Toxin

CHAPTER 17 - 'Boring' meetings.

"When are we going to find him." A salty Effie complained, leaning over the car seat. Her usually curly hair was matted from the rain, sliding over my car seat. I grumbled quietly in annoyance, something Effie didn't hear, but Atlas did. A small smirk silently appeared on his face. We didn't answer her, and instead just looked ahead at the road. "Well then answer me this. Why is that thing in the trees following us?" she pressed, nudging my head impatiently. I turned, glared at her, then replied; "Because Sanity may want to talk to him.". "Ohhh, so we're going to their penthouse." Effie nodded, sitting back in her seat and looking out the window, her eyes trailing Bane's swift movements. "No, actually, because he's more connected to Veninos than Aaly at this point." Atlas grit his teeth, clenching his jaw tightly. That looked good. "So what does that mean?" Effie asked, raising an eyebrow. He sighed. "It means, we're going to meet everyone somewhere more secluded and further away from all of our homes." he finished, running his hand through his hair and out of his eyes. I smirked and reached over speedily, rubbing my hand through his neatened up hair and messing it around. He turned and looked at me, pouting frustratedly. The smirk on my face widened as I struggled and turned to look in front of me again. "You look good with your messy hair. It's like your key feature that makes the girls go looney for you." I muttered. Atlas chuckled, his cheeks illuminating a soft but bright pink. "So you don't think I look good with my hair out of my face, or just neat in general?" he queried, frowning with a visible tinge of a smirk beneath it. "No, you know that's not what I meant. You're just slightly more attractive this way." I scoffed, nudging him in the arm. I thought i did it gently, but he winced and pulled his arm away slightly, before making it return to it's previous state. "Now I love how cute this scene is, but if you're going to do that, do it somewhere else like when you're not in front of me." Effie hissed, shuffling her feet across the car floor. "Woah, woah, woah! We're only teasing each other! It's not like we're going to have sex in front of you!" I exclaimed, placing an arm on the back of my seat and swivelling around to face Effie. "I didn't mean it like that, Aaly!" he retorted, her eyes glistening slightly. I stopped and turned around, sighing. "You're right, I'm sorry." I placed a hand on my forehead, shaking it side-to-side as I did so. "We're sorry, Effie." Atlas nodded, his face returning to a blank slate's.

We arrived in a run-down part of the bushland around a few hundred metres away from Atlas, Iris and Sanity's apartment. The trees surrounding us were ruined and burnt, mainly from the bushfire that 'mysteriously occurred' around Christmas time last year. Though I'm pretty sure some teenagers flung a lit lighter over there. Anyways, the rain washed the fire out, so it didn't spread as far as it could've, which was lucky. Iris was already there, along with Rose being held on a leash, and of course, Bane. I hopped out of the car quickly, squinting as the sun's light fiercely shone through the cover of the gum tree leaves, or what was either left of it or miraculously growing on the dead shrubs. Behind Iris was a thin bush path that I knew trailed a further distance. "Bane, you're going to have to shift back into your human shell." I muttered loudly over the cawing of cockatoos, nodding my head in the direction of the path. An audible sigh sounded from the liquidy creature that happened to be Bane. Bane blobbed down, lying almost flat against the ground, then shot up. He didn't fly too high, but only just enough for the bottom of him to be level with my head. Down came a lean, almost dainty man who seemed to look as if he were in his early twenties. He had dark brown stubble from his sideburns down to his jaw, ending at his slim chin. His hair was short and neat, slicking the tip at the front of his hair over onto his right side and deep black in colour, only showing short spurts of brown on the top of his head, spreading out. It kind of reminded me of Atlas's hair, only his streaks were blonde. And the whole smart and lanky look was complete with his large, black-brown eyes that I imagine could bour into your soul if he really pleased. And although his old-deep blue shirt looked stained and long, it was tucked in nicely around his waist, and his pants were also faded, but still managed to look darker than the shirt His pants were held in securely by a light brown belt. Bane nudged his glasses up, smirking. "Funny, you look smarter than I think you actually are." Sanity smiled, padding up to him and pawing his 'smart' leather shoes. He rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his small chest. "So this is Nicholas's body then, that you're in right at the moment?" I asked, frowning and raising an eyebrow. He'd curtly nod, pressing his lips in a tight, awkward line. "I would let Nicholas take control again, but that'll mean you can't understand him... Unless you can talk Romanian, that is." he chuckled nervously, which seemed very out of character from the Bane I had just originally met. "So why do we need to talk with this guy? Don't we already know everything?" Effie complained, frowning. I sighed and turned to her. "Do you want to find Dwayne or not?" I grit my teeth, crossing my arms across my chest. She huffed, turning back towards the car. "You don't have the keys!" Atlas shouted over, dangling them in his hand. "Don't give her ideas!" I hissed, nudging him roughly in the ribs. He flinched back awkwardly. Effie opened the door and hopped inside the back seat, lying down across the seats and slamming the door shut. I turned back, "Alright, so what's first?".

