Chapter 26

His friends used to speak loudly in his mind. When he had first tasted the Vigor, they had all been screaming at the same time but he found that they could understand his thoughts. They all calmed down once he spoke to them. They didn't say much but they always responded to him. He felt when they were angry, when they were scared, and when they were happy.

It was the best thing that could ever have happened to him and he loved every second of it even though the Vigor made him sick. He was aware that it was just a test but if he could help them perfect it, he knew they would give him more. But then the others came…

No one that had drunk the Vigor with him turned mad. It was only the ones from Suchong's labs that were so grossly deformed and insane. They caused all the problems and kept him away from the Vigor he needed.

But they listened to him as well. Even though he wasn't as smart as the scientists here, they all trusted him. He used that to his advantage. There had been one man who found a full bottle of the Vigor he needed and he had drunk it all before coming to see him. He was not supposed to use the Vigor himself. It wasn't even the one he originally drank that day! Charles was glad that the birds pecked him to death without him having to ask.

So he told the others to come to the basement for more of the 'plasmids' they needed. They all flowed in one by one and when they did, he had his friends kill them. That's right, he didn't need them anymore. They were only causing problems for him and now that they were gone, he could search for the Vigors himself.

'more' the birds all chirped into his ears. There were still more of them wandering around and watching the building for him.

"How many?" he asked out loud.

'two'

It looked as if he were talking to himself but the birds were still whispering to him. "Maggie," he looked to the woman beside him. She stared blankly at the pile of bodies in the doorway, "There are still 2 more." he said.

"Still?" she was slightly green, "They didn't get the message." She kicked one of the empty Vigor bottles and sighed.

"No," he shook his head, "But that's okay. We can make our way back upstairs now." When there were more of them, they had checked every lab available to them. They had not found a single bit of the Vigors and he couldn't understand where it had all gone. Maggie had helped him read through the files left behind. There was a serum that could help prolong the effects of the Vigor if they couldn't find more. It was easier to make and Maggie believed that they could do it. They just needed the girl's blood for it.

He had been close to the girl several times recently and each time he had opted to leave her hiding in the room. He hoped the others hadn't gotten to her already, "That girl is our only hope." he said firmly, "We can make that Serum."

"We don't have the rest of the ingredients," Maggie reminded. She was more levelheaded than he was and Charles couldn't understand it. His mind felt like it was slowly melting and only his birds were keeping him sane. Now that he could barely hear them, he felt that he was going insane. But he only felt that way. He knew he was not insane. Not like the others.

"We could drink her blood." Charles said, "Not all of it, just enough to keep my friends with me." He wouldn't kill her either, he would keep her alive just in case the birds started to leave again. Then maybe Maggie could figure out how to make the other serum for him.

"Alright," Maggie nodded. Her skin was started to glow green again. She could control machines with her Vigor but only if they were turned on. It didn't really help that the power was out. She couldn't use her gift and it was causing her so much pain. Maggie didn't want to find the serum for herself and that was why she was still alive.

She was not his competition and that was why he left her alive. He looked towards the door at all the bodies there. He hadn't wanted to kill all of them but after the first one drank his Vigor, he had to. None of them understood what was at risk. They could shoot fire, lightning, and bees but some of them were just plain insane. They weren't taking the search seriously and they were only getting in his way. Thankfully the birds still listened to him now even if he couldn't hear them.

"You understand, right?" he asked Maggie.

"I understand," Maggie said quietly. Maggie had always been quiet before this happened. They had not been close but he remembered that she was always giving him gifts. Maggie had given him a bag of birdseed that the birds really liked. She was just so nice and he felt bad that she wanted to die.

She had wanted him to kill her when he killed the others but she didn't deserve a death like that. She deserved to die painlessly and he would make sure that she did. But that was after they found the girl and got out of the building.

"Let's go then," he said, "We find the girl and then take her to the labs." He smiled as he led them out of the room. They were on the lowest basement floor and it would take them a while to get up to the 3rd floor but he knew they were injured. They would not be going anywhere and he had plenty of time to find them.

"There are still 2 others wandering up there," Maggie reminded. 2 of Suchong's junkies were wandering up there. He would kill them when he found them. They were insane and would hurt the girl if they found her first. He had to make sure that didn't happen.

0.o.0.o.0

Flambeau felt sick to his stomach. How could he have done something like that? He had stabbed Robert Lutece, not once, but twice! All for a gun… And then to top it off, he had run away on the wrong floor. It was so dark that he could barely tell which way was the right way. He had left the flashlight with Robert and he couldn't see a thing.

