The Nightscape

Pick A Side

It was a bunker, sixty feet below the surface. Lyra had guessed that on the way down, but she had expected an old, abandoned WWII style building, empty and falling into disrepair, however that was not what she found. Instead, there were a half dozen doors on the metal walls, all closed, and the rest of the walls were covered in TVs and computers and monitors and a whole bunch of other technology that she didn't quite recognise. Comfy looking sofas floated in the middle of the room, modern and stylish, and it left Lyra wondering how exactly Ettie had gotten all of this stuff down the ladder. The air was surprisingly fresh, not a hint of musk despite the apparent lack of ventilation. Ettie hopped down next to her, propping her crossbow up and against the wall before wandering around the room, braying on each of the doors before flopping down on a sofa and gesturing for Lyra to do the same. 

"Are there more people here?" Lyra asked, getting a shrug from the mute girl. Before she could press the issue, the sound of a door unbolting echoed around the space, and one of them opened. Out came a young man, looking to be in his late teens, with mussed blonde hair and tired brown eyes. It was clear that Ettie had just woken up, not that she seemed bothered by it. Instead, she lit up her cigarette again, taking a long drag and waving him over. He didn't move, though, eyes fixed on Lyra, clearly shocked. Ettie snapped her manicured fingers at him with a huge grin, making him jump and hurrying to neaten himself up, smoothing over his rumpled clothes and running his fingers through his hair. 

"Lyra! Hi, its, uh, well, I mean- nice to meet you!" He stuttered out, holding his hand out for her. Lyra blinked at him before slowly getting up and taking his hand. His palms were slick with sweat, and he was shifting awkwardly back and forth. 

"Hi, how do you know me?" She asked, pulling her hand back as soon as his grip loosened and discretely wiping her fingers on her shirt. Having a complete stranger recognise her on sight was a little unnerving, especially when how quickly the flickering population seemed to be expanded around her was already messing with her head. A month ago, she had thought she was alone in the world, but now, in the space of a few hours, she knew that there were at least four more flickerers in this place. Well, two now, thanks to Ettie and her kill happy hands. 

"Oh, everyone knows about you, Lyra." He laughed and shrugged, walking over to Ettie's sofa. She was sprawled across it, legs taking up the seat he was aiming for, but he didn't even wait for her to move before picking her feet up and sitting beneath her calves, dropping her back onto him. The fluidity of the movement and how relaxed Ettie was about it made Lyra think that this was fairly normal for them, an average part of everyday life. Slowly, Lyra made her way to the opposite sofa, sitting down and looking seriously at the two of them. 

"Firstly, how many people, exactly, is 'everyone'? And secondly, how does everyone know about me?" She asked, exasperated. Ettie shrugged, holding up nine fingers.

"Well, purples are real rare, ya know? So when you plastered yourself all over youtube and Guy got in touch with you, news was always gonna spread pretty fast. He's been asking us to keep an eye out for you, make sure no one else swoops in and grabs you. So we've all, as in everyone in our gang, has been taking it in turns to watch over where he said you go in the Day and Nightscape, to make sure you weren't jumped. Given you and Ettie are here, I'm guessing something went wrong. Oh, and I'm Luca, by the way." He explained, though it gave her more questions than it did answer. 

"Yeah, you could say something went wrong. Two people tried to kidnap me and Ettie murdered them both." Lyra responded icily, not liking that she didn't know as much as these two teenagers. It didn't have the effect she wanted though. Luca 'ayed' loudly and fist bumped a grinning Ettie. "Really? That's really so normal for the two of you?" She demanded, running a hand over her face and wondering what sort of upbringing these two had had to think that killing two people was cause for celebration.