Fools of us All - Chapter 35

I hesitated for a long time in that room. I think there was a part of me that did not want to discover the truth. It would have been much easier to head back into the tunnels and forget. Forget Spin, forget prophecies, and just forget everything. I could stay in the tunnels, discover the story behind them. I could just…forget.

I found myself standing in front of the hidden door, my hand stretched out, hovering inches from the hidden latch. I stood there for a long time, unable to see anything but the pattern on the wall, unable to hear anything beyond the sound of my own breath. I still don’t know what I was planning on doing.

Before I had a chance to make a decision, my leg twitched. The pain that was always present where my artificial leg joined with my natural leg suddenly spiked, a jolt of pain that drove me to one knee. As I knelt there gasping, something Spin said echoed in my head. “Does it hurt every time?” he had asked when I cut open my leg to show him the circuits beneath the surface. I had nodded, but it occurred to me now that I had never shown anyone before him. I don’t think anyone in the organisation was aware of my injury. I had known them for a long time, but for some reason, Spin was the only one I had trusted with my secret.

When the pain had returned to its normal dull throbbing that I pushed to the background, I rose to my feet and sighed. As much as I wanted to run and hide, I wanted to know the truth even more. I also knew I could not abandon Spin. He was connected to all of this somehow.

I turned suddenly, afraid that that if I waited any longer I would change my mind again. I crept to the door, feeling foolish when I remembered I was alone in the room, distracting myself enough that I forgot about the sensor, causing the door to swish open, leaving me face to face with the shortest cleric I have ever seen. He was an inch shorter than me, and his short red beard was peppered with flecks of grey. The hood of his robe was down, letting me see the surprise in his blue eyes as I punched him in the face and dragged his limp body into the room.

Moments later I was dressed in a stolen robe, glad that the unconscious cleric had decided to wear pants today. I looked at him laying on the ground, transfixed by the heavy cross that hung from his neck. Finally I reached down and removed it from his neck, examining it closer. There appeared to be a seam along the side. I tugged at the two halves, eventually popping it open to reveal some intricate circuitry housed within. Snapping it shut, I hung the cross around my own neck, tucking it beneath the robe.

I headed back to the door and headed into the hallway, making sure the hood was up to obscure my markedly more feminine face. I wandered the halls for a while, completely lost, unsure of what to do. I nodded at a few other clerics but avoided any conversation. I felt lost and uncertain.

“The young man’s clothing was strange somehow,” came a hushed voice from around the corner. I came to a sudden stop, turning to look at the wall, relieved that there was actually something to gaze at, a picture of some sort. I waited, holding my breath, listening to the conversation.

“He had stolen Boul’s robe and tried to sneak inside, but was caught by the guards.”

“I suppose,” came a second voice, “the guards did their usual ‘gentle’ job of enforcement.” The sarcasm was hard to miss.

My heart leapt to my throat - Spin! What did you do with him? It took everything I had not to scream the question aloud. But it was as though they heard me. “They’re holding him down in the cells until they decide what to do with him.” I don’t know what else they said as I was hurrying to the stairs I had noticed before. It didn’t take me long to reach the detention level.

I took a deep breath and exited the stairwell, finding myself in a dimly lit hall, lined with heavy looking doors. A guard stood near the door, looking surprised at its sudden opening. His gun was half out of its holster when he noticed it was what he thought was one of the clerics who was allowed to be here. “Come to see the oddity, have you?” he asked.

Resisting the urge to lash out and bloody his smirking face, I merely nodded. He motioned to the end of the hall and I calmly made my way past him to the indicated door. I looked in and had to stop myself from staggering back in horror.

The only light in the room came from the small barred window in the door. The shaft of dim light revealed a pathetic looking figure huddled on the floor. The young man shifted slightly and I gasped quietly. Spin’s face looked out at me through a maze of bruises, ugly welts underneath dried blood. One eye was swollen completely shut. I suppose the sight of a faceless hood peering into his cell was enough to frighten him because he whimpered and crawled back.

“Spin,” I whispered, glancing sidelong at the guard who was only half-watching, seemingly bored with his duty. “Spin, come here.”

A quizzical expression crossed Spin’s pain filled face. I motioned for him to come and he finally gathered the strength of will to give in to his curiosity. Staggering to his feet, he made his way across the room to the door. I took a deep breath and swallowed the bile that rose in my throat at the sight of his severely broken arm, the bone sticking out through the skin. He stumbled and landed heavily against the door, his face pressed against the bars.

“Spin, it’s me,” I whispered, pulling my hood back just far enough for him to recognise my face.

“Caz?” he mumbled.

“Shh. Look, I can’t take you out of here right now, but I won’t forget about you. I’ll be back as soon as I can. Just hold on.” I reached my hand into the room and held his face. “Do you understand me?”

His eyes slowly cleared up and understanding filled them. He nodded once. “Hurry,” he breathed, slowly sinking out of sight.

In shock, I stepped back and took a deep breath to steady my nerves. I turned and headed back to the door. As I passed the guard he shook his head. “Always trying to give hope, eh brother?”

The scorn in his voice almost made me snap, but instead I walked by, banging through the door, pausing in the empty stairwell to shed a few tears for my friend.