-chapter 28-
My ankles ache as my feet pound the ground, pushing forward faster and faster. At every patrolling person I saw, I would skid to a stop, quickly relaying Silco's words before continuing towards the southern plant. With no clue as to what was happening there, my mind ran wild, Silco's terrified face cemented in my mind. I've never seen him look this worried; though, to be fair, I didn't have the displeasure of interacting with him all that often. His reputation would allude to him being a stoically emotionless person, so his strained features are enough to keep me on the balls of my feet and head on a swivel as I race towards where I was directed to.
As I near the plant, a bloodcurdling scream catches my attention, pulling my eyes from the ground and up ahead of me; what I'm met with nothing short of steals the breath from my lungs. Vast plumes of smoke balloon over the houses, one or two of the spires towering above the plant rearing their heads through it. A deep purple hue laces through the smoke, and a sound like crackling energy accompanies the sight.
Sprinting again, I round the corner, ignoring the burning in my legs in lieu of the screams that multiply as I get closer. They sound like children's voices, and dread pools heavily in my chest. When I come into full view of the factory, I freeze in my tracks against my will.
Before me, the southern plant creaks on its foundation, an all-encompassing fire storming through it. Before my eyes, windows shatter and floors collapse. Small figures on what look like gravity-defying hoverboards dive in and out of the smoke, buzzing around the dilapidating building like a beehive, grabbing what seemed to be the children Silco had enlisted to work and carrying them to the roof of an adjacent building. They could be recognized anywhere.
"Firelights." Their name escapes my mouth no louder than a breath.
As if my voice was heard, I see one of the masked individuals pause in mid-air, a child still on their back. Their mask covers their face in its entirety, making it look like they're staring at me blankly. My mouth hangs open, unsure of if I should be running or taking up arms.
Seemingly as quickly as it paused, though, the firelight is moving again, setting the child down before speeding directly at me. With my fight or flight deciding moments too late that it should kick in, I begin to scramble backwards- but before I can escape, the firelight jumps off of their machine and grabs me by the shoulders.
"Y/N."
They said my name. I have to take a few moments to register that they called me by name before remembering that I should respond.
"W... What?"
With one swift motion, they remove their mask, simultaneously releasing a head of short black hair. While her hair isn't the same, I recognize her immediately.
"Oh my god- Raven?"
She nods, a quick, nearly unnoticeable thing.
"You're with the firelights?"
Another nod. "They took me in after I left the club that night. I survived on what you gifted me until then."
Pulling her into a hug, I can't help but laugh, just for a moment. "I'm so glad you're okay."
"I am too." Raven answers, a laugh dancing through her voice as well before she retracts. "I can't be here much longer, but I drew something up for you for if I ever saw you again."
Grabbing my wrist, the girl turns it over and opens my hand, pressing a small paper into my palm in the same way I had with the money the last night I saw her. My eyebrows pull down in confusion, beginning to unfold the paper.
"No!" She interjects, grabbing my fingers and pressing them back into a fist. "Wait until you're alone. Read between the lines."
I hesitate for only a moment before shoving the paper into my pocket. "Raven, I don't understand."
"No." She says again, stepping back onto the hoverboard as the slow whine of it powering up sounds thinly through the air. "My name is Rue."
Before I can get another word out, Raven- Rue- pulls her mask back on, tucking her hair into it in a barely perceptible motion before speeding back towards the group above. As one firelight sets down what seems to be the last child, they zip away, seeming to dissipate into thin air with the smoke from the ongoing fire. It's only then that others in Silco's ranks begin to filter in, coming to a skidding halt behind me.
"What the fuck happened?" Says one man, stepping up beside me. I don't recall his name, but the scar that runs from his hairline to his jaw on the left side makes him immediately recognizable as I glance to the side. My brain neglects to find words, though, as I look up at him and back at the burning building. The piece of paper Rue gave me feels like it weighs ten pounds, and my fingers find it through the fabric of my pants. 'Read between the lines', she had said. Why did she trust me so much?
