Catabolism - Part Two: Diplopia

Chapter Fourteen

This girl was going to make him lose his job, Leon thought. If she did not get them both killed first.

She had let go of his hand once they fell in behind the potentially dangerous stranger, he guessed once she was sure that he was not going to abandon her. How could he? To say this guy was sketchy was so much of an understatement that it might as well be a compliment. He did not understand what Taliah was thinking. On top of that, it was growing darker by the minute, and they were walking through the woods, not a path in sight.

It would be easy, he thought. Taliah was half a pace in front of him, not focused on him. He could have her in a harmless headlock, thrown over his shoulder, and back to the bike before she could even decide she hated him for it. He could live with the fallout. It was not like he was successfully winning her over anyway. He was supposed to be doing his job.

He was nearly counting himself down when Taliah's head pointed off in a particular direction. Her pace did not slow, but she said, "Can you hear that?"

No, Leon thought, but he was beginning to suspect that she had been downplaying at least one of her senses. It would not be the first time he noticed her reacting to sounds that a normal person would not hear. But then again, he had to remind himself that she was not a normal person.

All the more reason not to let her wander into the woods where anyone or anything could get her. He readied himself to grab her, but then paused.

He felt it rather than heard it, but it was definitely something. A thrum, low and steadily on some inaudible beat. Bass, growing more noticeable with each step. Was there... music nearby? All the way out here?

Before he could ask anything, a large shape emerged from the darkness ahead of them. The earth sloped up, rounded over a man-made opening, forming a cavern. A drainage tunnel, Leon assumed. A chain link fence stood directly before them, separating them from the black, gaping maw.

"It's dope," their staggering guide chuckled out, stooping toward the fence.

A moment later, Leon saw that a section of the chain link had been hastily cut, the stranger pulling a jagged-edged strip back, leaving an opening barely big enough for someone to get through. Leon was ready to grab for Taliah in case the stranger meant for her to go first, but thankfully he slipped through without another word.

And then the fence separated them. The stranger walked purposefully into the tunnel, leaving the two of them standing in the dark, the air vibrating around them from distant music. Before Leon could resume his protesting, Taliah twisted to face him, and he hesitated. Her grin was ear to ear, nearly shining in the dark.

Was this payback?

"Come on," she said and grabbed his arm, and somehow Leon found himself in a pitch-black drainage tunnel in the middle of nowhere.

Well, nearly pitch black.

Oddly, the ground was periodically littered with what looked like dollar store glowsticks. Guiding the way, he supposed, though the distances between were inconsistent and overall unhelpful. They barely made it two steps before the glow dimmed uselessly.

"Yeah, that's safe," Leon hissed beneath his breath.

Taliah's hand brushed against his, whether intentional or not, he may never know. "Don't be jealous because you didn't bring your glowsticks."

He did not know he needed them, he thought bitterly, but did not want to vocalize.

"I hope you know what you're doing," he whispered out in a breath. He sure had no idea.

Her response was to hook her arm around his, shifting into his side as they walked. "I'm smarter than I look," she whispered back.

Which was not an answer, but Leon neglected to retort, his attention squarely on their shared contact.