Previous Chapter: The Gala - Next Chapter: Fog

The door brought Iceburg down a short flight of stairs into a long, sunken hallway he hadn't seen before; the very structure of the passage seemed of a different era than the rest of the building. There were several other doors that lined the hall but most of them looked dusty with rusted hinges, like they hadn't been opened in a long time. Especially ominous was a thick metallic one with a tiny sliding window, on it he could see fresh smears of fingerprints through the thick grime.

"Dylin?" his voice creaked from his tight throat.

No one answered. Even the sounds of the gala couldn't be heard anymore. Something felt wrong but as he considered turning back, he noticed another door at the end of the hall that'd been left cracked open. Throwing caution to the wind he traversed through the darkness. If he didn't see any sign of him beyond that door, he decided, he'd just go back.

"I told you someone's been through here!" the deep voice of an older stranger echoed from before him.

"Must've come in from the main hall, everything else is still sealed tight." A second voice answered, but this one sounded awfully familiar to him "Make sure nothings missing!"

As Iceburg rushed back his wobbly legs gave out and he fell hard to his knees. He cursed himself: for indulging in too much drinks again, for following in on a hunch, for foolishly imagining things would turn out fine.

From behind the ajar door, heavy footfall clattered down what sounded to be another flight of stairs. Without time to make it back to where he came from, he scrambled up to the closest door – the eerie, windowed one. It took all his strength to yank it open and when he did the telltale screech of it against the warped frame was torture to his ears. He was sure the approaching men must've heard such a wretched sound. As he pulled the door shut behind him, he prayed that whatever awaited wasn't worse than whatever he was avoiding.

A small, dim room with stairs leading farther down is what he found. Right next to the stairway a note had been set beside neatly placed gloves, goggles, caps and face masks.

Please wear personal protective equipment before proceeding.

On the brink of tears, he hastily complied – as much as he was terrified of being caught and wanted to get as far away as quick as possible, he just couldn't imagine showing up at the bottom of the stairs having ignored such a polite request. As he pulled on the gloves he was already stumbling down into the unknown away from the footsteps he could hear just outside the door.

The only light was coming through yet another door at the bottom of the steps. Like the one before it, it had a small sliding window but this one was open. Up on his tiptoes he peeked through; his heart skipped a beat when he saw someone with their back to him, poring over papers scattered across a table. Very few things had ever made him feel as relieved as the sight of the tall, pale figure with raven hair swept up in a hair net. Without a second thought he rushed through the door and past the threshold of what appeared to be a tiny laboratory.

"Dylin!" His voice fell out in a frantic whisper.

As soon as they turned to him and cocked their head, he knew it wasn't the one he'd followed in - it wasn't Dylin nor was it anyone he'd seen at the school before. Their catlike eyes looked him up and down through oversized safety goggles; the bright emeralds twinkled with curiosity from between bold black lines of inky makeup.

"Hmm? Did you say…Dylin? What about him?" Their voice was light and sweet - quite the opposite of the one in question.

"Oh," Iceburg shook, still unsure of what to expect "I saw him come this way. Well, I thought I did. Then someone was chasing after me so I - I'm sorry to intrude. When I saw you I thought that maybe…well…"

"I see. It's the hair, isn't it?" After a quick laugh their eyes misted over with a sedated glaze, like they were trying to remember something that'd slipped their mind. "It's a bit like his still…isn't it? Dylin's, I mean." they touched a hand to a lock of their hair that was peeking from the cap.

"You're pretty tall, too." Iceburg relaxed. At least it seemed like they were friendly and knew who he was talking about. "Taller, I think."

The longer he looked the sillier he felt for thinking it had been him. Something was still familiar – maybe it was the hair, or maybe because their accent did sound a tiny bit like Dylin's, but up close they didn't look much alike after all. He wasn't even sure of their gender; their appearance was as androgynous as their voice.

"That's true, I am taller aren't I? I remember how surprised he was that I was so much younger than him. Hmm. People even thought we were brothers sometimes." After another pause, they scoffed and the wistful tone in their voice had dissipated "No, I'm not that bastard and I haven't seen him at all."

"O-oh. Well, thank you anyways." He blinked.

"You're welcome!" they seemed cheery again as they leaned forward to get a better look - though neither of them were exactly visible through the equipment. They cocked their head. "Have we met before? Not here, but…somewhere else?"

Iceburg was rudely reminded of the urgency of the situation when they were both startled by the door at the top of the stairs bursting open; loud shouts and stomping feet intruded on their conversation.

