The Mutatio Disease

Sector Seven

- - - - Sector Seven - - - -
- - - - Part One - - - -
Some Brother You Are

      The haze completely retreated. My thoughts whirred back into my control and sped along at long last. The last thing I remembered besides the foggy memories was that stupid cage. I shook my head, or at least I tried to. The arms around my throat prevented me and acted as a nice reminder of what was going on.

    Felix. Felix was here. And he was trying to kill me.

    I gasped, bucking and thrashing. My legs scrambled against the floor, straining frantically for purchase. Felix didn't move, grimacing as he held me down. That was when I became aware of pain across my body. It hurt everywhere, and I struggled furiously regardless. Some brother he was! He was supposed to get me out of here, not kill me!

     As much as I struggled, his hold was firm. Spots danced in my vision and I gasped desperately, wheezing and crying out. My lungs burned for air, making it feel like I was under a weighted blanket. Right as I began to actually wonder if I was going to have to attack him, his whisper barely reached my ears.

    "Play dead."

     Then he tightened his grip one last time. My first reaction was to fight, but then his whisper registered. I was beyond confused, but it wasn't like I had a choice. It took a fight of will to force my body to stop moving, even as my heart struggled to beat. Felix let go the instant I went limp. I sagged to the ground, mind racing.

    What was going on? The last thing I remembered was being with Mae as they tried to force me to haze over. After that, it was all a blur. How did I get here in the first place? I felt cold, trying to hide my breathing as I realized just what had happened. Shit. They'd done it, hadn't they? I'd hazed.

    That was the only explanation to why I couldn't remember anything. My body hurt all over, and I quickly checked myself for major injuries the best I could while pretending to be dead. Bruises. An occasional cut, but a stinging on my arm caught my attention. It felt like it had been burned. Damn it, Felix, what the hell are you doing?

    "And we have a winner!" The announcer cackled. The crowd roared. "Welcome back, Wildfire!"

   "We had a deal!" Felix shouted as he stood over my limp form. I tried to stay still and hide how I was sucking in air gratefully. "You let me and half of the other Mortems free if I killed my opponent." Then he gritted out his next words, telling me that his jaw was clenched. "I expect my payment."

    The announcer laughed. "You really thought that we'd pay you that? No. You can take the girl's dead body and that's it. Check her." He said the last bit to someone else. Footsteps approached. Felix stiffened nearby as fingers pressed against my racing pulse.

    "She's-!"

    Felix tisked and my eyes shot open as the man sent in to check on me hit the ground. Felix hefted the heavy metal pipe he'd taken from my sheath. I didn't remember when. "Well, guess the gig's up." Felix offered me his hand. I winced as I reached up and grasped it. He hauled me to my feet and dusted himself off at the gaping expressions of everyone nearby.

    "What the hell?" I snapped at him. "Some lousy rescue attempt this is."

    He just shrugged, and I saw that he'd put on his careless façade. The confident Felix was hiding the Felix that was the critical planner. That was also the moment when I realized all of this was part of his plan. He handed me my metal pipe and I put it in my sheath, shoving aside the pain. Now that I stood up, I discovered that it really wasn't that bad. The burn on my forearm was the worst of it. My body seemed to be running its own diagnostic check.