The time was 11:30 pm. Johnathan was to meet us at the ethanol plant at precisely midnight with the Smilex. I'd called him, and he'd confirmed that Rachel had agreed to a date, so he would deliver my half of the deal when I wished. Not questioning how in the world he had gotten it so quickly- my thoughts were that he must have went right after school to wherever he gets his potions- we treaded down the gravel path, passed the gate labeled "no trespassing- violators will be prosecuted."
"Mistah J," I heard Harley whisper. She was following not too far behind me. "Isn't there security around here?"
"Quiet, Cupcake," was all I told her, in a whisper, making a right turn. There was a giant vat- open, strangely - where they put the waste products from the ethanol and other products they made. When it all mixed together- that's what made it so... disfiguring.
"There it is," I told her, pointing. It was dark, so she probably couldn't see me anyway, but I didn't care.
"Alright," she whispered, handing me my bottles. I was going to fill a few of them up with the toxin.
"Wait." I said. "We need to wait for Crane."
"No need to wait," I heard someone say in a quiet voice. Turning around, squinting under the moon's light, I saw that Johnathan had already arrived.
"How long have you been here?"
"About five minutes," he replied, holding out a container. "Here's your Smilex. Now, if you don't mind, I'll be on my way. But I do hope to wonder what you're going to do with it." I turned to him.
"You can't hold this over my head. If something were to... slip out, there are a few things that I could accuse you of. One being an accomplice. It was you who got the Smilex, after all."
"Alright, alright, Napier, fine. I'm not going to bring it up again. I got Rachel, and you got your poison. From now on, this meeting is forgotten." With that, Johnathan turned to leave. I gave Harley the Smilex.
"Just wait here, alright? I'll go get the toxin, and we'll go back home. Okay, Cupcake?"
"Yes sir, Sargent J!" she said, giving me a little salute. I smiled softly and walked over to the giant vat.
It was an enormous, towering thing, with danger and warning signs plastered all over it. Surveying the thing, I noticed that there was a little rusted out ladder reaching to the top, probably to keep the maintenance up on it, or something. Whatever the purpose was, I'd use that like I did before to get up there.
Climbing up slowly, I was careful not to slip off. It was always a little slippery to get up there, and from a height like this, you could easily break something. Shaking my head, I slowly reached the top.
Inside the vat was a green, bubbling liquid. It looked like one of those things on the movies, like a giant witch's cauldron. I'd gathered it before. You had to be careful.
I took out my glove and tried to slip it on. You needed to use a glove because otherwise, it'd change your hand like it did to that squirrel. But instead of getting it on, the glove slipped and fell into the vat. The green liquid had almost submerged it completely. I tried to grab the tip that was sticking out with my bare fingers but, stupidly, I wasn't hanging on tight enough and...well... you can guess what happened next.
I struggled for air. What had happened? Where was I? It took me a moment to realize that I'd fallen in. And that burning sensation... My eyes, my nose, my mouth, they all burned. This was definitely not water. I gave a yelp for help, and when I had surfaced, I'd heard the beginning of the words "Mistah J!" but, I'd fallen under again. Regaining a bit of my strength, I'd grabbed onto the top of the vat and climbed out, sliding down the steps. Rolling around on the grass I tried to get the acid out of my eyes, but rubbing them only made it worse. I tried to be as quiet as I could because of security, too. Oh, me and my ideas.
"Mist--"
"Don't touch me!" I told her. I didn't want her to get burned too. If it could be helped. I heard footsteps. Seeing as I couldn't open my eyes, I guessed Harley had ran off to get some water. I tried crawling towards her steps, but gave up and clutched my eyes again.
Seeing as it was an ethanol plant, they needed a water source to make their fuel with, so there was a giant river nearby. Harley must have filled up the bottles with water and dumped them on me, for I felt a splash (no pun intended) of relief on my face. The burning sensation had subsided. I groaned and sat upright, getting the strength again. Harley had run off and come back with more water, and had continued to pour it on me. I fell to my back again and let her clean me off.
"M-M-Mistah J! Are you alright?!" she asked after finishing pouring bottle after bottle of water on me.
"Of course, Cupcake, I'm just dandy," I managed to say with sarcasm as I cringed. The pain was going away. Then it hit me. The squirrel.
"Get the flashlight."
"Wh-What?" Harley stuttered.
"Just get the damn flashlight, woman!" I yelled as quietly as I could through clenched teeth, rubbing at my eyes some more. Ugh. A little pain still plagued them.
Harley had dug in the bag we used to carry our supplies in and pulled out a small flashlight which she handed to me. I flicked it on, holding out my arm.
To my horror, I saw the skin was bleached a ghastly white, and the hair on my arm was dyed green.
"God damn it!" I threw the flashlight as far as I could, turning away. I pounded my fists into the ground. "God damn it! God fucking damn it!" Slam. Slam. Slam. I felt a hand on my shoulder.
"I said don't touch me!" I screamed at her, swatting her hand away. How could this have happened?! How the hell could my own plans have backfired?!
"P-Puddin', I'm..."
"Just shut up, okay? Just shut up!" Damn it. This was the worst thing that could have ever happened to me. But what was done was done. There was nothing I could do now. I'd just have to deal with it. Now, I sort of know what it's like for those people who are in some sort of an automobile accident and come out alive but with half their face gone. It happens all of a sudden, but you can't go and get those scraps of your face and put it back on like a puzzle, just like I couldn't rewind time and stop myself from falling in. We were stuck the way we were, and that was that. As time passed, you could get over it. No doubt about it.
"I'm..."
"I know," Harley said, sitting down next to me. Now that my eyes were focused, I could see her looking at me with one of those I'm-so-sorry-for-you sort of looks.
"What the hell am I going to tell people?" I asked her, turning my head away, not really expecting an answer. I felt a hand rub through the locks of now green hair atop my head.
"That you had an accident with the bleach while doing laundry?" she asking jokingly. We looked at each other and laughed, half-heartedly because we knew the severity of the situation.
"Like I said before, Harley... Life's a joke. Looks like I was at the receiving end it this time," I told her. I gave a mental sigh. Maybe it was karma. Whatever it was, it wasn't going to get in the way of my plan. My parents still deserved to die, and nothing would change that.
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This one was a bit shorter, but its done! I'm sorry for the slight delay- I was at my grandmother's for the weekend, only to come back to see my review page. It was a HUGE disappointment! I was very angry! Only one review ALL WEEKEND! Come on! It made me mad. But I still love you guys. I want to hear what you think of my story so far! Please please PLEASE review! I can not emphasize how much I want you to review enough! REVVIIEEEWW! OR I WILL SEND MY MUTANT ATTACK CHINCHILLAS ON YOU!