Worlds of Waves and Shadows

Fifty Three

"Self-control, Kaenisa, self-control." She muttered to herself, trying hard not to grab one of her daggers and stab Rolan, who was running around, jumping like a madman in the room lit only by a halogen lamp.

They had rushed to this building, following the screaming, something which he was still engaged in, and found him on the first floor.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" Zaira asked, face twisted with confusion and annoyance.

The Russian was clawing at his back and front like a monkey, screaming profanities in Russian.

Then she heard it, disgust creeping into her voice as she translated, "Rats."

"Rats?"

"Yes, rats."

"Wh...where?" Sarina questioned with an expression that reflected the fear of God.

"There." Deimos pointed at a large-ass rat wriggling out of Rolan's t-shirt.

Zaic grimaced at the sight, as did she, looking at the ugly rodent. It made her skin crawl.

"I should just kill him." Kaenisa hissed, beyond exasperated.

"Who? The rat or the Russian?" Deimos urged.

"Both." She hissed through gritted teeth.

This...this was why she was not in her bed at three in the morning?

"I think the rat is doing it for you," Zaic nodded, his lips twisted with revulsion.

While she liked the idea of Rolan being devoured by a rat, it wasn't worth going deaf for.

"For fuck's sake Rolan, it's just a rat." Kaenisa said, but her words didn't seem to be reaching him.

She sighed. There was no other choice.

Kaenisa aimed her gun, honing her focus on the squirming pest before pulling the trigger.

A whooshing sound later, the rat was dead and splattered all over the Russian, who seemed to have sobered up a bit.

"Sober enough?" Kaenisa asked, going up to him.

He reeked of alcohol, a dazed look of confusion in his viridian eyes.

"Hmm, I guess not." Kaenisa shrugged before whacking him across the face, "How 'bout now?"

"Owww!" Rolan shrieked, waking up, "That hurts!"

"I know. That's why I did it."

"Rolan, what are you doing here?" Sarina ventured, concern tinged with suspicion; shining in her eyes.

"I um—" Rolan began but Zaira cut him off.

"What is that?" The Princess demanded, eyebrows knitted in an expression of wariness.

Kaenisa followed her gaze to the steel trunk behind the Russian.

There was nothing much inside the room except a pile of plastic sheets lying in one corner and iron rods in the other. It made her wonder why she hadn't noticed the trunk before.

She peered in, under the slanting rays of the halogen lamp and the first whispers of dawn, feeling the dread creeping up her spine.

"What," Kaenisa began, voice quiet, "Is this?"

The crouching boy beside her had gone completely white, completely sober. So much so, that he wouldn't even look at her.

Kaenisa couldn't explain what she felt at the moment. Rage? Betrayal? She couldn't put a finger on it.