Previous Chapter - Station 2-14
Chapter Sixteen: Ley
Ley stretches out on the chair at her mother’s bedside counting the seconds between the pulses of the machines that fill the room. Waiting to hear the difference in the patterns: a racing heart-beat or her mother’s voice. Anything that isn’t that final tone that will stretch on for too long.
She tries to focus on something else to quieten her mind, like her training. But without a pool in the room to practice on, she resorts to some light weight training. She quietly lifts and re-arranges the paintings scattered along the walls, changing her view. But even when she’s focused on the wall, she can’t avoid the machine’s chorus keeping time.
She finishes setting the final picture straight when she hears movement down the hall. She jumps to her feet, ready to meet Tessa for another training session but rounds the corner to find Voss yelling down his phone.
‘Would you just shut up?’ He shouts, Ley slips back inside the room to listen at the door. ’I’ve already said everything I’ve had to say… alright fine - where?’
He ends the call and goes to leave the penthouse, and on instinct, Ley decides to follow him.
Ley follows Voss through the streets of the Station, making sure to keep a safe distance between them. She doesn’t want him suspecting that he’s being followed. She knows that she could just ask him, but he was always slippery in his replies and she wants to uncover the truth of what’s going on.
She should have grabbed Tessa on her way out.
She would know what to do, but she doesn’t turn back to find her and risk losing Voss all together. He walks with determination as if he’s made this journey a thousand times before. She becomes so focused on tailing him that she doesn’t notice the people around her or how they start to recognise who she is.
A flash of red at the corner of her eye, becomes a wall as several of her fans pour out onto the streets to catch a glimpse of her.
‘Ley!’ Shouts one, and her eyes dart to Voss, afraid, but he didn’t hear a thing. ‘Can I get photo?’
‘Uhhh - not right now,’ she says, picking up her pace but her supporters don’t listen. They converge on her like a virus, pushing against one another to try and get Ley into frame. She doesn’t need to see the photos to know she looks annoyed, she can feel her irritation prickling underneath her skin. When she sees Voss slip down an alleyway she loses it and pushes her fans away with her mind, clearing her path.
She disappears down the alley after Voss, letting the squeals of delight fade away behind her:
‘Did you see that? She used TK!’
Voss storms into Fernleigh’s to find Derek in his usual spot. He’d never sit there again, he thought. It was now tainted by the insult of an offer. Sure, he couldn’t be mad that he was initially asked - can’t blame a guy for trying.
And sure, he had created his own little game that was tipped in his favour, so one might think that he was a baseless cretin who liked to take advantage. But Voss had always considered his game, one of mutual opportunity. His patrons were paying to have a bit of fun.
The Games were another thing entirely.
They were paying to compete and Ley was going to win. Not only did he believe that but he had given his word to Ley, and he never went back on his word.
He slams his fists on the table as Derek slides a drink across to meet them,
‘Usual,’ he says.
‘Piss off. I came down here to get one thing straight: I won’t have any part in this.’
‘Please, all you have to do is make sure that she loses.’
‘No.’ Voss goes to walk away but Derek drags him back using his TK and forces him to sit in the chair.
‘That’s not the answer I’m looking for. Besides, with your debts, I don’t think you have a choice.’
‘When Ley wins, I’m all evened out anyway and I won’t have your stench on my conscience.’
‘But it’s not just me, Voss. The people I work for need this to happen. Powerful people. People who won’t like being told no. Only this time I think they’ll break more than just a knee. You know what that means, right? Course you do. So, we’re agreed: there’s too much money riding on this. There is no ‘no.’’ His eyes flick to the door with a smirk, ‘So, we’re agreed?’ He holds out his hand and Voss follows his gaze, a moment too late. Ley is at the door. He knows how it looks: the secret meeting, the extended hand.
‘No, Ley - wait!’ He starts but she disappeared out the door before he can stop her. He follows her back out into the Station, with Derek’s laughter chasing him.
Ley had never been caught before and she’s surprised when Voss arrives seconds after her, barely out of breath. He slips between the elevator doors as they close and they ride it to the penthouse.
‘Ley - it’s not what you think.’
‘I think you met with Dodgy Derek to make some sort of deal.’
‘No, I met with him to tell him to shove his deal up his - ’ The elevator doors open and Avery is in the hall waiting for them. He tries to grab her before she can talk to Pangere,
‘Waitwaitwait!’ Ley shakes him off and shouts out to Avery:
‘Voss has made a deal with the other team!’ Avery considers them both before addressing the situation.
‘What are you talking about?’
‘I don’t know what it is but he’s been talking to Derek about me. He’s probably been telling them about our training, about my techniques - ’
‘Of course I haven’t - this is bullshit! Avery, I can explain.’
‘That’s enough.’ Pangere holds up a hand to silence him and as much as he tries to defend himself, no words escape him. ‘This is... unfortunate.’
‘It’s a set up,’ declares Ley. ‘Where’s Tessa?’
‘Tessa won’t be training you anymore.’ Avery says it so casually that Ley is half-convinced that it was the plan all along. Which can’t be right - Tessa would have said something.
‘Why?’ She asks and Avery shrugs.
‘She didn’t say,’ she says. ‘But I’m not entirely surprised.’
‘What happened?’ Says Ley turning to Voss, but he’s as speechless as she is. He glowers at Avery but can’t find a way to defend himself and Ley quickly becomes overwhelmed. The room starts to rattle and Avery snaps her fingers to grab her attention.
‘Enough. Don’t worry about her or him,’ says Pangere, nodding at Voss. ‘You have you everything you need. Tessa’s gone and you’re on your own but that’s ok. We are so close to getting everything we want. So you have to focus on what’s important.’ Ley forces herself to calm her breath, she was right. She had to remember why she was here. ‘And who cares what Derek knows. He came to Voss because he’s scared. So let’s make him terrified.’
‘But… the next stage is water.’
‘Simple: just get rid of it.’
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