The Beast I Am

Chapter 15

The sounds were like a wall to walk into, making the high-pitched whining in my ears rise and my eyes water. My companions' steps were quick as she tugged me around a few corners and out an employee-side hatch, where two dull-eyed men were sharing a cigarette. The woman just stood taller, plastering a smile onto her cheeks, the slight gap between her teeth endearing.

"Come– let's get you home, Madeline. You've had way too much to drink."

The men looked away with a shake of their heads, my escort's steps eager as she led us back to the street. When we'd passed the hearing range for most folks, I turned to her, her words stuttering me before I could continue.

"Happy Smiles– You're drunk, remember that. I'm just taking you home, Madeline." Her gaze skipped over my shoulder as if she were speaking to someone behind me, making me look.

Her red brows knotted into confusion, a laugh skipping out of her. She was laughing at me. Another tug gathered my attention as she looped my arm around her shoulders so she appeared to be supporting me. It was a joke in these shoes, her shoulder barely skimming past my ribs, but I dragged my steps when I saw her finish line.

Curling barbed wire decorated the double-paned electric fence that barricaded the Subway transit entrance. My stomach curdled as the two soldiers turned to look at us, rifles casually resting against their hips as they spoke, breaking from a small huddle. I swallowed dust, trying to muster a dopey expression as cymbals crashed behind my eyes. The men's hearts were too loud over my ragged breaths as I tried to keep calm and muster some sort of humanish complexion. The taller guard had moved to a small cubicle attached to the wall– a military check-in–

No...

As we approached, the edges of my vision started to crisp, the badge shining clearly in the dull streetlight.

Police, kitted out like marines, looked bored as we approached; this was a regular day for them.

What had happened since I'd been out?

My companion crossed the road with reckless abandon, the usually busy streets nearly deserted late at night. Her smile was tight enough to wrinkle the corners of her eyes; she must have been a little older than I– the proximity of her allowing me to see a few strokes of silver nestled behind her ear. I swallowed the anxiety building in my gut, letting fate take the wheel and trusting this strange, twitchy, yet eerily confident woman.

The Officer's conversation clipped to a close as we approached the booth, the guard scruffy, deep bags underneath his eyes as he looked down at us. His voice was gruff, worn with years of smoking ash, "Evening Ladies... Awful late night for a stroll, ain't it?" His gaze lingered too long at the hem of my skirt, my nails digging into my clenched palm behind my companion's back. With my swift evacuation in the bathroom, the hunger was getting harder to deny– and this fucking prick was starting to look tasty.

Something flickered in the man's eyes as his pallor paled slightly, his brows knotting together before a squeeze of my arm from my companion as she shuffled, refocusing his attention. Her words were breezy and unperturbed,

"Oh... Nothing for you to worry about—" she leaned in exaggeration, "Officer Degelback." A look fazed over him, a veil that seemed awfully familiar to the night I had accidentally done the same to Rhazien. The opacity slid off his skin like water, just briefly enough that you'd only notice if you were paying this close attention, which his partner was not.

"Right... Of course..." Officer Degelback smiled sheepishly, as if caught swearing by his grandmother. "Should be quiet down there for y'all. We just finished cleaning things up. Holler if there's any trouble." There was a buzz as the door swung open, a small green light flashing above it. His nod curt, with his fingers perched at the tip of his hat.