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What Lies at the Core	By : Twill Category: Pokemon > General Views: 6203 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. I'm not worth anything so don't sue.

Chapter List
- 9
- 10
- 11
Alex sat on the grass, his bloodied knife beside him. He regret that. Treating a pokemon like that is something his father would have done, and he hated being anything like the man. Too late now though.

Treecko turned out to be fine, just knocked out by his Zoroark's attack. Zoroark on the other hand, well he had no idea what her deal was. She lay only a few feet away from him, curled in on herself in a tight ball. Blood matted her should where he stabbed her, and a small patch marred her back, right above where her heart should be.

He sighed. Rarely did he lose his anger, but there had been too many close calls. That pokemon was on the edge of breaking. He'd thought training might focus her, but she didn't really act like a pokemon. He'd seen even the strongest Nidoking submit to a human after being put through what he had done to the Zoroark, but they'd never snap, and it wasn't even Zoroark's first time losing it. He still shuddered every time he thought of the look in her eyes when she'd fought that wild pokemon.

A whispered plea came from his huddled pokemon. “Seon.” She had whimpered the name a few times now.

The anger had drained from him quickly. He'd stared into her eyes as they emptied, the fight leaving her and replaced by – well nothing really. She had just given up, and then she began crying. Another oddity. He'd never seen a pokemon cry like that before; it was unsettling.

His Zoroark stirred. Sunlight faded behind the sparse tree coverage as Zoroark unfurled before him, her movements aware of the injuries he'd left. She kept her back to him as she sat up. A low grunt accompanied a touch to the wound on her head.

Empathy was never his strongest point, but he tried his best to sound sincere. “Hey, listen-”

His Zoroark turned to face him. “I won't do anything like that again.” Her tone chilled him, hoarse but dispassionate, and those eyes grasped for his soul.

He'd expected anger, hatred, fear, anything but the cold look she gave him now. “No, I wanted to say that I-”

“Don't.” Her eyes never left his. Cold, calculating, the eyes of a killer.

If anything he felt less at ease than before. The blade called to him from the ground, but he forced himself not to look at it. “Here, let me get you a potion.”

“I'll heal on my own.”

“If your arm doesn't heal right, it could affect your fighting. I- The wound is deep.”

His Zoroark didn't respond to that, and he got up to grab the supplies from his pack. Tiny red vial in hand, he returned to her side where he was ignored, her eyes staring off into the forest. She didn't as much as flinch as he injected the heavy liquid.

“Who is Seon?” That got a reaction. He could feel her muscles tense as he gripped her wounded arm.

The fire returned to her eyes, just a second before she smothered it again. Her angular face regarded him.

“You were muttering the name.” The tension he felt in her arm seemed ready to manifest as his violent death, but it never came.

Zoroark jerked away from his touch. “You said we weren't asking questions.”

“How about this, one each. Answer one of mine, and I promise to answer anything. One question.”

She hesitated. “Anything?”

He nodded.

“Fine. I agree. When I lived in Unova, Seon-”

He cut her off. “No, I want to know why you're here.”

Hate flared back to her eyes, and she rose, mouth drawing into a snarl. The claws on her uninjured arm clenched into a fist at her side. “You humans never speak truthfully, do you?”

Alex rose with her. “And you only agreed because you thought you were getting a better deal. I said nothing untrue.” He could see the difference now. The anger and hatred were there but controlled. The very air around her seemed to take on a bloody hue, matching the color of her twitching claws. Yes, not as cold as she wanted to pretend.

“You want to know why I'm here, human?” She moved towards him, eyes locked with his. “Because someone I trusted saw me as an inconvenience. He saw an opportunity to get rid of me and took it. The human I came here with either died or used me to save his own life. I don't know which.

She grabbed the front of his shirt. She had been shorter than him, but he had to look up to meet those piercing eyes. It was the only thing he could do. Dark fur fed off the light as she dominated his vision. A wicked grin split a predator's maw, dagger-like teeth inches from his face, breath hot and damp against his face.

Her voice seared, a low hiss of despair. “And then a human captured me. He hurt me, human.” Her grip tightened, and she moved forwards, forcing him back.

“He hurt me. He never even gave me a reason for why. There was no point to the pain I endured. He did it because he could. If there any reason at all, it was to get back at the one who had sent me there in the first place.” Zoroark laughed, a tortured vocalization that echoed the anguish in her eyes.

