T O X I C

3: Violet

The tension in the air suffocates everyone in it, grabbing at our throats, our mouths, our noses - our minds. It’s hard not to think about the possibility of death as long, curly blonde hair pops out from around the corner. Celeste. She is followed by a tall man.

"Oh my god," Bry squeals with an exasperated sigh. A grin sweeps across her dirt-covered face and her arms stretch out to Celeste, clasping arms around her neck.

"How did you get out?" Axios asks, crossing his arms. I have a more important question.

"Who is this?" I snap, gesturing sharply to the man next to her. He brushes off his shirt, rakes his fingers through his dark hair, and straightens up.

"I'm a Messenger,  and that's all you need to know." He replies, gazing at me intently with dark brown eyes. "This sounds crazy, but you need to come with me, Violet."

My head snaps over to Celeste and she cowers even though I don’t even suggest that I am going to try to make a move towards her. "You told him my name?" I growl.

"Have you forgotten what a Messenger is?" Duke says smugly, now dusting off the sleeves of his black leather jacket. "Your friend has not told us anything."

"Us?"

"You have to trust me." He begs with his words as much as he does with his eyes. If he is lying, he is extraordinary at it, because his voice and his eyes are telling a completely different story than my intuition. "Please."

My eyes wander around the sewer, unsure of where to go, where was safe to look. Eventually they land on Axios, my safe haven. He is shifting around uncomfortably, his own eyes on his feet as he kicks at the ground. It’s not the time to ignore me and pretend to not be a leader. Not now. Anxiety sprouts in my stomach, growing like a weed with every second I take to think. It isn’t even a hard question, it should be obvious. I have nothing to live for except my people and one of them is being held hostage. Shouldn’t that be giving me away?

Finally, I nod. It isn’t a nod that is sure of itself, it’s more of a nod that says, ‘I’ll go with you, but if you screw up once - even a little bit - I’ll be gone.’ I gulp and swallow my anxiety. Will I even have the chance to run? Nonsense. I can do this.

“What will happen to my friends?” I ask, doubt creeping into the back of my mind like someone had a glass of regret and poured on me.

“They can tag along if they want.” Duke says and he smiles, then winks. “We ain’t gonna hurt you.” I glance over at Axios, who is now standing tall and proud. He looks at me, nods once, I nod back, and we make our decision.

Let’s just hope it’s a good one.

+ + + + +

I feel like a prisoner. With every move I make, someone readies their weapon. Whether it be a knife wound or a bullet to the leg, nothing can stop me from getting my people out of here. I am their leader. Their lives are my responsibility. I struggle with the chains on my wrists that are nailed into the brick walls. One of the guards tells me to cut it out and I ignore him, determined to find a way to get out. If one of them just moves a little bit closer…

“Pst… Pst!” I try to grasp the attention of the guard in front of me. He turns around, his nose covering most of his face and his beady eyes narrowing on me.

“What is it?” He says in a voice that I assumed would be much lower but cracks the air like a whip. I gulp - I don’t have many chances at this.

“C-Can you come here?” I force myself to stutter and try to make myself seem shy and timid. He raises one eyebrow and steals a glance at the other guard who shrugs. Now he is just out of reach for me to kick him. “Closer, it’s… Kind of personal.”