Some Thing Called Myself (Complete)

XXI: something chaotic (part I)

Ch. 21: Something Chaotic (Part One)

Mara left the stale warmth of the elevator and braved the fog ahead. Goosebumps covered her arms, and her breath condensed into tiny ice crystals right after it left her quivering lips.

There must be a reason why Godo and Bernardo had let her, a novice, go out alone to look for Mirtes. Maybe some stupid rule or something even more stupid, like magic. But one, she didn't know what that reason was, and two, maybe she didn't care.

Mirtes, Tai, and the others had been the closest thing Mara had to friends since her accident, six months ago, and she would feel like shit if she left one of them alone. Well, if she left Mirtes alone; Tai wasn't giving her much of a choice.

Besides, Mara would be okay. What could be so dangerous in a damned fog, anyway? She wasn't in Maine, and this wasn't Stephen King's The Mist, so she was safe.

Probably.

"Mirtes!" Mara shouted. The sound didn't echo. It felt dull and dead, as if she was shouting in the middle of a massive, empty field. There were blurred shapes around her, tall and thick like trees in the distance. As she walked, her steps were cushioned by what felt like short grass. Mara hugged herself to stop shaking, but the added warmth wasn't enough.

A twig broke at her back.

Mara pivoted around. There was nothing there—there weren't people, monsters, or even the damned elevator she had just left.

"What the hell," she mumbled.

Everything was gone.

"Shit, shit, shit. Mirtes!"

A shadow entered the very corner of her field of view. Mara tried to look at it, but every time she moved her gaze, the shadow followed. A shiver climbed up her back.

Mariana, something whispered. The voice was so low and familiar, it seemed to come from inside her own head. Aren't you...hungry, honey?

She swallowed hard and stopped herself from asking something stupid like who's there. Instead, she stood very still and waited, sharpening her hearing.

Smart, yet silly Mara. Time of death: very soon.

A claw gripped her arm, and her shoulders jerked up. Mara screamed.

"Hey! It's okay. It's just me, Mara-boo."

Mara blinked a few times and met Mirtes's scared expression. She tried to slow down her breathing, but her heart still beat too fast for that.

"Okay," Mara mumbled. Then, she gripped Mirtes's hand and furrowed her brows. "And now that you're here, care to tell me why did you run away like that? You just told me off for being irresponsible, and that's exactly how you acted!"

Mirtes grimaced. Her cheeks darkened in the faint light, and she lowered her eyes. Overhead, the sky started to grow unnaturally dark.

"I...I honestly thought we were in the train station already; the elevator never opens its doors before the right stop. I didn't even think...."

Mara sighed and let her go. It was an honest mistake. Everyone makes those...and Mara more than anyone else.

Still.

"Look, Mirtes, you wouldn't storm off like that if you were really okay." She scratched the back of her neck and grimaced. "If I offended you this much—"

"No! Mara, no, it's..." she trailed off again and scoffed. Mirtes bit her lower lip. Shook her head. "Nothing. We should go before the tunnel closes, c'mon. Something must be wrong with the elevator—we should be in São Paulo already." Mirtes tugged Mara in what the latter thought was a random direction and started walking.