The events earlier today in the old, burnt area in the bush wasn't anything exciting. We together formed a base line of where to look, and where Dwayne may've been stored. Bane had few smart ideas in mind that he shared, but Atlas wasn't interested. For example, Bane proposed that we lure Veninos using my blood, or whatever will come out of me now, that is, and ambush him. Atlas disagreed, saying that I we all were too inexperienced to fight, and that Veninos will have already guessed it. In fact today, both Atlas and Effie were grumpy towards the end of the day (well, Effie was grumpy all day...). Effie got escorted home by Iris and Sanity, and Bane apparently had already booked in a place to stay around 30 minutes away from the heart of our town, so he already headed off home. Ebony couldn't come today though, she was busy spending time calming down Carol and helping Connor nurture them. And so that just left me and Atlas, where we'll continue now. "So, what's happening at home?" Atlas asked blandly, resting his left hand in mine. "Well, nothing much... Other than my mother has a new boyfriend." I cringed, scrunching my eyes closed. Atlas's face softened, and his eyes darted towards mine, a gaze that could only be compared to a puppy's. I stifled a short laugh. "But she's on a date with him... At my house so..." I chuckled, letting go of Atlas's hand to mess his hair up more. Atlas smirked. "So that's why you're allowed to be out later than usual?" he asked, raising a brow. I nodded, lacing his hands back in mine. The car was silent for our last few moments, other than the radio cackling away. "So your mum doesn't want you home early?" Atlas murmured quietly, breaking the silence. He looked like he was concentrating on the road, but I could only hear his loud thoughts. We were only a few hundred metres away from my house, yet Atlas turned early, driving down a road made of red dirt. He drove for a couple more minutes before turning into more bushlands. I furrowed my brows, confused because his thoughts were far different than to what was happening. And yet, before I knew it, we had arrived to his desired destination. The car pulled to a halt, and Atlas quickly made his way outside of the car. He walked around to my side, opened the door, and helped me out in a gentleman-like manner. "What's the occasion?" I purred, taking his hand gingerly and smirking. Atlas didn't respond, and only pulled me out. My mouth gaped open as I wandered out. "Atlas... How come I've never seen this before!" I exclaimed, starstruck by the large, setting sun over the gum trees and valleys below. He chuckled, sitting down on the dirt filled, but rocky ledge of the hill we were standing on. I sat down beside him. "Your eyes look like they're sparkling." He smiled, bending a long arm over and across my shoulders, prying me against him. I rested my head on his shoulder and giggled, almost with a girly tone. "That's possibly because they are." I sighed, smiling. We stayed like this for a few more moments. "Aaly, can we be... official?" Atlas murmured into my hair, looking out and across the ledge beside me. I blinked slowly, tilting my head up and looking at him. "You suck at asking a girl out." I chuckled, sitting up. Atlas raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Well, then what did I do wrong?" he asked, leaning closer towards me. I sighed, grinning calmly. "A girl- or me, would like that boy to be straight forward, and not all cryptic. That boy would have to toughen up and pull through strongly, asking me directly." I nodded, smiling. "Well first off, you told me off for being cryptic..." he chuckled, leaning against me. We both chuckled for a short moment. "Ok then, you'd rather me say this," Atlas stood up, looking down at me, his piercing eyes soft again. "Aaly, will you be my girlfriend?" he asked gently, lowering a hand down towards me. I took his hand, standing up against him. "Will this answer your question?" I purred, reaching on my toes and wrapping my arms around his neck, pulling myself against him and whispering into his lips. Atlas closed his eyes and smiled. He drew in, our lips meeting each other almost instantly. It was short, but passionate nonetheless. His sky blue eyes trained mine hard, illuminating my mind. And for this time, I never cursed the beautiful irises, and instead, thanked them for it's existence. And I'm out of here. Toxin grunted in a sickly manner. Her words echoed my mind, and I smiled even more. I pulled Atlas's head using his shirt's collar and crushed my lips against his again. He didn't even try to resist. He swiftly lifted me up with ease, and I tucked my legs around his waist. He brought me back into the car.