“What about Franklin? You said you’re going to take him down, if I remember correctly. Are you going to kill him or are you going to put him in timeout?”
“Believe it or not, those are not the only two options,” Law replied, containing his composure, “You see, I’ve forgiven Franklin for what he has done to me. However, Franklin continues to hurt people. I will stop him and I will seek justice for the continued atrocities he inflicts on this world.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I cannot share that with you,” Law replied and continued eating his meal.
“Why not?” I asked.
He wiped his mouth with his napkin and looked at me across the table, “Because I am still your enemy. In your mind, you still work for him.”
“She works for Franklin!”
“What is she doing here?”
“She’ll get all of us killed!”
I was shocked by the immediate domino reaction to Law’s statement.
“Enough, enough. Calm down. Dani is currently our guest. She will, as everyone has, be given the opportunity to stay. She will be required to follow the guidelines, just like everyone, if she chooses to stay —”
“You have to be kidd —” began Rebecca.
“And!” Law said, speaking over her, “She will not be judged by her past, if she chooses to stay.”
“Oh, don’t worry, everyone. I’m not staying,” I said through the sighs and scoffs.
“I don’t even think she’s a Dual Soul,” spat Tanya.
“What makes you say that?” asked Caleb.
“It’s supposed to be almost unbearable for a Reader to be in the same room as a Dual Soul. I’ve done my research. I don’t hear or feel anything unusual.”
“Well, that’s because Franklin fixed me!” I shot back, assuming the reverse baptism prevailed in its purpose.
“Dani, how about you spend the day with Caleb? You two seem to get along well,” Law said, “Caleb can be your mentor and you can shadow his routine for the day.”
“Uh, I really have other things I need to do today,” I said.
“Like what?” asked Law.
“I’m supposed to be going on vacation. I want to go shopping for clothes, visit a travel agent, pick out where I’m going to go,” I said.
“That sounds expensive,” Law replied.
“Well, yeah, it will be, but I’ve saved up like ten grand, so I’m not really worried about it,” I said.
“From working for Franklin?” Law asked.
“Yeah.”
“Tell you what, if you have the money to go on vacation, by all means, do so. However, if you don’t, I encourage you to stay here a while.”
“Okay, well, I do have the money, so I’ll just be going then . . .” I said, getting up from the table.
“You might want to check your accounts before leaving,” Law replied, “You’re welcome to use our computer in the living room.”
“Thanks, I’ll do that,” I said.
I excused myself from the table, put my dishes in the sink, and made my way into the common area where the computer was. It was exceptionally old and turning it on and letting it load lasted a good ten minutes. I rolled my eyes as I waited impatiently. When it finally finished booting up, I jumped online to check my accounts. To my dismay, they were zeroed out completely. They didn’t leave one cent.
“Mother Fucker! You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” I said, looking closer at the screen as if the amount might change.
“Not a thing left, I assume?” came Law’s voice from behind me.
I got up from the desk and stormed to the front door. Law put a soft hand to my shoulder.
“Please, Dani, just stay. One day. That’s all I’m asking.”
I looked him up and down and knew his intentions were pure.
“One day.”
Chapter Ten
The Cult Life
“So, first thing in the morning I generally do some conditioning and some training,” Caleb said, opening a garage door.
The inside of the garage was like a small boxing gym. There was a heavy bag, a speed bag, a wall of mirrors, weights, mats, and shelves of weapons. He had fighting sticks, nun chucks, knives, and swords.
“Are you holding out on me, Caleb? Are you secretly a Samurai?” I asked.
“Ha ha maybe,” he said, shooting me a stone-cold look, then continued laughing.
“What did you use the other night?” I asked, surveying the weapons.
“Ah, that, that’s my preferred tool,” he said, reaching up. He pulled a two-foot pole off the wall.
He rotated it quickly in his hands, making both sides extend from each end so it was nearly a full length fighting stick.
“Whoa, cool.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty cool — and useful, until the other person shows up with a gun, then I’m screwed.”
“Caro had a gun you still helped me,” I said.
“Carolina didn’t see me coming. I was lucky.”
“Well thank you,” I said.
“No problem. You would’ve done the same for me.”
“I wish I could say I would, but I wouldn’t.”
“You say that now, but that will change. If you stick around here long enough, you can become that person you wish to be.”
I grabbed two shorter wooden sticks from the wall and spun them around, pretending like I knew what I was doing.
“You want to spar?” Caleb asked with excitement in his voice.
“You mean like fight with these things?” I asked.
“Yeah, it will be fun.”
“You do know that I heal instantaneously? What happens if I hurt you?” I asked.
“Well, you can heal me, too, right?” he asked, grabbing two sticks and twirling them about in a much fancier fashion than I did.
“I I don’t know.” I said.
“Well, I’ll go slowly, it’s not about hurting the other person, it’s about practicing technique and form.”
He kicked off his shoes and I followed his lead.
“Just mirror me for now and we’ll work on contact later.”
“Okay,” I said.
Caleb began various poses and I mimicked his actions.
“So, why do
