Tyme

V

“Ow! Geez, coul’ ya be any rougher?” Pan groaned, his eyes closed. Panting, August and Tyme glared at him, struggling to move him onto the couch they had moved from the second floor.

“Could you be any heavier, huh?” Tyme snarled back, tightening her grip on his legs. After another moment of struggling, Pan was finally placed on the couch, the pair breathing hard.

“Wha’ do you eat, man?” August groaned, bending over, his hands placed on his knees. The injured boy chose not to respond, his eyes remaining closed. Tyme stood over him, studying him with an emotionless eye, watching as a small patch of burnt skin reverted back to its normal state. He wasn’t lying, that was for sure. Sighing, the girl turned aside, motioning at August.

“We should go find this Lucia person.” She muttered, unlocking the metal door.

“Wait! Tha’s a bad idea. This way.” August pushed himself up with great effort, heading in the opposite direction.

“Don’ want an angry mob attacking us, do we?” He cautiously pushed a different door open, peering out. After a moment, he waved Tyme forward, and together, they wove their way through the maze of tents. The loud rumble of unhappy voices filled the cavern, reverberating off the walls. It was an ominous sound, one filled with malice. A sound that chilled the girl to her bones.

It was the song of antebellum.

August seemed to be affected by this, his pace quickening to a near sprint, his hand swiftly pulling down the brim of the newsboy hat he had snatched on the way out. He had grown clumsy, stumbling over tents and bumping into strangers with a quiet apology. Following as best she could, Tyme met hostile gazes with a cold glare, watching as people fell into following them.

Each person was silent. Each person was hollow.

“How far?” Tyme hissed at August, swiftly looking away from the mob that followed them. The boy suddenly took a sharp turn, disappearing into one of the alleys. He really liked confusing people, didn’t he?

Swiftly, she shadowed, turning the corner just as sharply.

Gone.

Shocked, she stood in the empty alley, trying to make sense of what had happened. Had he used that puck? Or had he simply decided to dump the threatening group onto her?

No matter the case, she was alone, the mob closing in on her. Their eager eyes were masked by their stony faces, hands reaching toward her with utter  glee. Swiftly, Tyme broke into a run, bursting into the main street. The majority of the cavern dwellers remained outside August’s and Pan’s home. But the atmosphere, she noticed, was much different, much more… Bloodthirsty.

Glancing over her shoulder, she noticed the mob had dissipated, not a single person reaching out for her. What was going on?

Once again, the girl scaled a building, slinking from roof to roof to get a better view, reaching the soup kitchen without event. Peering over the lip of the overhang, she watched as two men dragged the guard they had previously encountered into the clearing. Whimpering, he was thrown at the feet of a distraught Pan.