Alex didn't dare breath as he stared, transfixed by his towering pokemon's eyes. His feet shuffled backwards automatically as Zoroark advanced, but her terrible song enthralled him.

His throat was tight when he tried to speak, and his words came out as an insignificant noise. “Why didn't you fight back?” The grip on his shirt tightened. It wasn't just the light; he could see it. An aura or blood encircled her, its faint light coloring his skin in a premonition. Her eyes though, her eyes raged in a crimson maelstrom.

Zoroark squeezed her eyes shut, and it ended. Leaves, green and vibrant filled his gaze as he stared up into the canopy above, well over Zoroark's red mane. The aura was gone as well, and her eyes were once again violet. A gentle shove sent him to the ground, and she turned and walked away.

“Why didn't you fight back?” he called out, but she gave no indication of hearing him. Alex sat in the grass for a long time as the light failed, his pokemon swallowed by the ensuing darkness.

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Rel watched as the swells parted before the hull of the ship. Humans would occasionally wander by, but she was invisible and out-of-the-way. Each rise and drop sent flutters through her stomach as salt air stung her nose, just like when she had first come to Hoenn. Of course that's where the similarities ended. So much had changed.

This trip was a waste of time, yet Alex insisted. She still didn't understand what the point of gathering badges was, and she cared even less, but as the trip dragged on, her abilities stagnated.

Finishing their journey to Mauville City had taken weeks. They could have made the trip in a matter of days, but after a stop to buy supplies, Alex had redoubled her training. Her proficiency with both illusions and attacks had increased greatly. She would never tell him, but he proved his worth. Being forced to explain why she was here had only reinforced why she had to become what she was.

Mauville City refused Alex's challenge, so here they were, stuck on a boat with nowhere to train, chasing some meaningless title. At least she could see land now. She should head below before they arrived.

Below deck, Rel waited until no one was around before opening the door to their room and slipping in. She shut the door behind her.

“We're almost there,” she said.

Alex grunted, not taking his eyes from the book he read. “You ready? I don't want to stay long. We'll win the match and leave.”

“I never wanted to come here. We've wasted half the day, and we have to take this trip yet again.”

“Well they wouldn't let me continue without it.” He spoke like the gym challenges mattered. “You'll be facing fighting types.”

“They won't know my typing.”

“They can still hit you.”

“They won't.” Her eyes met his. This was the most they'd spoken since back on the road, since he'd asked his question. Alex gave another grunt and returned to his book. He might not have faith in her abilities, but he said her opponents would be weak, and they wouldn't be expecting her illusions. She wouldn't lose again.

Rel became Zangoose as they stepped off the boat. The island hadn't seemed large from the map she looked at, but even the docks were covered in shops and milling with people.

Alex didn't bat an eye. “So remember, make sure you aren't seen during the fight, I don't want to make anyone in the league suspicious yet.”

Rel said nothing as they continued down the crowded streets, another one of his rules, not that she cared. She could see the pokemon center ahead, and the gym farther to the left. For the amount of people who bustled about, there didn't seem to be enough buildings for them.

“And make sure you start on the correct side of the field. I don't think they have any way of detecting you but still.”

Rel followed along in silence. Inside the pokemon center was just as crowded as the town outside, and the two of the wound their way to the front desk for Alex to get them a room. She glared at Alex as they entered the small room, but the lady had said it was the only one open. A single bed lay against the far wall, and a tiny desk occupied much of the remaining space.

Alex released Treecko into the room. “You guys wait here. It's early enough we might still be able to get a match, so be ready. Either way I have a few arrangements to make.”

Rel was about to argue before she remembered that she didn't care. Lazing around in their tiny room was better than following Alex around through the crowd of humans. Alex set his pack in the corner and left.

As soon as he was gone, she threw herself onto the room's bed. The mattress was lumpy enough that the floor might be better anyways, but its warmth kept her from getting back up. She glanced over to Treecko who sat in the beam of light that came in through the window.

“Can you talk?” Rel asked. They were seldom alone together, and she had never heard the lizard make a noise, let alone speak.

Large yellow eyes regarded her, a mirror of Alex's calculating gaze. “Yes,” it said, and returned to basking in the sunlight. The two were very much alike, but as she had looked into Treecko's eyes, there was something missing, something that all pokemon on this side of the ocean were missing.

