Harwal, book 3

Chapter 24

"I-I think I've fallen for you," comes out of my mouth instead of 'thank you'.

I scowl. What the fuck did I just say?

Harwal strolls us to the basement door and lowers me on the ground. "It was only a short drop," he says and grabs the gas mask from me.

What? I blink at his response and open my mouth to correct him, but I don't think I should. My cheeks flush with humiliation. I can't believe my confession was struck down like that.

No-no. I can't believe I said something like that in the first place.

"Put the gas mask on. There's no time," he says and twists the key on the lock.

I struggle to put the mask on and bite down the growing shame in me. This is hardly the time and place to confess anything. Why did I even? Stupid, stupid mouth of mine never stops to think of the words that come out.

Harwal opens the door, and I try to shake my mind clear of the useless barrage of thoughts. I follow him down a deep, deep set of stairs, staring at his big, reliable back. The trudge down to the depths takes an uncomfortable amount of time. I don't remember the stairs taking this deep.

I feel like shit, but that feeling wipes off the moment the stairwell opens up to a ginormous place. I step down from the stairwell. The floor is ice-cold against my bare feet.

The ceiling is so high up that it's just pitch black darkness. The whole place is covered in looming darkness. The only thing that lights up the surroundings are the huge, cylindrical tubes. They are wide and tall and filled with blueish liquid, which emit the blue hues around it. There are some kinds of big forms floating within the tubes. There are also smaller ones, with smaller forms in them. They're all some kind of creatures with tubes attached to them.

Harwal pushes me from my back, taking us to the side of the room. "Be very quiet," he says and points at a row of huge cages filled with giant creatures. "They are asleep with the anaesthetics, but some may wake if we are too loud."

I nod and keep my eyes on the things as I follow Harwal through the eerie place. It's freezing, and the flooring is covered with a thin layer of white fog, which spirals around our feet as we go on.

I palm my neck to make sure I don't accidently make a peep. The creatures growl and snore quietly, tubes are embedded on their necks and backs, even their heads. The tubes seem to be either injecting something in them or taking something. It's horrifying.

I look at the gigantic blue test tubes we're going past, tilting my neck all the way back to see the height it goes to. Even Harwal looks small in this place, which is ridiculous. We are like tiny specks next to whale-sized tubes. A creature inside the tube next to us has its eyes open, and they're most definitely tracking us.

I smack Harwal's back and point at the thing, speechless. Suddenly, bright red lights start to flash on the ceiling, barely visible so high up, then a blaring siren echoes from the way we came from. I hunch my head down, surprised at the sudden burst of sound.

Harwal grabs my hand without a word and starts dragging me forward quickly, but my slapping feet don't work as fast as his.

He notices the same and hoists me up to his shoulder and runs forward. I'm left looking at the gigantic creature staring at us. It's somehow eerie and incredibly sad. Some of the cages move as we rush past. The creatures are waking from their slumber with rumbles and growls, shaking their habitats.

Harwal drops me on my feet and points at the ground. "Stay here," he orders and disappears on me.

I back away on the tube behind me and stare at the cage on the opposite side, where two red glowing eyes stare right at me.