Sewers

Sewers - Chapter 12

The child sobbed openly. Thief hugged him, murmuring her apologies into his cheek. He sniffed, pulled his jumper back down, rested his head against her shoulder and sucked his thumb.

Harry was shaken.

'You bite them?' He screamed.

'No!' Thief retorted, scowling. 'Monster does.'

'The monster, there's no such thing as the monster!' Thief put the child down and scowled at Harry. He saw the old Thief; defiant, independent and strong. But there was something underneath the mask of toughness she wore... sadness and hurt. 

She genuinely loves these kids.

Harry gave an exasperated sigh and walked away. Thief relaxed and sat down beside the children. They all curled up in her lap and she laughed that tinkling laugh again. Harry sat down beside the canals and felt a lump forming in his throat. He wanted to go home. He wanted Stephy back. He wanted to have left this madness alone, this difficult and scary life to have continued out of sight.

Out of sight; out of mind.

Harry could have screamed. He wanted to forget this world, but there was no chance he could. After all the insanity and grief he would have the story stuck in his head for the remainder of his days.

He wondered how many days he had left. Not terribly many, he predicted, if he continued to live down here. He'd go mad or he'd get a disease. He shuddered at the thought of all the E. Coli floating around this disgusting place.

He thought of the monster. A clown... he shuddered. Didn't those things only exist in horror movies? Then again, he realised, horror movies are probably real. Thief had shown him that that was true. Finally, he thought about Stephy.

She's dead.

The monster probably ate her.

Or she got lost and drowned.

Or she died of hunger.

Or disease.

Or thirst.

Each thought brought a new pang of pain jolting through his stomach and sickening him. He couldn't take it any longer. He marched up to Thief, who was joyfully playing with the children.

'We're fighting the monster.'