Poison

The sun lifted out of the water, staining the orange across the bottom on the sky. It smoldered over the ocean, hovering above those rocking waves. The sun dominated the eastern sky, pouring out light and maybe a little bit of hope into this starved world. Ocean poured outwards towards seemingly endless directions, save for the northeast, where two opposite lands spread across the water towards each other, leaving a slice of shining water between the two of them. The strait of Eros and Ari. A dangerous place for those who are weak and those who believe in too much.

Reaching with her fingers, Sol wondered if she'd ever heard of such a wonderfully doomed strip of water. A land caught between love and lust, a place where even the greatest souls could become victim to their own disbeliefs. Love and lust. So similar, but so very different in many, many ways.

“It’s called the strait of Love and Lust, the fine line between the two. As long as you stay between the two you are fine. The moment you step on those lands…well, they didn’t gain their names for nothing,” Tarryn said, appearing beside Sol. “We have to stop and pick up supplies, since Zaire is, well, lacking.”

“What do we need?” Sol asked.

“Gas. The wind can only take us so far, and if we want to get anywhere in a timely manner, we need to stop. However,” he said, frowning, “we have to stop on the penisula of Ari, because of business that Callaway needs to deal with.” He leaned over, spitting on the ground and using his foot to brush it away. “I think it’s a fool-hardy idea, anyway. We’re a crew of mostly Protectors, and Ari isn’t exactly a Protector friendly place.”

“Another rebel city?”

“No,” said another voice. Callaway came forward, eyeing Tarryn. Tarryn flushed a bit, turning away and going to work. “It is a broken city, an angry, sad city. Not uncommon for this country, or this continent, really. However, I do have to meet with some people, and Eros is just as dangerous. Right now, no place is safe for you.” Callaway came to stand next to Sol, looking towards those two peaking lands. “I need you to lay low while we're on Ari."

"Why do you hate me?" Sol suddenly asked, turning towards him. "I find myself concerned you'll chuck me overboard or something equally dramatic."

“I don’t hate you. You’re a threat, however, I'll restrain myself from throwing you overboard. Fraser would rip my heart out and make me eat it. After torturing me for days and days upon end, of course.”

A slow drop of sweat dripped down her brow, and she wiped it away, her red hair sticking to her skin. “How do you two know each other? Are you related?”

“You could see the family resemblance? We share scowls, I know." Callaway chuckled slightly at her look. "I’ve known him since he was born. Our mothers were sisters, making Fraser and I cousins. Unfortunately, our family was split when we were young, and we’ve only recently reconnected.” Callaway squinted into the distance, and at the clouds that started to curl angrily in the sky above those two lands. “We’re getting closer. Oh, by the way, it’s nothing personal.”

“I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean.”

Callaway shrugged as he slipped the needle back into his pocket. “Oh, you’ll figure it out, I'm sure. Be careful, Protector."


Murphy lit a cigarette, letting it smolder as he lifted it to hang between his lips. Smoke from the rest of the patrons drifted upwards, condensing above them in a heavy cloud. The women were pretty, the drinks watered down, and still the men of the bar managed to get shit-faced and snarl at one another. It was a disgusting, but familiar ritual that was commonly shared across the globe. Men could be counted on to be drunk and mean. Not that women didn't give their fair share of drunkness and meanness. It just seemed to be a common disease for men. Well, perhaps he was romanticizing women, because of the lovely ladies that were making their way through the bar. Shaking his head slowly, Murphy idly scratched his ribs, thinking of the dragon infinity tattooed on his ribs. Jack had taken both Murphy and Fraser in about the same time, after Fraser’s parents had been killed. Before his sister tried to join.

That was a damn shame. The girl had more potential than a million normal Protectors, and she knew love too. Once upon a time Jakob and Fraser had been best friends. Once upon a time. This world wasn't a fairytale, that's for damn sure. He knew that, unfortunately. It's a shame that this world couldn't know the magic of love and loyalty any longer, because it was in a desperate need of a fairytale. Of a hero. Murphy chuckled at himself, at his thoughts, blowing a steam of smoke out of his lungs. A girl dropped into the chair beside him, slapping a bottle of beer in front of him. Her heavy-lidded eyes were a smoldering green, her hair a lovely shade of blond.