A heavier presence steps before me.
"Well, this is unfortunate, isn't it?"
It's Silco, his back to me. He seems to have collected himself, but the general aura of the people behind me seems to shrink back meekly, like a dog with its tail between its legs. As calm and cool as he looks, something wild stirs behind his eyes as he pivots towards me. His fingers come to lay against the stock of his gun.
"I told you to gather people and take care of what was happening." Silco's voice is like ice, freezing the air in my lungs.
"I did." I choke out, desperately trying to hold my words steady. To my own surprise, my tone is mostly firm, and I pray he doesn't hear the slight strain behind it.
"Obviously not good enough, not quick. Enough." He snaps back, his own words thinly sliding from his lips. In this state, he almost comes off as a man trying to hold onto sanity. His hand holds his gun at his hip in a white knuckled grip. This fact does not go unnoticed, and I can feel my face pale. "This was months... Upon months... Upon months of shimmer!"
Quicker than I can register, the barrel of his gun is staring me straight in the eyes. Subconsciously, I fall backwards a step; picking up my slack, Silco steps forward, maintaining the distance that's close enough for me to see beads of sweat begin to form on his forehead, presumably from trying to keep his cool. Considering the gun in my face, it isn't working.
"Woah, woah, hold on..." My hands raise to the sides of my head in a surrendering motion. I fight against my want to bolt, knowing it would only result in my death arriving even quicker.
"Give me one good fucking reason why I shouldn't paint the ground with your blood right now!" Silco spits, his words so violent I can almost feel them slap my face as he says them.
Behind his head, I see a figure come into view. She stands like the grim reaper, backlit by the smoke, hair waving in the disturbance created by the heat.
Her figure sends my second wind smacking me dead across the face. "Children almost died, Silco, and this is what you're worried about?" I snap back, taking a half step forward. I can feel the coldness of the metal gracing the skin of my forehead.
Silco's face only gets redder. "Do you think I give a fuck about some kids? They're disposable. Money- shimmer- is not." The sharp click of the gun's safety going off sounds, and I hear shuffling behind me. "It's a good thing you're disposable too."
When my eyes focus behind him again, she's gone. Did I hallucinate her existence? Was the security of her presence some false sense that I fell into? Looking up at the underside of Silco's gun, I begin to process the reality of this moment. Was this how it ended? Silco grinning down at me, enjoying every last bit of my death? Would Jinx find blood splattered across the road, my murder at the hands of her father? Would Sevika come home from her shipment and mourn the loss? Or would everything just go back to how it was? Do the cogs keep rotating? My eyes flutter closed, face falling gravely still.
There's a silence. Is the afterlife this quiet?
"Move."
"No."
Feeling the fact that my body is, in fact, still intact, my eyes creak open, and my heart races to my throat so quickly I almost choke. Before my eyes are two long blue braids.
"Jinx, I said move."
At her side, I see Silco's gun- she's grabbed it along the barrel, her grip as white knuckled as his, averting it down towards the ground.
"And I said no."
The tension is so thick, it could be cut with a butter knife. Even though I can't see it, I can imagine Jinx's eyes; infuriated, but static, holding her ground beneath the gaze of the man she knows as her father. I can see Silco's, though; it's just as angry as I imagine Jinx's to be, but there's confusion, outrage. His eyes dart left and right, then to me, then behind me, then back to Jinx.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Silco hisses just beneath his breath, words meant only for Jinx. "You know this needs to happen. Let it go."
I almost expect her figure to slump, defeated; instead, she only straightens, head tilting downwards with what I can only assume is a menacing glare. My heart soars. Silco's eyes only grow more confused, his eyebrows furrowing downward.
"Don't do this, Jinx. Don't go fucking soft on me, don't."
Where a typical Jinx retort should be heard, only silence extends. Dismay drains the color from Silco's face. After a moment, he breaks the gun from Jinx's hand, and she doesn't go to correct him. She knows she's won.
