Indigo

XXXII

     Lucas hated car drives. This one was no exception. The whole time he sat in the dark cramped van, he was just hoping and praying that it would be over soon. He could barely keep himself from screaming, he was so anxious. He would never admit it to anyone, of course, but he was scared, terrified even. He was scared for Portia and Robin, he'd seen the thing that Indigo had turned into.

     Indigo. He hadn't told her, but he really did love her. He wasn't the type of person who went out of their comfort zone to tell people how he felt. The few months that he'd spent with her were happier and better than all the years before combined.  He didn't notice that the car had stopped until Alan shook him out of his thoughts.

     "We're here, Lucas." Alan looked at him with a wary expression, clearly unsure of if Lucas was going to handle the whole situation alright. Lucas calmed himself down and moved to the front of the van.

     "And where's here?" Lucas stared through the windshield to the tan, brick building in front of the van.

     Pierce County Jail. This is where the signal goes dead. Josiah signed.

     "Great," Lucas threw a jacket on and opened the door, "Let's go get her."

*******************************

     The three boys approached the building's only door in sight. All the fences surrounding the jail had long-ago had holes cut into them by some teenagers, and all the electricity was out. Lucas had known the jail was shut down, but the looks of every broken down thing gave him the creeps. Silent nods were exchanged as they creaked the half-broken doors open. The front room was deserted, which wasn't surprising, but Lucas had been expecting an ambush or something. The bullet-proof glass around the waiting area and the secretaries' desks were coated with finger smudges and dust.

     Alan pulled a shining steel knife out of his pocket and rounded the corner to the left. "C'mon," he whispered. Lucas took out the gun that he'd, once again, taken from Indigo's armory. Maybe one day he'd teach her how to use it so she could shoot it herself. Lucas smiled thinking about it, but quickly turned serious again. Now was no time to be getting distracted by fantasies.

     Josiah signaled that he would keep watch in the front as Alan and Lucas kept going in. Lucas nodded and turned to the left, where he cautiously kept going. He and Alan's feet pounded painfully loud on the white linoleum as they came to an intersection, a hall to the left and one to the right. Lucas held up his hand for Alan to stop when he heard a creaking noise coming from the right. Alan's eyes grew wide, and they threw themselves against the wall, trying to keep hidden from whatever was coming. Lucas tensed, ready for a fight.

"Robin?" The pale girl rounded the corner with Portia and a hound girl pushing a bloody body on an almost-ironically silver tray. Robin's face filled with relief as she spotted Lucas and pulled him into a rib-crushing hug.

     "Didn't know it was her... didn't mean to," she muttered in his ear. He pushed her shivering boy away from him. "Didn't know it was who? Robin, answer me. Now," Lucas shouted harshly. She sent an unwilling glance at the tray, and Lucas couldn't help but follow her gaze. He turned around and let his eyes wander over the bloody girl on the cart. He could see everything. The familiar but no-longer bright eyes. The long brown hair. The brokenness on her face didn't make sense to his brain.

     "I-Indigo? Can you hear me?" He bent down, putting away the gun, and took her cold face in his hands. Her body shook as she coughed, and Lucas tried to register the dark red liquid seeping out the side of her mouth.

     "I'm... awake," she spluttered.

     "Who-?" Lucas didn't finish his question before wheeling on Robin, a darkness in his eyes that could only be caused by pure hate.