Joyride

Rip Their Face Off

     Walking through the facility was eerie. The PA system continued giving announcements, meaning there was a chance we could run into another group of prisoners sent by Urbanshade.

     What was more nerve-wracking was not knowing if the movement on my diving gear was being tracked. If it was, would they assume I'm alive, or that some monster in here was dragging me around?

     Any monsters in here seemed to avoid us completely, and I assumed it had to do with me traveling with Sebastian. I watched the lights flicker and tensed up, looking around for the beast that was sure to come.

     My fingers loosely gripped the back of Sebastians shirt, eyes flicking around to find a locker to hide in.

     "It's okay," the mutant seemed to notice how tense I was. "I'm not gonna let anything touch you. Human or not."

     As the room went dark, Sebastian hid me slightly behind his body, the orb in front of his eyes dimming. Whatever was gone as soon as it entered, seeming to have not even noticed me.

     I lost track of how many rooms Sebastian led me through after the short encounter, but he eventually pulled open another vent and motioned for me to enter and waited a moment before he followed me in.

     The room was just as cramped as the last, but the stench hadn't carried over. "Get comfortable, my little human. This is where we'll be staying until those Urbanshade assholes come back."

     "About them. . ." I gestured to my diving gear. "I don't know if I can get this off without it, uhm," I made an explosion gesture with my hands.

     "Have no fear, I have the solution," he pulled a device off his tail, the appendage wagging as he did so. "My scrambler, remember? It should block out the signal and allow you to get out of that gear without it being detonated."

     He placed the device in my hands before turning away, giving me the privacy to try and remove the diving gear. I winced at the quiet beeping noise as I fidgeted with the neck of the gear. Yet, I managed to get the suit off with no problem. No terrible explosion ending in my demise, just the sound of it slumping to the ground.

     I hugged Sebastian's coat around me, taking cautious steps away from the diving gear. "It's off," my voice was quiet, fearing I would somehow be heard by the people of Urbanshade. "How do we get rid of it?"

     "With the help of a scrambler, I can easily dump it in the ocean where it'll be detonated from being 'out of bounds' by their means," the mutant spoke simply. "It's sad that those cowards would never set themselves up for the same fate."

     It made sense. Anyone they sent down there was a "criminal". They didn't care if we died, because they would kill us themselves if we didn't get this crystal they wanted so badly.

     "The next time their crew comes down here, I'll rip their face off," there was a dark grin on Sebastian's face. "and I'll send it back to them as a warning to never touch anything that's mine."

     He dropped the clothes he had collected and turned from me once more. "And you. You're so interesting, so different from anyone else sent on this task."

     I handed the tall mutant back his jacket as I adjusted the clothes on my body, unable to smooth out any wrinkles from how old the article was.  "You're interesting, too, Sebastian. A little scary at times, but intriguing. And you've been kind to me, and you're sticking your neck out for me more than you've needed to."

     "You're good company, Y/n. A sweet soul for someone considered a criminal," he reached down to ruffle my hair, grabbing the scrambler and diving suit a moment later. "You already know the drill," his back turned to me as he slithered out of the vent, silence taking over once more.

     Am I crazy to think I like him?