WnW 3.23

I sat on the sodden grass, staring at the huge pile of pink flesh, praying to God it wouldn’t start moving again on its own. My head was pounding, it felt like the roar of the river was coming from inside my own brain. The hunger had been satiated and now I was left with this killer headache. I felt detached from reality, like I was viewing myself from far away.

Nell’s hand rattled the chain link fence. I looked up, forcing myself to keep my eyes open.

“Idiot,” she choked back a sob.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” I said, too relieved and tired to react to the insult.

“You ran straight into Alek’s trap,” she accused, fingers curling through the chain links. “I thought you didn’t want to be involved with the Rings. But you ran in headfirst.”

“You were angry too,” I protested. “I wasn’t thinking straight. Your feelings were like wind, pushing me forward.”

Nell squinted from the rain and her tears. “I was so scared.”

“Me too.”

“I used to not care about what happened. Now everything is moving so fast and I can’t keep up. I feel like I’m always looking at your back as you’re running away from me.”

With effort I got up and climbed the small hill so I could lean against the fence. “So you care about stuff now. That sounds like a good thing.”

Nell was quiet and we just listened to the rain, letting our emotions pool together in the puddles around us.

“I’d like to go back to the library,” she said softly.

“That sounds nice,” I said, eyes closed. I would have fallen asleep right there if not for the splitting headache I felt.

“We should go talk to Sullivan, he’s waiting in the car.”

I sighed and used the fence to pull myself up. Nell walked alongside me on the other side of the fence. Her shoes squelched with every step.

When we got to the end of the fenced-in channel, Sullivan got out of the car and opened his umbrella. He watched us with steely eyes, Graham coming to stand between us, slightly off to one side, with his hands clasped in front of him.

“It’s done,” Nell said.

Sullivan gestured and a few of his men cautiously passed by us to go check out the aftermath.

“Quite impressive,” Sullivan said. “There are Aberrants that stalk the city at night that we haven’t managed to deal with in months.”

Aberrants. That is certainly a name for them. “The vials… They make monsters?” I asked.

“Sometimes. Which is too high a chance to let this substance be distributed.”

I agreed with the Ring leader on that point. “So?”

Sullivan pulled out his phone. “You’ll have my protection from any future threats. We’ll get Nell to our doctor to have that broken bone set and casted.”

An underground doctor would circumvent the issue of Nell’s lack of ID.

“We’ll have you join Graham’s team,” he continued.

Graham’s eyes widened a little in surprise.

“We aren’t going to help with any turf wars,” I said firmly. “I’m only interested in the vials and the Aberrants.”

“I’m not sure you’re in a position to bargain further,” Sullivan said coldly. “I’ve been informed that you injured Spike on your way to me. Be thankful that he’s stabilized or this agreement might have not been tenable. Don’t worry, Graham shares your sentiment on feuding with the other Rings. His group is focused on information gathering. But I won’t tolerate abandonment if things turn violent.”

“Understood,” I said. I just want this night to be over.

Graham ushered us into a different car, letting us sit together in the back seat as he drove.

“You did good,” Graham said. “Sullivan is impressed with the two of you. Nick, you bargained well and Nell… you left quite an impression.” His tone at the end made it clear that it wasn’t entirely a compliment.

Nell looked away as he said that, clearly unhappy that he had brought it up.

My headache was too painful for me to question further about what had happened to the Arachknights. I just hoped that this doctor had some ibuprofen.

As the car vibrated pleasantly, I started to feel again like I was observing myself instead of being in my own body. I raised my hand to massage my head and froze.

My hand wasn’t my own. It was a lighter shade and had a snake tattoo that started at my wrist and ended coiled around my thumb. My knuckles were bruised and heavily scarred and my fingers were thicker and shorter. I turned it over, examining it with dreamlike bemusement, only to find that my hand was my own again. I rubbed at the palm, wondering if I’d finally lost it after seeing so many horrors in one night.

When we made it to the doctor’s house, we were quickly brought inside out of the rain and given towels to dry off with. As I dragged the rough fabric across my wet skin, a new tattoo revealed itself on my upper arm. It was a pin up girl holding a smoking gun. What terrible taste.

My head throbbed and then the tattoo was gone.

There was only so much a towel could do with my soaking clothes. I was offered a change of clothing but I refused. Getting naked in front of a bunch of strangers was the last thing I wanted to do.

The doctor didn’t look old, but her hair was already graying and she held an expression of perpetual stress. I held Nell’s gaze as the doctor set her arm. She screwed up her face as the doctor poked and prodded her swollen limb. 

Then the doctor pushed the bone into place. Nell’s emotions shot through my body like a bolt of lightning, making my fingertips tingle and for a split second, I saw a ghost in the reflection of the medicine cabinet.

It was the face of the Tongue. Not the monster, but the person it had come from, no longer looking at me with hatred, but instead a relaxed grin like he knew me.

Oh, great. As if tonight wasn’t enough, now I’m being haunted.