Some Thing Called Myself (Complete)

XLI: Something Dangerous (Part Two)

Ch. 41: Something Dangerous (Part Two)

"This was a water mirror, Mariana; I hope you know that," Mirtes growled. "Your Uah wasn't really here; if he was, he would have killed Godo and me."

Mara's eyebrow twitched. She turned around and walked away before Godo and Mimi could say anything else. Considering their receding steps and muffled, heated argument, they were doing the same. Mimi's words echoed in her mind again.

She hasn't helped since she stepped in this fucking HQ.

Forcing herself to move, Mara stepped away from the hidden entrance to the underground level. If that was the case, maybe it was time to go home, right? She'd miss Mom, sure, but that was a problem for when she decided to turn her feelings on. If she decided to do that.

After all, being a zombie wasn't confusing or scary, or uncomfortable. When shit happened—like this fist-sized piece of cement bashing the place she'd been just a second ago—they didn't rattle her. Her heart didn't tighten, her breathing didn't shallow, and her feelings didn't go haywire.

In fact, in a blissful twist, her Zombieism meant that Mara didn't feel much at all. It was perfect. Or...rather, it was almost perfect since there was still one feeling there. Hunger.

She stepped on a pebble, and that was enough for her to lose balance. Mara tumbled forward but managed to catch the railing. She hauled herself up, her expression unchanged, and the metal bent underneath her fingers. An old silent movie was being projected on the walls of her mind; in it, she saw with cold detachment all the things she'd gone through in the past days. Uah, Numa, the cathedral, the things she saw in there, her fight with Mimi. Mara's life had changed since she died—and now Uah was here again, ready to change everything once more.

Hunger bubbled up in her stomach, and Mara turned away from the projection. This time, she would embrace the truth of that feeling. This physical, straightforward, transparent feeling that actually made sense. She knew what she had to do to make the feeling go away...a small, quick nibbling, and she would be at peace again.

She liked that.

Mara picked up speed and half-ran down the corridor toward the nearest flight of stairs. Her first goal was to make sure Kiki was safe. Her second was to decide if she should stay in this hell or go home. Mimi had made it clear she wasn't wanted here. Mara didn't want to impose.

Her sneakers screeched against the cement when her entire body paused, her eyes widening.

A brown leather jacket in the corner of her eyes caught her attention. Her stomach clenched; its owner lay face-first on the wet cement floor while showers of dust and pebbles fell from the ceiling. Following their trajectory, her stomach dropped a few inches.

"Tai?" she called. Mara stepped forward, her mouth watering. She tried to ignore the way her dormant heart answered to the scene taking shape in her mind. The shadow of a feeling reached the base of her neck, and she swallowed hard. "Tai, are you okay?"

She leaned down and gripped their arm. In a sharp movement, Mara tugged at them and rolled them around to see their face. Their back hit the wet floor with a plop.

Mara let out a sigh, and her muscles relaxed.

This wasn't Tai. She pinched the generous cheeks and moved their face this way and that. Thank Goddess. With ease, she dragged the sleeping person toward the corner of the corridor and rested their back against the wall, distant enough from the puddles of water to not be electrocuted any time soon. As she stepped away from the sleeping Sent, she hummed. Mara had met Tai earlier tonight—before she had decided to follow Numa to the underground cathedral.