The past weeks stirred up a lot of the resentment she held against others, Mewtwo and Eric in particular, but she also found herself able to think of them without working herself into a fury. Those two had seen something, or had lied well enough to convince her.

Could things change here? Probably not. Mewtwo wouldn't want another country competing, not unless his plan had been to make Hoenn subservient to Unova. Rel let out a mirthless chuckle. There never had been a plan though, only her youthful naivety that let him get rid of her. Rel closed her eyes and waited.

The lock to the room clicked, signaling Alex's return. “You guys ready? A trainer was kind enough to give up his spot, so we have the last match today.”

Rel looked up, moving the arm she'd used to cover her eyes. “Now?”

“Half hour, so get ready. I also got us a ride out of here. As long as everything goes according to plan, we'll leave right after the match.”

Rel sat up. At least they wouldn't have to suffer this island long, not that she was eager to be back on a boat again.

Alex stared at her a moment, hesitant. “I uh, just need you to be in your pokeball for a bit, just until the fight starts.”

Her eyes narrowed. “No.”

“It will only be for a few minutes. Really, it isn't that bad.”

“I said no.”

Alex fiddled with her pokeball in his hand. “I just need to get you into the match. Once it starts you can stay out; you won't even notice.”

She growled. “I told you no. I'll be invisible; they won't notice.” She created a copy of herself and stepped out of it, invisible. If he tried to put her in that thing, he'd be dead before he realized what happened.

“But you can't just create an illusion in the middle of the arena; they'll know something is up.”

A pokeball appeared in her hand, and she released a Zoroark illusion from it, complete with red flash like she'd seen when Alex released Treecko.

“Yeah but- Wait, you can have me do that?” Alex's whole demeanor changed. He looked at her as if seeing her illusions for the first time again.

“You've seen my illusions; I can make whatever I want.”

“No I know. I just- I thought...” He stared through her for a moment. She didn't like whatever possibilities may have come to him.

His focus snapped back to her. “Anyway, before we leave, I need to ask you something.”

Her voice was a low rumble. “You asked your question, human.”

“No, something else. If I start using you, people are going to notice, eventually they will. I want to know if you're going to stay with me.”

Rel examined him. Asking as if she had a choice in the matter? Usually he seemed to think she didn't.

“As long as you're useful, I'll stay.”

His cool eyes met hers, and he nodded. “Let's go then.” Alex returned Treecko and the two of them left the small room behind.”

----------------------------------------------------

An announcer blared overhead, but Rel blocked it out. Hundreds of humans lined the arena, all of them here to watch pokemon fight. The island must base its economy around the gym and its battles. The docks alone contained enough battle paraphernalia to sicken her.

The humans weren't important though; she had a fight to win. The ground was hard and textured. It provided some grip, but her claws wouldn't be able to dig into such solid flooring. She and Alex waited on one side, and the gym leader stood at the other. Plenty of space for a fight separated them. Of course, the other gym leader didn't see her, none of the humans did.

Alex gave her the signal. She watched, ensuring that her illusions matched his every movement. Synchronizing with others made things much trickier, but they had planned it out on the walk, simple movements.

Rel kept the fake pokeball in perfect unison with his hand, and a red light released Zangoose. A red flash from the leader revealed a Machop. Both real and fake pokemon took up position, and Rel moved out into the arena, ready to strike from the shadows. Noise reverberated through her body. The crowd's anticipation flowed through the floor and up her legs, the booming announcer's voice rattling her chest, but the world seemed to hush as she waited.

Her first real fight. Machop stared at Zangoose, sizing up an opponent who wouldn't be obeying the rules. She had never fought through a proxy, but she would not lose this battle; she had too large an advantage. The referee signaled, and the fight began.

Machop rushed forward, affirming his type's offensive nature. The pokemon closed the distance in seconds, taking Rel by surprise.

She tried to make her Zangoose's actions realistic as the white furred illusion dodged with impossible precision. She could see the confusion on Machop's face though; the attack should have connected, but her illusion moved on weightless feet. Rel moved closer, careful not to get too near in case Machop did something unexpected.

Her Zangoose moved like the wind, dodging away from Machop's attempts to get in striking range. A few times she messed up, and Zangoose would move too perfectly, hanging in the air just a little too long or changing direction too quickly, but the humans didn't seem to pick up on it. They knew nothing of fighting; they simply enjoyed watching pokemon hurt one another. Humans enjoyed watching others suffer.