Sighing, he put out his cigarette on the table, saying, “Disgusting habit, I know.”

“Yes, it is,” she said, grabbing the cigarette before he could fully put it out and lifted it to her lips. The end glowed ember, and her eyes rolled upwards. “I can’t tell you where he is, Murph, you know that," she said around a mouthful of smoke.

Snatching up the beer, he took a sip of it, not bothering wave away the cloud of smoke she blew into his face. “Come on, Sean, you know I have to do this.”

“He’s my brother, Murph. I don’t care what he’s done, I’m not giving him up. Now leave, before I report you.”

Murphy sighed, sliding his hands into his pockets, feeling the lighter against the palm of his hand. She was beautiful. It was a damn shame what this world had come to. “I was afraid you’d say that.”


“It seems like the Little Death has gone underground, or something.” The man that spoke lifted a cigarette to his mouth, taking a deep breath before exhaling a long stream of smoke. It lifted towards the moon slowly. “Shit, I’ve missed this. The wife, at home, won’t let me smoke. I’ll have to sneak in and shower first, but damn, this is worth it.”

His friend chuckled, flicking some sparks onto the ground. “The Little Death, huh. I heard that they finally caught him.”

“No way.”

“Oh yeah, by Ophela herself. She ambushed him. Got poisoned in the process, but apparently the dumb smuck had the antidote on him at the time.” He dropped the cigarette, and crumpled it beneath his shoe. It hissed on the concrete of the alley, and the stench of piss and blood rose up from the ground. “Rumors have it that he was a sixteen year old kid. Who knows what punishments he’ll face.”

“Not any if he tells them his secrets.”

The man shrugged, lifting a shoulder as he leaned against the brick wall, that was stained with some sort of paint. “I don’t know. I’m not high enough in the hierarchy. I don’t even have my rebel tattoo yet. Got to reach a certain level, you know?”

The other man chuckled. "I know. I'm wondering if they're just leading us on. Promising us greatness while we slave away." He glanced towards the darkness before swearing violently, "What the hell is that?"

The shadow moved, trembling before spitting out a man. A white smile cut into the man's face as he emerged from the darkness. It clung to him as he moved forward from the side of the alley, towards the two men. His eyes flickered up, blue in the dark night. The chill settled on his skin, and he grinned at the two men that became silent before him. Rolling up his sleeve, he presented his tattoo, his rebel mark that would open doors. The snake reared up between the infinity, shattering it.

“Now, want to tell me about this boy?” Jakob asked softly. “And where I might be able to find him?”


“I should kill you for that.”

Callaway turned around and stared at Fraser. “I just gave her a low-dose tranquilizer. She can’t be seen. You of all people should know that.”

“Which is why I’m not killing you—yet. But don’t you ever lay a hand on her again.” Fraser came to stand next o Callaway, were the ocean raged and the wind started to pick up speed. Both closed their eyes as a spray of salty water ran down the slopes of their faces. “Even for her own good, you do nothing, nothing, unless you approach me about it. Got it?”

The silence hung there for a brief moment, a knife over each throat. Tension lingered in a furious face, betrayal slicing through another. Both pulled back, with wounds raw from tempers and emotions racing high.

“You’d kill your own cousin over a woman?” Callaway searched his face, and turned away with disgust and slight trace of sadness. “You’re a goner. A damn shame, another man lost to a woman.”

Fraser didn’t even bother to rise to the bait. They'd played this game over and over again, and all it did was reopen old scars and make them bleed for things they paid for long ago. “I’m responsible for her safety, Erik.”

Callaway scowled, shoving away from the edge of the ship, saying roughly, “Is that what you’re telling yourself now?” He kept walking, taking the stairs, staring down the clouds that threatened a downpour. He stopped at the top of those steps turning around and staring down at Fraser. “How pathetic.”


