After Ice

My Bathtub Apparently

The next day, I trudge home from my rainwater station tired and cold. 

My "special" job is no longer needed. 

Rei was put to work today; I saw them haul him over to help expand the wall, the rest of the workers steering clear and whispering among themselves like little children. They're about to finish this segment and expand it into the open waters, making the city larger once again. I don't even have the energy to laugh at the irony. Make our home bigger! Yours smaller! Yarr!

That's when I hear the shouting. 

I peer down a nearby alley, listening. There are definitely people down there, those coming home from work on the wall. I silently wonder if Rei is one of them. 

There's a cacophony of shouts and jeers, the sound of mud splattering the walls. Or something else. 

I hunch down, creeping along the left side of the buildings and under drainage grates, trying to catch a view of the commotion. And through the bent-over bodies of two men, I catch sight of a snarling boy held back by three others. Another stands in the center of their haphazard circle, wiping his mouth, blood gushing from his nose.

"'Ooh wanth to go nexth?" he calls out maniacally, spreading his arms, voice nasally through the blood. "The beastie's all riled up-" And the one being held back lunges, teeth bared. A different opponent rises, and with a drop to my stomach, I now understand what's going on. They're wearing him down. And they will most definitely beat him to death, judging by their growling words. Things such as getting rid of vermin once and for all echo between them. Blue vermin. 

I'm furious enough to stalk right up to the fight, shoving my way through.

"Hey!" I shout. All eyes turn to me. Normal eyes. Normal, not cursed, stares. A tattooed boy is being sat in the middle, scarlet liquid running from his eyebrow and mouth. This probably wasn't the best idea.

"Oh look, it's the half-fish!" jeers one, catcalls rising from the circle.

"I'm not a half-fish," I glare, urging Rei to get up with my telepathic powers. "At least I'm not the one beating up a boy for kicks." 

"A boy?" barks the nasally man, hand over his face. "Thath wha you think thith... creathure is? A boy?"

"You're cursed, just like he is," grunts another. A boy kicks Rei with the heel of his boot, the Mer growling dangerously, hands curled on the cobblestones, the blue ink on his skin pulsing with shaky light. 

At the rising threats, I feel them compressing around me, suffocating. I take a deep breath, the cold air tingling in my chest, a light rain beginning to fall.

"Look, he won't be able to help with the expanse if you beat him to death," I say as reasonably as I can, trying to keep my voice from shaking. 

"We don't need the creature's help. This blasted thing is almost completely finished."

"Yeah! He hauled the blocks already! No use keeping a murderer around." 

My fists clench, but on the inside, worry is eating up my words. There seemed to be fewer of them when they were in a wide circle. Now, there seems to be too many, sucking the air out of the alley. Lightning strikes above, plunging the world into blinding light and then darkness. In the chaos I rush forward, slamming into the boy on top of Rei. His cry is muffled by other shouts. We need to move quickly. I grab Rei's hand, trying to yank him up.

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon," I say through gritted teeth. He scrambles up, his hand freezing inside my own, clothes plastered with mud. There are a few hollers behind us, and I take off running as fast as I can.