X-Marks: Rising Shadows

Lost

It was a stench that had stained my tongue long after it had hit my nose.

"It doesn't end," I said, and cupped my hand over my nose.

If Evee or Mat had said anything at all, I didn't hear. The shuffling of feet from within the crowd was loud enough to silence even a scream. I stretched my arms wide as the people began to part. Feeling desperate enough I walked closer to a cove of people. There in the break, I saw a man.

His blackened skin peeled from his face like burned parchment and exposed the stark white of his jaw bone. His long teeth wore almost a grin below a single lazy eye that looked down at his outstretched arm. His other arm was tangled under wires tucked into the tattered sleeve of his blood-stained shirt. I watched the slow rise and fall of his chest like a man about to meet his death.

He was the dead among the living, and I was a little less alive just looking at him.

That was all it took. Just a glance and I was lost.

"Are you serious?" I said under my breath as I look around.

I wanted to say more, but I had already broken the first rule. Don't get lost.

"White coat wearing scum," a man whispered into my ear.

The brush of his white beard rubbed against my cheek. I turned in time to see him spit towards my feet. His eyes glanced over me with so much hate, it was more suited for an old foe than a stranger.

A wallop of a scream crawled from my throat. It was all I could do.

Curiosity had left me cold, and all I wanted was to be out of this place.

A young girl, with tangled blonde hair and a dirt covered face, ran over to the old man. She dropped her arms and burlap bags to the dirt, as she scooped the old man away from under his arms.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, her eyes tearing up, "Please don't report him. He's just old. He doesn't know what he's saying."

"It's okay," I kept repeating, if not for her but for myself.

The girl carried her bags and the old man back through the crowd. As they disappeared, I felt for the first time a sense of loneliness. An understanding that without Evee or Mat I was truly an unknown here.

I kept walking, watching the crowds distance themselves from me. Every part of them wanted nothing to do with me except for their eyes.

You're not welcome here. I could almost hear them say.

I knew now why Dimitri didn't want us here alone. The people here were not willing to take on three white coats. But just one, a few were willing to take their chances.

I backed into a dark corner behind a garbage bin and slipped the white coat off my shoulders. It barely fit into my bag, but it was enough. With just my plain shirt and pants, I didn't stand out in this crowd. It was too bad I couldn't do the same for my bracelet. I would just have to keep it behind my arm. The only part of my uniform left was my boxy white hat. I most definitely couldn't take that off and reveal my mark.