Seek {Superhero AU} - Ending 1

15: The Toxins Wear You Down, Down, Down

NPOV

Track: Viper, Derivakat

All the air is knocked from my lungs when I hit the wall. The gas mask melds with a dark, featureless mask that covers my assailant's face and disappears into the cloak. I cough and gasp for air, but I don't have time to catch my breath because the air is starting to smell strongly sulfuric, and it's hot and sticky.

"Hey!" Will shouts, verging on a roar. "Don't touch him!"

At the sound of Will's voice, the killer startles and whips around to look at Will in all his ski-mask-ninja glory. "What are you doing here?" asks the robotic voice.

"I'm fucking you up, that's what I'm doing here," Will growls, and then he's calling a ball of light to his hand, and I know by now to shut my eyes without him having to warn me. There's a flash of blinding light that seeps through my eyelids—I blink as I open my eyes again, preparing to escape the killer's grip now that their eyes are burning—

Except the killer doesn't look fazed at all by the bright light. "You shouldn't be here," they tell Will. "You shouldn't see this."

Why hasn't the killer melted my face off yet? They had killed that guard on the first floor in seconds. In fact, the sulfuric smell in the air is actually becoming more tolerable—more like a rotten egg than a deadly acid pool of doom. Are they recalling their powers?

"Your mask," Will realizes, and the blood drains from his face. "It blocks out most of my light, doesn't it?"

I call as many shadows as I can—and I ram them into the killer's stomach. Finally, they cough and stumble off me. As soon as I'm free, I don't let up—I hit the killer with a wave of shadows that should be able to knock over an elephant—the killer fixes their gaze on me as they struggle to remain standing, and I watch in horror as a reddish gas leaks out of their gas mask.

Will grabs me. "We're getting out of here, now."

I'm torn—this person kidnapped one of my sisters and killed the other. Hazel is here—in this building! Probably on this floor, even.

But I have a sick feeling that once I breathe in even the smallest amount of that red gas, I will never see the light of day again. Will was right. This killer wanted to capture me, too—and if they succeed, Hazel is dead.

Will drags me through the hall, and the killer finally breaks through my wave of shadows, and I hear the heavy beating of boots hitting the ground behind us. We're being chased—!

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" I cry, pushing my burning legs to go faster and faster. Will keeps pace with me, and we hold hands, arms pumping in sync, to make sure one of us doesn't get caught. As we run, there's a sulfuric odor sinking upon us. I look up, gasping for air, and see a red vapor coming out of the air vents. Holy shit, the killer has the whole building in their control—

"Will—" I say, gasping, "Hold your breath."

"Are you fucking crazy?" he asks. "We're trying to run!"

"Do it!"

He takes one last gasping breath of air before doing what I say, and then I grab him and struggle to get off the ground in flight—I can't think of anything happy enough right now to fly. Will sees what I'm trying to do—so he grabs me, and this time we lift off the ground easily. We soar together past all the storage rooms, moving like lightning through clouds of that burning red gas. It hurts my skin even to fly through it—boils are beginning to form on any exposed skin.

We make it to the heavy double doors, and Will sets me down to pull them open. I realize I can't hear the pounding of heavy boots anymore—I turn to look back at the hallway—