Repulsion (Compulsion Book 2)

by Perrin Briar

  Rafael raised his eyebrows and looked at Quinn, still smiling. Then his eyebrows dropped and he made a mocking sad face.

  Quinn’s jaw was set, his eyes wide. It was clear he did not like what he was hearing. Rafael looked at him and almost laughed. Then he did laugh softly, unable to help himself. Quinn took Siren’s arm and tried to lead her aside.

  “Look-” he said, but Siren cut him off.

  “No,” she said loud enough for Rafael to hear, and tore her arm from him. “Rafael is right.”

  Siren’s face showed nothing but sincerity. She stepped away from Quinn. Rafael leaned back in his chair, enjoying the show.

  “Siren, what are you doing?” Quinn said.

  Siren Sensed the hurt and indignation flooding Quinn’s mind. It seemed as if she was running away from him again. The trust they had nurtured was drifting away, and now it seemed that Siren was standing over Quinn again with a rock, ready to cave in his skull.

  “I’m surviving,” Siren said. “Rafael is my best hope for survival now.”

  Siren looked directly into Quinn’s eyes. She Pulled his ambition and lust for the future, and at the same time subtly ran her hand down the side of her body, smoothing the dress she wore, drawing his attention to it.

  “I can’t believe this,” Quinn said to her quietly, almost in tears.

  Siren Sensed his sadness. She lightly ran over his emotions. They were in disarray. She saw them in her mind as colors, red for anger, purple for sadness, black for fear. They were less like buttons she could push as they were something soft and pliable she could manipulate more creatively, caressing, clawing, or adding pressure or releasing as she saw fit.

  She identified his affection for her and Pushed gently but firmly. Quinn’s expression was a mixture of sadness and anger. She caressed his anger, soothing him.

  “I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me,” Siren said, her eyes telling Quinn a whole story she hoped he could put together without alerting Rafael, “but I have to take care of myself, and this is my best option right now.”

  Now Siren Sensed a part of Quinn’s fear in a different way. He was uneasy and conflicted. It told her he understood that what she said was not what she meant. So she added one more thing, hoping he would get the message.

  “Everything else is junk,” she said.

  Quinn blinked.

  “I think you had better go,” Rafael said to Quinn. “I’ve enough freaks to keep an eye on here.”

  Rafael walked from behind his desk. An armed man came in from another room. Quinn looked Siren up and down one last time, his expression revealing nothing. Then Quinn walked out the door.

  Siren felt his emotions slip away from her grip. His affection was strong. He was worried about her staying in Whitegate with Rafael and everyone else. Siren thought about it. She had convinced Rafael, but could she have a real impact on the rest of the town? She didn’t know. But she would have to find out.

  As Quinn walked back the way he and Siren had come, armed guards took position on either side of the road, keeping an eye on him. They did not interfere or seem to be closing in on him, they just watched him as he walked, past the Baptist church, past the vegetable garden. He picked up his pace. The guards kept up with him. Siren hoped he would be okay.

  Siren and Rafael had stepped outside onto the office balcony, watching Quinn’s departure. Siren wanted to ensure, as much as she could, that he would be safe. Siren Sensed Rafael’s fear and ambition about Quinn. She pressed at his arrogance.

  “You got the best of him,” Siren said. “His father, too. The people will be impressed.”

  Rafael squinted, still thinking he should grab Quinn just to be sure.

  “And you let him go,” Siren said. “That shows you aren’t afraid of him, that you’re capable of mercy.”

  The guards ahead of Quinn were looking back at Rafael. He raised his hand and signaled them to let him go.

  Siren took a final look at Quinn, praying he would be safe. As she walked back inside the Chamber building, she realized for the first time the danger she was in, the chance she was taking. Rafael could do whatever he wanted with her. He had all the power. And now Quinn was not there to help her.

  She was completely alone in Whitegate. Again.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  THE SUN enlarged as it dipped behind the town, taking the last piece of warmth on Quinn’s back with it. He’d walked out of town the same way he and Siren had entered. But the road was so different now.

  Harsh, forbidding, the road took his every step as a trespass. As the air cooled around him, the retained heat in the asphalt gently warmed his feet like a warning from a distant Hell. Quinn left the road and walked south of the town.

  They had come a long way from Oklahoma. The terrain had softened from a rugged desert to a rolling xeriscape. The vegetation was more plentiful. There were a few trees. The rock formations were farther apart and smaller. At night, larger animals could be expected, like foxes, deer, possibly coyotes.

  Quinn wanted to be seen by the animals, and feared by them. He also wanted to avoid startling them. Nothing was so entrancing as the view of uninterrupted wildlife. Most of all he wanted to be hidden from people.

  He was concerned that Rafael might change his mind and send his minions after him. But it was even more likely Rafael would encourage his Raider friends to seek revenge on Quinn. Hopefully, they were off terrorizing some other town. Perhaps one with cattle. Raiders loved meat.

