Chapter Four: Mad World
There is quite a bit of talking in this chapter, and I hope you don't find it boring. I think it's important to get to know Aysel a bit better though..
Anyway, hope you enjoy. ^-^
My mouth twists into a smile as I watch the sun sinking into the horizon.
It's almost night, I tell myself with glee, gazing at the sky as deep, blue shadows begin to engulf the light of day. It's almost poetic to watch, and I can't seem to tear my eyes away. But, as delight drills through my blood as the moon begins makes it's appearance, I can't help but notice another feeling beginning to leech through me.
Sadness.
Every night after I came to the desert, I'd always gaze up the night sky, flooded with an overwheliming sense of gratefulness at the fact I'd managed to surpass another day without being captured.
Now, as I gaze up into the sky, which has now evolved into a haunting shade of deep blue, as if reflecting my mood, I know I can no longer thank whatever powerful force is out there for giving me another few hours to live as I please. I've been caught now.
"Ya gonna' be warm 'nuff?" A rough voice asks, pulling me from my thoughts and causing me to scowl.
"I'll be fine." I snap, not even daring to look at Goggle as I answer his question.
"Sure? I mean, we can stop off a' ma house n' getcha' somethin' warmer-"
"I'll be fine."
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Goggle give a slight nod and a shrug before continuing to usher me through the soft ground.
It seems all traces of politeness have ebbed away since we left Ruby and Big Mama in the house, leaving a frigid shell where there was once before a slightly more tolerable girl. I doubt anyone will be seeing anymore of her in the foreseeable future.
They can hardly blame me for being uncivil, I think as I traipse through the fine sand, which is beginning to cool somewhat since the sun has disappeared. The chill in the air is a very pleasant feeling, especially after having to endure an ubearably hot day. I close my eyes and allow a sigh to slip from my mouth as the cool air soothes the sunburn around my collar-bone.
The man in the bowler hat gives me a questioning look, and I respond with a shrug.
"What can I say?" I mutter, tucking a clump of black hair behind my ear. "I like the cold."
Goggle chuckles under his breath. "Then why'd ya move to tha d'sert?"
"Long story."
"We 'ave time. Prolly' be a coupla' hours 'fore Mama calls us back..."
I grunt, unwilling to offer such personal information to my captor.
It's not like he can use it against you, I point out, but it doesn't make me any more willing to voice my story.
After the brief exchange, there is silence, unless you consider Pluto who is currently babbling incoherently to himself in a language only he understands.
Some time later, we arrive at a small outcrop of rock which gives you a full view of the desert. It's somewhat baffling, but I don't gawk at it in wonder for long.
"Some view," I mumble, watching Goggle as he reclines back on the ground and begins to stare down the desert through his binoculars.
"Yep." He replies whilst ushering me down to sit beside him. At first, I resist, but when my legs make a disheartening clack, I ignore the desire to avoid doing anything he asks me to do and fold my legs beneath me.
My hands rest uncomfortably on my black, skinny jeans. Not exactly suitable desert wear, I know, but I hadn't really had much time to get a change of clothes while I was escaping from the house. I only had enough time to grab some valuables, shove them in my pack, and take off to the desert where I knew I would not be pursued. Well, not by the cops. Mutants are a whole different problem of their own.
I'm just about to close my eyes and relax when a shiver runs through me. My shoulders wiggle deeper into the sand's tender embrace until a familiar, childish voice cries out.
"Ay-Shell cold!"
I barely have time to tell him to shush before his arms are wrapped around me and he's pulled me into his lap. I shriek in protest, squirming with as much force as I can, but to no avail. His big, clumpy hands have me constricted against his chest, stroking my hair and my hands with his beefy fingers.
"Pluto keep Ay-shell snug." He informs me with a nod as I wail and cry for Goggle to come to my aid.
Goggle turns around slowly, seeming to have a delayed reaction after looking out into the desert. He must be awfully focussed to have missed that. At first, he face is void of emotion. It remains that way for some time before a smirk tugs at the side of his thin lips, and suddenly he's doubled over in fits of laughter.
"Goggle!" I cry, humiliated as he howls with laughter. Pluto doesn't seem to realise that Goggle is laughing at him too, or perhaps he just doesn't care. Either way, he doesn't loosen his grip. If anything, it only gets tighter.
It takes a long time before Goggle manages to console himself. By this time, my anger at Pluto has been replaced by strong feelings of disgrace. My pale cheeks have, by now, turned a flaming red colour, and I'm certain that Goggle notices as he politely tries to restrain a few more chuckles to save me from further mortification.
"Well..." He coughs, wiping a hand over his forehead, "Pluto? Wanna' let 'er go?' He coaxes, gazing at Pluto expectantly.
Pluto, however, only begins to shake his head vigorously, tensing his arms until I feel like I'm about to choke on my own lungs. He seems to detect my discomfort and loosens his grip until I have a meager amount of space to breathe.
"C'mon, Pluto..." Goggle tries again, testing his luck by standing up and taking a few steps towards us. "Gonna' kill 'er if ya keep holdin' 'er that tight..."
I can feel Pluto take a deep sigh and blow it out all over the back of my skalp. I begin to sputter as tendrils of his horrific breath leech into my nose and I feel the contents of my stomach threatening to make an appearance.
How can someone's breath be that bad? Is the only conherent thought that I manage to create before my body convulses back and forth. Pluto cries out in distress while Goggle rushes forward and begins to tug me from my captor's stoney grasp.
Somehow, he manages to free me, and I find myself back on the sand, on my hands and knees, spewing vomit all over the place. Goggle pats my back as the last remnants empty from my stomach. "Pluto, you can clean that up..." The man in the bowler hat commands, and I instantly hear Pluto clambering to his feet and kicking the vomit over the edge of the cliff with the side of his boot.
