Linus Toria

Chapter 7

Manon was nervous. In her eager to please Mathieu and Gaspard she totally forgot her initial apprehension about making conatact with other living beings. And now one of them had even joined her family until they reached Paris!

How was she supposed to last that long without accidently spilling any secrets? Forget secrets, they couldn't even tell her their age or birthday without her questioning how they could possibly have fought in the Great War.

This whole travel companionship was a bad idea and she suspected that her whole team might have become soft in the head. Still, the one she had to blame the most was herself. After all, she had helped with roping the girl into their group.

What was her name again? Right, Lina, that probably wasn't even her real name given her hestitation, Manon snorted to herself. She wasn't really scared of Lina, but more of what she could do to her family. There were so many courses of action that girl could take if she ever found out their secret and then decided, like the many others before her, that they didn't deserve to be alive. Manon didn't want to suffer from an angry mob trying to lynch her again. She could already feel the walls closing in to smother her and her pulse picked up rapidly.

How did Manon even end up in this situation? Why had her team been following Lina? Why would Gaspard insist on trailing after her? Why did Mathieu comply with his wishes? Was this some kind of plot? Or was-

Before her thoughts could get any abstruser, somebody took her hand and squeezed it in a reassuring manner. Manon looked up to see who had stopped her from having a panick attack only to see nobody.

She looked around but all of her teammates were next to the manticore examining its strange body. „It's alright", a quiet voice told her from below, „I'm also always ancious when meeting new people" Manon finally looked down and noticed Lina standing in front of her. As she realized who was in front of her, she wanted to tear her hand away, but she couldn't muster up any strength.

Lina was peering up at her and Manon couldn't stop staring into her eyes. They were completely black and she faintly remebered the saying: the eyes are the windows to the soul. So what did them being completely black mean? That her soul was black and therefore evil? Or that she didn't have a soul? Manon wished that the she-demon in front of her would wear her sunglasses again, so that she wouldn't have to look any longer in those unblinking, deviant eyes.

The thought terrified her so much, that she found the strength to seperate their hands. She wanted to scream and run to Mathieu telling him that they made a huge mistake in taking her along but she didn't. Instead she copied Lina's words and told herself that it would be alright. Manon would take it upon herself to keep a close eye on the girl and her actions.

The thought entered her mind and she already found it riduculous again. As if a little girl that was over a head smaller than her could pose a threat to a war veteran like herself. She really needed to get her act together and stop comparing demons to little girls.

Manon straigthened her back to tower even more over Lina and asked with a shallow smile: „What are you doing?" referring to their close positions and Lina stubbornly holding eye contact.

Instead of answering, Lina told her: „I think you were just called"

„What do you mean 'I think'?"

„That tall guy just called for 'Manon' who I presume to be you. But except Gaspard I still don't know your names", Lina explained.

„Oh", said Manon embarrased, „Well, you're right. I'm Manon and the tall guy goes by Mathieu. Between him and Gaspard is Elodie and the one keeping watch at the door is called Etienne. Let's go over and see what leader wants"

Lina was about to follow her but Manon took her hand and pulled her next to her with a shaky smile to prevent her from being behind her where she couldn't see her. The girl probably noticed how uncomfortable the tall woman was and tried her best at making small talk: „Your names all sound very french"

Manon glanced at her and asked: „Is that a question or a statement?"

„Both"

„That's because we all are from France. We are basically on our way home"

„Oh, that's nice" muttered Lina so quietly, that Manon almost didn't hear her.

Reaching Mathieu and the rest of her team, Manon positioned Lina in her field of vision, dropped her hand like a hot potato and adressed her leader: „You called. What's wrong?"

„We need to get out of here and I wanted your oppinion on the matter. I personally think that we can't go back the way we came as none of us are able to fly. Therefore, we need to go further down the stairs and search for a different exit."

„Sounds like a plan", Manon agreed immediately.

„Good", Mathieu concluded and was about to give new orders but remembered Lina at the last moment, „any objections?"

„By all means, go ahead as if I wasn't here. It isn't my goal to destroy your group dynamics", Lina told him honestly.

„Since Gaspard is no longer feeling bad, he and Manon will act as our scouts and walk ahead. Your time limit will be 2 hours. Even if you don't find an exit, you will come back before the time is up. The rest of us will await their return before we head to the exit together. Etienne will take a break from watching the door and I will take over in his stead. Any questions?" Mathieu explained and added the last part for Lina's sake as she was still unfamiliar with his modus operandi.

Although Manon thought herself unsuitable for scouting she exhaled in relief because she would get space from Lina. Affirmating Mathieu's orders, Manon stepped up to Gaspard and tried to get him to depart faster by tugging at his arm.

In return she received an irritated glare from her co-scout which she pointedly ignored. „Come on already", she told him, „I'd hate to spend the night here"

Manon could see that he agreed with her thoughts and bid the group with a cheerful „See you later!" farewell. As they passed the door where Mathieu was just relieving Etienne from his watch, the latter called teasingly after them: „Try not to get lost this time, Gaspard!"

Gaspard blew him off and the two scouts finally took off.