I stopped, sitting on the ground once we exited into an alleyway. My foot was throbbing. Thomas and Brenda walked back to me with concerned looks on their faces. "You alright?" Thomas asked.
"Yeah, I-I just... I just need a moment."
"Are you bleeding?" Thomas pointed to my leg, his brows furrowed. Leave it up to him to notice something like that. "Here, let me check it out." I wanted to say no, but he knelt in front of me and his strong hands rolled up my pant leg. He stared at the bite mark so clear on my skin and the gash from glass right below it.
It was harder seeing it than it was before. Now it was real whereas before it was just a memory. It was real now, and it only threw my deteriorating future back into my face. I sniffled, choking back tears at the sight of it. Thomas didn't move or do anything, so Brenda pushed him out of the way, digging through her bag. She ripped a bandage wrap in half and began wrapping it around my leg.
"Y/N..." Thomas said, now standing and staring down at me with wells of water in his eyes.
"I know. I know, okay, just... It's fine. I know what I have to do." I thanked Brenda, wiping away the few tears that dropped as she finished wrapping my leg and pulled my pants back down over it.
"Let's just go find Marcus," she said, walking away.
I blinked away tears as I stood and gave Thomas a small smile. "It'll be okay. You'll be okay," I told him as a tear dropped onto his cheek, then I followed Brenda down the alley. Thomas would do fine without me. He had everyone else, he had Teresa.
We exited into a street that was lined with people bartering and selling. It seemed we'd entered another small city, though everyone looked homeless. Brenda told us to try and blend in which I didn't think was too hard. We were both pretty busted up after the week we'd had. I passed people who were cooking, walking with their children, sewing. Thomas jogged up beside me, folding our fingers together, and I swallowed back a lump in my throat. His touch only reminded me that soon I'd never feel it again.
The area we walked into was filled with even more people, except they were dressed a lot more scandalously than everyone else. The colors were brighter, the makeup was visible from across the yard, and the music thumbed loudly. It felt like I'd stepped straight into a brothel.
I noticed the way the men looked at me, a hunger in their eyes. They didn't know they were staring at a dead girl. I also noticed the looks Thomas got, which definitely made jealousy pang in my chest.
"Are you sure this is the right place?" I asked Brenda.
"You here for the party?" the woman behind us asked. She was one who'd been looking at Thomas like she'd love to have her way with him, and she still was. I stepped closer to him, narrowing my eyes at her. "Don't worry, pretty. I like 'em both." She touched my cheek gently, gazing at me with eyes that proved salacious thoughts ran in her head, and I flinched away from her touch as Thomas pulled me back slightly.
"Uh, no," Brenda said, not really sure how to respond to her. "We're looking for Marcus. This is his place, isn't it?"
"This is my place," a man said. The woman pushed us with sultry hands towards him, moving to stand behind us. Thomas' arm stiffened, pulling me closer to his body. I wasn't sure if it was fear that motivated him or jealousy, but the rational part of me said it was just the fear.
"Are you Marcus?" he asked.
The man who had puffy cheeks, red hair, and a stupidly extravagant suit said, "No, I'm Nicholas. Marcus doesn't live here anymore."
"So you know where we can find him?" Brenda asked.
"Sure, sure. He's over in Zone B."
The woman circled around us, sliding her fingers along Thomas' shoulders. "What's Zone B?" I asked.
"It's where they burn the bodies," she whispered close to Thomas' ear. I looked over to Brenda to see she had a look I hadn't seen on her before. Panic.
I squeezed Thomas' hand, my nonverbal way of telling him something was wrong. He squeezed back before releasing my hand and stepping closer to them. "Okay, look, has anyone else been by here looking for him? Group of kids around our age?"
"You know, uh..." Nicholas rubbed his forehead lightly. "I think they might be inside."
"Of the party?" I asked cynically. It's not like them to go inside of a party when we have stuff to do.
He nodded and reached into his coat pocket. "Here. Drink this, teacup." He held it out to me, a smile on his face. The liquid in the bottle was light green like absinthe.
"What is it?" I asked.
"The price of admission." His smile didn't look very friendly, and I didn't trust him at all. The way his eyelids fell made it look like he was drunk or high off something. When I didn't take the bottle, he tensed and yelled, "Drink it!" Out of fear, I took the bottle and drank a sip. It tasted bitter and sour and I hated it, but Nicholas smiled at me. "Keep going." His finger touched the bottom, tilting it up to force more into my mouth.
