||Series Removed|| OTB

30 - Parting The Sea

  Smacking the sides of my own head, I tried to contain my own wails of desperation as the morbid scene spiralled out of control around me. Mister-E was nowhere in my field of vision, and I'd resorted to stripping Tanner of his shirt in order to clean up the impossible levels of blood surrounding him.

  I don't know what my thought process was, maybe I thought I could cover it up? There was no way I could sneak his body past Charlotte, Blessing would be awake soon and even the mayor had seen everything. Speaking of him, he'd been tapping on the door for minutes now, trying to get my attention.

  "It wasn't your fault son... The boy was troubled, everyone knew that. You did what you needed to-"

  "Shut up, just... shut up!!" I threw my bloodied rag of clothing towards his solemn face, falling short due to its spongey weight. "None of this shit would be happening, if it wasn't for you!!" I knew he wasn't the one responsible for Tanner's death, but at least it felt good to try and pass the blame.

  My eyes tore over to the magician, still hunched over Blessing's slowly-regenerating body as he fiddled around with his flask. Peeking past the waistcoat, I saw him pinch her sliced wounds with two fingers, dribbling some of her redness into his twisted little cocktail.

  "And you... What the hell do you think you're doing, with that?!" I paused, remembering that Puppets were on a whole other tier from regular Flesh monsters. "You were chasing her, this whole time?"

  "What? Is that what you think?" His lips curved into a threatening grin, although it felt forced as usual. "I couldn't care less about the First One's legacy, all of those soldier types are so dull. This is just to add to my collection, that's all... There's no telling when a pinch of the virus could come in handy."

  I knew that Blessing would never allow the theft, if she was conscious. I wasn't exactly sure of what Telos could do if they got their hands on a sample of her blood, but it was clear that this man was not on their side. With any luck, he might even drink her charged fluid and become so infected that his O-Negativity wouldn't be able to save him.

  The Swede could tell that I was on the fence, and so he tucked his flask under his belt before stepping away to the back office. I assumed that he was about to leave through the fire exit, before he turned his head to the side with a pitiful look.

  "This is my stop. There's no place for me up ahead."

  "Good. Fuck off, and don't come near me again," I hissed, glad to be rid of him.

  "...If you let me walk out of here alive, Daniel, I don't know what I'll do." His eyes glazed over, almost as though he expected me to beg him to stay with us. I didn't, of course. After admitting that he was a sociopath, a person with a paper-thin conscience, he'd been raising red flags with every single move he made.

  "You still want me to kill you? Why?"

  "That's just it, though. If you don't, a whole lot of people are going to die." I wanted to scoff, but something about him seemed a little too sincere. He wasn't the type to be dishonest, not even for a sick joke.

  "...What?"

  "It's my goal. I don't want to hurt anyone, and I won't use TS-19's blood for anything, don't worry. It's just that you're still too weak, too insignificant to face what's coming next. I'm expendable, so...  If you won't kill me here, just promise me that you'll wait. We'll open the Ark, together."

  "I don't owe you shit." I ground my teeth, tired of this man who kept on acting like my best friend. He spoke of things that I 'wasn't ready to hear', talking in nothing but riddles.