Dripping Away

Chapter 10: Rebellion of the Body

        They traveled for a long time in a silence that allowed the rain to take all forms of sound in my brain. All forms. I couldn't even hear my own breath as the rain drenched the top of the box and clouded my eardrums with the same monotonous sound of it. I wanted to genuinely be concerned about my safety, but I was getting to the point in my life where I was thinking it was better to just end it. And, deep down, I knew it wasn't a better option, but that wasn't my surface thoughts. I had been working for almost every soul to walk the earth, and this was how I ended up. Wanted. Tried. Pained. I could barely hear myself think, but I was thinking. And I hated it.
The box came to a halt, and so did my overthinking brain. Lascish said something in a concerned tone to Grevie, but I couldn't hear any of it. No, I just heard the pounding of Six boots as they sloshed against the rainwater towards us. They must've been afraid of the Six, too, but I couldn't think of a single soul who wasn't. The boots stopped, and a hand grazed the top of my box.
     "What's in the box?" one of the Six asked demandingly.
     "Ranll specifically ordered sewer bio matter," Lascish lied. "We're going to his lab to deliver it."
     "Why wouldn't you just ask one of us to deliver it? You two are struggling."
     "We also have to meet with Ranll," Grevie pitched in. "We're killing two birds with one stone, so to speak."
     "Well, let us carry the box and we'll guide you there."
     Grevie and Lascish only obliged so they didn't look suspicious to them. I could hear the box being rattled, feeling it as my head hit one side. The Six soldiers commented how heavy the box was for whatever was inside. Bio matter? I shut my eyes tight and pretended to hear nothing and no one outside of my little frame.
     I wondered how Abers was fairing, if he even knew I was going to get siphoned of all of my Storm Child powers. Wait. Now that I was thinking about it, maybe it was better to just be human again and have that to look forward to. No electricity. No pulsing in my ears. It sounded almost blissful. I waited a while longer before finally hearing the rain stop.
     "Grevie. Lascish."
     Ranll's voice was cold and distant, and I could feel his body hover over the box. He was probably disappointed in me. No, it was probably more than disappointment now.
     "Thank you for your help, Six, but your presence is no longer needed," Ranll told the soldiers.  The soldiers turned on their heels and went out the door with no so much as a passing glance. I knew they wouldn't look back. Ranll, immediately curious of the contents, pulled off the lid to the box, nearly blinding me and making me squint. Ranll slammed the lid back on quickly.
     "What are your intentions?" Ranll asked the other two.
     "Get rid of the Forever Spark in his body," Grevie demanded. "Can you do that?"
     Ranll took in a breath and exhaled his next words. "It can be done, but you will observe the whole time."
     "We know," Lascish grumbled. "Let's take him upstairs and put him in one of the tanks."
     They lifted the box and carried me up a few flights of stairs almost effortlessly until they slammed my box on a lab table. They opened the lid yet again to reveal me, and Ranll sighed.
     "Let's strip him of his clothes."
     I let them. I had to. The cold of the room had set in my skin, but I couldn't shiver or move.   They had me. They had me in a snare, and I had to let them lift my naked body and display it in one of the tanks like some animal in a zoo. Ranll made one more comment about me before finally leaving the room with the other two.
     "Those scars... Jesus, Lostin, what kind of havoc have you gotten yourself into?"

     I woke up after the silence set in, my hands outlining the shape of the tank to figure out how it opened exactly. This wasn't filled with slime yet, so my vision was pretty much clear, and I could see the electricity flowing through everything in its both rapid and calm states. The lights? The power was extensive. It smelled like iron and worn hands. The walls? They were cold and lifeless, just barriers with no power to them. I wondered if there was an easy escape from this place now that every single strain of electricity could be identified and manipulated.
     Ranll came back with some scalpel and other tools with Grevie and Lascish on his heels at every step. I shut my eyes again, listening the best I could with the stupid tube in the way.
     "...dissect him. This is... to get... him," Ranll spoke. "The tube... us, so... program it to... scalpel."
     So, we're going to dissect him. This is what we'll use to get the Forever Spark from him. This tube can do it for us, so all we have to do is program to use the scalpel.
     "It's easier if he's asleep," Ranll sighed.
     Too bad I wasn't. I heard them whir the tube to life with the press of a few buttons, and I felt the tube turn. It was turning me on my back, laying flat like an operating table would be like. My seconds were ticking down. I had to do something. But what?
      "Opening Containment Tube Number 335."
      Opening?
     "Ugh," Grevie said, disgusted. "Good thing he's asleep."
     I opened my eyes, seeing the scalpel inches away from my heart area, and I grabbed it hastily before it went and cut me. Electricity came from the tips of my fingers, stopping the whole tube.  I escaped the pod, only to feel my neck getting choked by Lascish with a knife to my throat.     Grevie grabbed another scalpel, and she stabbed my chest. I screamed. Ranll pulled the scalpel away from Grevie and began to cut even more into my skin in a much more precise manner than Grevie. I screamed so loud that the lights began to shatter.
     "Quicker!" Lascish demanded, holding the blade tighter.
     Ranll grunted. "I'm going as quickly as I can without puncturing an artery! Jesus!"
     "Jesus, what? he man's fucking nuts. Kill him for all we care!"
     "N..." I cried. I kept on screaming as the pain was immeasurable . There was blood everywhere, on the floor, on their hands, on my naked, broken body.
     "Lostin," I heard Ranll whisper lowly. "Do something."
     I shut my eyes tightly, feeling the electricity in the room. With my hands held back, there wasn't much I could do on my own.
      "Hey, Zipper. Do you need a hand?"
     There was a rush of rain water that knocked everyone off of their feet, and I saw Nashirme hold Lascish's knife. She stabbed Grevie first, right in her neck, and she glared at the other two. With my hands free, I held one outward to Lascish, feeling the electricity in his heart right in my palm. And I crushed it. Lascish gasped for air for a moment before coughing out blood and stopping still in my blood. Ranll stared at us.
     "Killed two Giants with one stone," Ranll gasped, pushing back his wet hair.
     I held a hand out to him. "How about three?" I spat.
      Ranll held up his hands and began backing away. "Whoa, hold on Lostin. Here me out."
      Nashirme made daggers of water pointing at his head. I gulped. "Why take this from me?"
     "T-they don't want you to take the city's power. If you managed to kill all of the humans harboring Giants in them, the rain will stop. The Six will lose power. And with the Forever Spark, you can sap all of the electricity."
      Nashirme grunted. "We'd be doing you a favor, Ranll. No one could harm you again."
     Ranll closed his eyes, lowered his arms, and I saw the sudden-ness of his last breath. "I'll miss you."
     And then I crushed him in my hand like I did to Lascish.