Jakob never thought he would return here, never realized that he’d be drawn back to this place. He should’ve known better. It was a cycle. He may no longer be a rebel, but those who he must defeat and save will be drawn from this sickly caves and tunnels built to house and protect monsters. It wasn’t just a place for the monsters though. This place was a sanctuary for those who became victims of the vicious personalities of the Protectors. Some find that they weren’t any safer here then outside of these walls, but many found refuse within these walls. Only the desperate came here—the raped, the tortured, and the mutilated. Sometimes the groans of those healing souls sink throughout the tunnels as a whole.

Sol use to cry at night at the sounds those poor souls made. She’d swore that she’d somehow change the fate of the world. Jakob dismissed her as a foolish child with naïve dreams. Later, he dismissed her as a betrayer, full of guilt and shit. Now, he didn’t dismiss her. He couldn’t settle down on a feeling towards her, couldn’t pin her down. Now her mother wanted her back again. Ophela, also known as the Serpent. Rumor has it that Sol’s father had been a Protector, and the moment Ophela found out, she slaughtered her husband.

Now, he faced the tunnel leading into those dark alleys and hiding grounds. Somewhere, deep within the recesses of these tunnels, he’d have to find a sixteen year old boy who held the key to curing and saving Kida before it was too late. It has only been a couple of days at the most, but he wanted her cured as soon as possible. Less damage, less healing time, and less misery for her. Getting in would be easy. They still didn’t suspect him, though he should hide from Ophela. She could smell a traitor from a mile off, and kill him before he had a chance to defend himself. It would be getting out, with a probably tortured child, that would be difficult.

“Hold on Kida,” he whispered, and disappeared back into the serpent’s nest.


Eliza knew what punishment would come from her actions, but she couldn’t deny the right to do them. She’d just get the kid out, maybe promise the mother that she’d keep him safe. That she’d get him out of there and into safe arms, and things would go on to normal. Maybe she’ll even free the mother, but the loss of the child will be taken much easier than the loss of the mother. The mother was bait. The child was an accessory, meaning if an action wasn’t taken, the child could be injured by anyone who wanted to hear the quiet screams of a child. It wouldn’t surprise Eliza if Ophela ate his heart.

Ophela was cold, and crazy.

She’d once been kind, Eliza remember briefly, when Sol had returned. Then something cracked inside of her when her daughter betrayed them all, stealing back the Gem. Something was broken inside of her, and nothing could heal it. No long did feelings and emotions stir her in any way or form. For Sol’s sake, Eliza hoped that Ophela never found her.

There is no telling how Ophela would react now that her own daughter was officially a Protector. Otherwise she wouldn’t have survived touching the stone. Stepping down the stairs, she heard something in one of the hallways. Pausing, she stared down the dark hall, but saw thing move. Her eyebrows came down, and she quickly scurried down the stairs.

She would have to act before her courage gave out and she left a child in dangerous hands.


Kida was dying.

This time, she was sure it was for real. Death cuddled with her, settling on her burning arm. If she had the strength, she’d cut it off. If she’d had the strength, she’d slit her own throat. She wasn’t sure if blood would even pour from her anymore. However, she couldn’t even lift her hand in the red, burning haze that was consuming her mind. It snapped inside of her, this poison that was breaking down her neurons, ripping apart the delicate flesh that lingered underneath her skin. Veins flushed blood, pouring lava into her skin. Her heart thundered in fear, but the poison didn’t target such a petty organ as the heart. It took its sweet time, traveling along the most painful paths that will not grant death, until it reaches the brain, destroying any rationality left.

Two weeks to die.

One week to kill.

“Kill me!” Kida screamed to those shifting shadows of people she once knew. Raven and Jazz, beyond her reach, watching her waste away slowly. “Kill me! Please! Please, make it stop, I don’t want to die like this! Kill me!” Her body arched as another painful attack trembled through her. Sobs crawled from her throat, tears burning her already red hazed eyes. She screamed, reaching upwards without sight, without reason. “Please!”

“Kill me!”