Cairo

Chapter 16: Unraveling

Pain shot through Aerie's brain like static electricity. Even the noise that rippled in waves sounded like static from a television. She grabbed at her head as the pain seemed to increase. Her vision blurred slowly-images coming in and out of focus, still objects swaying back and forth like they were on a ship in the middle of a deadly storm. Then there was only darkness around her. The static rippling exploded in her ears until it was almost painful to listen to.

Like an old picture, a blurry image of something started to form in front of her. It hurt to focus on the image. Every fiber in her body felt like it was being torn apart from the inside out. They were piling  inside of her, expanding so rapidly she felt like a balloon about to pop. She screamed as she struggled to keep her eyes on the image that was flying at her.

They were lips-extremely dry, rough, and large. The lips pressed together then flattened out into a grin. Another wave of black and white blurry static interrupted the image before it flashed in front of Aerie again. This time the lips were spread out into a toothy grin. They were inviting and kind. A poof of heat wormed its way through Aerie's heart before disappearing.

Cairo stood over Aerie and watched as she took large breaths on the cobblestone ground. He watched as her breathing went from an erratic frenzy to completely normal in a matter of seconds. When her breathing flattened, her eyes flickered open. She pushed her hands on the ground as she stood up, brushing any dirt off the sides of her arms that might have stuck. Her eyes caught sight of the Cloud Kleptos.

"Who's that?" A small ripple of pain shot through Aerie's brain. She shook her head, her fingers pinching the bridge of her nose. "Nevermind. That's the Cloud Kleptos. "

"What's the problem?" Cairo asked as his eyes connected with Aerie's.

"Cane's parents came," she said. "I wasn't there for all of it-I only got there near the end just as I saw him being thrown into a car. I followed it and saw some men drag him into a house. It's the same as last time we were here."

"Thanks for today, Yun. I'd like to speak with you later after we settle this little dilemma." The card in Cairo's hand glowed as Yun nodded, turning into a smoky mist that disappeared into the card. "As for Cane's problem, I don't know if it will be as simple as last time we did this."

As soon as Aerie caught up to Cairo who had bolted out of the gap between the two buildings, she was easily able to keep up with his almost sprint-like pace as he pushed and maneuvered through the people that littered the roads. He stopped right before a larger group of people. They were all gathered around in a semicircle like they had been earlier around Houri's makeshift stage, whispering and pointing towards Meredith's house. Cairo pushed through the people until he was almost through them, but stopped before he made it all the way through. Aerie walked up next to him, squeezing right next to him with little space for either of them. He tilted his head towards her, keeping his eyes straight while trying to listen to the person next to them. Before he could discern what they were saying, a hand grabbed his shoulder, pulling him into another body. His glare connected with Meredith's vivid blue eyes.

"Get inside," Meredith hissed in Cairo's ear.

She pulled him behind her as she quickly shuffed to her door, giving him a light shove into the house. He stumbled inside, tripping over his feet a few times before he caught his balance.  A loud bang echoed through the silent house followed by a series of soft footsteps.

"I don't know what you were thinking," she said, shaking her head profusely as she glared at Cairo, her accent more thick than it had been the day before. "If someone found out what you were doing, do you know what they say about me? I told you how people act around here."