X-Marks: Stealing Shadows

Names

"Here?" V33 said and slid her hand down the rusted railing.

At the bottom of the steps, Buggy kicked the door, and made dust fill the candlelit stairway.

"Here, actually," he said as his lanterned swayed over the threshold of the opened door.

I choked on the dirty air and made my way off the creaking steps and onto the concrete floor.

"Not much to look at, is it?" Buggy said as let his bag of supplies crash to the floor and rolled his shoulders back.

I examined each corner of the open room. The orange rust of the floor grew up the wide beams that held up the ceiling. The windows were blackened with soot. Boxes filled with scraps of metal were piled along each wall, and the smell of burnt bread lingered.

Buggy put his face against a blackened window and said, "Isn't it spectacular? Can't see a thing!"

We looked at each other and tried to see what we had missed.

"We'll be wiping away sweat without them even seeing a spark," he said and showed all his teeth in delight.

Buggy stood over his fallen supplies and pulled items from all sides until he had a little paper box.

"Knew I had it, somewhere at least," he said, and held the box with both hands.

Buggy walked until he reached a soot-covered contraption at the far end of the room. Its boxy frame jutted with pipes.

"Let's give it a go, shall we?" Buggy said and rubbed his gloved hands together.

V33 walked forward and stood beside Buggy.

"Helpful little one, I like that," Buggy said and put his hands on the handle at the center of the contraption, "Pull this, as hard as you can," he said.

V33 put both hands halfway around the handle and pulled back with all her strength.

"Careful now," Buggy said.

Before he could grab the handle, a loud pop stopped him on his way.

"It takes two men to open one of these. How in the —", Buggy said and parted his fingers through his dark hair, "Who needs them? We've got you," Buggy said and patted V33 on her head.

A pit of fire burned up from my chest.

"That's good for her, but what does it do?" S51 said from the corner of the room.

Buggy held up the paper box and opened its flap. Inside there was a set of blue sticks stacked together. He took a single stick and struck it against the paper box making the blue tip spark. He threw the stick into the mouth of the contraption.

The once dusty walls mirrored the vibrant blue that came from the contraptions flames.

"Why don't you feel for yourself?" Buggy said and held his hand over the flames.

The heat brought us like moths around the soothing heat of the flames and I was back to life. Buggy came to the center and dropped a bag that bursted with cans and spoons.

"Now, who's ready to eat?" he said and put a can on the stove.

I sat, with legs crossed and back slouched from eating too quickly. The girl with the book was on her fifth can and couldn't seem to slow down.

With full bellies, the tension thawed with our limbs. Even S51's permanent scowl had smoothed into an indifferent glare.

V33 rested her face on my shoulder. It reminded me of how we would watch movies in our room. She always fell asleep just before it was over. The thought of never going back to the center hadn't bothered me. Not until now.