“Don't drag this out Zangoose.”

Rel looked back at Alex, who watched with narrowed eyes. He had high expectations for an observer. Rel danced her Zangoose around the arena, careful of the white-painted lines that indicated the boundary. She positioned her Zangoose to strike and prepared herself. She did have to end this.

Anticipation grew, her limbs like coiled springs. All she needed was one mistake. Her eyes watched as Machop struck his own demise. Faint attack drew her through shadow to the fighting type's side just as she made Zangoose swing. Her clenched paw struck calloused gray skin. It hurt. Hard muscle and bone met her fist, the impact reverberating through her entire arm.

Despite her type disadvantage, her attack still staggered the fighting pokemon. Rel ignored the pain and lunged, throwing her shoulder into Machop's chest. The force of her attack brought both of them to the ground. Not even his calloused skin could protect against her claws.

Shouts and chants filled the arena as Rel returned to her feet. Her body shook, but her mind soared. She had been in complete control. The raw energy of the humans seeped into her. The brutality and twisted pleasure these humans got from the fight both sickened and thrilled her. They cheered for her and didn't even know it.

Two red flashes, one to remove her defeated opponent, and one to present a new challenger lit the arena while Rel and her Zangoose returned to Alex's side. A mix of adrenaline and confidence flowed through her body after the last fight. She had performed flawlessly, and she could do it again.

Makuhita stared back at her from across the arena, well not at her precisely. Her opponents fought blind. She gave in to the energy of the arena, and began on the offensive.

Her opponent was slow, and her Zangoose was not bound by physical prowess. Both she and her illusion were on Makuhita before he could even react. Her fist connected with the yellow pokemon's face right as her illusion mimicked the attack. Her opponent grunted but continued unfazed.

Rel dodged the retaliatory strike with ease, black gloved fist missing by inches. He hadn't even aimed for her. The fight may have well already been over. She danced behind as her illusion distracted the fighting type, and she slashed at the pokemon's back. Not a hard cut, but Makuhita swung around in confusion. In that brief moment, Rel made her move.

She struck in quick succession, face, throat and stomach. Makuhita crumpled to the ground and Rel leapt on him. Each blow sent wonderful heat through her knuckles, and blow after blow, her opponent took it. He could do nothing to her.

She held his struggling form down with a clawed fist as her other pummeled the side of his head. She held the pokemon's life in her hand as his thrashing weakened. Power surged through her limbs as the roar of the crowd filled her ears. She was in control.

Makuhita went limp below her, and Rel ceased her assault. Her paw ached as she rose to her feet, panting. The amplified voice overhead announced Alex the victor as the noise from the crowd filled the large arena. She turned to see Alex waiting, and she went through the motions of having him return Zangoose. Both Alex and the gym leader walked out onto the field.

“The biggest waves strike fast and unexpected. Good job; I could tell you prepared for this,” the gym leader said, extending his hand towards Alex.

Alex shook the man's hand with a grin. “I guess so, thanks.”

The gym leader nodded. “That Zangoose you have is incredibly quick, and you're a bit old for my gym. You from a different region?”

A muscle twitched at the corner of Alex's eye, but the smile on his face never faltered. “No, I just got a late start.”

“Well, nevertheless, congratulations. You've more than earned this, and from the looks of things you should have no problem with Watson, though don't tell him I said so.”

Alex accepted a small blue and orange badge with a laugh. “Thanks. I hate to be rude, but I have a boat waiting for me.”

“You were that confident coming in here? Well, can't say I blame you after witnessing that pokemon of yours fight. Get out of here.” The gym leader smiled and made a good-natured shooing gesture.

Rel had remained silent and invisible as the two humans conversed, and followed Alex out of the gym. The two pushed their way through the streets, Rel careful to not arouse suspicion by accidentally bumping into others while invisible. She hadn't had anywhere to resume her disguise, but the humans weren't paying attention anyway.

Alex also remained quite as they made their way down to the docks. He led her down to the far end where smaller, privately owned ships lay moored.

Alex waved to a man standing on the deck of one of the ships. “I'm all set to go.”

“We've been waiting on you, kid. As soon as you're on we can head out, but didn't you have another coming with you?”

“Nope, just me.”

