This should have been a period of respite for them. A time in which Kage hunkered down inviting them for snacks and study sessions ensuring that another grade was conquered as preparation began for the next. Now, however, this smell was what remained. It would stick inside the recesses of Isaiah's mind until the end of his days.
A smell that was emphasized only by the floating cloak of a pale figure striding across the distance from the abandoned structure to the fence. Her limbs arched above her violet hair draping the features of her face as she danced to the 'plinks' of the rain. Even then, the rain did not wet the thin material consequently emboldening the ample breasts as well as pointed nipples which tented from her chest. Nor the supple curve of her spine which undoubtedly led to a tantalizing bottom doing little to stir Isaiah. For, there was something deeply wrong with this woman.
She wavered between realities as if not belonging to one or another. Rain beat on her with no impact, simply gliding its way through corporeal flesh without a bit of steam to inflict her pain. Her dance was familiar, very familiar. It was mocking, a cheap parody to unsettle a solid base.
'Was it? Is that?'
Barely a foot from the fence her hands dropped to the ground pulling herself through her own leg then back around again. It was the performance that Claire practiced. Claire showed it off on the rooftop every now and again, a rehearsed motion to consequently entice Gan, or perhaps Kage. So, how did this woman know it?
Isaiah opened his mouth yet no words came. They wouldn't as he was choked by her presence. Then, her lips moved as well. It was a phrase unrecognizable to his conscious mind even as he was attentively listening. Isaiah had to make a concerted effort to even perceive the flaps of her mouth. Convinced, he was, that something heinous desperately clawed away causing him to stop.
Screams from beyond occurred which did little to rouse him from his stupor.
This woman was more important than anything else in the world. He was so very close to finally perceiving what the words were that came from the flap of her mouth.
The woman now dragged herself upon the fence raking her nails across the metal with not a lick of harsh squeals in the air to convey such treatment. But then, the words ceased. Instead, a smile appeared.
There was no comfort within the expression. Only the grasping whelps of insanity that persisted into his thoughts. She had come for nothing else but to mock. Hilarity reign free for a reason or another, such concepts that could be impossible to conclude by a mere child. One that Isaiah still did not know, or did he? Perhaps he was just too blinded to realize the deep dark truth that bore a wedge into their plans.
She had come to degrade with an exuberance of oncoming laughter. A fault lay in their midst, still it would not be revealed. Thus, bringing forth a tide of sandy wrath as the dunes of an ocean's edge faltered her dance.
Finally, his voice found him and with a gravelly tone mixed with anger, soon-to-become rage, he shouted at the woman. "WHAT-" However, he was cut by the crack of thunder ahead that rendered his vision non-existent for a time that destroyed the world. When relinquished from its grasp the woman was gone with no mention of where or if she had ever been there.
As the event occurred, Isaiah subsequently found an inexplicable gap between times. Almost as if he had been devoured by the scenery. Thoughts of a violet-haired dancing lady ended without a memory to return to.
Isaiah simply remembered the acidic sky then nothing after.
'Strange. I was doing something, right?'
A second shout came from inside. This one, Isaiah succinctly recognized then dashed within to its source. The others had left the vicinity of the couch rushing to the room where Kage had been operated on. Its door swung open, cracking a sliver of light over the blackness of the shadowed room. Within that light could the wailing cries be nightmarishly heard. They wreaked of agony as the punctual squeak to Arthur announced instructions to those that had come to perform assistance.
Pushing the door further with a single palm, Isaiah stepped to find the convulsing body of his friend bounced up to the ceiling. His only restraint was that of Gan who held his arms while Claire the legs. In search of Jacob, all Isaiah stumbled across was him sitting in the corner mesmerized with a ghostly gaze.
Isaiah's entrance was felt by them all as a keen peek fell upon from all parties present. Not a moment later was his attention taken by the fall of Arthur's command, "GED THE FOOK OVER 'ERE!" was his order. Isaiah drew to the right of the doctor's side, unable to process the extent of Kage's condition.
Foam spewed from the corners of his mouth while saliva flung in thick strings. Each bone to his body seemed out of place fighting the structure of his anatomy, resisting their rightful home. His rib cage poked out at his muscled abdominals while the joints in his knees twisted to abnormal angles threatening to break free. Arthur had been caught with less than adequate hands as either were wrought against the boy's head keeping it in place while the man's belt stuck between Kage's teeth.
"GED THAT NEEDLE!" The man's piercing eyes awoke Isaiah. Given the demand he fled to the box laid askew across the floor. Several blades, saws, and doses of unknown substances rolled about with no pattern to their similarity. Noticing his confusion, Arthur limited the options, "RED BUTT!" The information gave credence to a single shot that sat at Isaiah's foot. Another inch and he would have stepped on it, shattering the concoction.
Lifting it, he produced the item for the man only to be greeted by a shake of the head instead. "DO IT! RIGHT ARM, FIND A VEIN!" Nearly fumbling the needle, Isaiah uncapped the object then held it like a pencil, except with a thumb to the plunger. His hand jittered with shock as he quickly came upon a burgeoning vein staring at him in its blue arc. Sweat finding its way to blot his vision, Isaiah couldn't help but to take stock of the rest.
