Silco x Reader

Three

Carefully you approached the patient, who was twitching in pain on the couch and screaming random words over and over again.

The syringe filled with the shimmer you held hidden in your sleeve, ready at any time to pull out and administer him the contents. It would be better if he did not notice what exactly you wanted to give him. That would only have led to him knowing that you possessed the drug that was eating up his body piece by piece and disfiguring it with purple boils.

He turned to the side, away from you, leaned over the edge and threw up. Thick, red blood gushed from his mouth and covered the floor tiles.

You took the opportunity to grab his neck and empty the syringe as fast as you could.

As the shimmering violet liquid coursed through his veins, causing him pain for a moment, he cried out loudly and threw his head back. Shimmering veins pressed against his pale skin, then he fell back into bed, exhausted.

At the sight of his heavy eyes, you had to sigh.

This patient was beyond saving. It was not a question of if he would die, but when. Until this day came, you could do nothing but ease his delusions and the pain of withdrawal with small doses of shimmer.

Silently he thanked you while one of the volunteer nurses wiped the blood from his mouth.

You nodded and gave him an encouraging smile before leaving.

Your eyes wandered through the small room. The situation in the hospital had gotten drastically worse in the last few months. Since Vander was gone and his protective influence had disappeared, many had become involved with the violet drug in exchange for power.

As a result, the Lanes had sunk even lower than they already were. The observatory had risen dramatically, along with the violent incidents.

You knew the side effect of shimmer all too well. Few years ago, your father had been one of the first to suffer the consequences. But even if you no longer hated the man who was responsible for all this, you couldn't stop it all from becoming too much for you.

The situation was getting out of control.

A soft gasp suddenly sounded behind you. Surprised, you turned around and spotted Jinx's blue braid.

Wide-eyed, she peered out from behind a box, directly at the addict who was fighting for the last minutes of his life.

Concerned, you moved closer to block her view.

"Jinx!", you knelt down to her. "You shouldn't be here. The people here are dangerous."

With a gentle smile, you drew her attention to you.

There was a strange expression in her eyes. She was not afraid. She probably knew the sight of shimmer and its victims, after all, she was a child of the Undercity.

But for some reason, she was far too curious. The other children usually fled from the sight, and if it wasn't fear, it was disgust. Only Jinx looked at people as if they were rabbits in a laboratory. Maybe it was because she was a little older than the other children, but still her behavior was unusual.

"Jinx?", gently you patted her shoulder. "Do you know shimmer?"

With puffed out cheeks she nodded.

"It makes people strong and invulnerable.", she explained in her enthusiastic, light-hearted way. "Then they can smash walls and fight the enforcers."

Surprised by her statement, your eyebrows rose.

"Have you ever seen anything like that?"

She shook her head.

"My dad tells me stories to help me fall asleep."

You frowned.

"That doesn't sound like the kind of stories children should hear."

She shrugged and stretched her neck to look over your shoulder at the man. But when she noticed that someone had covered his body with a white cloth, she groaned in disappointment.

Concerned, you looked at her for a moment.

"You know, Jinx, this is not a good place to play.", you pointed to a door that led to the backyard. "I'm sure the others are outside. Go and play with them."

But she shook her head.

"Nah, don't want to.", she grumbled, suddenly looking as if she had thought of something again. "The door to your lab was open! I think you have a visitor."

Grinning cheekily, she jumped up and disappeared between the rows of beds.

You watched her for a moment, puzzled by the strange behaviour. Maybe it was just because she was new and needed to get used to others. Or maybe her father was just one of many addicts and she was therefore used to the cruel sight.

"What did you always say, Dad?", you rose with a grunt. "A child's abnormalities are given to them by the cruelty of their parents."

You decide not to worry too much about her for the time being, but still keep an eye on the situation.

Quickly, you asked one of the volunteers to take care of the difficult cases for you, then you pushed through the door to the back hallway and headed for the lab.

Arriving there, you stopped.

The door was indeed open. Light fell into the dark hallway and in this light a shadow danced.

Skeptically you frowned.

There were no visitors in Zaun. Either friends came by to assure their support or enemies wanted to kill. You had friends, but most of them avoided coming to your sanctuary. They made their money selling the drug and were dogs of the man who held everything in his hands.

Taking a breath, you pushed open the door and entered.

Your gaze wandered around the lab. It was empty.

Puzzled, you frowned and took another step into the room.

The door slammed shut behind you. A shadow jumped over your shoulder and grew on the floor.

You did not turn around. There was only one person who would have been interested in talking to you in person.

"How nice to finally meet you, Samaritan.", a voice said that seemed as if the owner was trying to wrap his opposite in silk and oil.

It was the kind of voice that was unique, one that could be recognised in the dark with blindfolded eyes. It was smooth, yet scratchy with a slight posh accent. The man to whom it belonged knew exactly how to use this calm and yet threatening voice, so that the world was at his feet.

You exhaled sharply.

"Silco.", you closed your eyes. "To what do I owe the honor?"