Sincerely

When I arrived back at Elias’ place, it was a mess. Things were strewn all over the place, broken glass, and beer bottles smashed on the floor. There was glass and blood everywhere, I froze momentarily. What had happened?

I found Elias in the middle of it, I thought maybe he had gotten drunk like Deckard and passed out but with the amount of blood on and around him, it looked more serious, he was still warm though.

“Elias,” I exclaimed shaking him.

He groaned.

“Leave me alone,” he hissed.

“You’re bleeding,” I stated.

That was the first time he looked down or around.

“Come on, let’s clean you up,” I said gently.

“Where have you been?” he asked before I could even get him off the floor, I almost dropped him.

“With Lev,” I answered quietly knowing he’ll be mad.

“Does he know yet?” he asks.

“No,” I answered.

He went quiet after that. I picked him up and took him to the bathroom. He sat on the toilet, removed most of his clothing and I could see his tattoos fully now, I used tweezers to remove the glass bottle fragments from his skin before bandaging the cuts, one of the worst ones was on his wrist.

“You shouldn’t be here, it’s not safe,” he uttered finally.

“What do you mean? What happened? Who did this?” I questioned.

“Lev’s not the first one or the last one to fall in love with an android,” he comments. “I just hope he chooses to save you because I couldn’t save Alessio.”

“You like him, don’t you?” he continues.

“I don’t know, how do you know when you like someone?” I ask.

“Did you want to leave and come back here? Or did you want to stay with him? Did you think about touching him? Did his touch linger after you did? Did you think about other things or mostly him?” he posed.

“All of those are a yes,” I replied quietly, already knowing the answer.

“Then you like him, I just hope your love is enough to save each other,” he whispers standing up once I’ve finished patching him up.

“Where am I supposed to go if it’s no longer safe here?” I ask.

“To him, he cares about you. Just watch your back, he might still turn you in if he cares about his job more,” he replies.

“Where do I go if that happens?” I ask nervously.

“Far away from here, the further away you are, the better,” he answers leaving the bathroom.

I look at myself in the mirror for a moment. I was scared, and while I wanted to go to Lev with it, I was still worried he’d turn me in like Elias said. I pulled his number out of my pocket and looked at it, this wasn’t the kind of conversation we could have over the phone. I put the number back in my pocket and went to pack my things.

Elias had left a few duffle bags by the couch. I packed my clothes into them and placed a ballcap on my head to hide my face and eyes even if they were unlikely to be recognized.

“Be careful,” Elias commented finally.

“You, too,” I reply quietly before slipping out of the apartment. By the time I arrived back at Lev’s apartment, the sun was coming up and his apartment looked quiet.

I approached the building quietly and carefully, I was still nervous and cautious about the whole situation. I just hoped he would let me go because he cared about me rather than turning me in right away if he didn’t want to harbour me. After all, I was a fugitive.

I climbed up the stairs, and paused at his door, hesitating before knocking. No one answered and I heard no movement inside. What was I supposed to do if he wasn’t home? I couldn’t stay here, it would look weird if his neighbours saw me and I couldn’t go back to Elias’ place as it wasn’t safe either.

I looked over the railing that gated in the fronts of several apartments on this floor, and I saw a group of people below surrounding an android. They backed him up against a wall before they started taking shots at him with their fists like how I imagined the people in the alley had done to that other android.

I stood frozen knowing if I went down to help, my situation could be compromised, but I also wanted to help one of my own kind, because I knew no one else probably would. They would die on my watch and I would feel responsible like how Elias felt responsible for what happened to Alessio. Someone would probably miss him and I couldn’t stand by and watch them do this.

I dropped my duffle bags, leaving them outside Lev’s apartment and ran back down the concrete steps to the pavement. I almost knocked someone over as I sprinted past them.

When I hit the sidewalk, I didn’t even pause. I barely looked for cars as I sprinted across the road. When I arrived on the other side of the road, the humans beating on the android paused.

“What do you want?” one of them asked. “Want to join us?” he asked with a wicked smile that I knew I was going to wipe off his face.

“Deckard,” I heard someone call.

I turned and saw Lev on the sidewalk behind me, I realized he was the one I’d almost knocked over on the stairs.

He saw past me to the beaten android and the group of people.

“Get lost before I call the police,” he hissed at them and they scattered.

I bent down to get a better looked at the android.

He was sputtering and sparking and blue blood was bleeding out of him.

“Please…don’t…hurt…me,” he spat out slowly.

“I’m not going to,” I whispered gently.

“What’s your name?” I asked then.

He paused as if hesitating before answering.

“Mavis,” he stuttered out.

“Should we call someone for you?” Lev asked.

“Travis, he’s in my phone,” he exclaimed.

I touched his pockets and removed his phone from them quickly. He told me the password to unlock it and I went to his contacts and found Travis. I called the number holding the phone to my ear while Lev stood back.

“Mavis, where are you?” the voice asked sounding panicked and worried.

“Travis?” I asked wanting to confirm before revealing the address to anyone.

“Who is this? Where is Mavis?” he exclaimed quickly after.

“Some humans hurt him, he’s alive but injured,” I explained.

“Where?” he repeats.

I give him the address, accepting his desperateness as evidence of how much he cared about Mavis.

“I’ll be there soon,” he commented quickly before hanging up.

“He’ll be here soon,” I reassured Mavis.

“Thank you,” he sputtered again.

A black truck pulled up about ten minutes later and a man jumped out and rushed over to Mavis.

“Mavis, are you okay?” Travis inquires.

“I’ve been better,” Mavis comments hissing as he shifts to sit up.

Travis went back to his truck and grabbed a briefcase, he brought it over to Mavis’ side and start fixing him up. In the end, he’s a little bloodier than he should be but he can move without causing himself further damage.

Travis looks at me as he helps Mavis up. He pauses in front of me.

“Thank you,” he comments before taking Mavis over to the truck, putting him inside and getting in himself and driving off. I watch them.

“Deckard,” Lev calls, I hesitate before turning in his direction.

“I want to know everything, please,” he stated.

My eyes glued themselves to the ground and I didn’t move, fear cementing me in place.

Lev got closer but I still didn’t move.

“I want to help you, I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what happened,” Lev reasons touching my face.

I sighed. This was it. It would either end or begin here.

“Okay,” I murmur taking his hand and pulling him back toward his apartment.