How come Pluto obeys him now, but he wouldn't let me go when Goggle asked him too about 2 bloody minutes ago? I think vehemently, rolling back onto my haunches. I feel slightly dizzy, but it's tolerable.
Goggle looks concerned, his blue eyes looking me up and down as if he is expecting me to pass out at any moment. "Ya alright?" He finally asks, handing me a little cloth that miraculously appeared from his jacket pocket moments ago.
I nod in response, grabbing the fabric and wiping the bile off my face. Luckily, not much of the vile liquid managed to get on my skin, so I can hand the cloth back moderately clean.
Goggle places the material on the sand before asking me to sit next to him, on the opposite side from where Pluto is now standing. I can tell the simple-minded mutant is rather heartbroken as he gazes at Goggle and I with a gloomy expression. I'm sure any nice and pleasant girl, who had not already been frightened off by Pluto's horrific appearance, would go over to him and try to make him feel better. But I'm not exactly nice or pleasant, and I'm hardly one to sympathize with the brute who practically assaulted me. Infact, I'm pleased at his distress. He deserves it.
"So," Goggle starts, pulling his binoculars back up to his eyes to hide his face. "Since I jus' saved ya from Pluto, I th'nk I d'serve ta know why ya came to the desert now."
My eyebrows inch upwards in surprise. I hadn't been expecting him to even remember his question from earlier. Hell, I didn't even remember his question from earlier until he brought it up now. Obviously Goggle is a curious little buggar.
I snort, about to reject his question again before the kinder part of my mind nags me to just answer him. I roll my eyes and shrug my shoulders in a huff, partly wishing he'd just left me with Pluto so I didn't have to tell him anything. But now I owe him.
"Like I said before, it's a long story." I warn him, half expecting him to just let it go.
"And, like I said 'fore, we 'ave time." He reminds me smugly.
I snort before giving another roll of my eyes. God, eye-rolling is beginning to become a habit of mine ever since I started speaking with the other mutants.
Stupid socializing, I growl internally.
"Well," I begin, unable to hide the slightly venomous tone to my voice. "It all started when my... my mutant traits began to get in the way of my line of thought. I was becomming... More aggressive, to put it simply. Mother sent me to all different kinds of therapists, tryin' to get me 'normal' again."
"Surely it ain't just mut'nt 'traits' that made cha' aggressive." Goggle questions, and I can see the confused expression under his binoculars.
"Mostly mutant traits," I respond, shuffling into a more comfortable position. "Guess it started with the bullyin'. See, when your younger, other kids don't see anythin' wrong with... these." I say, gesturing to the black marks on my face. "But when you get older, the other's start to notice things more easily, and they know you ain't one of them. By the time I was 8, I was the laughing stock of the school... When I turned 13, I couldn't take it anymore. People started drawin' on their faces with black pens, just to make fun of me. I was a joke. But there was one girl... One girl in particular. She did everythin' she could think of to make fun of me. She and her friends even dressed up as me for halloween..." I trail off, wondering if Goggle even knows what halloween is. He seems to be keeping up with the story though, so I carry on. "I killed her. Made sure she felt it, too. She begged me to stop, but I didn't. Not a chance I was gonna' let her get her way this time. Took her awhile to die."
Goggle just nods, scanning the desert, which is now pitch black to my eyes, for god knows what.
"I'd've killed the b'tch too." He mumbles, swinging around to face me full-on. I wonder how ugly my zoomed-in face must look to him now, since his binoculars are still hovering over his eyes. "Doesn't really tell me how ya got to tha desert though."
"Oh," I mutter, realizing that I have, indeed, carried my story on a little more than what was really needed. "Well, I was young. Didn't know how to cover up a murder. I threw her in a river, but it wasn't long before someone found her. All signs pointed to me, and I had nowhere to go. The cops were on my trail, and I barely managed to get my stuff 'fore they barged into the house. Took off, fast as I could, to the desert. Father always told me stories 'bout the desert, and I knew there were people like me... I knew most of the cops wouldn't follow me here, and the ones that did were caught by some of the other clans. I was smarter, and I managed to avoid the mutants. But now the other cops probably think I killed their colleagues too, so there's no chance I can go back now. I thought I'd be able to live out here, peacefully. But my plans were ruined by a certain clan who caught me." I finish with an acidic tone, and I barely manage to restrain the snarl which threatens to rumble in my throat.
Goggle sighs and finally pulls the binoculars down to reveal his rather sympathetic face. His blue eyes wander over to meet mine before trailing down to gaze at the sand awkwardly. "I wouldn't 'ave told tha others you were crossin' if ya hadn' killed old Jeb. Didn' see any harm in lettin' ya pass through. But if I didn' tell them 'bout ya after ya' killed Jeb, they'd've been real angry at me for lettin' Jeb's death go w'thout knowin' who the killer was...'
"But I had too!" I protest. "I was starving!"
The man in the bowler hat just shrugs and begins to raise the binoculars back to his face, but is interupted by the crackling of his walkie-talkie.
"Goggle!" I hear a familiar, womanly voice call out through the machine.
"Yes, mama?"
"Bring 'er back... Yer papa... I think somethin' is wrong with 'im, Goggle... Actin' odd..."
"What d'ya mean, 'odd'?" Goggle inquires, cocking his head to the side with a hint of worry flickering in his eyes.
"Jus'... Wait 'n see. Bring Aysel." Big Mama tells him before cutting off the line. Goggle stares at his walkie-talkie for some time before picking up the little bit of fabric he set on the ground earlier and getting to his feet. I follow briskly behind him, deciding it's better to stay close to Goggle so Pluto has less of a chance of getting his hands on me.
"Better get goin' then." Goggle affirms with a hint of doubt in his voice.
Maybe this is the end for me afterall.