STRANGULATE | Markicest

58 | BRITTLE

With every wail of the sirens, Mark's breaths picked up.

He couldn't see the chaos unfolding in the City—couldn't see what triggered the haunting cries—but he could hear it, even from this high up.

Shouts, alarms, screeches. Glass shattering, metal bending.

Mark stared at the City... at the sloping buildings and the glittering lights. It would have looked peaceful—breathtaking, even—if it weren't for the swelling croon of chaos. His gaze lingered in the heart of the City, where the lights seemed the brightest... the most alive.

An explosion rattled the ground, lighting up the City in a fiery light.

Mark flinched, eyes wide.

Smoke flew into the air. A building crumbled and crashed.

Holy shit, thought Mark, mouth agape. His fingers dug into his legs until his knuckles were white. What the hell do I do?

Antinstine leaned over and rested a hand on top of Mark's, gazing at him through his lashes. Mark flinched and snapped out of his trance; his gaze whipped onto Anti's.

"You're tense," breathed Antinstine. He was deathly calm, even now. If anything, the wail of sirens and chaos seemed to relax him. It was unnerving.

Mark pulled his hand away, looking back out the window. Lights flashed against buildings in the City. Bullets. But he couldn't hear them.

"What exactly," said Mark, "did you put in that pill?"

Antinstine gazed at Mark for a moment, considering him. He glanced out the window, and when another explosion lit up the City's insides, he smiled.

"If the pill stripped their abilities within seconds, it would've been obvious," said Antinstine, fangs glinting. Mark gazed at him through the corner of his eye, uneasy. "Instead... I designed it to enhance an Evolved's abilities to their full potential for half an hour. Helps spread the excitement, y'know? Makes those bastards trust the damn thing." His lips curled into a smirk, and his eyes darkened. "But then, after the time's up... the drug turns them human. They'll just think the drug wore off."

He turned towards Mark, face wild and excited like a child getting candy.

"Wonderful, isn't it?" he breathed.

Mark swallowed, and he managed a smile, his insides twisting and turning. "Yeah," he said quietly.

He stared out the window, trying to focus on the pretty, glittering lights of the City. But with the sirens, and the billowing smoke, and the toppled buildings, he couldn't stay calm.

Mark shifted on the windowsill, exhaling. "If Edwards comes," he said, trying to cover the sound of the sirens with talking, "what do you plan to do?" He clenched his fists. "There's no way he can't hear what's going on."

Antinstine rose a brow, then hummed, resting his head back against the windowsill. His hair fell over his eyes, but it did nothing to hide the spark of energy in them.

"I didn't think about that, actually," he admitted.

Mark's heart fluttered, and he swallowed.

That meant Antinstine was unprepared. As malicious a plan as the drug, Cherub, was, he hadn't fully thought the aftermath through. His only goal was to make every Evolved human, kill them, and reign supreme as the only one with powers—the only High Evolved.

The Tear Stealer intervening wasn't even a possibility to him.

Mark regretted opening his mouth. He'd just given Antinstine time to think about what to do.