T O X I C

3: Violet

When I wake up, it’s only Bry and Axios. “Where’s Celeste?” I cough.

They exchange a frantic glance with each other, then Axios says, “She didn’t make it.”

“Did you see her die?” I ask, no empathy for her pain in my voice. It isn’t hard for me to ask that question, considering it’s such a common event now especially for us Humans and Mutants. I didn’t like Celeste that much anyway, but I don’t think I want her to die.

“No, but we were being chased by an army of Magickans, do you really think she’s alive?” Axios plasters a quizzical expression on his face, a scar running through the outer edge of his raised right eyebrow.

“Guess not.”

“You don’t have any faith in that girl, do you?” Bry butts in. The way she looks at me tells me she disapproves with the way I am running things. Her head is cocked to the left, her blue eyes shimmering with shame. She shakes her head and looks down to her torn leggings, dusting off the dirt. “I wish I wasn’t wearing a skirt when this happened.”

“I still don’t understand how you didn’t know what was going on,” Axios says, chuckling in disbelief. “Didn’t you wonder why you couldn’t go outside?”

“I’m not stupid. I was just closed off.” Bry rolls her eyes. Anger spikes inside of me. “Of course I wondered why I was locked up like a dog.”

I start walking along the side of the sewer water where a platform hovers. I hear them follow hesitantly behind me. “We need to figure out if anyone else lives down here.”

“Do you really believe someone doesn’t?” Bry asks.

I sigh. “No, but we need to see if anyone is close.”

The sewer is disgusting. As our footsteps echo throughout the tunnel, I gaze around at the bricks that look as if they are swimming in a pool of moss and spiderwebs. Bugs crawl past my feet every so often. We walk in silence for a while - nice considering we haven’t relaxed in  months. It’s becoming harder and harder to regain my sanity after things like this.

“Stop.” I command, peeking around a corner. Axios and Bry stand behind me, leaning over and trying to gaze around. “Did you hear that?”

“No,” Axios whispers. “I didn’t hear anything. Other than us.”

“Hmm.” I say, walking again but a bit more cautiously. “I thought I heard footsteps.”

"Thinking was your first mistake," Axios teases, nudging his shoulder into mine. I can feel myself falling before I scream and I get a whole gulp of sewer water. My elbow hits something hard and scratchy and I try to scream, forgetting that I am underwater. I paddle myself back up and cough up the remains of the water that is lodged in my throat. Axios laughs."Oops."

“You dick.” I say as I climb out of the sewer and refuse his hand offering for help, a slight smirk on both of our faces. Bry shakes her head and throws her skinny arms up in defeat.

“You’re laughing about this? You just chugged piss and you’re laughing about it!” Bry screams and face-palms so hard I’m surprised her nose isn’t broken when she pulls it away. “You’re made for each other.”

I blush and turn away, letting Axios defend himself. “We’re not together, Bry!”

“You want to be.”

“Wait… Wait - shut up!” I order.

The silence in the sewer is deafening. I hold my breath, trying to regain the slight sense of safety I have left, grasping for something that isn’t there. Grasping for something that was never there. Then, we all hear it: "I'm not going to hurt you." It is a man's voice, low and gravelly. He sounds calm for the most part, but assuming we’re invading his safe haven - how could he not be nervous?