Stuck Together

Chapter 4

The trip had been long and difficult, but saying goodbye to Estelle this morning had been harder. She'd cried clinging to my legs, and poor Jason, he tried everything he could to get her to stop, eventually we got her to get off when he offered her a little soar through the air. She was still upset but took it better after that.

Now though, all I could feel was the pounding of my heart in my chest, it was pumping so hard that my chest hurt. I was skittish, any noise made me jump and I found myself examining every alleyway like it was going to open a portal and summon a horde of monsters.

I'd decided the best attire for this was a hoodie and some cargo pants. It was the most flexible clothing for just in case this whole situation got out of hand. I'd stopped at mom and Paul's place on the way over and called the cops. They had me answer questions for a few hours and then sent me on my way. I was a hindrance to their work anyways, not to mention I already knew the culprit.

The area this guy had me pull up to was shady to say the least, every street was littered with either people or trash, both laid scattered around the ground, I couldn't even tell if some of the people were breathing.

It was the type of place I'd imagine a guy like this to call me to, it fit everything perfectly, like it was straight out of a movie. I shoved my hands in my pockets, attempting to stick out as little as possible. I needed to be in and out with as little trouble as I could manage.

But as I neared the broken down building I couldn't help but think "What kind of horror movie had my life turned into?" The place had clearly burned down, the scorch marks littered the walls, and whatever wasn't burnt was coated in spray painted like tattoos, some brightly colored, others dark and ominous like a warning. Everything in my body screamed that this was wrong, the whole place looked diseased, like it was a tumor on this block of buildings, but I pushed through, keeping my fast pace, my eyes open for any suspicious characters who may be following me around.

Up close, the building was worse, the place smelled of something sour and vaguely like burned plastic. I could see something that had dried up against the walls, I tried not to pay it much mind.

I looked around for an entrance, eventually finding what had once been a doorway but was now half covered, a large sheet of metal had clearly collapsed, covering the top right corner completely. Sucking in a deep breath I readied myself before ducking down to get inside, trying my best to not touch the rusty metal in fear of potentially contracting an illness.

The place was disgusting. That was my first thought. The floor was covered in trash and used cigarettes, small puddles had formed all around the place, some looked green, others a sludge like black substance.

Were mom and Paul here? Had they been subjected to this treatment all night long? Maybe longer?

I tried to stop that train of thought, but internally I could already feel the damage it had caused, my anger welling up.

The roof had a huge hole torn in it, or maybe that was from the rust inevitably weakening the material and causing it to open up. The moonlight trickled inside, leaving a spotlight of sorts.

If there was one thing I noticed though, it was the astounding lack of people. No one else was here. I looked around cautiously, I didn't like not knowing where this person was. In my pocket I fiddled with Riptide, ready to use it at any moment. My eyes scanned the room, looking for anything else I could use as a weapon. I spotted a few potential items, specifically a pipe.

"Well well! You actually showed up!!" I felt my veins turn to ice, a small jump running through me as my head snapped in the direction of the noise.

That's when I saw him, he was lanky, tall, and pristinely white. Not white in the natural way though, his skin was white as paper, so white that he practically glowed under the moonlight. I felt my skin crawl just at the sight, I'd always thought that Nico was pale, but this guy took it to another level, it was like he'd never seen the light of day ever before. To compliment his skin was his green hair which was oily and barely slicked, some spare pieces sticking up almost in protest, it was a swampy green, the type of sickly green that always meant something gross or horrible was coming. Then there was the suit. It was purple, over the top, and outright hideous.