I, Human

Fate of The Fallen | The Final Member

A perfumed bedroom, tasteful portraits turned to voyeurs, sunlight filtering through jade curtains, a bed soft as he imagined clouds would be and his lips, tasting those of another man for the first time. That was the first and last time Charles felt his heartbeat this fast. Though, the reason his heart was trying to run up the steep incline of his throat and out of his mouth was as different as the setting.

"You can talk?" he croaked, chest straining against the iron bars, held in place by a grip easily as strong.

He looked into the monster's eyes and the snake strangling his innards turned to stone. In those eyes, he saw no animosity, not hunger, not territoriality, or any other animal instinct. It was the look in Oliver's eye when he stared down an equation, the same in Niki's when she gave Schlatt the slip.

It was intelligence, emotion, recognition, and above all triumph.

The beast—was it even that? —opened its mouth but whatever it said was swallowed by the sound of gunfire, cacophonous in the closed confines of the sewer. The guard ran forward and took the thing in its chest with his bayonet. It screamed and shied away, slinking back into the shadows where its dark skin helped hide it.

"Are you alright?" The guard placed a hand on his shoulder. "Did it hurt you?"

Charles didn't move, he kept his grip on the bars and his eyes on the monster they were made to protect him from. He couldn't help but wonder who needed the protection more. H cleared his throat, straightened his sweater, and turned around.

"I certainly smell worse than when I first came in but besides that and almost soiling my breeches, I'm fine."

The guard smirked. "Turns out that mouth of yours has more uses than one."

"You don't know the half."

Charles offered a smirk of his own but even to him, it felt hollow. He had more pressing matters than a five-minute stand to attend to. He hurriedly gathered his book and pen and placed them in his satchel. When he was making for the door, the guard's hand fell on his shoulder.

"Wait, will I see you again?"

"Depends, will you be here next week?"

"Are you coming for me or the monster"

"Both," Charles said and then added after a brief pause, "And I mean that both ways."

The guard smirked again. "I give as good as I get, Charlie."

"So, next week." He'd need more sketches of the tunnel layouts and surrounding structures. A second visit was guaranteed.

"Why don't we make it a date, I'd like to see those pretty eyes in the sunlight."

Charles's heart leaped at the praise but he willed it to be still. If there was one time he needed to keep his straying thoughts in order, it was now. "You forget, I'm not here just for you."

He snorted. "The monster 'll be gone by then."

Charles frowned, quickly covering it up with a half-smile. "To where?"

"That information should be of no business to you."

The voice brought a chill with it, even the monster's raspy breathing seemed to quiet. Hell, the gaslight dimmed. The worst part was there was no way he could know if it was all in his head or actually happening. Such were the ways of the Ravens, their mere presence starting storms in people's minds. Worst of all was the poor guard. He'd said too much and was floundering to say anything now.

"Step aside, you in the red." The Raven's voice was as they all were, marred by machination, sullied by neither cadence nor tone, not timbre not pitch; emotionless.