"Oh, jeez." They leered towards the commotion then hastily ushered Iceburg under the desk they'd been working at; he followed without question and huddled quietly. They took long, swift strides away from the desk and shouted through the window "You shitty apes! How many times are we gonna go through this!?"

"I don't want to hear any lip from you, boy! Who came through here?" The familiar voice rang through the slit.

Iceburg wracked his brain trying to remember where he'd heard the man before.

"No one! Except you, unfortunately." With a scoff, 'the boy' slammed the window shut, turned and waited with his arms crossed. He rolled his eyes. "God, I'm sick of you."

Iceburg jolted and hit his head when they burst through the door after him. Disoriented, he clasped his hands to his ears when the shouting continued at close quarters.

"Oi! We're not done yet! You're saying you didn't see or hear anything? Nothing at all?"

"Nothing. My god, you're loud though. I can certainly hear you." his voice was impressively bold while face to face with them, serene but sassy. "You couldn't even put on a mask? At the very least? Interesting..."

They ignored him.

"What have you been up to then?" The irate voice moved closer. Iceburg tried to quiet his breathing; eventually he held it entirely. "Were you the one poking around out there!?"

A tired yawn and then silence was all that replied.

"Answer me, boy!"

"Well, obviously it was me."

Iceburg winced as the familiar sound of a loud smack pierced through to his covered ears.

"You know damn well you're not allowed to be up lurking around like that! You had us running around looking like assholes for nothing!"

After a pause there was a light chuckle.

"Oh, you were doing a fine job of that without me. How are you feeling now though? Did that help you feel better?" His eager tone surprised Iceburg as much as it did that he was helping him, a stranger, in the first place. "You still seem upset…are you still upset?"

A heavier thud and a sharp inhale from the boy made Iceburg's insides twist up.

"Wipe that smile off your face you sick little fucker - I've got half a mind to just off ye' right now!" That familiar voice growled unsettlingly close but he couldn't see any sign of him – horrified, he realized it meant he must be right over him. Behind? Beside? He couldn't tell. "A demon like you will grow to be nothing but a burden to society."

It must be someone from his past, he was sure of it, and that scared him more than anything. After all, who else did he know? Someone from the staff? There were countless male personnel...

He stifled a cry that tried to escape him when yet another strike filled the room.

"Maybe." Somehow the boy kept a dreamy tone. "But your boss sure seems desperate to keep me around, so I'd suggest against 'offing me' just yet. Heh, I can't imagine you'd last long if anything were to happen - and so much can happen in a small, cramped space like this, don't you think?" He wagged a flask of liquid while he spoke.

"Just don't pull anything like that again, got it? I thought you were supposed to be smart; you should know trying to sneak off will get you and your little boyfriend in more trouble than you're already in. We've still got him locked up tight, you know that right!?" The man talked tough but the wobble in his voice was clear as he eyed up the mystery fluid. "You want to get him killed or are you gonna do your goddamn job!?"

"Don't you think if I really wanted to escape, I'd have done it by now? I just wanted a look at the party is all."

"Unacceptable."

"Oh?" he sounded preoccupied; bored even.

"It's not something to fuck around about! I'll be padlocking the door when we come back so stew on that while you finish your freakshow project!"

"It's your bosses freakshow project, really." He shrugged. "And padlocks? Hehe. It's funny, you kinda said that like I didn't already expect it." He giggled again and it seemed to annoy them enough that they both abruptly left, slamming the door behind them. After a long pause he spoke just loud enough to be heard by Iceburg. "Come on out now, they're gone."

Iceburg crawled out from under the desk and dusted himself off.

"How can I possibly thank you?" He leaned back against a wall and gulped in air.

"Don't worry about that. Just consider it my thanks to you." With a shrug he pulled out a packet of chewing gum, popped one under his mask then offered him a piece.

"Thanks to me?" Iceburg couldn't hide his confusion as he accepted the stick "What do you mean? I just invited myself down here and got you in a whole world of trouble! Why on earth would you thank me!?" He slipped the gum under his mask too. It was far too sweet for him but he didn't want to seem ungrateful to his strange saviour, so he kept chewing it.

"I'm already in a world of trouble – do you think I'd be down here in this shady bunker in the first place if I wasn't?" He glanced around the musty room with a smirk.

"Well, I suppose not…" Iceburg looked around as well, wondering how anyone could find humour in such a place. He found himself shivering. "Th-thank you."

"I just really appreciate that you actually wore the protective gear like I asked. You know, I don't think you can imagine how rare it is that someone listens to me around here." He laughed, louder this time, and it rang in Iceburg's ears; made his brain feel muddled.

