Chapter 47: Tailed

The door clicked shut behind me quietly, and I stood there in the dim corridor for a long moment, staring at nothing.

My thoughts were a mess. Every line, every word she spoke, replayed like echoes in my skull. It wasn’t just what she knew, it was how she knew it. Like a can of meat strewn across the floor, every fleshy bit laid bare under her gluttonous gaze.

It hadn’t been a job interview. It was more like a transaction, one held at gunpoint. And I wasn’t sure if I’d walked out as an employee… or something else entirely.

My hands curled into my pockets as I just stood there, trying to shake off the feeling of her voice still lingering in the back of my head. Obedient little toy. The words sat heavy in my gut.

She hadn’t brought up the species line in my papers, at least not yet. Either she hadn’t noticed, or she was holding that particular card close for later.

But if she really had seen through everything else that easily… how much longer did I have before she connected the last thread?

I shouldn’t be here. That much was clear.

She was dangerous. Not in the way others had been, not violent or careless, but shrewd. She didn’t need force. She didn’t need threats. She only needed time. Time and curiosity. Two things she seemed to have in abundance.

I should walk away. Leave this library, and never look back. Find some other miserable job somewhere no one cares to look at me too closely.

But I didn’t.

Because something clung just beneath the fear, a sharp, quiet worry pressing down on my temples harder than her stare ever could.

What if I disobeyed?

She’d said it plainly. She won’t allow it.

And there was more at stake here than just a job. Bills. Rent. Medical fees. Nora’s care. Everything was barely holding together with string and tape. If I lost this opportunity, if she took it away… what would be left?

She’d seen through almost all of it. If she decided to report the fake documents…

Expulsion would be the best case. They could press charges. Brand me a fraud. Turn me into a criminal.

I could be taken in, locked up, erased quietly like I was never meant to be here at all.

I lost my freedom the moment I stepped into that room. Leashed, like a dog with a gilded collar, meant to obey her playful desires. I didn't know what to do anymore.

I leaned back, pondering for a bit.

If there were a way out of this, it wouldn’t be through defiance.

My best shot was making her lose interest, making myself dull, forgettable. Or… I stayed close.

Bided my time. Waited for an opportunity. A leverage. Anything I could use against her to stop being the thing under her thumb and start being something harder to corner.

As I walked, lost in the coil of my thoughts, the quiet shuffle of footsteps. At first, I didn’t register it. Light, quick, the sound grew pronounced as it got nearer, picking up in speed.

I started to turn but it was too late by then.

A hand gripped my shoulder, and the weight of a body shoved me down and back, enough to knock me clean off balance. My back hit the floor with a dull thud, air catching in my throat just as another hand clamped over my mouth.

“Shh,” a voice hissed, low and urgent. “Stay quiet.”

My eyes went wide as I stared up at the girl above me, her face inches from mine, messy bright blue hair falling in strands over her forehead, ears twitching high with tension, tail swaying behind her.

It was someone I hadn’t ever expected to see here, let alone for her to tackle me like this. Before I could react, the rat girl I’d thought I’d never see, Kael, had me pinned to the ground.

For a second, my brain refused to believe it. She didn't even remember me the last time we met.

Yet here she was. And she wasn’t smiling.

Her eyes darted down the long range of bookshelves, her brows drawn together with something close to panic. And when she finally looked back at me, there was something else there too, something jagged. Worry.

“Dude,” she said in a hushed murmur. “Are you really crazy? You actually went in there?”

I stared up at her, stunned, my mind scrambling to catch up.

For a split second, I wondered if I’d missed something, some truth that everyone else knew but me.

What did she know that I didn’t?

But Kael didn’t give me time to think.

“Oh my god,” she muttered, eyes wide, breath coming fast. “You actually went in there? Into her office?” She sat back slightly, still gripping my arm like I might bolt. “Please don’t tell me you took her offer.”

I didn’t answer. Couldn’t.

That was enough.

She exhaled sharply, eyes flicking up toward the ceiling like she was trying not to scream.

“Bro,” she said, voice dropping into something tight and helpless. “You’re fucked.”

Kael stood quickly, brushing off her knees as she offered me a hand. I took it hesitantly, and she pulled me up with more strength than I expected. Her tail flicked behind her in frustration as she muttered under her breath.

“Shit… I should’ve stopped you. I knew you were heading that way. I should’ve caught you sooner.”

