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I feel him tuck something into the front of my pants before I fall, and darkness overtakes me.

07. You’re No Good

My head aches horribly, all stuffed with cotton and thorns rolling around without a care. My mouth feels like a dentist sucked out every bit of moisture I once had. I try to lift my hand to check if I fell asleep with my mouth open, but it won’t move. Actually, I can’t feel most of my body. What’s going on?

I think back to what I had been doing before I fell asleep and come up blank. The annoying intermittent buzzing sound I’ve been pushing back breaks through the fog and begins to make sense and have a cadence. Someone is speaking.

I feel my stomach churn as trepidation fills me. Something isn’t right with this, any of it. Why can’t I remember anything?

Kimi’s insane laughter cuts through the buzzing, bringing sharp pain and clarity.

I remember now.

This didn’t go well at all. How could we fuck this up so badly? We’re in deep shit right now, so I follow instinct and the Old Man’s training. Lying still and keeping my body relaxed, not that I have much choice right now, I force myself to listen to what’s happening around me.

There are pacing footsteps to my left and Kimi’s voice, mocking whoever is talking in a high-pitched, whiny tone. The rattle of something metal familiar to me from the cells at the penitentiary. Chains and bars arebeing shaken. Soft breathing. All coming from my left. My face is angled towards the sounds, but I don’t dare open my eyes yet, trying to locate where people are.

Wait, I don’t have to use just sound anymore.

“Help me,”I ask the spark as it flutters in a panic within me. It’s trying to counteract whatever they used to knock us all out. How did they manage that? And how wasKimithe only one who noticed something was wrong?

I let it focus on healing me and return to the movements around me. I can ask it again when it’s done fixing me up. I’ll have to have my wits about me for whatever happens next.

I’m down half my mental capacity because I’ve gone insane. We’re doomed.

“Yes, we have them all,” that’s GV’s incessant buzzing voice. “I can’t kill the freak or the Immortal. The rest are doable.”

Okay, so this is bad. Like, worse than I thought it would be bad.

“Why?... Do you actually believe that? There’s no way -” she stops speaking. A phone call. I thought she was talking to King, wondering if this was an evil monologue, but the tone is wrong.

“I can bring her, but I can’t guarantee her survival… Because she’s aHuman, whether you think so or not. Her body is fragile, and I don’t have time to babysit… Deal with it, there’s too many other variables… I have control of them… No, nothim, but he’s insane, so I can’t tell… You don’tdemandanything. Do you know who I am!?”

There’s the distinct sound of something hitting a wall and breaking to the accompaniment of Kimi’s hysterical laughter.

“Oh no! The boss doesn’t respect you? Have you thought about giving a two weeks’ notice?” Kimi is besidehimself. I can picture him holding his stomach because the sustained laughter has to be causing him pain by now.

“Shut up! Gas him again,now! But go easy on it. He comes back faster from dying. Mal is already unconscious, so you won’t have to use as much,” GV grits back impatiently.

Shit, the gaskilledhim?

“Since when are you such a little bitch boy, King?” Kimi haltingly asks through his laughter.

The pacing increases, and there’s the soft sound of someone walking farther from me. They must have been standing right next to me. With the distraction, I chance a quick look around me without moving my head.

I see King’s back as he walks away and GV pacing in front of Ben and Mal. They’re both in separate cages with shiny new bars. I can just see Ben’s back rise and fall with his breathing. Mal’s is a little less obvious, but he’s alive.

Mitri is slumped in some kind of throne off to the side of the cages, manacled in place at his ankles and probably his wrists. However, I can’t see from this angle. His head is tilted to the side, baring his neck, which is covered by a silver metal band. It’s a very familiar collar, and I can feel my heartbeat starting to drum in my chest. I slam my eyes shut and try to keep my breathing steady and even.

The scientists used collars just like it. They kept some of the people in the lab under control, unable to use their powers. It never kept me from returning to life when I died but slowed the resurrection process somehow. I didn’t get the ability to pop until after it was removed, so I don’t know if it would have worked on that. No, I couldn’t pop at the jail either. Mystery solved.

Speaking of mysteries,why the fuck didn’t I just pop everyone in??? What is wrong with me? We couldhave skipped all of this bullshit! Even if it weakened me, it would have been worth it.

A metallic dragging sound pulls me from my thoughts as Kimi continues laughing and mocking GV’s apparent dislike of her job. Then, the sound of a faint hiss, probably what Kimi heard before.

“What is that? Does it have a name?” Kimi asks. He sounds like he’s grinning, and the chains rattle again. “I recommend calling it Stink Snake. It has a marketing strategy all over it. Wait, does that say carfentanil? Did I say that right? Hey! That has a skull and crossbones picture on it… that’s bad… for… me…”

A thump follows the last word, and I imagine Kimi falling over fast asleep. At least, I hope he’s just sleeping. I hear squeaking as a valve is closed and a metal canister is set aside. So, no magic at all. This is straight Human interference. But what are they doing teaming up with TGT or the Delegates? Isn’t that a little contradictory?