When my mouth was full, I backed away from it and handed it back to him with a frown. I felt scared and uncomfortable here. It took a lot for me to swallow it since it burned like fire, but I forced it down, and Nicholas chuckled at my reaction as I choked.
"Your turn," he said to Thomas. The woman clung onto his shoulder as he drank it, tilting the bottle the same way Nicholas did me, albeit she was more sexual about it. She took the bottle from him when she felt he'd had enough and handed it to Brenda. She wasted no time in choking it down, so Nicholas chuckled and walked around behind us.
We squeezed closer together, all of us feeling a little violated here, and Nicholas popped his head between me and Brenda. "Alright. You three enjoy the party." He shoved us inside past three sets of curtains.
It sure looked like a brothel inside. There were girls in bras and underwear slinking around everywhere and dancing. Nearly everyone else wore fashionable clothing, a drastic difference from what we'd seen walking into the city. It was like these people forgot about where we were.
"Maybe we should split up," Brenda said. "See if we can find the others."
"Uh-huh," I mumbled absent-mindedly, taking in the sight of everyone as my head began to feel light. People were so different here. One girl even had hair made of fire.
Brenda put her hands on our shoulders, looking us in the eyes seriously. Her eyes were green like glowsticks and she had little fairies sitting on her shoulders. "Don't drink anything else."
"Hey, Thomas," I said as she walked away. "Did you see the fairies?"
"No, where?"
"Nevermind. It's hot. God, it's so hot." I stripped off my jacket as I stepped into the dance floor where lights of all colors and sizes filled the room. There was a disco ball on the ceiling made of water. Thomas took off his jacket as well as he followed me.
There was a room to the left where a crank wearing a leash was clawing for people. A man with a backpack made of bear teased it, holding a gun into the air. I was pretty sure they were fighting, but the crank lost when the man shot him between the eyes. I thought it was pretty unfair fight.
I looked away before I could see the dead guy, and Nicholas stood in front of me laughing at me. I squealed and backed away from him. Thomas was behind me, but we were both walking away from him, back into the room with the dancing people.
I blinked when Nicholas vanished, turning around in Thomas' arms. His hands felt like flowers touching my body and he was sweating heavily. His eyes found mine and the world melted away like snow. Everything about him felt and smelled inviting, so I slid my hands up his chest, feeling his muscles jump under my hands. "You feel..."
Thomas' hands met mine on his chest, stopping over his pecs, and I looked into his eyes that sparkled like glitter. "I don't think they're here," he said.
I shook my head, propping myself onto my toes as I pulled him down by his neck. He crushed his lips to mine in a searing kiss, his hands traveling all over my body. I groaned into his mouth when one of his hands slid down and squeezed my ass roughly, pinning my body to his. I nipped his lip with my teeth before pulling back for breath.
"Maybe they're in there." Thomas gestured to a door on the side of the room and I nodded, so we walked there, going through crowds of giants and people made of wood. I opened the door to a meadow. Flowers and soft grass covered the ground and towards the back, there was a hill with flattened grass.
I closed the door, walking backwards towards the hill as I watched Thomas eyeing me. "I don't think they're in here either." He answered with the shake of his head. "Maybe we should keep looking." He nodded, crawling over me as I laid back on the flat grass. It was warm like it had spent the day growing under the sun. "Or maybe we could just stay here a while."
"Yeah." Thomas lowered his weight onto me and I quickly kissed him, wrapping my legs around his waist. He dug his hips into me, proving to me how much he wanted me. His touch felt like I was being caressed by velvet or dipped in warm wax.
My shirt melted off my body, falling down the hill to met up with my jacket. Thomas kissed down to my neck, his lips lavishing me. His arms went through me and my bra melted down as well. He worked his way down to my chest, sucking my skin into his mouth.
The color purple flashed behind my eyelids as I ran my fingers through his hair made of silk, his lips traveling all over my chest. He sucked on both of my breasts at the same time, at least that's how it felt. My nipples tingled under his touch, and I slid my hands under his shirt, feeling the sweat on his skin.
His shirt sunk down into nothing and I passed my fingers over his nipples. They were puffier than normal and it made him groan against my chest. He sounds he made were ethereal like they were sung by the gods themselves. The path of hair between his pecs and below his bellybutton was the forest on him, little nymphs dancing through the hair.
"Y/N," he breathed against my breast, and the sound tickled my body. "It's always been you." He traveled further down, licking down my body as he ate me. My pants disintegrated along with my shoes and underwear, and Thomas spread my legs for him. I felt my body dissolving into his as he rid himself of his last clothing.
