False surrender

            They moved quietly into the room, ghostly spectres with lithe movements that left them undetectable. Demetrius led the silent charge, his body low to the ground and his steps swallowed by the pads of his feet.

            This time, he’d taken along his mother and sister, hoping they might better help him decide.

            Jamie lay asleep, unaware of the visitors that had come to see her but Demetrius understood the need for extra caution. She hadn’t been sleeping much, not since the night they met. More often than not, she tossed and turned in a fretful half-sleep, stirred by the faintest of noises. 

            “I dunno, Dem…” Cassidy said. She leaned in to get her own whiff of the girl. “What d’you think, mom?”

            Their mother placed a hand on Jamie’s forehead causing the girl to groan and stir.

            The three held their breaths, hoping she would soon fade back into disturbed sleep but Jamie’s eyes fluttered open. They widened comically at the sight of the trio.

            Jamie pressed herself against the bedframe. “What the hell?”

            “Be still, child. We’ll only be a moment,” his mother said. She replaced her hand atop her forehead.

            Jamie swatted her hand away before turning her gaze from person to person. Her breathing shallowed tremendously when her eyes met his, recognition stirring her to a quick panic.

            Demetrius could see she meant to scream and shot his gaze to his mother.

            The woman moved her hand from Jamie’s forehead to her mouth but spoke with a gentleness that sought to calm her. “We mean you no harm. There’s only a small bit of unpleasantness that we must get through.”

            It worked about as well as he imagined it would. Jamie screamed through the clamped hand, fresh tears moving to soak her face as they had done before.

            “Curious,” his mother said. “Cassidy.”

            Cassidy moved forward, replacing their mother’s hand with her own over Jamie’s mouth. The woman pried the girl’s eyes open, turning her head to better inspect their corners. Next, she assessed her hands, turning them over to better observe the veins and tapping them to gain their reaction. 

            “It’s too difficult to say. Wipe her memory and move on.”

            “But—”

            “Do it. You’ve already frightened her beyond any form of usefulness and it hasn’t brought forth any conclusive evidence. There’s nothing to say she’s who you think she is and plenty to the contrary.” Her expression softened. She cupped Demetrius’ face with one hand. In place of rebuke, his mother offered him a reassuring smile. “It’s a small mistake, nothing more.”

“But I didn’t—”

“Keep searching; you’ll get it.”

            Their mother turned to Jamie, the smile still in place. “Don’t scream, sweet thing. There’s no need to involve anyone else. Come, Cassidy. We must get back to the guard tower.”

            Cassidy followed their mother out through the balcony. Demetrius remained by Jamie’s bedside, dejected at the thought of having to wipe her memory and take his search elsewhere. It had been, in his mind, the perfect plan right up until it didn’t work. There shouldn’t have been any reason for the unsalvageable disaster it had become. 

            Demetrius sank onto her bed, his face buried in his hands. It was supposed to be his breakout investigation, the thing that put him on the head guardian’s radar. It was the first he’d been allowed to do without his parents and he was already being forced back to square one.

            “P-Please don’t hurt me,” Jamie sobbed.

            Demetrius sighed deeply.

            “Please,” she said again. “I don’t have a lot of money—we’re not rich but I—I have some savings—”

            “Stop, just stop.” He didn’t want to hear it.

            “Why are you doing this?”

            “Why’re you doing this?” he countered. “What d’you have to gain? You could’ve been killed nearly half a dozen times by now but that’s not enough for you.”

            Jamie recoiled at his words. It only served to shove another stab of guilt through him. This girl had the uncanny ability to elicit the most unpleasant feelings within him.

            “I’m sorry. Just…just gimme a minute.”

            He couldn’t start over. She was his opening to the real target and the proof he would need to have an official, head guardian-sanctioned investigation launched. Without her, he had barely a hunch, a weak case that would see him banned from further pursuit of it.

            “I need you to stop crying.”

            The pained expression she wore told him she thought the feat too great in her current state.

            “I mean it. You’re making this more difficult than it has to be.” He fixed her with a look he meant to have taken seriously. “I’m not gonna hurt you, but I do need some answers, alright?”

            Jamie gave a reluctant nod, her eyes briefly moving over to the door.

            “We’ve tried that already, remember? I’m faster and stronger. Just…cool it, okay? I wanna talk then I promise I’ll leave. Think you can handle that?”

            She nodded again, hugging her knees close.

            Demetrius moved back to the balcony, standing on the other side of its door to give her space. 

            “How come you haven’t fought back—the truth. I’ll know if you’re lying."

            “I don’t…I don’t understand,” she said.

            “When I leaned in to bite you, you never fought back. I outran you and you let me. Why?”

            Jamie shook her head in vehement denial. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, please.”

            His lips parted to ask another question but he was struck by the truth of her statement. She wasn't pretending…wasn't hiding anything. The refusal to comply wasn’t a refusal at all but an inability to give him what he wanted. Jamie truly had no idea what he was talking about or how to begin to explain what he was hoping to hear.

            Demetrius leaned back in the chair in awe. His eyes swept over her while his mind scrambled for the next thought.

            She wasn’t useless because she was terrified…she was useless…because she didn’t know.

            “Your father, have you noticed anything about him that you can't explain?”

            “N-No.”

            “What about your mother?”

            “N—” she hesitated before shaking her head with renewed conviction. “No.”

            “No?”

            “No, she’s just my mom. I don’t—she’s always been her. I don’t know what else there is.”

             Demetrius nodded. “Alright.” He saw no sense in pressing the issue further. Her momentary hesitation aside, Jamie had spoken her truth. Interrogating her wouldn’t get him any further. “I’ll go, like I said.” He rose from the chair.

            He thought to wipe her memory as he’d been instructed but couldn’t. It would mean admitting defeat and Demetrius hadn’t yet given up on the idea. He had the feeling that with time, her memory would prove useful for his investigation. Should the time come when it proved problematic, he would deal with it then.