Tainted

Chapter Twenty-Five

Unedited.
Regardless, enjoy!
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"And you won?" He asks, his demeanor wary. I frown again because he's looking at me like I'm crazy.

"Apparently, because although I was injured, you were knocked out-"

"This isn't a game, Rain, and I don't appreciate you treating it like one." He snaps and his eyebrows dip down on his forehead.

"It's not a game?" I ask. "Okay." I say quietly. I nod and begin to pace.

"This surely feels like a game, though. Are you sure it's not a game?" I take a vicious step forward, ignoring my natural pull backward, and snap sharply and loudly.

"I mean, really, this definitely feels like a game, I swear! It's the game of 'Let's see how crazy we can drive Rain by having her predict the future and stop every problem before it becomes a problem'. I'm the pawn, the cat chasing the mice, the idiot to clog a hole just have three more open up; this is all a game, Nick, and I'm a player, you're a player, Josh is a player, Naoma is a player, Ian is a player, and my sister is a player. We're all playing a game, a hard one, a deadly one, so why don't we start getting better at this game. Since they want to play with us, with our heads, with our lives, it's time that we start playing this game, playing it well, and winning!"

Nick's face goes blank for a lingering moment after I'm done shouting. Then, he erupts into a loud laughing fit. I back up, finally, as I'm startled by his reaction. It's too loud, too large, too full. A laugh like that would typically involve warm feelings toward someone and good times.

"You're crazy." I whisper, frowning at him as I back myself up into a wall.

He doesn't sober at my words. Instead, he continues to laugh loudly. As his laughter dies down, I can see the default smile after disappear into a thin line. His eyebrows remain neutral as he stares at me, emotionless.

"We're both crazy, Rain. Can't you see? But I can agree with you; this is a game. I see now how our brains have been picked, but how stupid can we be? Playing well? Winning? We can't fight a force we can't detect, Rain. We aren't welcome in this place, this underground world. They see me as evil. They see you as too powerful. We would have to be insane to fight back. Let's just leave."

"We are leaving-"

"I mean leave now and forget about this rescue mission. I mean forget about your assignment. I've done something similar to this before and it didn't end well. Working with people you don't trust isn't smart. Hell, we don't even know if these are people we're working with."

My face crumbles into a frown at his words. "You want me to give up?" I ask, my voice not holding the intensity of my face.

"I don't want you to do anything. I'm just telling you this: I'm not helping anymore, I'm not going on this mission, and I'm not going to figure out what they want from us or even who the fuck they are! I'm out. I'm done."

He doesn't even look at me before leaving the room. I chase after him, but I fall on my face as I grab him because he disappears before my hands can land on him.

I silently scream to myself, feeling a heavy hopelessness fall over me. I drag myself to the railing of the stairs in the hallway. My hands grab the rails and I pull myself until my face is in contact with the cold, cylinder bars. I glance out at the living room below, which is an indoor land field. I don't cry as I close my eyes, and I convince my lungs to gather as much air as possible.

"He's gone?" Naoma asks, coming out of my room. I nod slowly, my hands tightening around the bars. I'm sure she's wondering what I'm doing, hunched over on the floor. I wouldn't be able to tell her. I have no idea what I'm doing.