I staggered to my feet, heart still racing, the confusion finally cracking into words.

“What are you talking about?” I asked, breath shallow. “Why were you even there? Wait… are your memories back? Did you remember me?”

Her expression faltered, and for a second, she actually looked guilty. She didn’t meet my eyes.

“Just… slow down,” she said, lifting a hand. “You’ve got a hundred questions, I get it. But not here.”

She glanced around cautiously, voice lowering.

“Come on. Let’s go to the cafeteria. I’ll explain everything there.”

~~~

We got to the cafeteria without saying much else. Kael didn’t rush, but there was an urgency in the way she walked, like she was afraid of who might be listening if we stayed still too long.

Once inside, we grabbed whatever trays of food were available. I hadn’t even realized how hungry I was until I started eating.

We found a quiet spot near the back, half-tucked behind a support pillar, out of view. It was quieter here. Familiar, somehow.

I sat across from her, tray between us, and for the first time in what felt like forever… it felt normal.

Wryn had been there, sure. She’d been there for me, paved her way into my life when everything was falling apart. But she was always just… hard to refuse. A bit overbearing, enough to the point of drowning me out.

But Kael…

Kael just was. She didn’t press or push. She didn’t expect me to be anything.

For a second, eating here with her, it almost felt like the version of my life I was supposed to have.

She, on the other hand, was devouring her plate like she hadn’t eaten in days. Halfway through, she choked slightly, thumping her fist against her chest with a grunt. I blinked at her, caught between worry and amusement.

When she glanced up and saw me staring, she froze.

A flush climbed up her cheeks as she pointed her fork at me, squinting suspiciously.

“Why are you smiling like that?” she said, a little defensive. “You’re boring holes into me. It’s embarrassing.”

I hadn’t even noticed I was smiling at her.

Kael huffed, cheeks still pink, and stabbed another bite of food with force.

“The food’s good, okay?” she muttered, not meeting my eyes. “Before you start making weird judgements with that face of yours.”

I blinked, startled by the sudden defensiveness, but I didn’t laugh. I just let the warmth in my chest stay where it was.

“It’s not that,” I said quietly, pushing around the rice on my tray. “It just… reminded me of old times. Just you and me. Sitting like this. Talking.”

Her hand paused midway to her mouth.

There was a soft clink as her fork sank back into the plate. Her expression soured, tension tugging at the corners of her eyes. A shadow crossed her face as she turned her gaze upwards.

“That’s… partly why I brought you here,” she said after a moment, her voice lower now. “I’ve actually been following you since morning.”

I looked up at her, surprised. “Wait. You?”

She nodded slowly, not quite ashamed, but clearly uncomfortable.

“I had a feeling. I knew someone was tailing me earlier, at least I felt it, but I never expected it to be you,” I said, trying to piece the timeline together in my head.

“Okay, rude,” she added, flicking a grain of rice off her tray with her fork. “I actually thought I did pretty well. You try tailing someone all morning without getting caught, and see how you do.”

There was a slight pout in her voice, just enough to make it feel like the old Kael again.

I watched her for a second. Her tail had curled in slightly, draping close to the leg of her chair, ears twitching occasionally. Her usual cocky edge had dulled into something quieter. Anxiety, maybe. Or hesitation.

“Well, anyway, my memories have been a mess,” she admitted finally. “Things don’t line up. I keep getting fragments, like pictures. Of conversations. Places. People.”

Her eyes lifted to meet mine again, and for once, there wasn’t a trace of teasing in them.

“But the weirdest part is… every time I get one of these moments, these flashes, you’re always in them.

I felt something tighten in my chest.

“I didn’t know what to think at first,” she went on, fiddling with her napkin. “When you came up to me that day… I thought maybe you were messing with me. I didn’t remember you. No one else did. It didn’t make sense.”

She paused, taking a breath, like she was choosing her words carefully.

“But it wasn’t just memories. Not exactly. I kept getting these… urge-” her face twisted in frustration, and she quickly corrected herself. “Feelings. Feelings that came with the memories. Like some part of me knew you. Trusted you. Cared about you. Even when my head was telling me you were just some stranger acting weird.”

The cafeteria noise faded in the background, a dull hum behind the heaviness sitting between us. Her words echoed louder than any crowd ever could.

And now, sitting here with her, after everything, I came to a realisation…

Maybe she wasn’t the only one who was regaining her memories.