Icy Inferno (Troyler AU)

⋙ Chapter Twenty-Six

Cause it's too cold

For you here

And now, so let me hold

Both your hands in the holes of my sweater

Sweater Weather ~ The Neighbourhood

Dan

My eyes flew open, catching a glimpse of the wispy words as they drifted away with the wind. I felt more light headed than I had before. Tyler must've been further away than I'd thought if it required that much energy. I was just grateful it was winter, with gusty wind that made sending messages a lot easier. I'd definitely found the weather a bonus when trying to message other people - well, there was only ever one person I messaged using wind.

Turning off the flash light on my phone, I rose up from the fallen ritual stone, stumbling as I did so. Without light the darkness seemed more dense. Who knew what evils lurked within it. The sinister train of thought left me shaking in fear. I bolted back to the others, expecting the Blair Witch or Slender Man or some other demon to come out from the shadows at any time.

As I got nearer to the others I felt safer, seeing as the upright stones were lit up slightly. A few steps away I sighed with relief and slowed myself down. I was lucky enough to survive that time. By that point I was out of breath from the short, full-pelt run. I didn't want the other's to know how unfit I truly was, but I couldn't just wait behind them. Breathlessly I said, "It's done. I've sent the message."

"Took you long enough," Caspar said as they all turned to face me. It took me a moment to realise Alfie had already gone home, and those left wore grim faces.

"Oh I'm sorry would you like to do it next time?"

"What makes you think there'll be next time?" Joe said, looking positively glum. It wasn't a suprise, seeing as things were going from bad to worse in a very short space of time for him. I just hoped he'd manage to pull through it eventually.

"Well, we still have to help them, don't we?" Hannah said, her voice being the only one still holding onto optimism, bar mine.

"How? We can't find them now, not when people are chasing after them."

"I still don't understand why they're going after Ty. He hasn't done anything..." Marcus' comment left me wondering briefly which politician was so bad that the government felt obliged to hunt down their relatives. In my mind, it could've been any of them - none were that great.

"It's because of who we are. We're not normal in their eyes. The whole systems fucked up anyway. And we can't do anything about that." Caspar's fingers lit up with energy as he grew more and more enraged. When he finished a lightning bolt rushed from his fingers to the ground. We all jumped back in fright. The boom that followed left us all shaking. Then there was a silence no one could fill. No one had a clue what to do. It was a hopeless cause. Within a year no doubt we'd all be put in confinement, or worse.

But then I was struck with words, seeing the solution as clear as day. "Yes we can. Of course we can."

"How? We're just people. It's nothing compared to what the government might do to us."

"Don't you get it? The people shouldn't be afraid of the government, the government should be afraid of the people... I think I have a plan."

*

Stepping out the believed-to-be derelict building, we all looked at the world with brand new eyes. Whereas they had looked downhearted previously, they now seemed determined to do as promised.  I myself was certain that things could change from that point on. Knowing I'd be a part of the happenings was terrifiying, but the thrill of the secrecy made it worthwhile. It dawned on me that doing things in secret was becoming increasingly common for me - not that I minded. I wouldn't change it for the world.