Scylla House

Chapter 4

"I'm Chloe Chang-Williams," she finally said. "Welcome to your grave."

"Chloe!" Patrick called, stepping off the train and interrupting the sudden silence. "How long has it been?"

Chloe's harsh face softened slightly. "Six months, Patrick," she said quietly. "It's been too long."

Patrick glanced around the station, and Adrian followed his gaze. The platform ran the length of the train car, no further, the dirty stone slightly slick with moisture. The room itself was barely bigger than the train car, the ceiling just higher than the train itself. Other than the pitch dark tunnel they had come from, Patrick could see two other exits -- two sets of stairs that ran up and away on either side of the room. It felt like a subway station that had been left to rot.

A single stone bench divided the room in half, running in between two crumbling pillars that looked one sneeze away from collapsing. A black kid with hair in short braids perched on the end, just as beat-up as Chloe. Nearby, a guy with his black hair pulled back in a short ponytail at the nape of his neck leaned against one of the pillars, a large kitchen knife strapped to his belt. Adrian followed Patrick off the train, grabbing the other suitcase, watching the conductor's face as it slowly grew more and more worried.

"Where -" Patrick started.

"Tamara and Jack are watching the stairs," Chloe said quickly. "But we... We lost Thomas. And... Amir." Her voice cracked, and she swallowed thickly.

"Amir?" Patrick asked, shock evident in his voice. "But he was -- he'd been here for --"

"I know," Chloe replied, her voice still shaky. She brushed her short crop hair out of her eyes; it looked like it had been chopped off at the chin with a knife. "Trust me, I know. The... the basement got him."

Patrick swore. "Thomas, too?"

Chloe nodded slowly. "He went to get food from the kitchen and he... never came back." Abruptly, she turned to Adrian. "Who are you?"

"I'm Adrian," he said, caught off guard by the sudden switch. "Adrian Hayes."

"Pronouns?"

"He/him," Adrian replied. "Thanks"

Chloe shot him a confused look. "For what?"

Adrian shrugged. "Oh, uh..."

"For respecting people's pronouns," the kid on the bench called, standing up and crossing to the two of them. "Doesn't always happen, you know. I'm Remi," xe added, to Adrian, giving him a small smile. They had a small cut on their cheekbone that was scabbed over, but looked like it had hurt. "Xe/they. That's Carlos, with the knife. Carlos! What pronouns do you use?"

"He/him," the boy replied, clearly bored. He shifted, finding a more comfortable position against the pillar, which was painted in miscellaneous patches of mold. "Like every other day you've asked me."

"Just making sure," Remi laughed. "They can change, you know."

"I'm aware," Carlos muttered.

Chloe scowled. "I don't mean to rain on the pride parade," she interrupted, "but we don't know how long the train's staying. We should get back to base before it's too late."

"The base?" Adrian repeated, feeling like the only thing he had done all day was ask questions.

"Yeah," Chloe said dismissively. "And we don't have time to explain everything right now, so let's get going."

"She's right," Patrick added, setting the suitcases down beside Adrian. "You all need to go."

Remi grabbed one of the suitcases, and shoved the other over to Carlos. "Alright. Which way? Past the kitchen, or through the garden?"