Bonded by the Blues | A Sander Sides Book

Chapter 17 - Blue Mist: Part 3

Whoops! Sorry I'm late by a day. Got stuck in an internetless situation. Anyways, shiver and enjoy!

Content Warning: Violence, death, innuendo (courtesy of Roman) and swearing coz Patton isn't here to keep the boys in check.  

The figure smiled, its lips stretching over its teeth instead of curving up. It raised its hands, palms upwards. On its left palm, were misty smaller versions of the two creatures. On his right, were misty copies of Roman and Virgil. It brought its palms together, the way a puppet would clap. It opened its hands like a book, and now only Roman and Virgil remained. Its smile grew wider, almost congratulatory. Then a miniature of the figure itself appeared behind mini Roman and Virgil. The palms closed again. The figure tilted its head quizzically. It rose, swept around and disappeared up the alley.

The drizzle dried itself up and a lazy moon peeped through the clouds.

"Dang. That monster is..." Roman flushed.

"Let's go with creepy." Virgil dragged himself upright and dusted himself sown.

Roman followed suit. "Uh... about before –"

Virgil stopped him with his hand. "Less talk more action. Let's try to not die tonight, how about that?"

"Deal."

Roman did a 360. "Erm... we're still stuck in square one."

"I think Bluie gave us a head start, so it's gone now. We could go back out the way we came..."

"We're stuck between death and certain death."

"As always, but a bit more literal right now."

Roman inspected the surrounding. "Those blasts don't destroy anything, it's as if nothing happened." He picked up a chipped piece of tile, out of the rubble that dotted the rarely used back alley. He suddenly dropped the tile and flexed his fingers. "My hand!" he cried. "It's fixed"

Virgil walked over and took Roman's hand in his own. True, it was healed and glowed pink and healthy.

"Maybe the wounds heal when the creature is... killed?" wondered Roman.

"Or Bluie healed it for round two? That's despicable." Virgil dropped Roman's hand, suddenly realised he had been tracing the slight scar that was the only mark remaining. "I wonder where the freak –"

They were interrupted by footsteps, tip-tapping towards them.

Virgil motioned Roman to be on guard while he listened. The footsteps grew louder and finally a hunched figure emerged. Roman sprang forward, spun the person around, pressed them against the wall and secured their arms behind their back. They released a high-pitched scream.

"Roman... I think that's a woman... let her go."

"Can we trust her?" Roman huffed.

Virgil took a closer look at her frightened face. He gasped: "It's Manthra!"

Roman quickly released her and backed away, hands raised in surrender. Manthra gasped and turned around, back to the wall, umbrella held up like a shield, eyeing them warily.

"You two again?"

"We're sorry," said Virgil in a low voice. "We were just attacked, and we aren't taking any chances. We won't harm you. Did you see anything weird on the way here?"

"No."

The three of them looked at each other in the strained silence, wondering if they could believe each other.