Walls of Gray

Chapter 7: Disturbance

"Lia! Check this out!"

Esther stood in front of an abandoned shed, motioning for Lianna to come to her. Lianna picked up her satchel, her cans of spray paint clinking together as she trudged over to Esther. The shed was large and hollow, so large that the light from the moon didn't shine all the way to the back of the building. Perhaps it might have stored food or other useful necessities at some point in the past, but now it was empty, the shelves devoid of any contents, torn tarps strewn all over the floor, dust collecting on the tiled floor, weeds sprouting up between the grout. 

"It's empty, Es," Lianna said flatly. 

Esther took a step in, holding her lantern out in front of her, looking at her surroundings like a curious child. With an exhale, Lianna shoved her hands in the pockets of her coat despite the wool-lined gloves she wore and followed Esther. Bishops' sakes, it was cold outside. After a few seconds Esther stopped at the back of the shed, bringing her lantern down toward the floor and crouching to get a better look at whatever was in front of her, the dark curls of her hair trailing halfway down her back. Lianna treaded over to Esther to find a wooden trapdoor rotting with age and just wide enough for a person to fit through, the barest whispers of a cold draft coming up from underneath. 

"So," Lianna started, "what is it?" 

Esther put a hand closer to the gap between the trapdoor's frame and the trapdoor itself. "Probably a cellar," she replied with an inquisitive tone to her voice. "Could be something else. Who knows?"

Lianna hoped it was the latter; she, Esther and Lawrence had been scouring the perimeter of Dema for the better part of three hours looking for anything that might have piqued their interest, anything that could get them a way to establish a network between them and the citizens of the barren city -- people that the three of them had dubbed "sheep", for who would willingly brave a city of brutal oppression and contained emotions with no way to express themselves? On the other hand, she also hoped it would be some form of a cellar as well; storage sheds that seemed empty weren't always telling the whole truth about the state of their contents. That and she really wasn't willing to brave a miles-long walk through forests and waterfalls to the other side of Trench just for resources she and her group were starting to desperately need.

"Only one way to find out," Lianna said as she reached for the rusted metal handle of the trapdoor.

The instant she grabbed on, Lianna's vision was assaulted with flashes of black and white, bloodcurdling screeches tearing through her ears, powerful tremors knocking her and Esther to the ground. Esther yelped in surprise as she toppled over, landing hard on one side. Lianna fumbled forward, her face dragging along the tiled floor, wisps of dust getting into her open mouth. 

Lianna bolted upright, looking around frantically. "What the hell?!" she shouted. The screeching echoed on into the night, tearing its way through the concrete walls of the shed, the tremors still continuing, accompanied by multiple blasts of cold air. If it was already freezing when Lianna and Esther entered the shed, it now felt as if her blood was about to freeze in her veins. She wrapped her arms tightly around her. 

Esther turned to Lianna, hazel eyes wide, clearly just as shaken as Lianna was. "We need to get out of here," she whispered hurriedly, getting unsteadily to her feet and running out of the shed. 

As Lianna followed Esther out of the shed she saw Lawrence sprinting up to them, rounding a turn next to the wall that towered above him. "Did you guys hear that?!" he asked as he approached the two girls, panting from the exertion.

"All we heard were inhuman screams," Lianna replied, her heart still thrumming in her chest. "Are you all right?"

Lawrence reached for his canteen, taking a long, deep swig of water. "I'm fine," he said. "But I can't say the same for whoever's on the receiving end of that." Lawrence pointed in the direction of Dema, the walls obscuring just about everything except the Towers.

Along with a burst of dark energy, violently surging upward past the tallest Tower, shooting outward into the sky. Leftover energy continued to pulse outward in waves, stealing Lianna's breath the longer she looked at it. And if she squinted she could see tiny flakes of snow drifting upward, lingering close to the beam of darkness as if it were a tree or a branch for the particles to easily stick to and accumulate on. 

Lianna cursed. "The Bishops."

"You don't say," Lawrence replied, adjusting his glasses. 

The three of them watched, frozen to the spots they stood in until finally the darkness dissipated, leaving only trails of pitch black energy trailing along the path of the wind, several flakes of ice still fluttering in the breeze. The air finally became thinner, thin enough for Lianna to breathe normally, and she exhaled as if she'd been trapped underwater and was only getting a chance at air for what felt like the first time in a long time. 

Esther blinked, shaking her head as if she'd come out of a stupor. "Geez," she whispered in a hurried breath. "What do you think that was for?"

Lianna already had several answers in her head: some of the Bishops were highly volatile, their moods changing like the seasons, their patrons completely at their whims. Some of them were oppressive in their own way, masters of creating unease in their own Districts. And some of them were just plain ruthless and brutal. But the nine Bishops all had one thing in common: their citizens would pay the price if they stepped too far out of line.

The only question now was what crime did the poor soul involved commit?

Perhaps she would never know. And so Lianna prayed in her heart that whoever they were, they would find the peace the Bishops denied them. 

"I don't know," Lianna finally replied, "and to be honest with you, I don't think I want to find out."

Esther and Lawrence were silent, the rustling of the tall grass Lianna's only response, though she still knew how her friends felt about her words.