He stood tall, his member waiting for me. Thomas had the body of a god and that included his cock. Slowly, he crawled over me again, blocking the sun from my eyes. It shone above him, the rays shining from behind his head as he dragged his hips against mine.
I breathed out the color pink as his cock became wet with my juices. He paused, bumping the head of his cock against my entrance, and I held his cheek gently. "Yes, Thomas," I whispered into his ear, sucking his lobe into my mouth. As he pushed into me, my body became completely his until we were one person, moving and kissing and touching like nothing else.
Every time his breath panted against me, a new flower grew around us, his thrusts slow yet powerful. I found my home at his lips, kissing him as much as I could while his cock dragged through my folds easily. His muscles tensed and strained under my fingers, his moans catching in his throat.
"Y/N," he whispered.
"I'm here. I'll always be with you," I replied. I had a hard time keeping my eyes open because of all the colors dancing and entwining together behind my eyelids, but I opened them long enough to look at Thomas. His eyes were open, watching me like the sun revolved around me. He kissed me passionately, his tongue owning mine as his thrusts picked up.
I felt a fire building in my stomach, but it wasn't enough. I rolled until I was sitting on top of him, and his hands landed on my hips, his knees slightly bent behind me. I lifted my hips up, bringing myself back down onto him slowly, and he groaned loudly. My hands found support on his chest, feeling the sweat and heartbeat underneath. Thomas looked amazing underneath me, his mouth dropped open in pleasure as colors of blue and purple danced around us. The flowers surrounded us like an outline, moving as we moved like we were one.
I threw my head back, looking up into the sun as I bounced on Thomas. With his bent legs, he bucked up into me, meeting me thrust for thrust to have us both moaning and groaning. He lifted one of my hands from his chest, lacing our fingers together as I ground down on him a little faster.
Every part of my insides hugged him tightly, getting warmer and warmer the more I rubbed against him. I reached down, rubbing my bundle of nerves as I bounced faster, my moans turning into shouts. Colors upon colors, some I didn't even know existed, shot out from my core to swirl around the both of us as my walls spasmed and squeezed around him.
Thomas groaned, feeling my walls jerk around his cock, and he shot his seed inside of me, tensing underneath me. The colors returned for a finale, even brighter and larger as they created little shapes all around our bodies. I circled my hips lightly, feeling his cock slipping in and out of me easier, and when the colors were gone, I slid off to Thomas, rolling onto the hill next to him.
He smiled at me, his eyes hooded and lazy. We faced each other, lying naked on the grass as our hands toyed together. The grass and flowers grew taller and folded over, blanketing us into darkness.
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"Minx, come on! Hurry!" Thomas pulled me into the data room, which we definitely weren't allowed into. But at this point, it didn't matter much because we were already on the run. "Wait." He stopped suddenly, kissing me roughly and it left me speechless. "Thank you." He didn't specify his reason for thanking me, but I could take a guess. We jogged down the aisles until we found Teresa waiting there. She frowned when she saw me, but ultimately decided to ignore me as she smiled at Thomas.
"Hey," she said. Thomas, whose hand still captured mine, dragged me along with him to meet her.
"Hey, did anyone see you come here?"
"No, what are you talking about?" Her eyes flicked down to our hands, narrowing slightly.
"Okay, we don't have a lot of time, but we had to tell you," I said. "Just explain things before-." Both of us jumped out of the way of the windows when a guard passed by, no doubt looking for us.
"What did you guys do?" she asked. Thomas waved her over and she walked to us with a confused frown on her face.
"Whatever they tell you about us, whatever they say, know that we had to do it. Okay?"
She looked between the both of us, horror forming in her eyes. "What did you do?"
"We couldn't keep watching them die," I said. "Sorry, Teresa. Thomas, let's go." We ran down the rows together, trying to run from big brother. I wasn't sorry that I did what I did, I was sorry because I knew Teresa would be left here to clean up the mess.
"Wait, wait, wait." Thomas stopped us again, pressing my back against one of the data sectors.
"Thomas, there's no time. Whatever you have to tell me, do it later."
"No, no, no, it can't wait. Okay, just whatever happens, know that it's you. Okay? I want you, I love you, Y/N." He couldn't have said any other words in that moment to make me happier, and I was thrilled he hadn't waited. I jumped into his arms, kissing him in a way that told him exactly how I felt about that.
"I love you, too. But we gotta go."
The second we turned a corner, a guard stepped out and said, "Over here!" He grabbed Thomas while another grabbed hold of me, dragging us out of the room.