Efferent

Chapter 41

"Hi." I tried to state confidently, but my voice wobbled as I stared at Clark. He was grinning, showing off his teeth as he scruntinized me. "I am here to help. Remember me? I am Ardyn. A fellow Efferent." I said. Clark just growled in reply.

"Alright, then." I said shakily, placing my hands behind my back to hide them since they were shaking. He noticed, though, and smiled harder. "Um... so. I do not want you to use your Efference, but can you try to control yourself?

"Try to be more gentle. Not everyone is your enemy, and I certainly am not. I am your friend, and you trust me. You persuaded me to trust you, though, on the other hand. But still." I chuckled lightly, and he seemed to relax.

"Well, then. Er, just relax. Let loose. You are safe here. There is no Dr. Ross, no doctors, or nurses. No syringes, no sterilized rooms, no nothing. Just me. No one will hurt you here." As I kept speaking, I noticed Clark slumping down in his restraints. That was good, right? Progress?

"Okay. Let us do some relaxation techniques! So, breath in and out with my count. One, breathe in, two, breathe out. Got it? Good. So, one. Two. One. Two." I said, and his chest rose with every inhale and exhale that he expelled.

"Great. So I am going to take the rag you have out of your mouth so you can talk to me, okay?" He nodded, and I pulled it out while trying not to pull away because of the saliva dripping on it. Clark stared at me as I threw the rag away.

"Hi?" I said softly.

"Hi." He replied gruffly, his voice hoarse and rough. I handed him a glass of water that laid on the side table, and he gulped it down. To be honest, I was kind of surprised at how he was behaving, since I really did not expect him to be calm again.

His face showed pain as he hung limply in his restraints, and I winced at his expression. "Do- do you want them gone?" Clark nodded. "But I can not do that..." He just sighed and stared at the ground. "How about an arm?" I asked, seeing how his left arm was turning pale because of loss of blood circulation.

I went to untie it, and surprisingly, he did not use his arm to try and kill me. Clark just wiggled it around and happily sighed again in relief. "Th-thanks." He coughed out. We talked a bit more after that, and he seemed to be back to the old Clark again.

I decided to untie him fully, because if he wanted to hurt me, he could have already. He immediately fell down on the floor, his hands automatically coming in front of him to cushion the fall. Then Clark staggered to his feet and leaned on the wall for support.

"Are you okay?" I asked, and Clark gave me a weak smile, examining his arms and legs. I felt kind of bad at the rope marks that adorned his skin, but it had to be that way. I walked closer to him and gently massaged his legs, trying to get the blood flow moving again.

After I was done, we sat in chairs and I filled him in the events of what happened when he was locked up in the room. Clark seemed to understand why he did it, though, but he was nevertheless sad and still angry. Honestly, if I were him, I would be, too.

Clark coughed, and then suddenly his eyes grew misty. His eyes zeroed in on me, and I squirmed in my seat. "Uh, Clark?" He stood up, suddenly not weak anymore, and he grinned at me. "Clark?" I asked. "Is something wrong?"

He jumped towards me and pushed my chair to the floor. I was pinned down by the chair and Clark's weight, and however I tried to get the chair off me, it would not budge. "Help!" I screamed. "Someone! Help!" I choked as he pressed a finger towards my neck.

The door burst open and someone came in, though I could not see who. "Ardyn?" Blaise asked. I could only whimper in reply. Blaise grabbed Clark's leg and tried to pull him off of me, while also trying to return him to his bindings. I coughed as his hands put more pressure.

"If you try to put me there again, I will not hesitate to press harder." Clark warned. Blaise growled lowly, and I watched his fists clench. He stepped forward and Clark wrapped his fingers around my neck slowly, his eyes glinting dangerously.

"I-" I coughed. Blaise looked at me, and I shook my head, which only angered him further.

"Get. Off. Of. Her." Blaise grit out.

"Make me." Clark said, obviously trying to provoke him. It worked, and Blaise jumped on top of Clark, trying to wrench him off. Instead, Clark did not budge and his fingers tightened even more. I bucked my hips, trying to throw him off as well, but Blaise's added weight made the task harder.

Suddenly, Clark flew off of me, his eyes wide as he was panting. I quickly scrambled out of the chair and held it over my head, ready to use it if necessary. But it was not, since Blaise and Clark were fighting. Then Clark froze, staring at something that he could only see near the wall.

His hand shakily pointed at it, and he sunk to the floor. I looked around wildly, trying to find what made Clark become so submissive like that, but there was nothing. I looked towards Blaise, who seemed to be concentrating on something. That was when I realized that he was using his power on Clark.

Slowly, he chained Clark up while he was sobbing helplessly on the ground. Once Blaise finished, he stopped using his Efference and Clark turned back normal again, clawing at his bonds and spitting at our feet.

"What did you show him?" I asked, but Blaise shook his head.

"It is quite private, I am afraid. But let us not worry about that for now. Are you okay?" Blaise asked worriedly, examining my expression and running his hand on my cheek. "You are bruised." He commented, and I shrugged.

"It is fine." I waved it off, walking towards the door. Pain shot up my leg but I tried not to show it.

"You are hurt." Blaise said.

I sighed. "It's okay." We walked out of Clark's room and into the living room, where James and Travis sat discussing something.

Travis immediately stood up when he saw us approaching. "What happened?" His eyes widened as he frowned, pointing at my cheek. "And what exactly happened in there?"

"Let us not worry about that right now." James cut in. "The Afferent that we have dispatched to get sedatives have not returned, and it has been over two hours past their estimated return time."