Melissa's Story of Artillicus

Kaleb had caught her just before she hit the ground. Guards rushed in from all sides and tried to pull Melissa from his arms but he held tight, kneeling on the floor of the stadium.

“What is the cause of the commotion?” Leader Dane was asking, but Kaleb didn’t hear because his earpiece had fallen out. All his focus was on Melissa until Leader Dane actually walked up the rows of people and stood in front of the two friends. Kaleb pulled her even closer to his torso before looking up at Leader Dane.

“What do you want?”

“I asked what the cause of commotion was. Have you failed to wear your earpiece?”

“Get away from her! Get away from me! I know who you are so don’t think Melissa and I welcome you!” His voice was harsh and he spit at Leader Dane’s feet. One of the guards moved towards him but Leader Dane held up his hand.

“Peace, brother. We have never met so how can you know of me? I only wish for the girl to be taken to my study under the stadium so she can be under proper watch.”

“Like hell you do. You probably want her dead you drunk son of a-”

“Brother, while I understand your position, I would keep my temper and my mouth if I were you and I were addressing someone with the power to kill me on the spot.”

“Maybe I’d rather die then live under your command.” Leader Dane ignored the comment and turned to one of the purple-clad guards.

“Escort them both to the study. Once you have done that, the crowd is free to go.”

“Yes, Leader.”

Three guards restrained Kaleb as two more lifted Melissa up and carried her away. Then they dragged Kaleb along after her. They followed the others up until they got down the stairs leading to the podium, then they split off down another hallway. The men threw Kaleb on the ground in a small but fancy room, then they took post outside the door, locking him in. For a few minutes he banged against the door until he decided it wouldn’t do him any good. He glanced around at his surroundings. There was a small couch and a coffee table but other then that the room was empty; not even a window was there to keep him company, which, after he thought about it, made sense because they were underground. It just seemed like there should be more.

Melissa was set down on a sofa much like the one in Kaleb’s room but bigger and this room was filled with books, papers, maps, and portraits. Leader Dane stood in front of his desk and stared at her while the guards took place against the silver door. It was like that for a few minutes until Melissa’s eyes fluttered open. She instantly focused on the one person she hated most.

“You?” Melissa shouted, sitting up abruptly.

“Yes, me. Guards, will you give us a minute?”

“Sir-”

“Leave,” Leader Dane ordered. THe two guards nodded once before exitting, shutting the door behind them.

“Where’s Kaleb?”

“Don’t worry, the boy is safe.”

“Where is he?” she hissed.

“I said he’s safe. What more do you want for him?”

“You made my life hell! And now you’re keeping me locked up alone with you?”

“I wanted a word.”

“Why should I spare a second of my time? How did you even wind up here? Isn’t it a little rich for a street rat like yourself?”

“Because insulting me is going to get you and the boy out of here any faster. Now, if you don’t mind shutting up I’d really like to speak with you.”

“Oh you’d really like to? Well, I’m not your girlfriend anymore so you can’t order me around.”

“No but I am Leader which still gives me power over you.”

“Did I mention I hate you?”

“I assumed that much.” Leader Dane considered her for a moment then chuckled.

“What?”

“You really haven’t changed. You’re still always putting up a fight.”

“You haven’t changed either, obviously. You’re still a lousy piece of scum sucking up for power.”

“Now wait a moment because that’s exactly why you’re here. I wanted to apologize.”

“For what? For you being a drunk? For hitting me? For nearly killing me that one night? Or for being a jerk in general? You really should be more specific.”

“For everything.”

“And you were planning to apologize today the whole time? Or was it brought on by my going unconscious when I discovered we’d be forced under your rule?”

“I was going to make a house call but I figured this would work just as well. Better even, because I could keep the boy away long enough to talk with you.”

“Except you still haven’t apologized. You only said you wanted to. Just implying it doesn’t work.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry.” They sat in silence for a time, it could have been hours or days, maybe just ten minutes. Finally, Melissa spoke up.

“Why should I forgive you?” She said, her voice quiet. Leader Dane was quiet too.

“I’m not asking you to forgive me. What I did was wrong and you have every right not to forgive me. I’m just apologizing.”

“Well, I don’t know if I can forgive you. You were a jerk. You were horrible. You came home late and abused me and somehow convinced me not to report you. Wait, that’s it isn’t it? You don’t want me to report you. You know me well enough to know that if I give you my word and forgiveness, you’re safe: I wouldn’t report you.”

“Haven’t you considered the fact that maybe I am sorry? Maybe you’re overreacting? Maybe you’ve been overreacting the whole time and what I did to you wasn’t that bad!”

“You raped me that last night! That last night you came home and you raped me and you’re telling me now that maybe I’m overreacting? I don’t think so. Now you’re out of line. Can I go?”

“Can’t we talk about this? I swear, I’m different.”

“That’s said all to often and when is it true? When has anybody really ever changed? You know something, Dane? I loved you. I didn’t get over you for weeks. Weeks! And when I finally convinced myself it’s not my fault, it’s yours, you find me and tell me I’m overreacting. Even if I am, which I’m not, you were still wrong to try and pull this crap just so I wouldn’t report you!”

Leader Dane made his way across the room and knelt down beside the couch. She tried to turn away from him but he grabbed her wrist and pulled her to his face. His voice was calm again but Melissa still doubted his sincerity.

“Look at me. I’m sorry, alright? I don’t care if you report me. I’ll lose my position but that doesn’t matter. Even if you did report me I probably wouldn’t lose my position. You’d probably be in danger, so I suppose I do care if you turn me in but I’m not afraid of losing this.”

“Why would I be in danger?”

“It’s hard to explain, ok? I can’t tell you now but will you trust me long enough for me to explain later?” Melissa sighed before nodding. “Thank you. Now, for your boyfriend.”

“He’s not my boyfriend.”

“Well, for your friend. I need to talk to him too.”

“Where is he?”

“In a room where I can speak to him in private, just like I spoke to you.”

“I want to be there.”

“Mel-”

“Don’t call me that!”

“Melissa, you can’t be there. I understand why you might want to be, but you can’t.”

“Why?”

“It’s not time for you to know these things.”

“Dane-”

“That’s another thing. You need to stop calling me that, especially if people are around. It’s suspicious. Things will make more sense later but for now act normal.”

“Yes, Leader.”