Page 44 of Repossess My Heart

How do you tell someone that isn’t… sane that their unhinged entire life mission is based on a lie?

And why the fuck would he bring us down here? Even by his standards, that seems like a terrible fucking idea. When we start walking his embrace becomes violent again like he can tell I’m seconds away from seeing if my newfound speed can take me far enough to find someone that’ll stab first and ask questions later. Shouldn’t be hard to accomplish down here. If the Below is the drudges of society Above… the Down is a blight. Rapists, murderers and cultish groups dedicated to serving the will of deities of the old world. A bearded man that can make liquor out of thin air and killed a bunch of people all the time for not liking him.

I never understood why anyone would want to obey and follow a deity with a base teaching so… extreme and ripe with hypocrisy. At least we can see the Officials, when they grace us with their presence in their jet-black clothes and sleek flyers it’s something… believable. CeCe said deities of the old world were integral to upholding society the way it used to be. My heart thrums painfully in my chest, making his hand slip up my back, gripping my neck. I brace waiting for the bite of his touch, wishing for it to ground me when his fingers graze the admittedly damp flesh there, leaving goosebumps in their wake. It’s a soothing gesture, soft and gentle but I feel it for what it is.

A threat.

Warning.

I can’t tell him.

But the words are on the tip of my tongue.

Despite my best attempts, I’ve lost track of every twist and turn we’ve taken. Whatever path my lizard brain showed me in my panic has receded back into the tech that put it there. Even so, I try to take note. Four sharp lefts, two wide rooms that broke off into seven different possibilities. We’ve passed through rooms filled with smoke and groaning machinery that stand taller than some of the buildings Below. A stark contrast to the other halls and spaces here that have such a low ceiling, Nine could easily touch it if he wanted to. It’s a labyrinth, and yet he navigates it like it was a straight shot. We’re both silent, the girl that’s seemed to attach herself to us following behind, her sanitization bots left to clean in the halls. His hold on me is every bit as unrelenting as the warning bells and heavy thud in my chest. All of it urging me to escape an inescapable situation. I can’t see his face, but it’s often tilted towards me, just a hair. If he was anyone else, I’d be worried about him falling into one of the monstrous gears below the narrow platform we’re walking on. This must be everything that runs our world, the belly of it all. Coating those down here in a heavy layer of grime and smoke. The closer we get to the end of the narrow platform, the more people we see. Women mulling about with oddly quiet children and men tending to large pots of food. Tables are laid out in some kind of buffet, and beyond that, lording above it is a man. One whose eyes feel as if they are trying to pry inside my brain, causing it to throb hard enough that every blink makes me wince.

Nine somehow manages to tense even more than before, tucking me slightly behind him in some brutish display of possession. One that definitely doesn’t fill my belly with a strange tickling feeling because that would be insane at a time like this.

Like any of this is even remotely fucking normal.

“Nine, make yourself comfortable. No need to rush upwards.” The man announces just before we make it to him, his lumbering form clopping down the metal steps in front of him. My skin erupts in goosebumps as nearly everyone in the large room turns to stare. Their mumbled conversations, even a crying, fussy toddler stopped dead.

“I have business to attend to Anton, thank you for housing us.”

Anton?

My eyes track along the man. If you can call him that, he’s a little more than a Half even. His visible skin shows more metal and scarring than flesh. I cut my exploration short as his eyes meet mine, spearing me in place. My fists tighten, my chipped nails dig into my palm. The urge to cling to Nine in front of me is… just about as confusing as the rest of this. Not even his betrayal. My hate for him changes howsafethe murderer makes me feel.

“I raised you better than that. Introduce your friend.” It sounds like a request, but judging by the quickly clearing room, it's anything but.

“You were raised in the Down?” I whisper, earning me a scathing chuckle from behind. Our housekeeper guide seeming fit to hang around.

“Unnecessary, I plan to kill her soon.”

Liar. I barely avoid rolling my eyes.

“That why you marked her like that? We’ve known each other for many years. We’ve trusted each other-“

“Over-exaggerating as usual,” Nine interrupts, earning a gasp and the almost frenzied overdue departure of the girl behind us. I don’t know why I make a point to glare at her as she leaves, but I feel better for doing so.

“I trained you, housed you, upgraded you in ways your keepers up there wouldn’t dare-”

“I haven’t forgotten.” Nine’s hand snakes behind him, gripping a blade at his back, and I do my best to remain neutral. I have all the confidence in the world in him, not so much against the leader of the Down. Even if he kills him now, our chances of making it out are less than zero.

“You owe me. You owe her.”

“And I’ve killed everyone you’ve requested. Forged every delinquent document. Spied and reported back to fill your pockets. Let’s not pretend you did it as a favor for a woman you got killed with your nasty little secrets.”

The look that falls over the man is a darkness that rivals even Nine’s, a sick smile fills his face to match it, “Once you’ve tired of your plaything, bring her corpse to me. She seems to have something of mine.”

The alarm chiming faintly in Nine’s mask is the only response as he turns, tugging me along beside him. I frown, wondering why sometimes it comes from the mask, others from the man himself. When I turn to look back at him, Nine’s grip becomes violent again. “Do not look at him.”

“Why?” I breathe out as I’m led back into the labyrinth. Oddly enough, it seems far safer than where we were.

“I’m seconds away from beheading him, and that will most certainly get us both killed. I have shit to do. We didn’t come visit the Down for fun.”

“Nine, what did he mean-“

“You tell me Reverie, what part of you belongs to that cunt huh?” He snaps and I can’t halt the short-lived scream that leaves me as I’m wrenched forward by my hair over the long drop to endless pools of churning metal. My eyes widen as I stare down, knowing there would be nothing left of me but gore if he let go now.

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