The SVE Club

48. Losses

    Midas ran through the night streets, refusing to allow thoughts of his captured teammates to fill his mind. The only thing that mattered was delivering the items to Insomnium.

    Suddenly, the sound of footfalls and labored breathing reached his ears. Someone was following him. Midas quickened his pace. He couldn't afford to get caught now.

    "Midas! Wait, please!"

    Midas found himself stopping in his tracks upon hearing Sam's voice. He didn't turn around as Sam continued to run towards him; He stared off into space, unsure why he wasn't still running.

Sam stopped when she was beside him, gasping for breath with her hands on her knees.

     "Oh, God," she managed. She wiped her brow, straightening out to talk to Midas. "Please tell me you have a plan."

    "This was the plan," Midas said in a monotone, still looking straight ahead.

    Sam stared at him, shaking her head. "No. No, it wasn't. We need to go back for them. We can think of something between the two of us, we can-"

    "They're gone!" Midas exploded.

    Sam flinched. "What?"

    "We're never going to see them again," Midas said, a bit calmer. "They'll be taken to a holding facility where their memories will be destroyed. They won't remember you or me or any of this. But they'll be safe."

    "Safe?" Sam yelped. She kicked viciously at his shoes, tears finally streaming from her eyes. "You call that safe? If you wanted to protect them, you had every opportunity to do that back at ISH! And you left them behind!"

    "If they didn't like their chances, they shouldn't have volunteered to do this!" Midas shot back. "And neither should you have."

    "They're your friends, Midas," Sam pleaded hopelessly, her shoulders sagging. "Please. Do something."

    Midas looked at her, his expression dark and haggard. "Villains don't have friends," he said.

    Sam, looked away from him. "White Flame isn't a villain."

    "White Flame is dead."

     "I don't believe you. I never believed White Flame was dead."

    "Well, believe it now!" Midas shouted, two nearby street lights suddenly bursting and going dark. He stepped towards Sam. "If you had even the slightest idea of what I endure every day of my life, you would understand. This would all make sense to you. But you don't. You don't know anything about me!" The ground beneath them began to shake.

    Sam took a step back, her palms facing away from her. "Midas, stop this," she said, her voice trembling.

     "I might have been White Flame at one time," Midas went on angrily, "But I'm still the same person that I was when you met me. That other life is impossible for me now. And for what? So some maniac can do what he likes?"

    "You're not making any sense, Midas! Snap out of it!" Sam commanded. Cracks began to appear in the pavement, spurred on by Midas' jumbled thoughts.

    "I have to do this!" Midas seemed to shout to nobody. "If you think I'm awful now, you just wait! You hear me? You just wait and see what happens if I don't do what he says!" The ground seemed very close to breaking or bursting now and quivered violently.

    "Midas!" Sam practically screamed. Impulsively, she grabbed both his hands and held them tightly. The shaking in the ground stopped instantly. Midas looked back at Sam in surprise.