Silco skates around Jinx and pauses beside me, refusing to look over at either of us as he holsters his gun. Taking a deep breath, he seems to attempt to collect himself once more.
"And just when I thought you were beginning to become an asset." He mutters, just loud enough for the both of us to hear. The fact that his words could be aimed at either myself or Jinx shocks me. Jinx obviously registers it, too, as she flinches just slightly, as if Silco had reached out to strike her.
"Gather the children." He calls to the group behind us, motioning dismissively towards the roof of the building that holds them. "We wouldn't want anyone else getting hurt." His smile is forced and his voice is taut. The irony and sarcasm of his statement is only apparent to us.
Then, he's gone. Neither Jinx or I move as the rest of the people either filter out behind him or begin to move towards the children, uncertain looks shared between all. Whatever the fuck just happened was truly only between Jinx, Silco and myself; no one else understood the enormity of what took place.
Yet, when Jinx turns to me, the enormity eludes me, as well.
I can feel the tension leave my muscles as Jinx turns to me, relaxation spreading through me in a cool wash. I stare into her innocent eyes as hers seem to be searching for something in my own.
"I'm glad you didn't die." She manages finally.
A short huff of air escapes my lips, nearly a laugh, but not quite. "... Me too." I respond, hardly feeling the words leave my mouth. We both continue to look at each other as my words die out in the air around us, both seeming to simultaneously be scrabbling for purchase at the right thing to say while waiting for the other to say something first.
"Can we-"
"I'm sorry-"
We speak in unison, both stopping short and covering our mouths.
"Uh- sorry, you first." I wave my hand, pursing my lips.
Why I'm talking to her like I'm nervous on a first date, and not like she just saved my life, I have no idea.
"I'm so sorry." Jinx reiterates, grabbing my hands in her own as if to punctuate the sentiment. "I wanna... Tell you what happened. I can't right now, but I want to."
Tears well up in the corners of my eyes as my hand, seemingly on its own, drifts to brush a stray piece of hair behind her ear. Jinx's eyes close tightly at my touch as she pushes her face more against my hand, pulling violently at my heart.
"I-I know." I say, nodding, more to affirm my own feelings than hers. "I know. Soon."
Jinx clears her throat, her own tears teetering on the edge of eyelashes as they open again. She makes no move to pull away from my palm. "What- What were you going to say?"
I laugh, which unfortunately comes out as more of a strangled cough. "Can we go home now?"
Moisture cascades down both of our cheeks as a smile spreads not-so-gracefully across her lips. "Really?"
"Yes, really."
Jinx laughs, then, through her tears, and I do the same- even if it's short lived and our laughter dies out quickly, and even if it feels misplaced in our situation, it's a moment of joy in what feels like a desolate landscape of confusion. When Jinx finally moves, she's lifting her hand up cautiously, offering it to me as if my next move would determine the trajectory of her life from here on out. In a way, I suppose it could. In response, I slowly take it. With her hand in my own, we walk in total silence towards Sevika's shack, the plant smoldering behind us. I know we're both just as confused as the other. When I look at her, she only looks back at me with a silent smile. It's wonderful, seeing a smile that is more acceptance than confusion. Jinx's expression is the definition of exhaustion, but even with tears still actively falling, she is the most beautiful thing I'll ever know.
That night, as we lay in bed with her ear in its rightful place above my heart once more, I see Silco's figure painted in the darkness above me. Yes, it was Jinx who took my parents' lives, and that fact will forever scar me to my core. Yet, I seemed to have forgotten who the true puppet master was all along, and it only took the cutting of one of his strings for me to remember. He was the person who made her like this. He was the real monster. In the shroud of darkness, my fists tighten unconsciously, and I pull Jinx closer to my chest. I can hear her murmur into the night before nestling farther into the blankets. Closing my eyes, I try to will sleep to take me; instead, all I can see is his face.
I have to remember who I really came here for.