Inflorescence • Poison Ivy's Daughter

chapter three - the green-eyed girl

The train grinded to a halt, Calla stepped out of the empty carriage into a near empty station. The tiled walls were plastered in old wanted and missing posters, the flickering fluorescent lights illuminating them. The only color down here was the arrays of graffiti, messy writing spelling out things like WELCOME TO HELL and YOUR F*CKED!. Taking a marker out of her bag Calla approached the wall and scribbled on top of the graffiti, changing it to "YOU'Re".

'Just cause you're doing something bad, doesn't mean you can't be smart about it.' she muttered to no one in particular. A yell echoed down the hall, Calla turned towards the sound looking down the towards the ominous shadows where the flickering lights failed to reach. With a sigh, she pulled up her hood concealing her face with shadows before strolling towards the origin of the noise.

Calla heard laughter, a group of people were illuminated by the eerie red glow of emergency lights gathered around a small heap that they were kicking at. As she got closer she saw that the heap was a small kid curled up.

'Wow, I guess you kids aren't big on fair fights.' Calla remarked, shoving her hands in her pockets.

The group whirled around, they looked a few years older than her, early twenties at least. One of the girls scoffed, 'There ain't no such thing down here, love.'

Calla shrugged, 'Eh, I know love. I still thought people would have some sort of pride though. I mean come on, that kid was never a threat to one of you, let alone all eight.' she nodded to the kid who was still curled up in a tight ball, trembling.

'Aye listen here girly,' One of the boys spat, 'You don't talk to us like that unless you're hopin' to end up dead. Now turn around and walk away like a good little b*tch, alright.'

Calla blood began to heat, breath, she reminded herself. 'Nice suggestion, why don't you take it.' she hissed.

The boy laughed, 'Awh but then who would look after our friend here.' He kept her eye as he sent a combat boot into the kids head, the kid yelped in pain.

Calla inhaled sharply through her nose, closing her eyes. 'I'm going to give you one more chance,' she stated opening her eyes, 'Leave.'

The group let out a collective gasp, a number of them stepping back.

'Bloody hell.' a boy breathed.

'Awh f*ck that.' One of the girls exclaimed backing away with wide eyes.

As a whole they backed away, afraid. The first boy stared at her with a look of disgust and fear, 'F-freak.' he stammered as he joined the rest of his friend as there fast footsteps sounded down the tunnels.

Calla smirked at the sight before squatting next to the boy, 'You alright kid?'

Slowly and cautiously he uncurled himselfwiping the blood from his eyes as he looked up at Calla. His eyes widened.

Calla jerked up her hand covering her eyes, 'God sorry, I forgot. They're pretty freaky huh?'

'Not really,' the boy muttered, Calla peered over her fingers to find him blushing, 'I think they're pretty.'

Calla laughed dropping her hand, 'Aren't you the charmer?' The boy scoffed wrapping his arms around his chest. 'What's your name?'

'Josh, what's your name?'

'Do you have a place to stay Josh.'

'Yeah with my sis, I was supposed to bring back dinner, but those brats took it.' his eyes prickled with tears of frustration.

'Come on, I'll get you something on the way. Can you stand?'

'Yeah I'm fine,' Josh groaned getting to his feet, 'I know how to take a beating.'

As they left the tunnels her eye was caught by another piece of work that read, HE'S WATCHING YOU with a black bat painted underneath it. A shiver ran down her spine, Fat load of good the Bat's doing here, she thought bitterly as she looked down at Josh. His pale skin covered in shades of purple, red and yellow. Most of the bruises weren't fresh.

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They arrived at the boy's apartment building, a run down place seemingly seconds from falling apart.

'You going to be alright here?' Calla asked the boy handing him a bag of Chinese takeout.

'Yeah, thanks for the food miss.'

Calla scoffed, 'Miss? You're making me feel old.'

Josh blushed, 'Well you didn't tell me your name...'

Calla smiled pinching his cheek, 'It's a secret.'

Josh hesitated, shuffling his weight on his feet. Finally, he met her eyes, 'You're Her aren't you? The green-eyed girl. People been talking about you you know, they say you help out the people round here. The people who can't help themselves.'

Calla's smile faltered slightly. She pressed her finger to her lips, 'That's a secret.' she whispered turning away. 'Enjoy your food!'Josh opened the bag of takeout, finding a small stack of cash neatly tucked amongst between the honey chicken and rice.

'Thank you miss!' he called out after her as she continued to walk down the street.

Calla looked around at the building, she was at least another hour away from her home, the sun was already beginning to lower, she'd be lucky to make it there before nightfall. The loud roar of a motorbike interrupted her thoughts, the vehicle skidding to a halt next to her. Calla stopped, glaring up at the rider, she was not in the mood for any more trouble today. The rider flicked up the screen on his red helmet revealing teal blue eyes beneath.

'Need a ride,' he snarked.

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hey guys, sorry this chapter wasn't very interesting, don't worry it gets better. I know I said the plot would start this chapter but it this part was longer than I thought it was going to be, so next chapter will be more interesting I promise.