“You paid two fares just for yourself? You're crazy, kid.” The man motioned them onto the boat, and she followed close behind Alex. The ship was smaller than the one they had arrived on. Fifty feet of what looked like plastic bobbed in a slow rhythm as they boarded. The narrow hull looked made to cut through the water at high speeds, but she shuddered to think what would happen if it struck anything sturdier than liquid.

Once below deck, the crewman led them down a short corridor barely wider than her shoulders. “The room is all yours. If you're going to get sick, use the bucket.”

“I'll be fine.” Alex entered the room, and she darted in behind him, careful to avoid the other human.

“They all say that.” The man's full bellied laugh could be heard as he retreated, and Alex shut the door to their room.

Rel examined the bunks. They were little more than rectangular holes cut into the wall with barely space to shift about. Rel climbed up into the top depression after Alex began to move into the lower one. A clear blue sky shone above her as she clambered into place. The illusion she created helped to ease the tightness that filled her chest in the enclosed space.

Alex's muffled voice came from below. “Hey, I just wanted to say you fought well. Get some rest; we'll be back on land in a few hours.”

Only the sound of the waves splashing against the hull broke the silence that hung in the room. Her chest swelled in betrayal at the human's words. She didn't want his praise; it meant nothing to her. And yet a warmth not felt since her time in Unova glowed in her chest. She squeezed her eyes shut.

With no view of the water outside, she couldn't be sure, but the constant bouncing made it seem like they were moving faster than the previous boat they had taken. Seasickness had never bothered her before, but between the cramped space and constant up-and-down, her stomach clenched with unease. She filled her lungs with deep breaths of the salty air and concentrated on the clear sky above her. Fake or not, it gave her a small measure of comfort.

As she lay in the hard cot, her mind wandered back to the fight. She had enjoyed it: the feeling of having control, not being helpless. It seemed the only possibility. If she didn't get stronger, then others could take what they wanted from her. Again.

Rel shifted to her side and stared out into the endless field of green. She wouldn't let that happen, not again.

The thrum of the engine softened and then cut as the boat slowed. A loud thump sounded from the outside of the hull, and there were footsteps outside the room. Rel made herself invisible again just as a knock came from the other side of the door.

“Hey kid, we're here.”

Alex rose from his bunk below and she fell lightly to the floor beside him. The hallway was empty when Alex slid the door open, but it would have been hard to get lost on the way topside.

“Thanks kid, watch yourself.” The sailor who spoke nodded to Alex, and her trainer returned the gesture before jumping to the empty dock. Stars shone down from the cloudless sky above, and contributed most of the light to the dim surroundings. They were the only people there.

Rel waited until they wouldn't be heard by the ship's crew, the low rumble from her throat smothered by the heavy sea air. “Did you hire criminals to ferry us across?”

Alex shrugged. “They were the only ones leaving so late, and I didn't ask questions. We got here just fine didn't we, and they didn't know about you. I paid them well.”

“And if we were caught getting off the boat with them?”

“Like I said, I have you here to get me out of trouble. Now c'mon, let's go somewhere we don't look like smugglers.”

Rel growled but followed, the waves slapping gently against the docks behind. The walk to the pokemon center took a long time. Empty streets and the oppressive air gave an eerie feel to the trip. Long walkways were lit by weak lamps, and a light fog settled around their ankles. After about a half hour though, the now familiar red and white lights came into view.

“You know if you get injured, I might have trouble finding somewhere to fix you up,” Alex said as they made their way towards the building.

Rel snorted. “The medicine here is barely better than nothing.”

Inside the large building, Alex had talked his way into getting a room with two beds, and she dropped her illusion of invisibility as the door clicked shut.

“I'm going to head out for a bit,” Alex said as he dropped his bag onto one of the beds. “I shouldn't be gone long.”

Rel turned to look at him, but he gave no outward indication to what he was thinking. “We just got here.”

“There are a few things I have to do, and would you rather we spend even more time in the city tomorrow? You've been anxious to get back to training since we left for Dewford. You're starting to enjoy it, aren't you?”

Rel turned away from him. “No.”

Alex gave a quiet chuckle but said nothing more as the door opened and clicked shut again, leaving her alone in the room. She walked to the empty bed and fell back against the soft sheets, yet her mind raced. Sleep wouldn't come easy, not after what he'd said, not with how true it rang.