  Raiders or guards would expect him to take cover in the large rock formation surrounded by a few trees. It was even visible from the outskirts of the town. But Quinn could not stay awake to keep watch all night, not by himself, so he chose a stand of small bushes, and dug himself a shallow grave where he could stretch out and sleep. He didn’t want to spend the energy to hunt, especially since all he had was a knife. So he found some desert dandelion and wild onion near the rock formation, and ate them.

  All the time he was walking, Quinn thought over and over how they should not have come to Whitegate. The only reason he had not turned around when he saw the road sign was he assumed Greer would still be there, would still be in charge.

  If that had been the case, Quinn knew they might be kicked out, but he also knew they would at least be protected somewhere near the town, a perfect spot to replenish their reserves. With Siren’s help, they could have convinced Greer, and slowly bring others into the fold.

  Rafael turned that entire plan upside-down. He was unpredictable. He was the kind of man that would have been a bureaucrat in the old world, just following orders. It must have been a fluke that he wound up holding the reins to the community. And it was no surprise that he put his people in the hands of Raiders.

  It was a leader’s job to protect his people from criminals, not deliver them to the enemy. Greer did things very differently. He was a better sort of man. Even without Quinn’s help, he would not have sold out his people. He would have found a way for them to survive without being slaves, playthings to vicious thugs.

  Quinn knew Rafael’s personality, and this did not make him feel any better about Siren being there without him. She thought she had Rafael under control, but what if she lost her concentration and a switch flipped in Rafael’s mind? He would be afraid of her, might see her as a threat. It was also going to take some doing to reverse the propaganda Greer had spun about Siren. Rafael might decide she was not worth the effort.

  Siren was trying to do something good. She was trying to help Quinn, unwittingly helping him carry out his plan. Still, Quinn did not like it. He wished there was another way. But Siren had already made her move, so there was no longer any other way. He only hoped this one worked.

  If she did succeed in manipulating Rafael, Quinn was going to need some way to communicate with her. How would he know when it was safe to come back, or when she needed his help? Quinn thought on, staring at the stars, wide awake as the warm sun sped around the other side of the earth. It was a problem
for later.

  Another problem gnawed at him. Rafael would have to go, of course. He could not lead the kind of community Quinn dreamed of, the kind of town he had told Siren about. They needed a good leader, someone who could run things when fear was not fueling his power. Someone who could persuade and build consensus among the people. Someone who could protect them while doing this.

  Quinn could have done it himself, but his ultimate plan put him beyond the reach of any single community. In Quinn’s mind, Greer was the obvious choice. If he was alive.

  Quinn tried to imagine where Greer would have gone. Was Rafael telling the truth about banishing him? Or had he killed Greer? Where could he be?

  Too many questions plagued Quinn’s mind. And he no longer had Siren to speak to. When she was around, he always felt more confident. Now he was alone, somewhere outside Whitegate, so was she.

  The questions drifted into his subconscious. He reached out for the Grayskins. Points of light appeared in his mind, like the stars above him. They glowed and warmed him. He kept them at a safe distance, using them only for the warmth of companionship. And he too drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  A CLOUDLESS night lent a sheen to the tin roof of the church. Its steeple almost sparkled in the starlight. A soft, delicate light danced in the treetops and bounced in the streets, like balls for stray cats to chase and paw at.

  On the street it mixed with the candlelight coming from the church windows and played on strands of brown grass straining to become green. But the grass had long become trampled as hundreds of feet passed over it on the way to the door of the white wooden church building.

  Inside, the pews filled quickly. Rafael was known to send his thugs to find anyone who was missing from one of his meetings, and these thugs were never very polite when they found a straggler. Rather than be dragged by the feet, everyone showed up on time.

  As they waited, they were forced to wait for Rafael until he was ready. The podium was bare, save for one of Rafael’s guards, who occasionally crossed it, counting the people who had arrived.

  Behind the podium was a choir room, which Rafael used as a dressing room. He sat waiting for the guard who walked across the podium to come and give him reports. Siren sat across from him.

  “It’s best if you stay here until everyone has arrived,” Rafael said. “To see you with no explanation now… well, that would just cause them to be afraid.”

  Siren listened, but through her bond with them she knew they were afraid already. One more murderer, if that was how they thought of her, should not make a great difference when Rafael, his goons, and the Raiders surrounded them at all times.

  Siren cast around the room. She thought about how this once was a place where people sang with joy in their hearts, or to make joy in other people. An upright piano stood against the far wall. She did not recognize it until she saw the black and white keys. She had not seen a piano in what felt like many years.

  On another wall was an open closet filled with choir robes. Joyful singers once wore those in supplication to their Lord, and to cover their individual clothes in denial of self.

  The head guard came in.

  “It’s nearly time, boss,” he said to Rafael. “Just a minute longer. We’ve got one straggler.”

  Rafael nodded and looked to Siren.

  “It’ll be Daniel, the town drunk,” Rafael said to Siren as his guard left. “One thing I have discovered here is that no matter how scarce food is, it will always have enough alcohol. Follow me.”

  They left the room. Rafael motioned for Siren to stay in the shadows near the door to the main meeting room. He walked through the door and waited there.

  The loud cries of a man came from outside. Two guards hauled him in, each one grasping a leg, followed by the head guard. They dragged him up the center aisle and sat him, dirty and bleeding, in a front pew. He swayed from side to side in his seat, whimpering.

