Descent Into Madness

Chapter 18: By My side

I grunted, yanking on the pocket knife. How did he manage to jam this in so badly?

Placing my foot on its back, I continued trying to pulled out the blade from the deformed skull. The head jerked upward off the floor at the treatment, and I groaned, placing one hand on the base of its head. My nose scrunched up at the slimy texture of its skin. Gross.

I tugged on the blade again; the blade didn't so much as shift. "Oh, come on!"

"Do you want me to help hold it down or something?" Phineas offered, head tilted as he watched.

I shook my head. I'll get it out.

Wiggling the knife back and forth, I finally felt it give a little. Yes! The knife came free, and I shot Phineas a grin.

His own smile faltered as his brow creased, which erased my grin. One hand raised as if to point at something while his mouth opened slightly before snapping shut.

It was obvious he wanted to say something. I gave him a 'get on with it' look while standing up.

"Are-are you-" He made a weird vague gesture at his mouth. "I mean, from the angle, it kind of looked like you-you're, uh, missing a tooth?"

I blinked.

An awkward laugh came from him. "But you're not. Right?"

My tongue poked at the spot, feeling the lump under the gum. I'd actually forgotten about it. Shrugging, I gave him a nod.

Gasping at me, he said, "How? From this thing?" He kicked the creature's leg.

I stared at the creature and shook my head. No, that would have been a lot less embarrassing.

"Then how?"

I bit at my cheek. Denial won't help you... My hand tightened around the knife's handle, and I was careful to keep my voice level, "I tripped." It wasn't a lie. It just wasn't the complete truth.

"You..." He shot me a look of disbelief. "Are you serious? I know you're not the most coordinated person, but that's a whole new level for you."

I stared at him. Seriously? I'm the uncoordinated one? I almost contradicted him, but I didn't want to argue with him. Not so soon after...

Looking for something to distract myself with, I bent back down and turned over the creature's hand, recalling the glint I'd seen coming from it. Phineas stepped around and knelt in front of me.

"Is that a ring?"

I nodded. It reminded me of the one on the woman. It was in surprisingly good shape as well, considering it had been on the hand of a creature.

My hand slid into my pocket, searching until it hit plastic. "Is there a room with a sink on this level?"

Not looking up he answered, "Yeah, there's restrooms down the hall." His eyes flickered up to mine, and I hoped that it was the bad lighting that was making the bright blue of his eyes look faded. I closed my own eyes for a second as an image of the female mutant's white eyes invaded my mind. That wouldn't happen to Phineas, would it? "I'll show you," he continued as he stood.

As we walked, I kept catching myself glancing at him. It felt almost surreal that he was back at my side. Maybe... maybe things were finally starting to look up for us. Knock on wood, the words were whispered my head in a voice I hadn't heard in quite a while. I wonder... would this have turned out better or worse if he had somehow joined us? It already seems like whatever could go wrong has gone wrong.

A hand slipping into mine pulled me from my thoughts, however ridiculous they were-I wouldn't wish my worst enemy to be stuck here with us much less a friend. I could feel the creature's blood on it, still slightly wet. When he didn't say anything, I tilted my head in question at the action.

"Sorry. I just..." he trailed off, and I glanced at him. He wasn't looking at me, and it didn't seem like he was planing to continue. As well as I knew my brother, there were still moments where I didn't completely follow his thought process. But I still got the gist. If it made him feel better, I was fine with it. I squeezed his hand.

But I would be ready to pull away at a moment's notice in case we were attacked.