He regretted what he had done to the only person who had been helping him this entire time. He had been so afraid of what could happen despite the fact that Robert had helped him in the end despite how afraid the other man must have been.

He had been much safer with Robert because, despite the fact that he held the weapon in his hands, he wasn't sure if he could even use it. He had never fired a gun before and he felt as if he couldn't kill the insane people wandering around. It wasn't their fault that they were like this… Maybe he would just use it to scare them away.

Flambeau leaned against a wall and sighed. Could he go back now? What would Robert think? God… Was he even alive? He had plunged the knife deep into his belly and left it there. It was likely that he was bleeding out on that staircase.

"So stupid," Flambeau mumbled. How was he supposed to live with himself? Even if he had somehow managed to get out, he would have been guilty of murder. Would the police believe that he had to do it?

They would not because, truthfully, he didn't have to do it. He had decided that he was more important than Robert and had acted without thinking of the consequences.

He had also left the girl alone with him. Elizabeth was just a kid and he had left her with a dying man. When had he become so evil?

He had to go back. He had to make sure that Robert was okay and if he wasn't, he would at least make sure Elizabeth made it out safely. And if Rosalind Lutece was on the 3rd floor as Elizabeth said, then he would apologize until he couldn't speak anymore.

He pushed away from the wall and tried to squint through the darkness. Which way was he meant to walk?

He had barely taken 3 steps when he heard a noise that he hadn't heard in a long time. The screeching of the Songbird… He covered his ears as the ground shook and he heard something crashing. He could see light coming from the ceiling now. A part of it had fallen to the floor and dust floated in the air blocking his vision despite the light source.

He coughed as he inhaled the dust. Through all of the dust, he could see a bright yellow light. He tried to fan away some of it to see better and he froze as he realized what he was looking at. He held in his coughs as looked at what he knew to be Songbird's eye. It looked around before settling on him. He swallowed as the eye turned from yellow to red.

Songbird screeched again and Flambeau ran in the opposite direction. He could hear it struggling to climb through the hole it made and he hoped that he could escape before it made it through.

He could hear it running after him as he slipped into the stairwell. His first thought was to go up the stairs but he noticed immediately that Robert was no longer in the stairwell. It was likely that he was upstairs and he didn't want to lead the creature to him. So instead he went down. He knew the gun would be useless against the bird. His skin was meant to be fortified so nothing could harm it.

Songbird screeched again and Flambeau realized that it was destroying the staircase as it followed him. He wouldn't be able to get back up this way and if it didn't stop chasing him, he would eventually run out of places to run…

Flambeau stumbled just as he made it to the first floor and The Songbird screeched as it stood over him. He tried to scoot away from it but he was too afraid. "Please…" he knew that the bird's eyes turned red when it was angry and it was definitely angry. But why wasn't it moving?

Its eyes contracted and it switched back to yellow. It was being cautious but Flambeau knew that it would go back to angry if he made the wrong move.

"I… I'm not here to hurt you…" he said slowly, "I'm just… looking for a friend. Well, two of them." Could the bird even understand English? He still believed that there was a person inside the giant birdlike armor. If there was someone in there, it was probably angry.

The bird chirped and Flambeau realized that he had never heard it make any noise other than screaming, "His name is Robert," Flambeau said. He moved back slightly but froze when the bird took 2 steps forward, "And Elizabeth is the other friend."

The name Elizabeth seemed to set the bird off. He screeched but his eyes stayed yellow. Flambeau remembered that the bird was originally meant to protect Elizabeth. At least that was what Fink had told him the day before everything turned sour.

"She's safe!" he said quickly, "I… I think." He didn't want to lead this bird to them but maybe if he found Elizabeth, he could help them get out.

The Songbird bent down and Flambeau sat up slightly, "I can help you," he tried. Was any of this getting through? Whatever the case, the bird wasn't attacking him for now.

Flambeau stood slowly and the bird didn't attack, "I can take you to her…"

"There he is!" Flambeau turned and saw 2 people pointing at him, "The one I tasted before!" more of those junkies from before… The ones that attacked him.

Flambeau watched as the Songbird's eyes turned red. The bird roughly pushed him out of the way as he ran by him. Flambeau coughed as he crumpled to the ground. Perhaps it hadn't meant to, but the bird had broken a few ribs just by pushing him.

He groaned as he struggled to sit up. He could hear the Songbird screaming and more walls collapsing. He wanted to crawl into a room but he was too weak to do so. Maybe that push had done more than break a few ribs. He coughed again and gave up on his attempt to sit up. The gun had slid away from him and he reached for it weakly before he passed out.

Thank you all for continuing to read my story. It means a lot! 3