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”So”, Hekla said, cornering me in one of the empty hallways of the Vermilion line station while Katia practiced making her cowcatcher form. “You and Katia.”
I blinked. She had appeared out of nowhere, suddenly standing so close to me I needed to crane my head back to look up at her.
“What about me and Katia?”
“You’ve made a great team. So great in fact, I think she might want to stay with you.”
I didn’t like the tone of her voice. She’s testing me, I thought.
“No”, I said slowly. “I don’t think she does.”
She really was very close to me. I wanted to take a step back, but there wasn’t anywhere to go, other than deeper into the tunnel. Hekla had drawn herself up to her full height, her appearance quite intimidating. I stood my ground.
“Oh, do you really think so? But how about you? Would you like her to stay with you?” Hekla asked, her lips curling.
“I think Katia can choose for herself”, I said.
Hekla laughed, short and humorless. “Ha! What I mean is, you like her, don’t you? And she likes you. She adores you, Carl. It would be very easy to convince her to stay with you.”
“Convince her?” I asked. She likes you. I frowned. “What the fuck are you getting at, Hekla?”
Hekla spread her hands, like I was the one unreasonable here. “I am just observing what I see. Katia is one of my girls. You know how it is. She never was the brightest, or the strongest. But she’s reliable. Kind. Someone, I think, you would be inherently drawn to.”
I felt my jaw drop. What the fuck?
“What the fuck does that mean?” I asked, my voice rising in volume.
“I know you had a tumultuous relationship with your late girlfriend”, Hekla said calmly, completely ignoring my rising anger. “People who have been abused like that tend to latch onto the next person they can find who they deem safe. They get attached. And if something then happens to that person? It is going to hurt them twice as hard.”
I just stared at her. “I... what? What the ever-loving fuck are you saying, Hekla?”
Abused? She thought I was abused by Bea? Had Katia told her that?
I wanted to laugh. Bea was nothing, I thought bitterly. Sure, she was a colossal asshole for cheating on me, but I had been a completely blind idiot as well. I should have noticed sooner. I should’ve paid more attention to her.
I knew now; my father had been abusive. As a kid, I hadn’t realized that. But I knew now.
Bea was nothing.
“Katia didn’t tell it to me quite in those words”, Hekla said. “But with the information I have heard about you from multiple sources, I can put two and two together. It is tragic how common emotional and psychological abuse is in relationships. I don’t know if you know this, but Katia has gone through something very similar in her past. I think it might be part of the reason you two got so attached, so quickly.”
"And?" I said through gritted teeth. God-fucking-damnit this woman.
"All I'm saying is, you should be careful. It can be dangerous to put your full trust in someone you don't know all that well, don't you think?"
Donut: CARL, WHERE DID YOU GO? KATIA NEEDS HELP WITH THE PART THAT GOES NEAR THE RAILS.
Carl: I’ll be there in a minute.
Donut: HURRY UP OR I’LL START THINKING YOU’RE HIDING SOMEWHERE MAKING OUT WITH HEKLA.
I glared up at the amazonian, who was still smiling slightly. “I don’t know what the fuck you’re trying to achieve here, but it’s not gonna work”, I said. “Katia and I know enough about each other’s demons already. That’s nothing new and it won’t affect how we view each other. She’s my friend, and whatever she wants to do after this mission, she’s free to do it. If she wants to go with you, that’s all good. You’re her original party. If she wants to stay, that’s great too. I’d love to have her stay with me and Donut.”
I didn't actually know much about Katia's past, but I wasn't about to tell Hekla that. I wouldn't give her that ammunition. None of that stuff mattered, anyway.
With each passing moment I spent with Hekla and her party, I wished more and more that Katia would end up staying with us. That group was dangerous.
“Alright”, Hekla said pleasantly. She tapped the side of her temple. “I guess we’ll wait and see how this plays out then, hm?”
“I guess we will”, I replied.
She turned around and walked off, just like that. I stood there, watching her back, speechless.
And if something then happens to that person? It is going to hurt them twice as hard.
I took a deep breath, feeling a sense of impending doom.
Holy shit. She’s even more insane than I had thought.
I moved to exit the hallway, but a sudden notification stopped me in my tracks. I wasn’t expecting it at all, so the out-of-nowhere giddy, sarcastic voice made me almost crap my boxers.
New Achievement! Free Therapy!
You know those people who just love to give unsolicited advice? Who will stop you on your way to the bathroom and tell you that you can talk to them anytime if you need a shoulder to cry on, even though you thought you had been all happy and smiling and not, for once, teetering on the edge of a breakdown? Those who seem to know more about yourself than even you do?
Yeah. Maybe they sometimes do know more than you. Have you ever thought about that? Have you ever thought about the fact you might have repressed some of your sowwy little emotions so far down you don’t even know you have them? Maybe you should think about that sometimes. I know it’s scary, but you’re a big boy.
Anyway. Usually, the people giving those unwelcome therapy sessions are the ones secretly most unstable. They have issues. Dangerous issues. Murderous issues. If you know what I mean.
Reward: You just got free therapy. In this day and age, I think that’s a pretty good reward.
“Oh fuck off”, I said to the ceiling, and went to find Donut and Katia.