  As the guards dragged Daniel in, Siren looked at Rafael. He stood observing, like he was watching a boxing match. He wore brown work pants and a checkered shirt. He held some notes in his hand for a speech. He was delighted at the scene, almost giggling, like a manipulative young girl watching two boys fight over her, giddy with power. Siren wondered how his men became so loyal in such a short period of time.

  The head guard, finished with his work, looked at the people as if warning them. He then walked toward the side where Rafael was standing and nodded at his boss.

  As he mounted the podium, Rafael took on a serious countenance and straightened his posture. Looking over the assembly, he focused on his notes in the pulpit and began to speak.

  “Since my ascension, I have not felt the need to revisit the events which necessitated the transfer of power and loss of our previous leader,” he said. “When a man has departed office in a state of shame, there is no need to exacerbate it after the fact.

  “However, today events have come to pass which make it imperative for me to reveal to you the complete truth of these events and to set the record straight before we progress.”

  His words sounded like a memo from an underling to another underling about something that did not matter. But it did matter.

  “We have a new citizen,” Rafael said. “Further, she is not a stranger. We must welcome her. For this we are gathered here today.”

  Rafael nodded to the guard, who motioned for Siren to come forward. She was led in front of the hushed crowd, which began to murmur. The guard had her sit next to Daniel, who turned and looked at her with a sad expression. He was still covered in dust and blood.

  “Siren is not a prisoner,” Rafael said. “She is a friend. She left here, accused of the murder of our good friend Mitt, may God rest his soul. You assumed she was guilty, and I saw no reason to contradict this, never expecting her to return. But as she has, I must now tell the truth about the day Mitt was killed. I know she is innocent, because I was there when Mitt died. He died because Greer killed him.”

  The crowd was silent. Daniel looked like he was going to be sick.

  “Greer killed Mitt in a fit of rage,” Rafael said. “Few of us knew this side of him. He could not keep it from those who were close because he could not completely control his temper. To kill a citizen was unacceptable, and he knew that. So he took advantage of this girl, who had come to us as a refugee and helped teach our children.”

  As Rafael went on, Siren let the emotions of the room flow into her consciousness. Fear was such a massive part of the emotional stamp that it almost completely hid any of the other emotions. She could not filter it all out, because new fear was coming up as the speech went on. It mixed with anger and formed a hybrid of mistrust.

  It was not pervasive—some of the people believed Rafael and even trusted in him. They became more calm as he extolled his story, shaking their heads. The bad news about Greer was good to them, because he was gone, and the man who discovered the evil was in charge, protecting them. Their anxiety about Siren slipped away.

  “In two days’ time, our new protectors will be joining us, bringing a wealth of supplies with them,” Rafael said. “At last all humans will be united against the threat of the Grayskins. And a new period of prosperity will begin. We will have a huge celebration, so we need to prepare for it. But tonight, we relax and welcome our new friend, Siren!”

  Rafael motioned for her to stand. She did, and smiled slightly and she nodded to the congregation at her back. Rafael started clapping, and about half of the assembly joined in, weakly.

  The guards brought out a few bottles of wine, giving Daniel the evil eye to make sure he knew they weren’t for him. Some of the people did come over to Siren and shook her by the hand in welcome, though most had looks of vague mistrust on their faces.

  A middle-aged lady came to her and held one of Siren’s hands with both of hers. She was thin, in a plain cotton dress. Her face showed the kind of age that did not come with years, but worries and burdens.

  “Is it true?
” she said, the question burning deep in her eyes.

  Siren did not respond. She was overwhelmed with the pain in this woman’s heart. But she needn’t say a word. The woman read Siren’s face as Siren had read hers. The woman walked away sadly.

  Behind her, another woman came. Bess, the school room teacher. She shook Siren’s hand.

  “I don’t need to ask you that question,” Bess said, lowering her voice. “I know we just heard a pack of lies. What I want to know is, can you help us?”

  Siren felt Rafael’s eyes on her, but dared not look in his direction.

  “Why are the guards so harsh and loyal to him?” Siren said. “It’s like they’re not from here.”

  “They’re Raiders, sweetie,” Bess said, now more like a grandmother than a wizened member of the underground. “Can’t you tell by their haircuts?”

  Siren now could not resist looking in the direction of the podium, where Rafael stood with the head guard. He motioned for her to come to him, and walked toward a large chair probably meant for a preacher.

  Siren and Bess exchanged smiles and parted. Siren obediently went and sat beside Rafael, though inside she was an inferno of rage that the guard might have noticed if he paid enough attention. Rafael, fortunately, cared only about himself.

  “I just wanted to let you in on the changes around here,” Rafael said, a glass of sloshing wine in his hand. “So you know how to fit in. We’ll put you in your same room so you don’t feel too displaced. I don’t think it is wise to have you teaching until the people trust you more. Though I think you made a good impression on them tonight. Don’t you agree?”

  He looked out over the crowd, which dispersed as the wine slowly ran out. A couple of women blew out some of the candles.