The camping trip was cancelled after that. Mateo was so shaken by the attack he was visibly shivering, even after the client ran away from us. Despite this, he had refused to go into the ambulance. Thinking about how close he had come to being kidnapped twice now, I understood his paranoia.

Suzuka and Beck had left together, leaving me and Mateo to travel on the monorail together. On the small screen above us, I watched as another team dealt with the client formally known as the jogger. He had transformed into a screaming banshee-like spectre and was now terrorising a boarding school a few dozen miles away from the park.

Seeing that made me realise how stupid our original plan had been. What if Mateo’s transformed state was dangerous or fast, or both?

Mateo was still in shock beside me. His hands were barely gripping his duffel bag. I ended up having to take it so he wouldn’t drop it.

“How did they know I was a client?” He muttered to me under his breath, his eyes still wide. “Only dad and you know.”

“I don’t know.” I said, feeling myself internally wince.

Has Suzuka told anyone else about this? I didn’t want to believe she had, but there was a nagging doubt inside of me.

He rubbed his face with his shaky hand.

“What am I supposed to do? Dad was tracking me, and now I’m being stalked by God knows who.”

He pointed to his duffel bag. “Someone took my meds too.”

His voice strained as if he was struggling to resist breaking down. “Did they want me to transform? I-I could have hurt someone. Fuck Maggie, I’m scared.”

I wanted to cry. I cannot believe I nearly used Mateo like he was an expendable tool. He was vulnerable, and because of my plan he is more anxious than before. How could I have ever thought this was a good idea?

Remembering that I had his pills in my pocket, I made up an excuse that I had found them on the ground near the man in white. He snatched them and quickly gulped two down.

I placed my hand over Mateo’s. “I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise.”

Mateo gazed at me with his dark eyes. I remember how I used to think they were so intimidating, but now I knew better.

Did he believe me, or was he wary of me as well? When the monorail stopped outside of my apartment complex, Mateo stood up with me. Wordlessly, we both got off the train together. He turned, seeming to struggle with what he wanted to say. I knew though. I gave him a small nod of approval. He did not want to be alone, and I neither did I.

When he got inside my apartment he collapsed onto the ground. I sat beside Mateo as he sobbed. I felt tears trickle down my face. I was overcome with guilt, shame, and anger.

After a while, we had cried all we could. I began making us chamomile tea as Mateo sat at the breakfast bar behind me.

“I have nightmares, all the time.”

His voice was the definition of exhaustion.

“Do you want to talk about them?” I asked, pouring him a cup of the hot tea.

He gave a nod.

“They’re always the same. I’ve transformed into a client again. I dunno what I am, but I’m big, and tall. I look down at all the people, and I start stepping on them like they are ants. I feel so angry, and powerful. I just want to kill everyone, and I do. And I enjoy it. What does that mean Maggie?”

“Dreams don’t always have a meaning.” I replied quickly, blowing on the surface of my drink.

“If it does have a meaning?”

I paused in thought. I was no expert on dream psychology, but I had plenty of training in psychological symbolism.

“It sounds like anxiety, or maybe you’re overwhelmed with something.”

Mateo let out a small, amused grunt.

“I’m overwhelmed with everything.” He mumbled, taking a sip of his drink. “My pills, my job, my Dad stalking me, my clients, my…my past.”

I darted my eyes over to my duffel bag. The truth was only a few metres away from us. I was so glad we didn’t go through with the plan.

“Well whatever it means, I just want the dreams to stop. I just want to sleep.”

The black blood flashed into my mind again and I closed my eyes. Mateo wasn’t the only one having trouble sleeping. My own dreams were continuing to cause me restless night. All I could think about were the clients who hadn’t made it, the ones I had failed to save, and the ones who were still missing. Their screams sounded so real that when I woke up from my nightmares I swore I could still hear them ringing in my ears.

“I’m sorry Mateo. I could ask HQ’s pharmacy to give you something to help you sleep.”

He grimaced and let out a sigh of defeat.

“…yeah, you know what? Okay. Sure. I can take more pills if it helps me in the end.”

“It will, I promise it will.”

We sat beside each other in silence, sipping our drinks as the clock in my kitchen ticked on.

“Thanks Maggie, for this. I mean, thanks for being here for me. After Valory…well, I haven’t had anyone to really talk to about this.”

“Anytime, it’s what I’m here for.”

He blinked a few times before rubbing his forehead with his hand.

“Shit, I can’t believe I nearly shot you. I’m so sorry, that was so stupid.”

It took me a few seconds to realise Mateo was talking about our confrontation after saving Nemesis. I had to suppress a laugh despite the situation.

“I can’t believe you’re only apologising now! It’s okay though, I kind of had a feeling you weren’t going to hurt me.”

“I would never hurt you, I mean, not intentionally.”

He gave me an intense look that made something inside my chest flutter. It was a familiar feeling and one I was not ready to think about just yet. It felt too soon after my last disappointment. Distracting by this intense emotion, I realised Mateo was saying something to me.

“That man today, he told me something weird before he transformed.”

I leant in close to the protector. “What did he say?”

Mateo furrowed his brow as he spoke.

“He said he felt wonderful, like he was in love. I think he meant that’s how his transformation felt.”

I frowned as I took in this information. “He was melancholic though; he shouldn’t have felt happy when he transformed.”

“Did you see his face Maggie? He looked like he was, you know…”

Mateo made a jerking gesture with his hand and I snorted.

“That’s horrible!” I said between giggles.

Mateo smirked at me and bumped me playfully with his shoulder. “It’s true, you saw it too.”

“Yeah, I suppose so.”

I turned my head and realised how close our faces were now. His dark eyes were right in front of me, gazing at me. Examining me. I quickly turned away and brushed a strand of stray hair behind my ear, hoping he would not see how flushed I had become.

“Ah, I better go.” He said, picking up his duffel bag. “It’s been a long day. We both need to sleep.”

I tried to supress the disappointment I was feeling. We were both exhausted mentally and physically, so this was all for the best. I stood up and said goodbye to Mateo, giving him a small friendly hug. He petted my back before he headed out the door, his duffel bag over his shoulder.

Too lazy to take a shower, I stripped to my underwear and fell asleep almost as soon as I hit my pillow. To my relief, I slept a dreamless sleep and I woke up feeling strangely refreshed. Singing a tune to myself, I took a well needed shower and got dressed into clean clothes.

I turned on the TV. I was met with a building that had been smashed to oblivion. “BREAKING NEWS: CLIENT ON THE LOOSE”, the headline said. “TWELVE PEOPLE DEAD”. I let out a sigh. Just another day here in the wonderful and technologically advanced city-waterstead of Adour.

Wandering into the kitchen, I found myself craving crumpets and jam. I searched my small kitchenette, wondering where the crumpets were.

“Oh, right.” I said out loud.

I’d put them in my duffel bag for the camping trip. I walked over to my bag and zipped it open. There were no crumpets in there. Instead, I found a couple of grey hoodies, a plastic water bottle and a packet of Vehemprine.

This wasn’t my duffel bag. Mateo must have taken mine by last night by mistake. Great. He has my crumpets, my clothes, my…

No. No it can’t be. I clawed through Mateo’s things, hoping the confidential papers would miraculously materialise before me. They didn’t. Of course they didn’t.

My attention went back to my TV screen.

“BREAKING NEWS.”

Black smoke poured out of the building which I now finally recognised as Ardour City Hall.

“CLIENT ON THE LOOSE.”

The remains looked as though something had taken massive bites out of it.

“TWELVE PEOPLE DEAD.”

I swung the front door open and ran.