Saphora vol.1 Retention
Page 48
Chapter 11
“I’m glad you decided to come see me today, Saphora,” Lupin greeted, as Saphora warily made her way to the seat in front of his desk. She sat down with a bit of a huff, and kept her eyes averted from the man.
“I guess you are,” she responded. Lupin folded his hands on his desk, taking a moment to just look at her.
“Are you going to talk, or should we just proceed with looking at your back?”
Knowing that she had to wait at least ten minutes before Maverick came in to call for the doctor, she chose, against her better judgment, to talk. If she could stall enough to stop him from seeing her back all together, she would be all the happier.
“What have you got to say to me?” she sneered, more than asked. Lupin sighed, shaking his head.
“Only that I’m trying to help you, Saphora.”
“Help me by doing what? Keeping me here against my will?” He paused, grumbling as he silently considered sharing his thoughts with her. His mouth opened, but nothing came out for a few seconds as he rushed to put his thoughts together.
“The reasoning behind my wanting to take a closer look at your back, is because I believe they mean something.” Saphora paused, her brows slowly pinching together as her anxiety rose a level.
“Something like what? I’m fine.”
“No, I know you are. In fact I believe you’re more than fine,” he said, opening the drawer to his desk. On top of the files on Saphora, was a rather thick book, looking very worn out. Handling it with care, he placed it on the desk, and crossed his hands once again, as Saphora’s eyes narrowed on the book.
“What is this?” she asked, with a slight shrug of her shoulders.
“Have you ever felt … different, Saphora?” Saphora’s breathing nearly caught in her throat, but she forced it to continue for the sake of looking calm. Her eyes rose to meet Lupin’s as she did her best to give her signature sarcastic answer.
“I have mint hair and ruby eyes. Yes, I’ve felt different.”
“But have you ever wondered why? Why you have those features?”
“I’m pretty sure I was born on a nuclear power plant.”
“I’m being serious, Saphora.”
“And I’m not?” Lupin leaned forward a bit, adjusting himself in his seat. His voice lowered as he spoke again.
“What if I told you, you weren’t human?”
He said it. Those words. He had really just said them. He knew. He knew she wasn’t human. Or at least, he thought he did. But by the sound of things, he didn’t think that she knew. And for the sake of that possibly being true, she played the crazy card, this time pinning it to Lupin.
“Not human. Now you’re insulting me by calling me a mutant?” she said, seemingly hurt as she averted her eyes. Lupin quickly went to defend himself.
“No, no. Not a mutant. An alien.” Saphora forced a scoffed, purely to keep her breathing properly.
“Oh gee, thanks. You’ve obviously gone off your rocker, doc. I don’t want to hear any more of this,” she insisted. Lupin wanted to go further in depth, but a paging interrupted him.
“Doctor Lupin, I’m sorry to bother you, but you have a visitor, and they’re insisting that they see you immediately.”
Lupin looked up in aggravation as he huffed, shaking his head and standing. He took the book off his desk and dropped it back into the drawer, not bothering to close it as he walked around his desk, adjusting his tie.
“Of all the times for an interruption,” he complained, pausing in front of Saphora. “I’m sorry. I’ll be right back. Please, just think about what I said,” he said, getting a look of distaste from Saphora before rushing out of the office and making his way to the lobby on the first floor. Once Saphora heard the ding of the elevator, she jumped out of her seat and hurried to the open drawer. Taking out the book he had shown her and placing it on the desk, she took a deep breath and started to concentrate. Her palms were open and ready, awaiting the slight tingle of the blue flames.