The Divine Infection

Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Strength To Go On

Where the hell am I? I wonder, as my eyes dart back and forth across the dark room. I can't see anything, the room I'm in is completely black. Nothing but an impending, pressing darkness surrounds me, one that has me feeling detached, helpless. I try to move, but my limbs feel restrained, and my head is locked into place.

I close my eyes slowly, gritting my teeth, and then open them again, a small and childish part of me hoping that if I closed and reopened my eyes, I would find myself somewhere else entirely. I have to remind myself quickly that I'm not in a children's book. Despite my sudden fear at the situation I've woken up in, I find myself remembering a tattered, yellowed book that my mother used to read Caleb and I when I was only four or five, about a young girl that would find herself in a new environment every time she closed her eyes and willed herself to go somewhere new. It was the only book we had, after our house was looted, and Caleb and I grew to know it by heart. Caleb still recited it to me every night, up until the night he died. The memory of that story somewhat comforts me, and for a moment I find myself calm, my breathing slowing for a moment as I close my eyes and will myself away from this place, this dark room where I'm trapped, unable to move. When I open my eyes again, I find myself childishly disappointed that I don't appear to have gone anywhere else.

I find myself wriggling around in a weak attempt to slip free of my invisible bonds, but I'm hardly surprised when I find that I'm still stuck in place. What did I expect? I'm stuck to the spot here, and god knows what's keeping me here. I want to call out for someone, but I don't want to make any noise. What if there are bloats nearby? There's no noise, save for the low gasp of my own erratic breathing, but they might be silent, waiting for me to make a noise so they can find me in this darkness. It's this thought that has my eyes nervously darting back and forth, studying the darkness, and I hold back a pathetic whimper as I study the darkness. I want to call out for Barrone, but I know he won't be here. I'm alone, aren't I? But how? I fell asleep safe in Barrone's arms, but where is he now? Is he okay? God, please let him be okay... And what about the others?Are they okay, too? Dammit, where are they? And where am I?!

I hear something move, like metal scraping slowly against metal, to my left, but I can't turn my head towards the sound - I can't move anything. Instead, I find myself staring helplessly ahead of me, fear pounding through me, my breathing erratic. "H-hello?" I whimper, my voice shaky and quiet in the dark space.

"Hello." Someone says, their voice a low, Scottish growl. I almost shit my pants at the noise; so it isn't a bloat. Unless bloats can speak now? Who knows; they've become so advanced, and there might be a monster out there that can talk, too. Now I think about it, though, I recognise that voice. It's one I haven't heard an awful lot, I know that; if I'd heard it frequently, I'd be able to pinpoint it straight away. It's a voice that belongs to someone that maybe I've passed somewhere, or I've met them once. But even so, it's a voice I recognise, and so surely it must be someone I know? But who?

"Wh-who's that?" I ask quietly, trying desperately to control my shaking, quivering voice. I sound pathetic, childish. Like some little kid. 

"You know me." The voice says. I hear metal scraping upon metal again, and close my eyes, gritting my teeth and shuddering at the noise. 

"Dammit, get a grip, nothing's wrong, this is a misunderstanding. Barrone will save you soon, dammit..." I find myself muttering, my eyes closed tightly.

"Yes. A misunderstanding. Let's call it that." The voice chuckles. I grit my teeth even tighter. "Now, Leigh..." I continue to stare dead ahead of me, my heart pounding a ferocious, frantic tattoo in my chest. "You didn't think I'd know who you are, hm? I've been watching you, Leigh. Since the moment you entered my city." They tell me. "Not directly, of course. My people watch you, and report back to me. That's just how things work around here, see. You're new, and so of course you're going to be watched closely, until I know I can trust you. I thought I could at first, too. When you first entered my city, you seemed like such a nice girl. So trustworthy, so fragile. That little sweetheart of yours was a problem, though. I was so glad he volunteered for that job, you know. There aren't many young girls like you around anymore, young enough still to bear a child, help repopulate our fallen civilisation.A boy like him can so easily corrupt a pure little soul such as yourself, and can easily lead you to getting killed, you know." Another metal-against-metal sound has me shuddering again, and then the voice goes on. "Then there's that stunt you pulled the other day, diving into the back of that van. I was so concerned; why would you do that, hm? Your friends would have been fine, they would have been home in no time, if only they had done the job properly!" Who the hell is this?! How does he know so much about me, about Barrone? "And then, you only went and destroyed one of my factories. CCTV is still a thing, you know, Leigh. I still saw you and your friends destroying all of my hard work, everything I've built up over the years. That factory took time and money to build, time and money I didn't have at the time when I made it! So, when you tried to run off without recieving your punishment, without facing the repercussions of your actions, you can't blame me for making sure you didn't get away, right?"