feathers ↣ w. worthington iii

(24) Kezing SUCKS At Interior Decorating

"It can't always be about you. Life is transformation- the wind blows, climate changes, birds chirp and trees burn." Mickalene Thomas

Lilli grasped Peter's hand tightly as the pickup slowed to a stop. As they'd descended down into the hideout, she'd felt calm for a moment— but her nerves were back on overdrive. For the millionth time she found herself wondering how she'd gotten herself involved in this mess of a situation. All she'd ever wanted was to lead a normal life and yet here she was, laying invisible in a pickup truck, underground, in a tyrant's secret mutant hideout.

Peter nudged Lilli, bringing her out of her thoughts. They had to go and find Warren and Kurt before anything bad happened. Lilli and Peter hopped soundlessly out of the bed of the pickup, standing still until the agents driving it turned into bats and flitted away to the giant chamber Lilli and Warren had been in last time. After a long moment, Lilli turned to Peter. "Where do we go?" She whispered quietly, her voice barely audible.

Peter jutted his head to the right. "This way. It's not far," he replied, his voice matching hers. Lilli glanced over where he had gestured and saw a thick metal door leading who knows where. She frowned, but nevertheless headed towards it. Peter silently cracked the door open and peered through, checking to see if the coast was clear. A second later, he opened the door fully and he and Lilli stepped inside.

Lilli looked around her. They'd walked into a long hallway. The walls were made of the same slimy stone, and the floor was the same packed dirt as the rest of the hideout. Along the walls at intervals were dirty lanterns, throwing a yellowish-green light over everything.

It was disgusting.

Lilli shut the heavy door behind her and cringed at how loudly it clanged shut. Peter shot her a glare and Lilli mouthed a sorry before starting to head down the hallway. They only walked a little ways until Lilli noticed a door coming up on her right. It looked like the door to a prison cell— long metal bars with only a thin opening separating them. Lilli frowned as she walked up to it and peered inside.

She stifled a gasp as she looked inside. It was a dim, rectangular room, only the size of a small car. The floor was a wet tile and the walls were the same slimy stone as the rest of the hideout. There was no light; the only lighting coming from the dim yellowish-green from the hallway. Lilli felt shivers run down her spine as she looked at the room. It looked like the worst cell you could be trapped in.

Peter moved next to Lilli and swallowed heavily. She turned to him and felt pity blossom up inside of her— he looked like a veteran looking over and old battlefield. He obviously had been in a cell just like this for the days when Lilli and Warren had been searching for him. Lilli pulled Peter into a tight embrace, and he buried his head in the crook of her neck as he hugged back just as tightly. "I'm so sorry, Pete," Lilli whispered as tears sprung to her eyes as she imagined what he had gone through.

Peter pulled away a moment later and smiled a weak smile. His eyes were glazed over with tears and he quickly looked away. "Yeah, well, it's alright. No use thinking about it now," he replied. Lilli nodded sadly and followed after him down the hallway, still grasping his hand tightly. Every five feet or so was another cell, alternating from the left to the right side of the hallway. A moment later, Peter suddenly stopped.

"Do you hear that?" He whispered. Lilli held her breath for a moment and listened. At first, she heard nothing but the steady drops of water from the cell next to her. But a few seconds later she heard it. Faint, quiet whistling. Her eyes widened and she immediately started rushing forward, practically dragging Peter behind her. Her head whipped from left to right as she ran, looking in each cell.