Chapter 32

"Apprehended!" Achilles held the criminal tightly, forcing him to kneel on the ground with his arms behind his back. The knife the man had been holding was on the ground just by Achilles' leg. His near-victims were breathing sighs of relief at a safe distance. 

"You..." The would-be murderer spat in disgust, still struggling against Achilles. 

"I'll call the military," the taller of the near-victims said. Achilles nodded and adjusted his grip. 

He'd been patrolling as usual after struggling over his motivation hump when he came upon this attacker. Luckily, no Miracles were involved; it ended quickly and painlessly. As he waited for the military to arrive, another masked figure came to the scene. 

"Need help?" she asked. She wore an eye mask with a veil over it. A beautifully patterned red and blue scarf was tied over her hair. Her voice sounded vaguely familiar, but Achilles couldn't place it at the moment. 

"I'm doing okay, thanks." Just as Achilles said it, trying to look like it was no problem, the man twisted and nearly got away. 

Now he felt foolish. 

"Here." The woman flicked her wrist and a rope appeared. That made it click. 

Weaver. 

"Thanks, Weaver," Achilles said. "Can you help me tie him up?" 

"Of course." She quickly set to the task, though the situation forced the two of them to be in rather close quarters. Achilles did his best to ignore the light scent of perfume coming off of her. 

"Glad to see someone else patrolling," Achilles said. 

"Yeah, well I thought I'd take a page out of your book." Weaver finished the knot and stepped back. Achilles did the same, though he stayed close enough to keep an eye on the criminal. 

"Thanks for helping out." Even if she couldn't see what was behind his mask, Achilles gave her as big a smile as he could. 

"It's no trouble...Honestly, I feel bad after last time." 

"Last time?" 

"I...freaked out and ran when Paris showed up. I thought there was no way I could do anything helpful, and I was scared, so I ran." 

Oh. 

"I want to apologize for that. I heard you got hurt pretty bad." Weaver glanced up at him with concern on her face. 

"Don't worry about it," he replied, keeping his tone light and cheerful. "I understand that that was a lot. When Phantasma first showed up I freaked out too. But all we can do is be better in the future. Will I see you at the next Legion meeting?" 

"Of course! I want to help. Actually..." Before Weaver could finish her sentence, the military showed up and took the tied-up killer. 

Achilles spent a few minutes talking with the officers and explaining the situation. The victims acted as witnesses to back him up, while the criminal himself kept interjecting with spiteful comments. When they were done, Weaver was gone. 

At least Achilles thought she was. Soon after the officers had left, she came back out of an alley and walked back up to Achilles. 

"Hi. Sorry about that." 

"No, it's no problem." Weaver smiled under her veil. "I understand you're busy. Would you...mind if I joined you for the rest of patrol?" 

"Of course not! It would be so much better with someone else here." Achilles took the lead, heading towards the front of Arx. 

"Thank you. I'm actually...a huge fan of yours." Was that a blush on her cheeks? "I was wondering if you wouldn't mind meeting up somewhere sometime before the next meeting. We could...train or something? So I don't freak out next time." 

Achilles was excited. Weaver had been inspired by him! As the first hero, he should inspire others to follow him, but nobody had actually said they'd changed because of him before. Pride welled up inside him, and elation took hold. 

"Of course! When do you want to meet? I can go anytime you'd like." 

"Then...tomorrow morning? I'm a bit self-conscious, so could we go somewhere there aren't many people? Like...the back left corner at the bottom?" 

"That sounds great!" Achilles paused for a second as he realized he had his psychiatric appointment tomorrow morning. It was annoying, but he'd promised to attend. 

"Great!" Achilles quickly cut off Weaver before she could say more. 

"Actually could we do the day after tomorrow? I have a prior arrangement tomorrow morning. I'm sorry - I know I said I could do anytime, but I just remembered this thing. The doctors want me to check in with a mental health professional after my hospital stay." 

"Oh. Of course! It's no problem. Then...I'll see you the day after tomorrow." Weaver leaned in, glee on her face. "I look forward to it." The last words were whispered, and just...sounded different. Achilles grinned broadly behind his mask. 

"I look forward to it as well." 

When patrol ended, Olivia parted with Achilles and heaved a sigh. He was so stupid. A little bit of charm and he fell for it hook line and sinker. How stupid could he get? 

But now she'd secured alone time with him. Alone time that would be perfect to use to kill him. She'd been pretending for a lot of that interaction - telling him she was a fan, acting like she was starstruck - but her glee at the end had been real. She'd actually had to tone it down to try and avoid tipping him off. 

Her rope trick had worked like a charm. A perfect way to start the conversation with him, and he'd bought every lie. 

Now...what would she need to make sure she had? Cleaner obviously. The rope, needle and blade. Duct tape. Could she use anything else to make sure the job was done? 

Maybe a dose of laundry detergent. Any kind of chemical cocktail that would be fatal to a person. It didn't matter if she got caught, so subtlety wasn't an issue. Alcohol could be good. Maybe a medicinal overdose? 

Ideas danced in her head, imagining the pain each method would cause him, and Olivia almost started jumping like a little girl. Strangling him with rope, strangling him with her bare hands, suffocating him with duct tape...Would a thick cloth be useful for that? Yes, suffocation with a heavy piece of cloth sounded lovely. Or would just using her Miracle to trick his body into being unable to breathe be better? 

Her biggest problem was coming up with a method that would satisfy her. He had to suffer just as much as Keyla had. Obviously she couldn't give him cancer, but maybe...

Would her Miracle let her put him through the pain of his body slowly eating away at itself before finally giving out? Yes. Every symptom Keyla had experienced since being diagnosed with leukemia. 

She'd make him experience each one before finally killing him. That would surely satisfy her thirst for vengeance. 

A thump echoed in Cleo's head before she realized the sound was her hitting the floor. Her alarm wasn't going off yet, but the thing she'd just seen was too much for her to take. 

That voice still echoed in her head. 

"Did you really think you'd escape me, Achilles?" 

It was low, cold and dangerous. Among all the clutter in her head, that voice stood out precisely because it wasn't normal. The situation surrounding it had come into focus when Cleo dwelled on it. 

A woman - Phantasma - killing a man. Achilles. Using her power to send him through indescribable pain before trying to strangle him with her hands. When it didn't work, she'd forced a bottle of chemicals down his throat. 

It was graphic. And horrible. Why did she have to see that? 

It doesn't concern you. It has nothing to do with you. 

She kept telling herself that as she calmed down, but her brain wouldn't switch off of fight or flight mode. 

"Cleo?" A knock at her door surprised her. Apparently her dad hadn't left for work yet. 

"Hm?" She desperately fought to get herself under control as he opened the door. 

"I heard a thump. Are you okay?" 

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just rolled off the bed for some reason," she said, trying to hide the cold sweat rolling down her torso. Trying to hide the fear in her voice. And apparently succeeding. 

"Alright. Want breakfast? We can talk before I go to work." 

"Sounds great. Give me a minute to get changed." Her dad nodded and closed the door. The panic attack started to set in again. 

Why me? What did I do to deserve to be tormented by this stuff? 

It has nothing to do with me! What could I possibly do anyway? I'm just a tech student. 

Miraculously, her dad didn't notice anything was off.