Adrian (The Write Awards 2013)

06: Perplexed

Dedicated to Jane_Inkspill. Do I need a reason why? She's just awesome like that. :D

***

"Cleo." It is Jax's voice, without manipulation. I jump and turn quickly to face him. I still cannot make out what he looks like. I only see a silhouette behind the blue mist that once surrounded the train station. I can't help but wonder what more he has to hide; I don't truly understand why he feels the need to conceal himself.

"I know what this is," I croak, gesturing to the bridge that leads to my section of the universe. "I know what this is, and I want no part of it. You keep to your side and I keep to mine."

Jax tries to come closer to me, but I quickly step backwards. I stumble over my feet and my head to look behind me so I don't fall. I'm pretty good about regaining my balance. After all, Adrian was always having us stand on the wall that surrounded the park. Jax doesn't seem to notice my misstepping.

"You don't understand," he protests. "It's so much more than that."

"I understand perfectly fine." I brush a wisp of hair away from my face. "Leave me alone, you power-hungry monster."

He didn't tell me that what I first came upon in this universe wasn't the entire universe. He didn't tell me that there was much more to be discovered. He didn't tell me that he was keeping secrets that were of great importance, and now I know for sure that I can't trust this man with any ounce of my being.

"Haven't you realized? Aren't you perplexed by the fact that my powers work in your zone, but your's don't work in mine?"

His admittance of this information does perplex me. In fact, I'm curious as to why I didn't notice it before Jax told me. Maybe because I didn't have time, or maybe because he's a liar.

His words are like the boa constrictors Adrian and I saw at the zoo once. Slowly but surely, they wrap around you. At first, they make you scared, but you don't believe that anything bad could happen to you. Then they wrap tighter and tighter, and you start to become skeptical. Then they begin to squeeze every last breath out of you until you realize that he never had good intentions, that you should've trusted your instinct. I know the outcome of his words; I refuse to be killed by them.

I turn around and break into a run. I dash across the bridge and I can feel adrenaline shooting through me. The bridge seems to stretch out forever; it's length fills me with doubt. The wooden planks rattle beneath my feet as I slam down on them. I'm making progress. My world gradually becomes closer and closer. But it isn't as if Jax will leave me to my own devices.

I don't know how he's doing it, but he's ripping the bridge out of place. It falls plank by plank behind me. Each one falls into the acid with a plop before I see it dissolve into thin air as I run.

It seems that Jax is having trouble, because I can faintly hear his cries of frustration. I've crossed the halfway mark of the bridge. I can feel splinters make their way beneath the skin of my feet.

As I get closer, everything that I've known becomes easier to see. I realize that there is no ground on my land, that everything is floating. I count to three so quickly and will it to appear. It flickers in place, the blue mist surrounding it.

My feet crash against the ground, sending pain to my ankles, up my leg, and into my lower back. I can feel it, but it doesn't hurt at all. I think the water has given me a new kind of priceless invincibility. The coolness of the mud feels gratifying compared to the acid water on the cave's floors, and yet my feet still burn from the splinters.

I need a way to protect myself. Jax was stupid, for now he has no simple way of crossing to my side. Considering how much effort he had to use to tear down the bridge, I don't think it will be very easy to build back up. But in case he can use his powers in ways that I cannot comprehend, I must shield myself somehow.