Dawn of Fog and Glass

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Dawn of Fog and Glass

A click of the driver's door opening signals us that Ariadna's joined us in the truck again. None of us knows what to say.

I drum my fingers on my lap, avoiding eye contact—which, really, is ridiculous when taking into consideration that I can't see her through this Fog if I try.

I hear her inhale sharply beside me.

Slowly, as soon as it arrived, the greyish Fog blocking my vision thins as she lets the Fog outside of the vehicle. As it clears, I begin to see her fingers slipping away from each other as if coated in cooking oil. Once we're free of the Fog, she rolls up the windows and shuts the door behind her.

"I thought you said you were a green case!" Draco says, voice cracking.

She pulls a new handgun from her coat pocket. "I am." She reaches into a drawer sitting in her door—maybe her own special glove compartment—and pulls out a whitish cloth with which she begins cleaning the handgun.

Dom sounds suspicious when he talks. "But you control the Fog? That's your ability?"

She hums in response, something which I assume means "yes".

Another silence lapses over us as we awkwardly watch her clean out the gun and check how many bullets are left. Occasionally, she makes a sound of pleasure or discontent. After the first gun, she pulls another out of her other coat pocket and a third from a hidden panel beneath her feet.

"Um," I say, shifting uncomfortably, "how many guns do you own?"

"Many, love. It's not something I'm necessarily proud of." She leans back in her seat to survey Dom and Draco. "I don't suppose either of your signature weapons are guns?"

They look between each other. Dom opens his mouth and shuts it.

"They don't do the 'signature weapon' thing at the institute," I supply for them. "Mine's double daggers, though." When she gives me an odd look, I explain, "I was at Marksberg before a few months ago."

She gives us a rundown of what to do once we leave the car: wait for her signal, keep our eyes and ears open for watchers, and to keep ourselves as hidden as possible. Do not use the guns unless instructed otherwise.

Follow Ariadna, stay quiet. Listen.

And whatever we do, don't leave her side.

**

A curious thing about the Fog is that it rarely respects personal space or boundaries. Although it caused all this chaos, it often resembles a child; all it wants is to know. And to do so, it explores. It digs into all the nooks and crannies, it infects and learns from all the brains it can find, it constantly grows and expands and develops. All by spreading.

As Ariadna leads us through the garage and into the heavy Fog, it becomes clear to me that the Fog reacts to her differently. Rather, it respects her. It understands her.

She guides us through the blanket of grey as if she can see right through it, like a Crawler. Not once does she hesitate or make a wrong turn or take the wrong step.

And what's more is that the Fog moves around her. Behind me, Draco and Dom become vague, dark outlines, but Ariadna remains in clear focus.

She allows the Fog to thin for us as we step off the gravel path and onto something solid and hard that crackles underneath my feet—dirt, hardened by the snow.

The looming house overhead comes into view and takes the shape of a three-story wreck. It once was beautiful: the chipping pink paint with an off-white trim and sunken veranda climbing with dead ivy makes that much clear. Although I can't see it, I feel the broken glass littering the cobblestone path that leads away from the door, reminiscent of someone desperate enough to penetrate the heartbroken aura of the old house in the hopes of finding something to steal.