Project: Neverbound (A Double Life AU fanfic)

17 - The Spiral

The blonde could barely hold himself up with his injured arms, so he just turned to his side to look at the person who saved him, their hoodie obscuring their face, but the hoodie itself being a dead giveaway.

"P-Pearl?" Martyn called, extending a hand that he knew was never going to actually reach her. Covered in blood as well, Pearl seemed to uncontrollably sob.

She was a Watcher too, and she was so proud of it up until this point, stretching out her wings and pointing to the eyes on her hands when they'd show up. She didn't understand what was going on or why it was happening. But she did know that the Watchers were looking for her, and they'd not only take her away, but now she knew that they wouldn't hesitate to kill her best friend.

And she just killed one. Oh god, she just killed one.

"Pearl!" Martyn called, struggling to get up with his injured arms. The cuts rubbed against the grass, the blades making it feel as if they were tearing open new wounds, but he persisted. Pearl finally turned to look at him in his cries of pain, rushing over to help him up. More screeches and cries filled the air, of pain and of success, coming from other Watchers and people alike.

For a split moment, the blonde was taken aback by Pearl's new appearance. She wasn't much different, not like the Watcher Martyn ran from, but the eyes that would normally appear on her hands were suddenly all over her face. Half of them were squinted shut, with the eyes above them sending salty tears directly into their path. Wings grew from the sides of her head and back, extending in a beautiful display would it not be for every other aspect of the situation. Off-white feathers glistened in a red-purple glow, bringing a colorful reflection to the eyes across her head. Seeing the fear in Martyn's two normal eyes made her turn her head and cover her face with a head wing in shame.

"Don't look at me!" She begged. "We're all monsters!"

When people usually said they were speechless, Martyn always thought they just meant that they had nothing to say. But he had a million things to say right now, and none of the words were coming out of his mouth. He was paralyzed, fear stricken to the point where all he could do to move was tremble. It would have to be Pearl who spoke again.

"...you have to go," she said, going to hoist Martyn to his feet but quickly realizing that none of his own energy was going into it and she could hardly lift him up by herself in the first place.

"...what?" The blood asked, confused as his brain still swam around with his thousands on unspoken thoughts.

"I can't go with you, I... just go!" Pearl said, almost going to explain herself but not wanting to waste the time.

"No- no I-" Martyn tried to speak, but was cut off.

"Martyn, please, promise me you'll never come back here!" Pearl cried.

"No! I'm leaving enough people behind, I can't leave you too!" The blonde cried back. Another screech shook the land, and now Pearl was suddenly even more urgent.

"I'll find you! I trust that fate will help me find you when we need each other, no matter what happens to us! Just go!"

Pearl grabbed Martyn by the collar of his shirt, letting up her wing and getting him to look at her directly in every eye she had. And every single one of them flashed a bright, hypnotizing purple. Martyn struggled against it, not quite knowing what was going on but being terrified of it nonetheless.

"Stop it! What are you doing Pearl?!"

But his struggling was futile, and his gaze was already locked into her's. For a moment, it felt like he was being strangled again, unable to breathe. Then she let him go, and he was gasping for air once again too. He felt at his neck, the bruise from the Watcher that chased him starting to form.