidy’s face leaning into the cup of his hand and she turned her lips to kiss the inside of his palm. Sebastian was right, she shouldn’t have came to see him. She should’ve gone straight to her father rather than try to get something across to Chase. She was biased.

  “I’m fine,” she said , pulling her head out of his hand and clearing her throat, moving to lean back against the kitchen counter before continuing. “We finally got ahold of Yvette, thank you for helping me find her. For some reason, no one could get a good read on her,” she said, a hint of confusion at how that sentence sounded. How was it that people so close to her were unable to find her until she started to attack humans? “And then what she did to those people... we’re all kind of reeling from it. She’s secure, at least.” Cassidy looked slightly broken as she spoke. It was clear that the few months she’d experienced in this world were enough to break her. It didn’t matter what she found in the process, it was intense enough to change the person she thought she was, forever.

  “I’m glad you managed to get her back and avoid such a big incident. Were your Omicron able to heal the humans or do you need me to send out some of ours?” Chase asked, arching a brow and Cassidy shook her head.

  “No, we managed to fix the problems she made, we’re just trying to help her now. The problem is, she doesn’t even remember anything about that night.” She frowned, looking up at Chase with a heavy sigh.

  “That’s not uncommon though, for someone as lost as she is. Losing time, losing memory, it’s pretty par for the course, isn’t it?” Chase said, trying to understand where she was going with all of this in the middle of a possible war. Wouldn’t it be easier if she just brought Yvette to him and he could treat her?

  “No, losing track of where you are isn’t unheard of but, usually when someone is addicted as deeply as she is, they tell you what you want to hear in an effort to get out of a channeling room and have the chance to go out and use again,” Cassidy said, staring more intently at the man in front of her than she ever did before.

  “How can I help here, Cass? Did you just want to see me to calm yourself down or—were there other motives?” Chase asked, pushing himself off of the kitchen counter, taking a step closer to her. The action was surprising to Cassidy but not uncommon. The two managed to have a rather back and forth sort of relationship.

  “It’s just, we couldn’t find her and you all could. And then there was the fact that she can’t remember what happened or why she attacked people in the middle of the open public. I just didn’t know if you knew more than you were letting on,” she said, the sound of her heart beating filling in her ears and Chase closed the distance between the two of them, thumbing over her cheek before staring into her eyes.

  “If you’re asking if I had anything to do with it, look in my eyes when I say, I didn’t,” he said, his voice unwavering and his heartrate calm. Cassidy read his face, studying every inflection of his appearance before she deduced that he was being truthful. If the bond gave them one thing, it was the inability to truly lie to one another.

  She breathed out an air of relief when she watched his reaction, thankful to whoever would listen that he wasn’t some monster. It didn’t clear the entire Exodus but knowing that he was there to defend and support her was more than enough strength that she needed.

  “Oh thank God,” she mumbled, leaning up to him and kissing him passionately, running her fingers through his hair and tugging him against her as she sighed against his lips. “I just don’t know where I fit anymore. These people, Chase, they’re not bad people,” she said, her voice soft but shaking as she leaned in his arms. “They all have abilities and personalities that are fantastic and wonderful and they’re not our enemy,” she pleaded, knowing that he wasn’t the one that she needed to argue with. It was her father and the rest of the Elders that needed to know that the League wasn’t something to worry about. It was something to embrace. “We can’t keep doing this, dividing us because of our pasts. I know these people did something that the Exodus deems irreprehensible but... Chase, these people are people. They deserve to be a family with the rest of us. They don’t deserve to be treated as lepers. I can help them. I’ve learned how to help center those that lose control and I can bring them back, I promise you, I can.” Cassidy stared up at Chase and was practically begging him to understand what she was trying to say. She might not have all the origins but it was seeming that she was the true prophet that was called for to bring great wonders to all.

  Chase stared at her, listening to her heartbeat, watching her plead with him to listen to what she had to say. He didn’t anticipate this being the outcome of having her undercover for over a month but it wasn’t that far fetched.

  “You know you don’t have to convince me, Cass. Why don’t you go back, tell them that the Exodus has proposed a immunity to those who were exiled on various terms. We can have the Elders and the League sit and chat and have the proposal actually on the table to end this silly battle before it ever really begins,” he agreed, squeezing her hips where his hands were, lifting her up to his lips and kissing her once again.

  “I love you,” she said, lips still pressed against his when the words came pouring out of her mouth, far too slow to stop herself from spilling what was on her mind at the moment. Chase stared at her, his own smile growing along with the rate of his heart and he managed to kiss her again before even speaking.

  “I love you,” he said in return. “And you doing this can bring you back home. To me, to us, to everything the world has to offer us,” he said softly, kissing her one last time. Never in a million years would Cassidy believe tha
t she would be in such a position that she was in now. Madly in love, at the cusp of bringing about the best union ever known to the world and saving everyone she cared for in the process.

  “It won’t take me long. Most of them will be easy to convince. There are a few that will have something to say but, I’ll win them over. And, maybe by tonight, we’ll be able to sleep in the same bed once again,” Cassidy said, her optimism spewing from every part of her body. Chase laughed, nodding his head and dragging her up to him and pressing his lips against hers, pressing through every ounce of compassion and emotion that he could muster up in that moment. Everything they’d ever known or experienced was culminating in this night and Chase never thought he’d see the day that it could all possibly come to an end. Despite knowing a history before the two factions, it seemed that living in a world looking over one’s shoulder the entire time was the only way he thought he’d live for the rest of his life but his girlfriend showed another alternative. She showed a way out for everyone.

  “Let me know when it’s time,” he whispered, setting her down and before she could respond, he was already disappearing into a red burst of energy. Cassidy’s legs quickly took her to the door, ready to run back to the League and convince them that this was all going to be okay. The mirror by the door caught her eye, looking herself over one last time before embarking on what she thought was her goal in life.

  “Time to make you proud of me, Mom. I won’t fail you, I promise,” she said, her appearance more and more like her mother every day she grew older and tonight was the night that everything in her life mattered more than ever. Tonight was the night that ended the pain that everyone who was exiled would ever feel.