Three years after Lucinda's confrontation with the mastermind behind the infection, she is forced to risk everything to save Lucella once and for all.
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Fifteen-year-old Lucinda Emerson was well aware of the fact that she didn't take TIO down...
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I couldn't bring myself to gasp as the room became gray once more.
I was aware that I was currently falling don to the ground, though. I just didn't process it until after I felt the sudden burst of pain that came after I hit the ground. This time, the height I fell was twice, maybe even three times, the size as the height back at the temple, so the pool of blood that formed underneath me was bigger. "CINDY!" I heard Georgie cry out in fear as I sat up on my knees with a groan, my hands planted on the surface of the red sea beneath me. My eyes widened when I realized that he was running towards me.
Without thinking, I grabbed my pistol from my leg and pointed it at him.
"NO!" I yelled back. "Don't come any closer!" I obviously wasn't going to shoot Georgie, but I needed him to stay as far away from me as possible for his own safety. I managed to figure out what that exit Huxley was talking about earlier was, and it wouldn't be long until he came out of it. I scooted backwards until I was out of the pool before standing up as far as I could. Unfortunately, I occasionally stumbled and fell, and I needed to keep one hand on the ground to support myself.
"But, Cindy, you're hurt!" Georgie tried to reason as I tried my best to stand up. I shook my head vigorously, causing it to hurt more than ever. "I don't care, Georgie, I need you to stay back!" I protested. "It's bad enough that you need to see what's about to happen," I didn't say. I wanted to, but I knew that I couldn't. That would only make him ask more questions, and my ability to answer them was already down in the depths.
Suddenly, I felt something move in my stomach. Something that wasn't supposed to be there at all. And I instantly knew what it was. The feeling wasn't unusual, though. It was as if I was anticipating vomit to come out after riding an intense roller coaster. That also meant that I couldn't control my body trying to get what wasn't supposed to be there out. I had no other choice but to let my body do its thing. To let The Insolence out.
My eyes widened, and I forced my mouth shut with a gasp as a hand instantly moved to cover it. That meant that I would have to use every ounce of strength I had to keep standing. I could feel something wriggling in my stomach, clawing at its walls, trying to get out. It almost felt like the kicks Rose felt against Mom's stomach when she was still pregnant with me. What neither of them told me was how weird and odd and uneasy it felt on the inside.
I could feel it force itself up my throat. Suddenly, breathing became a lot harder. It was as if I was being strangled again, but from the inside. When something began to pour out of my eyes, I almost didn't realize it until it landed on the ground. I dropped my gun instantly and checked to see what it was, and when my hand lowered once more, it was covered in a black substance. "Is my eye...?" I began to ask. "No... I can still see...-" My thought was cut off when it finally reached my mouth.
And I couldn't keep it in any longer.
The red on the floor was slowly becoming a shade of burgundy as my blood mixed in with the black substance I was vomiting. The only things I could let out were incoherent sounds, pained groans, and distorted sobs. I was trying my best to keep the latter to a minimum because I knew that Huxley was watching, and the last thing I wanted was to show weakness in front of him.
