Offbeats

Doors

I follow the man down the street, away from the town and the factories, where I usually stay.

I've been down this way a couple times before,- especially on my first week- but have never made it this far.

Offbeats are a rarity down this way, now only two separate me from the man upahead.

My heart is pounding against my chest so hard, it's all i can hear.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

I don't know why I feel such a compelling need to follow him. I suppose it's because I saw something familiar in him, something that made me feel like I wasn't alone.

I stare at the Offbeat in front of me.

The way the Offbeats move isn't like us. Every movement, for them, is certain. Like they know that every time they pick their foot off the floor, it's going to land perfectly infront of them. No mistakes. No errors.

Execpt for the defective ones.

Wait...

Maybe that's what they are doing in the fact-

My train of thought is broken by the sudden change in direction from the man.

I follow, keeping my distance, as nothing seperates us anymore.

I follow him down a short alleyway between two dark, slighty run down buildings.

Not like any buildings I've seen back in town.

At the end of the alley is a large steel door, which he knocks on in a very unusual sequence, almost like a song.

A bead of sweat runs down my back as I try to keep my footsteps light against the concrete.

The door makes a few clanging sounds- locks?- then creaks open loudly, revealing complete darkness.

I run my forefinger along the inside of my thumb, from the tip up. A nervous thing I acquired not long after I awoke.

I should turn back.

I can't.

My legs keep moving, curious.

What if this is some sort of test? A test for suspected Defectives to prove they are what they suspected. If it is, then I'm walking right into their trap.

I stop, still staring at the back of the man's head.

But if it isn't, I-I...

Well, I don't really know what.

I don't have the slightest damn clue what is held within the blackness inside the door.

"Hey!" A voice yells from god knows where.

I panic.

The Offbeats, they found us.

I spin around, now facing the way I came into the alley.

Nothing.

Wait...

The man.

I turn back to face him.

He has turned too, and now his eyes are locked onto mine.

I gasp, the noise echoing in the tight alleyway.

His eyes are as green as emeralds, his face as hard as stone, yet there is something else amongst it that urges me to trust.

I have never known an Offbeat to have such intense eyes, full of life.

Full of human.

Suddenly, he shifts his lips up into a smile. "You coming or what?"

***

I bet you can guess what I did next.

That's right, I followed.

The tunnel we walk seems to go on forever, darker and eerier which each step.

The man has not spoken again and I'm too afraid- I'm not gonna deny it- to do anything else but follow, my arms drawn into my chest.

We fall deeper still into the abyss, with only the sound of footsteps on concrete and a frightened girl's ragged breaths.

The near-silence is continually absoulete, until a voice cuts through it. "We're here."

It's the man. I realise his voice is coming from about only a foot infront of me, so I slow down slightly, pretending I didn't draw closer to him on purpose.

A second later he rasps loudly on a metal-sounding door, this time in no obvious pattern, and it swings open with a small squeak.

Light floods into the tunnel, blinding me. I raise my hands up to my face to shield my eyes.

It takes me a few goes until I'm able to open my eyes fully. When I do, I realise there are now two men, the one I followed here and a new guy, half his face covered by a fuzzy beard. They are talking in voices so low I can only grasp a few words.

...it's her...didn't suspect...free...

When they catch me looking, they stop instantly.

"Don't worry, we weren't talking entirely about you." The original man says, smirking.

When I don't respond, he lifts his eyebrows, sniffs and turns back to the bearded guy. "Cheers, see you at the Meeting I suppose."

"Sure will. Later." They slap their hands together, in the space between each other's chest and squeeze.

It's a greeting I don't recognise. One the Offbeats would never accept.

My faith that these people will help me grows, despite not wanting to get my hopes up.

"Let's go." The original man says and I don't hesitate.

As I pass the second man he scans me from head to toe then inclines his head toward the other man, telling me to continue.

I obey, despite my racing heart.