a/n: hey, if you liked, you should review. Please.
Chapter 8
She led them through the halls, taking exceptionally quick strides that were hard for the injured two to keep up with. Clive couldn't blame her though; he didn't want to be here any longer than he had to be. The air smelled like destruction and disease and tasted toxic to him.
"You said I wouldn't like it." He mentioned, trying hard to keep up with her. "What wouldn't I like about it?"
She seemed to stiffen up. "You wouldn't like the route."
"Why is that?"
"See for yourself." She managed in a soft tone, gesturing to the broken city.
From what he could see, there were only broken and knocked over buildings, but when he looked just a wee bit closer, there was movement beneath it. People, dirtied and scrawny, darted between the rubble.
"There are people living down here?" He muttered in surprise. "Why?"
"There is nowhere else for them to go." Layton answered, waving slightly to a group of children hiding in an abandoned bus stop.
Clive felt himself get even more nauseous. Of course. He really couldn't escape the gut-wrenching guilt no matter what he did.
"We have to help them." He frowned, staring at the people glaring or spitting at him.
"We can't, we have t-"
"I don't care." The young man interrupted her. "I made this mess and I need to fix it. I don't care if you're coming or not."
"This isn't the-"
Before either she or the professor could stop him, the man was off, limping faster than he had before. He wouldn't rest until this was all fixed.
Unbeknownst to him, two were still on his trail, but the professor was still left behind, desperately trying to see a way out without the aid of his hearing.
…
A knock on the door snapped Flora out of the book she was reading. "That must be the professor!"
The girl got up and rushed to the door. Finally she could share the great news on how she wrote a letter to Luke or how she taped all of Clive's photos back together again. Yet when she opened the door, it was not the professor or Clive or even Katarina at the door. Instead a man dressed in black with shockingly white blonde hair was waiting at the door, rain pelting the ground.
"Can I help you?" She tilted her head.
He flashed a disarming smile. "Is a Mr. Clive Dove here?"
She shook her head. "No. He's been missing since last night. The professor and Katarina have been too…"
The smile faltered slightly as he pulled a stiff white card from his coat. He held it out to Flora in one quick and fluid motion.
"If you do happen to see him, do tell me. Ask for a Mr. Cain Obsidian and that should get you into contact with me." The man turned without another word, he turned and walked back out into the downpour.
a/n: *shamelessly going to slip in like a gajillion scrapped characters from my original fiction* like a boss.
I should totes design a cover for this when I have time.