A glance at Gan frightened him to the core. Either of his arms were exploded by his ability granting him the strength to hold Kage down as he crouched above the boy. However, even with so much strength, which forced his entire being into the task, Gan was almost tossed off with every convulsion that ratcheted up to him.
Without a moment to lose, Isaiah injected the needle into a bulging blue vein then pressed on its butt so that the fluid passed through his bloodstream. Immediately, the effects were prevalent as Kage ceased the fit allowing for Gan and Claire to finally relax from the endeavor. Their task was finished leaving Isaiah to stare with bewilderment as the fluid left their housing container filling his friend with their cooling effect.
"Wh-What the hell happened?" He bothered to ask.
Arthur drew near pushing him to the side as he withdrew the needle from Kage's vein. In subsequent order, he applied a bandage to stem the tide of blood. Soon the room was back to its natural state if not for the collapsed, tired figures of the others wallowing in the trek of exercise suddenly forced upon them.
Sticking a wad of some black gum, kept within a tin, to his tubular tongue, Arthur finally replied. "Boy had a seizure. Neva seen one like it before. Just occurred."
Isaiah crouched beside the drained form of the doctor, "What do you mean by that?"
"He looked fine 'n all, but then just began that foamin' crap." Arthur stole a sideways glance to Isaiah. "Tha' happened before?"
He shook his head, unable to recall such a scenario occurring in the past. The pieces couldn't connect any longer persuading Isaiah that something more was afoot.
'Why had Kage been bloodied? What was he doing? Why was he with this doctor?' Questions circled around the quickest in his mind while the others recovered.
"Well, anyways. Seems to be clear for now. Ya!" Arthur focused on Isaiah, the one with plenty of energy to spare. "Help me get 'im to a bed. Need 'im comfortable." Agreeing, Isaiah took Kage's legs while Arthur placed either hand under the boy's armpits. Arthur led the way to another room placed just to the left of the main door. Inside stood a cedar cabinet overgrown with cobwebs while an immaculate bed dissuaded such unclean thoughts away from the visitor's mind. Gently, the pair laid Kage down on the covers fluffing a double set of pillows for his head to rest on.
The task accomplished brought a hurried exhalation of breath from the doctor. Then, as he motioned to move from the room, his foot fell onto a particularly noisy creak that bounced off the halls of the preceding living room. This noise reminded Arthur of the gnawing secret beneath their feet. The prisoners. The current development surely would bring other visitors of unknown affiliation meaning that the secret had to be rid of before their arrival.
'Damn brat, makin' me clean up after 'im. Fuck.'
He made to shut the door behind him but the call from Isaiah stopped him. "Where are you going?"
"Gotta meet a friend and solve some shit before the night's over. You and the rascals watch the kid. Won't be long." Madame Entoise was the first on his list to visit. She was the one to safely harbor the children so she could do the same for the prisoners before they figured out a way to get rid of them. Arthur was no fool. He too felt the crumbling earth wounding its way around him threatening to entangle them all in its clutches. Such a grasp was coronated by Kage.
'We surely been fucked, aye?'
A yell punctuated the now stilled air. "What were the two of you doing?" There was a mitigated anger behind the yell further emblazoned by the hearty heat of aura emanating from Isaiah. They were Kage's friends but were left in the dark for months unknowing of what their other was doing for such a prolonged period. Now to realize Kage was a murderer of a sort with this man his accomplice served to furrow the diminutive boy's brow. A single scene of Kage and him talking replayed over the course of the evening, the very same he wished could be turned back so that a similar mistake would never occur again.
Kage may have become the Devil he couldn't help but transform into.
"What we be doin?" A fit of chuckling rasps came from the man. "We be doin what you should've been." Arthur returned his face to Isaiah's sight penetrated by the stare of all his eyes focused directly into his soul. The sin seen and known by the collective grasp this man held. "Saving a boy's life." The final word taken, he left the room, then the hovel as the 'clap' from the door resounded throughout the building.
The footfalls of the doctor were only to be complimented by another's as not long after went Gan. Not a word spoken between the two of them, nor any of the rest, as he passed. The sole recognition bore from their gazes meeting. In this challenging gaze Isaiah noticed the peculiar instrument of a phone crumpled in Gan's palm. Within their stare conveyed the depths of anxiety parading around in the thinly disguised form of the friend. His once clear and straightforward purpose muddled as he stepped into the cover of poisonous rain.
If Isaiah was not already perplexed by Gan's sudden exit, he was then shocked as Jacob's shadow leaked down the corridor. His soft tip toeing approach was shot through by Isaiah's defiant glare. "Where the fuck are you going, Jacob?" He couldn't turn to face the expression of his friend. "We need to stay and watch Kage. He's our friend, right?" No answer came except for the muted labored breath that echoed across the cold frame of the door. "Jacob, you need to answer me." Panic ever apparent by the lip which fumbled through each syllable.
Jacob situated the aviators upon the bridge of his nose, hacked back some liquid, then stood up straight perfect in posture. "I'll be right back. There's nothing to worry about." A trembling stutter in his hands betrayed the assuaging purpose of his words. "Just need to check on my dad. Didn't tell him that I would be out for so long, especially on a school's night." Killing the ability for Isaiah to respond once more, Jacob thrusted open the door, falling in line with the scattered rust blotting the earth in its splendor.
Thus, leaving the four compatriots as two, chorused by a sickly dying man.