Morph [EDITING] || Wattys 2017 Winner

~THIRTY ONE~

~amelie~

"Mum," I gasp, and she comes running, face full of hope. I reach for the cell door's lock as I fumble with the keys I stole earlier, and I pick a random one and jam it in. Unsurprisingly, it doesn't turn. I inspect the lock as my mother reaches us, and I see the characters UD-71 inscribed on it.
"Matthew," she whispers, as I search for a matching key. Maybe there's one with the same letters. the "It's... it's really you,"
"It's me," he says. "I'm here, Gracie."
"I'm sorry," she tells him, eyes shining with tears. "I'm so sorry, I couldn't get to you sooner -"
"You're here now. That's all that matters. I promise."

My uncle looks like he wants to reach out and touch her, check that she's real, but then there's a clinking noise and I look up, clutching the UD-71 key. Then, I see what I didn't before - a pair of thick shackles wrapped round my uncle's wrists, weighing him down and presumably binding his powers. I bite my lip and shove the key in the door lock, twisting, and the lock clicks and swings open. My mother rushes in and wraps her arms around her brother, and then they're both crying and hugging, and I can't help the strange feeling of happiness and heartbreak that steals through me.

~~~

After the reunion, we search through my stolen keychain to find something to unlock my uncle's cuffs. Neither my mother nor Matthew mention what his power is, and why he was listed as needing caution in the prison database. Once they're ready, I lead them back through the prison, using my map as guidance to find the storage room. My mother looks surprised when she sees the tunnel, but she doesn't say anything, and we go through quickly and silently. Matthew has to stoop to avoid scraping his head on the rough ceiling. When the rusty, flaky ladder comes into view, illuminated by a dim spotlight from the outside sun, I cup my hands around my mouth and say Thomas' name. I walk right over to the ladder and look up, and his shaggy head appears at the top of the shaft.

"Hey," he whispers. "Have you got it?"
His words send a pang of worry through me. "Not exactly. Get ready to portal us back," I tell him.

I grab hold of the first ladder rung, and turn. My mother and Matthew stand there, half--illuminated, waiting for me to tell them what to do.
"Can one of you come here?" I ask, my voice conveying more confidence than I feel.
My mother smiles at her brother, and gestures for him to go. He walks towards me slowly, unused to exercise after being locked up for so long. I find myself trying to keep my face neutral as he approaches, and I realise I have absolutely no idea how to react to him.
"You can... go up the ladder," I say awkwardly.
He looks doubtful, eyeing the rusty metal with distrust just like I did. "Are you sure?"
I shrug. "It was fine coming down."

Matthew takes hold of the first rung, rust flakes spiralling to the ground. He pulls and shifts his leg onto the rung, and grimaces as the metal creaks. I frown as he takes another step up, and another. The ladder seems rustier, older and weaker than when I used it, even though it can't have been more than an hour since I went through the tunnel for the first time. Some rungs in particular look like they're about to snap with any weight, no matter how much. My frown deepens as Matthew grabs another, and there's no creak. There has been every other time before, so if it's not bending with age it must be about to...

"Look out!" I shout, at the same time as the rung collapses in a shower of scarlet rust and Matthew falls back from the ladder. He lands with a grunt and my mother gasps, rushing over to him.
"Matthew! Are you okay? Are you hurt?" she asks frantically, hands running over him to check for injuries. She's only just found him - there's no way she'll let him go again.
"I'm... I'm okay, Gracie," he grunts, grimacing in pain. But there's no blood, nothing broken, and although he's bruised he seems okay.
I let out a breath. "I don't think we're using that again, then."
My uncle frowns. "Sorry. I guess... after a while being powerless, I seem to have lost some control."
Before I can ask what he means, Thomas calls down to us. "Are you okay? Did I hear the ladder snap?"
"It's too rusty. Can you get a portal down here?" I ask, ignoring the first question. I just found out I have a secret uncle, whom my dad locked up for years. I don't think I fall under the 'okay' category anymore.
"Yeah, I guess. Stand back."

After a moment, the shimmering, blood-red portal appears next to me. My mother's eyes widen, but Matthew shows no reaction. He just walks straight towards it, and out the other side, vanishing.

"You ready?" I ask my mother.
She nods, but she looks uncertain. "Yeah."
"What's wrong?" I frown.
"Are... are you sure it's safe?"
"Mum, Thomas knows what he's doing. I promise. He's been training most of his life."
"Not... not your friend," she says edgily. "I mean... them. The rebels."
I stare at her. "Of course it is. You're my mother! I'll vouch for you."
"It's not me I'm worried about. How many times have you been hurt, going on missions? How many times have you almost died?"

When James lost control and gave me a million cuts, just before Ryan saved me. When I got shot rescuing Sophia. When Cade died instead of me. When Ryan betrayed me.

I don't let it show when I realise she's right.

"It doesn't matter."
She shakes her head. "You know it does."
"Just get in," I say forcefully.

With a reproachful look, she walks into the portal, and I follow, glaring. The world bends around me before I'm up above the shaft, and I stare as I see four glowing discs in the air, two sets of them, one above the other. Each pair of portals has something passing between them. My eyes widen as I recognise my mother and Matthew, continually falling, falling into one portal and getting spat back out higher up.

"Thomas," I say.
"Who are they?" he asks, arms crossed.
I shoot him an annoyed look. "My mother. And... a prisoner we rescued."
"You just happened to run into your mother? How exactly did you manage that?" he asks dubiously.
"It's a long story. Just... please get us home, and I'll explain later."

Thomas gives me a stare before he unfolds his arms, the top two portals disappear, and his two captives are ejected onto the floor. They're both lying on the ground, panting, when the last portals disappear.

"I'll take your word for it. If you think they're okay, they're okay."
"Thank you," I say gratefully.

He waves his hand and a red disc appears, and without a word he walks through it. I look back at Matthew, and my mother.

"Come on."

Then I turn, and follow Thomas through the portal.