Silence and solitude was not the combination she wanted, and she glanced up at the television. There had been similar devices in the atrium of the pokemon center. Primitive, but she'd take any distraction she could get.

Her claws fumbled with the remote she found lying on the bedside table. The tiny rubber buttons weren't made for claws, but she eventually managed to turn the small box on. An annoying high pitch whine accompanied the human voices. It was such a crude device, but at least it suppressed the silence that threatened to drive her mad.

A middle-aged man wore a suite in a style she'd never seen before, bulky and without the gentle curves favored in Unova's sleek garments. A city skyline backed him, and he was talking about some boon the Devon Corporation had seen in its stock prices. It would be something to see how these humans run their financial institutions.

She caught herself and glared at the human on the television as if he had done it intentionally. With a sigh, she fell back onto the bed, pillow propping her head up just enough so she could watch the human talk. Her eyelids began to droop. While a clear picture was never presented, it didn't seem like the humans had a very good idea of how financial systems worked. They said a lot of things that almost made sense, but wouldn't really work in the long run. Not that she had ever been an economist, but she'd been taught basic theory.

“Well with all the talk and speculation, our correspondent was able to sit down with Devon's new prodigy. Here's the interview that started this whole thing.”

The screen transitioned to two humans against the backdrop of bustling scientists and large industrial machines. “Hi. I'm here with Professor Eric Freyd, Devon Corporation’s newest partner. Professor how are you?”

Rel sat up on the bed, her eyes wide at the humans on screen.

“I'm good thanks, and you can just call me Eric.”

The woman laughed. “Okay then Eric. So you've made a name for yourself before, but in the past few months you've introduced some revolutionary ideas, and now your decision to partner with Devon. Would you mind telling us a bit about your recent success and decision to join Devon?”

Eric's smiling face looked just as it had when she had last seen him; he hadn't changed at all. “Well, I can't take all of the credit. My team has been working non-stop right alongside me. They're bright people, and we have a slew of projects in the works. We all want to see people benefit from our ideas.

“As for joining Devon Corporation, well there were a few reasons for that. The resources and support they've provided my team have been a great help in quickly getting prototypes of our technologies made. While they're obviously going to try to make money from my work, I feel that our goals are the same, and that's getting these life changing inventions out to the people who need them. In medicine alone we've made huge leaps. With the income from these new technologies and my team's dedication, illness may be a thing of the past within our lifetime.”

That son of a bitch. Rel hadn't even remembered standing, but her fists shook as she stood inches from the man's smiling face. He set her up. Very few people could have known exactly when they'd returned to Hoenn, and even fewer knew where they'd be driving. Their attacker had been waiting, knew exactly where to strike. Eric had even stepped from the car uninjured after the wreck.

A growl escaped her throat as her body fell into a crouch, ready to strike. It was all she could do to stop herself from destroying the box, but doing so wouldn't hurt the human. A knife twisted in her stomach, another she had trusted, another she had wanted to help make the world better.

The humans were still talking, but she didn't hear the words coming from the mechanical box. Her chest heaved, face a rictus of fury.

He had planned it the whole time. He had been forbidden to partner himself with a corporation such as he did. Unova didn't share their advances so a corporation could gain control of the entire undeveloped world. He must have planned to get rid of her from the beginning, maybe even had Devon make the hit.

Blood pounded in her ears, muscles screaming to be used, to hurt, to kill. He had been complicit in all of this. The door opened.

“Zoroark?”

Rel squeezed her eyes shut. Calm. Her anger controlled her; she needed calm. If she was going to do this, she needed control of herself. She wouldn't let others control her again.

He stepped back as her gaze fell on him. “Is there something wrong?”

She pointed a claw to the television. “Do you know him? I want to go there.”

Alex placed a bag on the ground and took slow steps into the room. He never showed his back to her and made deliberate motions into the room. His even tone held a slight edge.

“Freyd? I know of him, but we're not really anywhere near his lab. It's up by Fortree. What's going on? You look ready to jump me.”

Rel looked away and forced herself breath to relax. A sweet voice told her to make Eric suffer for what he'd done to her, but Alex was no part of this.

“Nothing. I want to – meet this professor.” She had forced the hatred from her voice, and spoke with a calmness shielded from the anger she felt. She turned the television off with the remote.

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A/N: Reviews and Concrit much appreciated.
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What Lies at the Core