Aos Sí

17: The Third Floor

We didn't have time for a breather.

Ethan picked me up as my breathing calmed down, and we hugged the wall next to the door. People were constantly passing by, but none seemed interested in the elevator.

We both jumped when the doors opened. People poured out, causing a ruckus. We managed to slip in along the edge, minding the gap between the floors. A few people filed in after. The lights flickered.

"Ah geez, that's creepy," a girl laughed. "Sure hope we don't get stuck."

"Don't even joke about that!" her friend squealed.

We stood perfectly still in the corner, praying they didn't look down. Both Beans were too preoccupied in their phones and conversation to notice us.

Ding.... ding. Chrrzzt.

Everyone held their breath.

The doors slid open. The girls let out a nervous laugh and quickly left. Ethan was quick to follow, with me right behind. As I went to bound over the gap, the door started to slide closed. I squeaked in a panic, getting dragged along as I collapsed onto the floor. Ethan was quick to my side and pulled hard. We flew out to the floor, a sharp pain running down the side of my leg. I let out a hiss, grabbing it.  I could feel the blood seeping out.

Ethan picked me up and carried me out of sight as I tried to keep pressure on it. We were able to hide under a nearby table, boxes surrounding us. Once our eyes adjusted, we took stock.

I got the distinct impression the wound looked worse then it was. Ethan silently pulled out a small shard from his belt and went to a far corner of the table. He cut out a section of the tablecloth, then came back to clean up and bandage the wound.

My hands had smeared blood all over my leg, but the actual injury was little more then a shallow scrape along my calf. Still hurt to stand on, which meant Ethan had to help me move. I sat down to wait as Ethan cleaned himself up and looked out from our hiding spot.

"Holy shit!" he whispered. "We're real close! Looks like 310 is just down the hall!"

"Hope we have enough time to move with this bullshit," I muttered, putting a tad bit of pressure on my leg just to see how much it could stand. I would walk, but running was out of the question.

Ethan knelt next to me and furrowed his brow. "Why do you keep doing that?"

I gave him a confused look. He motioned to my right hand. When I looked down, I found it picking and tearing apart a corner of a paper. I hadn't even noticed.

"Nerves?"

He sighed and nodded in understanding. He helped me to my feet, though we both stumbled a bit. I ended up clinging to his side for a moment to regain my balance. Why did it feel like I had more weight? He straightened me up. Then, he led me in a run for the other side of the hall.

The Beans weren't nearly as numerous up here. Which made dodging feet easier, but the anxiety of possibly being Seen much, much more. I saw one Bean freeze, his eyes tracking us for a moment, right before we disappeared behind a cardboard cutout. My throat tightened.

"... Fucking hell, I really am going insane."

The Bean continued on his way, muttering all the while. I could feel Ethan shaking beside me.

"Are you okay?"

He looked over at me and nodded. "You?"

I nodded.

"Alright. I think we just need to go to the end of the hall that way, and we're there." He looked out around the hiding spot. "We still have an hour. We can take our time."

And take our time we did. My leg didn't let us go very far, and I kept having a weird twitch in it every so often. Ethan carried me for sections we didn't see any Beans, though we were both nervous about staying that slow for too long. As we got close to the door, we could hear Beans starting to come down the hall behind us. We managed to slip in under the door before any got too close.

The room was dim, and we huddled up in the corner. Human Beans started to pour in, talking in surprisingly hushed voices. Ethan kept a protective arm around me as we scanned the faces. Most were preoccupied, though I recognized them here and there from YouTube videos Seán had had me watch. My heart skipped a beat when I saw Mark. At the very least, we had someone to go to.

Then, lagging a tad behind, came one very upset looking Irishman. He kept his eyes towards the floor, and I pushed Ethan to move more. My fellow Borrower nervously started to wave his arms a little. I followed suit. I watched the Bean's shoulders stiffen. Then Seán's eyes locked with mine.

We both broke out into ridiculously relieved smiles, then Seán snapped his attention ahead of him. Ethan and I followed his gaze. No one was paying attention to us. Our human bean shifted a little along the wall, then sank down close to the corner. The hosts of the panel were starting to talk, covering up any noise Ethan and I might make. Ethan helped me to my feet, and at the sight, Seán went rigid, a bit of a hard look in his eyes. I shook my head and waved them both off. 

That only seemed to make Seán more worried, more--

Angry.

Fear plummeted down my spine. Followed by dread, then a shot of electricity. My entire body convulsed. Ethan tried to keep hold of me, but I pushed him away, finally understanding what my nightmare just a few nights ago had been. The world glitched. My body felt as though it were being broken into shards. I bit back a pained squeal.

Anti's host didn't have to be Seán.