The Watch – Part 198:

(Amy’s perspective)

Tom was the first to stand up after getting uncomfortable. I quickly followed and soon we had both resumed pacing about. I don’t believe that Sebastian is unable to rescue us. I just don’t. But…

‘Do you think he’s lying,’ I suggested, ‘you know, about Sebastian, I mean.’ He stopped walking and thought.

‘No,’ he said after a few moments. ‘He sounded way too excited.’

‘And you’re sure it wasn’t an act?’ I said. I know I’m asking all the questions that I already know the answer to, but, in a pathetic way, it gives me strength to hear those answers from someone else.

‘Well, he is the very definition of crazy,’ he said. ‘But even if you are acting, I just can’t see how you can be so genuinely if it wasn’t true. I know I’m only confirming what you don’t want to hear, but we can’t afford not to be, considering we’re here.’ He’s right, I didn’t want to hear that, but I needed to. Did I? Giving myself false hope is a bad thing, but at least I would be thinking that there is some hope. I don’t know.

‘I’m just struggling to see how Sebastian could have gotten captured, that’s all,’ I said. ‘He has the watch. He said, and we know because we’ve seen him do so many things, that he can do whatever he wants.’ Travel through time, jump to different universes, and give himself any superpower he wants, surely this should be a simple thing to do. ‘Literally anything he wants, nothing is impossible. How the hell did he get himself captured?’ My hands rolled up into fists. I didn’t mean for them to do, but my anger towards everything started to bubble to the surface. Did Sebastian let us down? Maybe. I know he didn’t mean for this to happen. But he can do anything he wants and he’s not here. Tom was angry as well, but unfortunately, not as angry as I was. I don’t want to be angry. If I keep this anger inside too long, it’s going to explode out of me.

‘We shouldn’t be angry with Sebastian,’ Tom said to me in a way that told me he was struggling to not be angry with him as well.

‘I don’t want to be,’ I said. ‘It’s not his fault. Of course it isn’t his fault. He might have the watch, but that doesn’t stop him from coming across someone that can beat him in some way.’ I took a deep breath to calm myself down. ‘I’m not mad with Sebastian. But I am absolutely furious with Zaylor.’

‘I don’t think that getting angry is the best thing to do,’ Tom said, trying to think rationally. I should be, too, but at the moment, I can’t. I want this anger to go. My hand was shaking. Come on, keep it together. But, it just wasn’t enough.

‘Well, there doesn’t seem that there’s much else to do around here,’ I said. ‘Except pace about until our legs hurt, then sit down until we get uncomfortable and then pace about some more, all whilst waiting for that maniac of a man to come and give us some information about his experiments that we don’t know is true or not.’ I could feel my face going red. ‘What else is there to do except get angry?’

Tom didn’t know what to say. I could see that I had struck an unwanted chord. I had told the truth. There is nothing else to do except walk about and sit. But, somehow, he remained calm. Sebastian will come. Any second now, he’ll arrive. We’ve been here for an unknown amount of time with no sign of Sebastian anywhere. I didn’t fall in love with him because he always leaves me behind. I fell in love with him because he loves me. We have each other’s backs. And he’s Tom’s life-long friend. It would be illogical for Sebastian to abandon us like that. My hand was shaking. I’ve managed to conceal that from Tom, but this anger isn’t going away any time soon. I have to get out of here now, but that isn’t going to happen. The only thing that is, is Zaylor coming in here, acting all so happy and telling us rubbish that we then have to figure out whether she is telling the truth or not purely because she’s so, disgustingly happy all the time. I hate her. I hate her. I. Hate. Her.

Smack.

Pain erupted throughout my arm as every bone shook. I just cannot stand it in here any longer. I have to get out of here. Zaylor is going to get a piece of my mind. She’s not going to get away with this. I thought that one smack would suffice, but my anger started to bubble up to the surface.

Smack. My hand was shaking for a whole other reason. My eyes stung as I forced myself not to cry. If I cry, I won’t stop. This is the only way to get this anger out of my body.

Smack.

‘You’re going to hurt yourself,’ Tom said. Tell me something I don’t know.

‘I don’t care,’ I said, flustered. My face was burning with red-hot rage. ‘I want out of here.’ I hit the glass again as hard as I could. ‘I want out of here,’ I smacked it again. And again. And again until I fell into a natural rhythm with my words. ‘I. Want. Out. Of. Here.’ I hit the glass harder than ever. And that was that. My pain outweighed my anger.

I didn’t have to look at my knuckles to know that they were red. My hand was shaking more than ever and now Tom can see that. I wasn’t angry anymore, but my face still showed that. Did I at least break the glass? No. My shoulders slumped. I sighed with disappointment, even though I knew I wouldn’t have done anything. It was a waste of effort. At least I got rid of my anger.

I couldn’t say anything. I didn’t want to say anything, so I turned my back and walked back to the back wall and sat down. Tom followed me and accompanied me once more.

‘Thank you,’ I said.

‘What for?’

‘For not stopping me.’

‘Oh,’ I said. ‘Er… you’re welcome, I guess.’ I couldn’t help but laugh at his silly attempt at making light of this situation. He realised that it was silly as well and laughed with me.

‘Sorry,’ I said.

‘Don’t be.’

‘But I am. I’ve never done anything like that before. And it really hurt,’ I said. It was his time to laugh first, which caused me to do the same.

‘What are we doing?’ I asked suddenly. ‘Why are we laughing in a situation like this?’

‘I don’t know,’ he shrugged with honesty. ‘I guess it’s because we both know that we will get out of here. This isn’t the best of places to be, but there are plenty of other places that we don’t want to be right now.

‘True,’ I admitted.

I could tell that Tom wanted to change the subject. I don’t blame him for wanting to try and defuse the tension

‘You know what’s weird,’ he said, casually.

‘What?’ I asked.

‘That Sebastian is now both my best friend and your boyfriend at the same time.’ I thought about that for a couple of seconds. He’s true you know. That is weird. ‘You know, because he was once very nervous.’

‘Yeah, I got what you meant,’ I said.

‘Right,’ he said casually as I waited for her to respond to it.

‘You know what’s even weirder?’ I know exactly how to respond to this.

‘What?’

‘That he’s now both my boyfriend and your best friend at the same time.’

‘I agree with that?’ He calls me weird, I call him weird back.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)