"It wasn't anything, really." Iceburg blushed, glad he'd followed the instructions.

"It was though! Considering the apes, I wouldn't have expected you to take the time to do that - but you did. How could I ignore respect like that?" He pulled his mask down to reveal a grin that was lined with obsidian lipstick and bursting with pride. "I care a lot about the work I do, even if it's not in ideal conditions, so thank you."

"Well…." Iceburg cringed at a patch of blotchy redness on his gaunt cheek that contrasted the rest of his pale, clear skin – it was obvious he'd been struck quite hard. "… it just seemed like the right thing to do."

"The right thing to do…" He pondered aloud as he looked around them again. "sometimes I wonder if I've lost track of what that is somewhere along the way."

Iceburg gave his hazy head a shake.

"I should go get help! Those men -"

"Help? No. Sure, their boss is forcing me into this, but it's not so bad. I'll be done soon, and everything will be back to normal..."

"Forcing!? You shouldn't say that so calmly!"

"What else can I say? It is what it is."

"Why don't you come with me?" Iceburg frowned, his lips starting to feel cold and tingly.

"Who would we even go to for help? You can't trust anyone in this school! Especially the staff. They'd just hand me right back off again if they saw me."

"Again!?" Iceburg could hardly keep a grasp on the conversation; was it the alcohol or just the bizarre reality of it?

"Who do you think sold me out in the first place?" He sighed. "Don't trust anyone."

"Is there really nothing I can do?"

"It's fine - really. You should get out of here before they come back with the padlocks, though."

"O-oh, right…I guess I should." He felt his heart sink despite his eagerness to get back to the gala, to safety. "Thank you again."

"Think nothing of it. But I – could I actually ask just one thing of you?" He bowed his head.

"Of course! Anything!" Iceburg laughed "After all, I owe you my life, don't I?"

"Well…you're friends with Dylin, right?" suddenly he looked embarrassed.

"Yes, I am." He couldn't help but feel glad to say it.

"Don't tell him about me, please. Just…don't mention meeting me here at all. Okay?"

"Uh…okay. I won't." He felt awful the moment he agreed.

"Promise?"

"I promise." Iceburg tried to swallow the guilt; whether he kept or broke the promise he'd feel like a traitor - something in the back of his mind told him Dylin would want to know.

"Thank you." He breathed out a sigh of relief.

"I am a little confused... If you don't like Dylin, why on earth would you help one of his friends?" Iceburg rubbed his scrambled head.

"Well…" he shrugged "it's probably because I used to be one of his 'friends' too. Watch your back around him…he's not worth following into a place like this."

Iceburg frowned at his sad eyes.

"What do you m-"

"You have to go, now!" He hissed, pushed him along "Do you remember the way out?"

"Yes! Thank you again!" He stalled at the door; struck with the feeling he'd forgotten something important "W-what's your name?"

"We probably won't see each other again, but I'm glad to meet you. I go by Julius." He shooed him off with the brush of a hand.

"I hope we do though! I'm Iceburg!" Something nagged at him but he darted out after a final look at the lanky boy.

"Iceburg…imagine that." He slumped against the tabletop as his unexpected guest's footsteps faded from earshot.

For a long while he stared at the door before he fell into a bout of frenzied laughter that eventually shifted to sobs.

The makeshift lab felt lonelier then ever as he moved the goggles to his forehead and wiped away tears. He never noticed how cold and quiet it was until then. After a last look at the door he took out another stick of gum to chew, pulled the goggles and mask back over his face then returned to his work. He chuckled again. It'd been a long time since he'd shared any of his sweets.

Iceburg swore the stairway was much longer on the way back up and even the door seemed bigger. As scary as it was thinking of what might be on the other side of it, he knew there was no more time to waste or he'd wind up locked down there too for sure; at least this way he had a chance of saving them both. As he braced himself to push back through the bulky door he decided to break his promise to Julius and tell Dylin what was going on.

But what was going on?

Again the door screamed and he winced at the metal – not just the sound but the smell. The hall reeked of heavy, pungent iron and something else he couldn't place - he wondered how he hadn't noticed before. Gagging, he started back to the entrance, but something caught his attention as it shifted in the far corner of the hallway. Frozen with fear he found himself gawking at a monstrous shadow that loomed over an indistinguishable, twitching mass. Though he couldn't see for sure, it felt like the shadow was staring back at him. From beneath it, darkness oozed and pooled out to the rest of the corridor. When it took a quick step towards him he found his nerves again and fled to the door, feeling like he was floating; lost in another terrible dream.

Somehow he escaped back into the light and didn't dare look back.