Eyes: The Story Of A Blind Heroine

Chapter 15

Due to it being just after lunchtime, the subway car was not very full. I sat stiffly upright in my seat, cane at the ready. I knew I was making a huge mistake meeting Percy alone. I  should have brought at least my stun gun, I thought. Then I remembered what the woman said on the phone. No weapons. My phone was also in the office. This was a terrible idea, I knew that, but who knew what else they'd do, or already have done, to Elise? I had to comply, at least on the surface.

Your employer follows on the next train, the ring assured me. Your adversaries do not know.

Some comfort, I thought, but it didn't alleviate any of the fear I felt. It is me they want, it's me they'll  get, she had said. What if those words were more truthful than even she had anticipated?

The subway car screeched to a halt and the doors shifted open. This was my stop. I got up, carefully made my way towards the door and exited, careful not to step in the gap between the platform and the train. The way down the stairs to the station entrance felt way longer than it must have been. I found myself wondering why, when it feels like the world was coming to an end, did it feel so dragged out? Had Kronos invented the perception of time this way?

I reached the entryway and cautiously made my way outside, waiting in the parking lot.

I had been standing there for some time when I heard the sound of a car approaching. I didn't recognise the engine sound, but by the smooth purr, it sounded new. The car stopped right in front of me. I heard the electric window rolling down, then Percy's voice calling out. "Hello, Bridge! Welcome to the party, hon! Get in the back, please? Someone is with me!"

Dick! I thought as I made my way to the back, opening the right side passage door, getting in, not saying a single word to them. If I could see, I would have glared daggers  into the back of his head.

Only when I closed the door and took a seat, did I notice that, mixed with the smell of leather seats and cologne, was the stench of sweat and over-processed potato chips.

"She's not very friendly today, is she?" Stephen mused from the front passenger seat.

"I mean, can you blame her?" Percival said,  almost good-naturedly, "her friend's in grave danger, after all. I think we can excuse her. Isn't that right, Sunshine?"

"Please don't call me Sunshine," I said flatly.

Percival made an exaggerated "Oof!" noise. "Your right, Stephen. Bridge, we have a way out for you! You just have to agree to help us and we'll let her go. Easy as that!"

-What's your issue with this guy?" I burst out, "why would you go through such lengths to try and get me to help you rise ... Who exactly?"

"Lord  Poseidon!" Stephen said proudly, "the god of the ocean! Who else? When he dethrones Zeus and takes over the Olympian Pantheon, things will be so much better for all of us!"

"Please excuse me if I find it really hard to believe you, Stephen," I said glumly, "but as far as I've heard, he will flood everything and complete what humanity has already done to the Earth."

"Look," Stephen said, "lord Poseidon will make this shithole of a planet his domain! Water is life, Bridge. All toxicity, disease and pollution will be washed away! Debts have long been owed the ocean, and now he is coming to claim it."

My ring heated up intensely, a tingle spreading up my arm. "If he's so powerful, how had he come to be chained up at the bottom of his own kingdom?" I found myself asking, as though prompted.

Percival chuckled,  actually chuckled at me. "Oh, sweetheart," he said, "don't you know anything about gods? They can trap each other, easy as pie. Titans can also do that, of course, since, you know, they're primordial."