Prevolution - EN

The salty scent of freedom - part 2

Hectically I rose and was already about to leave. At the height of her curtain I stopped once more and looked back at her. Uncertainty was reflected in her eyes. In the end, her curiosity and the chance to get out of this shithole won out, because she rose as well. Hastily, she grabbed a few things from her cabin, which she put into all her pockets, and last but not least, she put on a coat.

Now she seemed ready to leave. Determined, she stepped beside me and nodded. Hastily we marched down the stairs, towards the great hall. That was where things would get complicated, though. I wasn't usually with other hybrids, which was bound to cause a stir. Cautiously, I peeked around the corner, already recognizing some guards running their regular tour.

As quietly as I could, I took Lilith aside and whispered to her, "Listen, you know as well as I do that I don't exactly travel with hybrids often. That's why it will be strange to see us together. If anyone asks questions, we'll say I've caught you trying to escape again and am taking you to the darkroom."

Without wasting another word Lilith just nodded at me. Tense we entered the large hall. Of course it didn't take long until one or the other guard was already looking at us, but fortunately they didn't seem to think that our being together was strange. I was just about to relax, especially since we could already see the entrance to the lower level. Just when happiness was within reach, the worst thing possible happened. 

Of all the scenarios in my head, I had least expected this one, with it being by far the worst. Marco stood abruptly in front of us and grinned slimily at us with his crooked teeth. Immediately, I felt Lilith tense up in fear beside me. I also felt the fear preparing in me and trying to infect every cell of my body like a poisonous virus. For a brief moment I was almost rigid with panic, but suddenly I felt a feeling inside me that I had sorely missed for years. Hope. Hope of never having to see his dirty mug again, should I get through this conversation with him now. Suddenly my posture loosened again and I managed to return his smile in a relaxed manner.

"Good evening Marco. What brings you to these deserted corridors at such a late hour? Aren't there more important things for you to do than stroll around here?", I asked as confidently as I could.

"I could ask you both the same question," he replied immediately. "It's strange to see you together right now. I don't recall you cultivating any existing friendships. You have none, as you know best."

His verbal attack was not long in coming. Marco not only knew how to inflict physical pain, he was also very good at tearing one's soul apart. Nevertheless, his words just bounced off me today.

"I always thought we were friends. You disappoint me," I countered sarcastically. I didn't know exactly why, but Marco had always had a strange relationship with me. Sometimes it almost seemed like he loved and hated me at the same time. Like a little boy's favourite toy, which he still wanted to destroy out of spite, simply because he had the power to do so. "Anyway, I caught Lilith trying to escape once again. I'm about to take her to the darkroom. I didn't want to burden you with this unnecessarily."

For a short moment my muscles tensed nervously. This was the moment when it was decided whether we would get out of this situation in one piece. Namely whether Marco believed my statement or not. As if spellbound we both stared at him, when he suddenly clapped his hands enthusiastically.

"And I thought the day you finally obeyed me without argument would never come. Maybe I shouldn't call you my butterfly anymore, but my dog. You almost follow me blindly. Keep up the good work."

As if nothing had happened, he clapped me on the shoulder with praise and continued walking. The whole thing seemed almost too easy. For once, however, I wanted to trust my luck.

"Farewell, Marco. I hope you will meet an agonizing death in the near future, even if it will not be by my hand, unfortunately," I whispered more to myself, but Lilith was attentive enough to hear my words.

"I guess I misjudged your relationship. But I guess we should talk about that another time."

Silently I agreed with her and we continued our way into the basement vault. A short time later we reached the others. Relieved, I fell into Lia's arms, who was already coming towards me excitedly. She must have been very worried about whether I would make it. Reassuringly, I stroked her head as I looked around. Jeneva and her didn't seem to have been idle while I was gone either. All the prisoners on this level had been freed and seemed ready to escape. Since there were some very weakened people among them, the stronger ones supported the weaker ones. Now Jeneva also joined us. With a movement of her head she pointed at Lilith.

"I assume because of her, you compromised our schedule. I hope it was worth it." she said sternly, but then softened the statement with a smile.

"Let me worry about that. Since we don't have time for big ideas now, let's go straight to the plan. What's next, boss?" I asked impatiently.

Concentrating, Jeneva closed her eyes for a few seconds, then began to lightly raise her hands. "It should be soon," she finally said. "Okay, listen up. Below us are huge water channels that were once created under the city. I will flood these with water, causing this lower level to collapse, exposing the channels for us. It should work, as the masonry of this building has suffered greatly the last few years, and with all the plants breaking through, it's porous and brittle anyway."

"Wait a minute, Jeneva," I interrupted her, confused. "How can you make the canals flood at this very moment? Something like that doesn't just happen. And even if it did, we're not water hybrids, we'd eventually drown."

"Do you think I'm so naive as to not have already considered these details?" she asked snappishly. "As I told you earlier today, I have some connection to water, and in fact I can bring certain amounts of it under my control. Not for long, but it should be enough for our endeavor. In addition, I have a connection to water creatures and they will also assist us. Just hold on to them and they will get us out as quickly as possible."

I looked at her in disbelief. I would have liked to call her crazy, but I had promised to trust her. So I just kept silent and looked down at my little sister. Nobody else said a word. It was as if the sudden tension was the last calm before the storm. This one actually hit us unexpectedly as the whole building began to shake. Startled, my eyes widened, letting go of my sister.

 Concentrated I looked at the ground, on which slowly more and more small cracks formed. It was like a storm that broke its way. First slowly and insidiously, but all at once it was unstoppable. A huge rift tore me and Lia now finally apart. Unfortunately, I seemed to have positioned myself so far away from the group that I was the only one who was now standing cut off on the other side of the fissure.

But it didn't matter either, after all, we would be jumping into the same abyss together. In disbelief, I ventured to the edge to take a quick look inside. With concentrated force, the water made its way through the channels and mercilessly swept away everything in its path. But the longer it flowed, the weaker it became. In a short time we were able to jump in and had a good chance of surviving. As a few splashes of the water touched me, I couldn't help but look over to Jeneva, who was standing directly across from me.

All at once I realized that their capture had not been accidental. The organization had been aware of her power. While she also looked over at me from the other side and our eyes met, she showed a knowing smile. A salty smell invaded my nose, probably coming from the running water. With that smell in my nose and the sight of Jeneva before my eyes, I wondered again, what kind of hybrid was Jeneva and how powerful was she really?